Monster's Ink

Things are not looking good for my unemployment claim. Granted, they might not have reviewed and processed the forms I faxed in today, but it's still not looking good. What's confusing is that they're also sending me biweekly claim and direct deposit forms. Do they think I'm going to give them my bank account numbers and file a biweekly claim for no money? It's sort of a mixed signal.

The reason cited for my ineligibility, also, frankly pisses me off. The exact words are, "Base period wages not within $70.00 of one and one half times your high quarter." Which I think is gummint-ese for, "You made more in the last quarter of the year than in the first three quarters combined." And I'm all like, "Yeah, geniuses, those are the numbers that tend to appear with returning Peace Corps Volunteers. Are you assholes gonna punish me for handing over two years of my life for almost no money?"

Ah, shit. Waiting tables again is starting to look like a good idea. And I haven't even thought about restaurants in the area for years. I remember working at Chevy's, and not fondly. I don't know if any other place would be kinder.

Where the hell is that Reconsideration Request form?

I had a rather intriguing experience at the bus stop in Arlington today. I suppose it can be called intriguing.

I was waiting for the bus back to the Metro, along with another woman. I asked her, "So, were you just at the Career Fair?" I didn't want to know how she formatted her resume, or anything funny like that. I just wanted to know if it was as much of a waste of time for her as it was for me. So she said, "Uh, no comment." And then she stepped away from me and stood about ten feet away to wait for the bus, like I was going to sell her Amway or something.

????????????????

O-kaaaay.

The career fair was a waste of time in that it had nothing to offer a jane-of-all-trades like me. There were three rooms: one for healthcare jobs, one for engineering and security clearance jobs, and one for "professional general." I am only qualified for the last one. There were only two employers waiting in that room--but I knew that ahead of time. One of them was only looking for security personnel. Me in a security job--tee-hee! The other was recruiting for various universities, and their representative wasn't even hiring. She was just there to tell people about the jobs that were available, but in order to apply for anything, we'd have to go to their website and look. So, at the front desk where the girl checked my resume and gave me the news, I said, screw it, I'll just go straight to the website.

So, anyway, I'm kind of annoyed at the Washington Post for luring so many people there for so little. And I just wanted to know if the other woman at the bus stop had just had her day so thoroughly blown.

For about a second I thought I could go up to Rosslyn--it would just be straight up the Blue Line from Pentagon City--and use the Career Center for a while, but I didn't bring my flash drive with my resume and various cover letters on it, so that wouldn't work.