Rachel Not Rebecca » DC?

Entering the Planning Stages

Rachel Not Rebecca — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:51:52 +0000

I fear my blog is going to become (even more) boring as I delve into the details of trying to make and/or execute A Plan. (Note: it is unclear yet whether this is The Plan.)

I have succeeded in making a dentist appointment for later in the month and I actually go it will be a true miracle.

Now, regardless of the fact that I am leaning towards actually executing this Plan, there are still several issues. One is that it is summer, and I do not intend to go anywhere at the moment, because summer is a terrible time to look for work anyway. The second is that I would like to reapply for the Libertarian Fellowship. I am unsure at this point whether I will apply for the early deadline (so maybe I can know that I am rejected by XMas again, and not pin any additional hopes on it) or if I should wait until one of the later application deadlines. Also, it may affect when I want to leave my job (if I leave my job) because I want recommendations from both my bosses. Third is that I still prefer NYC to DC, and even though the MAJORITY of jobs are in DC, there are still a few good ones in NYC, and maybe I could wind up with one of those, however unlikely.

Did I mention Polite Boy started asking me legal questions (I’m in employment law, and I can at least answer preliminary questions on many subjects) on his own behalf, and then started ARGUING with me over my answers. And these weren’t wavering opinions, they were STATEMENTS OF FACT. And yes, I know the law is up for interpretation and what have you, but he was trying to go into all this technicalities that were irrelevant, because his overall premise was wrong.

He was also suggesting that it would be okay to lie and claim that he never signed a piece of paper, because it wasn’t notarized and therefore they can’t really prove he signed it. There are a number reasons why this is a stupid idea, the first being, of course, “committing perjury is a bad idea.”

God, I am a magnet for tools.

A “The Plan”?

Rachel Not Rebecca — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 17:50:29 +0000

I didn’t fall asleep until after 3AM and then I had to be up early for my appointment with the Crazy People Doctor, where I babbled about my realization that I am eventually (probably) going to have to just make the leap, quit my job, and move to DC.

Next summer, I plan to be one of three places: DC, NYC, or Europe. That’s about as far as I’ve gotten with The Plan.

Ok, that’s not quite true. Three things that need to happen before I go anywhere.

1) Pay off my car. It’s a 3 year loan, through March 2012. I know that if I wind up in NYC I won’t need a car (and maybe not for DC either, depending on whether I live in DC proper or N. Virginia) but paying it off before I try anything big is a psychological neccessity. I’ll worry what to do with the actual car when the time comes.

2) Save up $5000 strictly for COBRA. There is the “go without health insurance” option but since I’m trying to responsible/smart about the potential leap, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Based on what COBRA cost me during my brief stint of unemployment in 2008, that will keep me for 6 months.

3) See a dentist. I must, must, must get over this fear and get my teeth taken care of. And I need to do it while I have dental insurance.

The Least Spontaneous Girl In The World

Rachel Not Rebecca — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:23:10 +0000

Ug. I woke up at 9:00 am, which is way too early for a Sunday, thinking it was just because my allergies were stronger than the Benadryll. But I definitely have a cold. What my coworker claimed to be allergies last week was clearly a cold, because now I have it. I went to the diner for lunch with Joe, but other than that I have done nothing all day. I really want to just call out of work tomorrow, but I know my desk is a disaster. In all likelihood, I’ll go in with the intentions of taking care of a few things, and leaving early, and will wind up staying all day. And probably, after the virtual deadness of last week, this week will be insane. Murphy’s Law and everything.

There are a few jobs to put in applications for this week, but I’m not expecting much. This process sucks, and I am sure Joe is thoroughly sick of talking with me about it. I think that if I don’t find anything by September, I will seriously consider just taking the huge chance and moving to DC with no job. And then make job hunting my full time job, and also, probably try to get temp work at the same time, but with the lousy economy, that seems unlikely to pan out. This is all probably just speculation; I don’t think I have the guts to make such a move. I don’t have to move to DC. My emergency fund is supposed to be just that – emergency funds, should I lose my job, not luxury money to play with because I can’t stand suburbia another second.

Joe is trying to get me to think of it in terms of time as a valuable resource, as in, I feel like I’m wasting away my time here, and if DC is what I really want to do, I should just do it, and worry about rebuilding an emergency fund later. But I know myself. I am responsible about these things, perhaps to a fault, and perhaps out of fear. I am a Hobbesian. I value security, perhaps over all other things.

And I always do the safe thing. Always.

Reset

Rachel Not Rebecca — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:04:43 +0000

I have not applied for a job in a week. There is no (tangible) difference between a week when I send out 50 applications and a week when I send out none in terms of getting me a job in DC.

But I think my head is back in the game. I actually LOOKED at postings today.

March was pretty much a total failure. I went to the gym ONCE, I did not get my Quintessential Nice Summer Dress altered, and I cancelled my dentist appointment. Today I was feeling guilty, so I made another dentist appointment, this time with some guy who is 5 minutes from work and advertises dental hypnosis on his website and is probably a quack, but I am ok with that.

Oh and I also decided I am no longer going to check my work email from home. I’m not “supposed” to anyway.

Tomorrow is another day.

Ineffectual Messes

Rachel Not Rebecca — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:17:56 +0000

I have this long, sappy post that I wrote Friday morning while on the train down to DC, that I’ll probably post (and backdate) later. I spent Thursday night with (most of) my favorite people on the planet, playing trivia. None of this would mean anything without them, so I was very happy we were all able to get together.

