We have had a wet March around here. And I don't just mean the random snow and then rain and back to snow every few days. Our downstairs bathroom has been leaking a lot as of late. In the past week & a half we have collected almost 9 1/2 quarts of water--I haven't emptied the bucket because I plan on showing our manager and the maintenance worker. Luckily, we do have a great apartment manager who has been helping us out with this. She quickly got the roofers here to get an estimate, e-mailed the bids to her supervisor and now we're just waiting for the contractors to give us a time and date--and have the weather be steadily nice, for once! There are a few leaks, and sometimes near the bottom of the surrounding walls will leak. It could be worse,
like when we had the apartment kind of flood about a year & a half ago. It is mostly just inconvenient and frustrating. The manager still has to get it approved, but she said we most likely won't have to pay rent this month, as a way to help us out.
But now for the exciting news: I got a new job! It's at a local, small law firm downtown. And I'll be working 9 - 5, Monday - Friday, with a good starting pay rate & promises for raises once my probationary period ends. Zak sent me the ad he saw on craigslist about a week ago, so I wrote up a cover letter (the ladies said it was the best one they had read for the job!) and sent off my resume. About a day or two later, I got an e-mail back asking for a good time to schedule an interview. On Monday I had my first interview, with the gals who held the position previously. It went really well, we had a good back & forth and it felt very natural. I convinced them I could definitely get the job done and be a great fit for the office. An hour after the interview, they called to set up an interview for Tuesday.
When I got there, the two ladies in charge were still interviewing the only other person for the job. So I sat and chatted with the girl I met the previous day for a bit. When I was called in, I knew I had a good chance of getting the job, they responded really well to my humor, personality and there was very comfortable feeling in the room. We mostly just chatted, they told me I got a glowing report from the other ladies and complimented my cover letter and resume. And told me they thought I'd be a great fit for the office, and how important it is to have personalities that work well in such a small office. So we talked for about 30 minutes and then they asked when I could start! I told them I'd talk to my current manager and then call them back. I could not stop smiling as I drove to the mall to tell Zak. And then I recapped everything that happened. I walked down to Smoky Mountain and told my manager that I got a new job and asked what the procedure was for leaving--I just had to fill out a form that said when my last day would be. He's hiring some new servers and wanted me to help train them this weekend, so I will work this weekend but that's it. I am starting my new job on Monday!
We are so excited. It's pretty much a perfect fit for me. It's a small, quiet office and I actually like office work. I'm only a little bit nervous that I won't live up to the expectations, but Zak has reassured me I will because I am awesome. So now we will be doubling our income, so I can justify buying some new work clothes!
On not-as-exciting-but-still-good-news, Zak is on the reserve list for fire crew. We're not exactly sure how big the list is or how big a possibility of him getting on the crew is, but he'll find out soon. I'm pretty sure training starts in May, so we have about a month to find out, I think. It was a pretty big blow to find that out, especially since Zak did everything in his power to make a good impression and talk to the guy in charge. But it's almost certain that they picked the guys with experience first. So that's been hard to let sink in. But it's not a definite no, Zak still has a chance. He's trying to get some other things in motion, back-up plans and the like. Hopefully he'll be able to find something that will be related to his field.
We've started to look at other apartments. It's not solely because of the recent leak problems, but we feel it might be time to move. We've lived here for 2 years and while we have liked it, we feel like we should let someone else who needs the nice, government-subsidized place have it. My biggest priority is having a washer & dryer, I've gotten really frustrated with the laundry facility here. There are a few places that we would like to move into, so we are putting out feelers for them. We have to give our apartment manager a month's notice, so we are trying to figure something out soon and hopefully move mid-May. At least we have a truck now, so it'll make things easier!
So, a mixture of good and bad news for us. School is still going well for Zak, he is doing great in his classes and all that jazz. I've been good about working out 3 - 4 times a week and eating better. I'm almost to the point where the next size down in clothes will be comfortable and not as tight. So close! And I've gotten a lot tanner, so hopefully by the time I head to California, I'll be brown Rachel again! That's all I have for now, I'll try to write a new post soon--about my first week of work and whatever happens with the roof.