Friday, I took the train into the city and as usual, had time to kill before my train to DC. I was walking around Penn Station, having my usual internal freak out about how the city still feels like home, and I have this deep, visceral love for it that can’t be put into words, and why am I trying so hard for DC when NYC is home? I can’t describe it, but even in the blocks around Penn Station, where no respectable native would find themselves for any longer than necessary, there is just something that feels right.

(For the record, even if NYC is home, it’s home in an entirely different way than Jersey is. )

And then I got to DC, and the weather was beautiful, and I spent Saturday evening walking around the Capitol Hill north district with Michael, and I thought “Well…I guess I could do this too.”

I like to project, in case you hadn’t noticed.

Anyway, the weekend was quite nice and it was very good to get out of Jersey for the weekend, even though getting back on Sunday was a hassle. Now I’m back at work and it’s rainy, and I hate the federal government. Basically, they’ve taken all the worst aspects of the U.S. Healthcare system and found a way to make them worse in one ridiculous, ineffectual bill. My prediction is that anyone who currently has issues affording healthcare will still have issues affording healthcare 5 years from now. Also, if the rhetoric-realism chasm is too deep and allows for Sarah Palin to step in and win in 2012 I…well, I’ don’t know what I’ll do. Probably write an outraged blog entry about it.

Grawrl. I’m conflicted on who to side with. Just reading facebook statuses from both sides of the argument last night was frustrating. I don’t believe health care/insurance is a fundamental right, but I also don’t believe that the Obamacare is shades of socialism. But I don’t think it’s anything to celebrate, regardless of which side of the issue you fall on.

Grrr, Foiled Again

Rachel Not Rebecca — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:50:59 +0000

Arg. So after much internal debate (and some external harassing of other people with my “should I go to DC this weekend?”) my boss basically tells me I may as well take Friday off because no one will be here and it’s also going to be nice weather. So yay, I decide I’m going to DC.

And this turns out to be the one weekend that Keithers will not be around.

Arg. I’m sure it’s probably for the better that that makes my decision for me. I have the money to go, but I shouldn’t necessarily spend the money to go (because ((crosses fingers)) eventually I’m going to need to go down to DC for interviews)

Though by saying things I’m probably just tempting fate and facing the wrath of the thing from high atop the whatever.

But I am so bored in Jersey and I’ve pretty much exhausted the social options here. I want to do something different. I know, I’m whining. But the nice weather makes me cranky, because it makes me want to be living in a city. So now I have to decide if I’m going to bother taking Friday off.

Arg. Back to sorting invoices.

Before WordPress Ate My Post

Rachel Not Rebecca — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:34:50 +0000

It’s past 6:00 PM and I”m at my desk waiting. Killing time, more accurately. We finished Important-Quarterly-Project earlier than anticipated, but too late to reschedule UPS. Quarterly-project was a more hellish process than usual and I once again demonstrated my talents in Copy Machine repair.

I had an epiphany on Monday night regarding my somewhat newfound vehement desire to move to DC: I blame the West Wing. In a very short period of time, I watched all seven seasons of the West Wing (which I had never seen before) and became obsessed. My history shows that I am an EXTREMELY suggestible person. This can be seen as both good and bad. On one hand, DC is the best place for me, career wise (if I can ever get a freaking job) and I have always known this. However, I have discounted DC because I didn’t “like” DC (translation: it’s not NYC). And it’s true, I still might have some lukewarm feelings for DC itself. Therefore, West Wing has helped me to have a more positive view of my potential future city.

On the other hand, I just shouldn’t be so fucking suggestible.

She’s a highly specialized key component of operational unity

Rachel Not Rebecca — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:57:50 +0000

Points if you get where my post title is from without googling.

I feel the need to clarify something from yesterdays post (she says, defensively). Much of my woe is coming from the fact that I can’t even get an admin assistant position in the field that I want to be in. Two commenters pointed out that this is the way to go if I’m serious about DC (and they are right) but I have applied for admin positions at every foreign policy, or foreign policy related think tank in DC. As well as various other interesting places.

There are a number of places where I want to work where I don’t care what the job is – I just want to work there! These positions pay about half of what I’m making now, but I’d manage. Someone just has to hire me first. My fear is that in order to move to DC I’ll have to take another legal assistant job (or worse) which isn’t really my field and I’ll just get trapped in it because all my experience on paper is in it.

The other thing V and I were lamenting is “entry level” is both a misnomer and a double-edged sword. For example, these positions will claim to be “entry level” and they will pay entry level wages, but then they will ask for three years experience and in the end it’s basically an admin position. On the other end, I have been viewed as “too experienced” for entry level. The number of times my snobby Masters degree has raised the eyebrows (and not in a good way) of the hiring person is astounding. They question why I’m applying to an “assistant” position and they question why I’ve been working in as an assistant.

Existential crises aside, do these people not understand having bills to pay? I’ve been at my current job for a year and a half. A year and a half ago, I was running out of unemployment and I couldn’t afford to shop around for the perfect job. Now that I’ve built up some savings (and I have the luxury of looking while employed) I can be choosier. But my experience, particularly my type of experience, is generally looked down upon.

I know that this all sounds defeatist and terribly know-it-all-ish. Who am I to claim that I know the workings of a hiring manager’s mind? I could be projecting, right? Thing is, I truly feel I’m being pragmatic and realistic with all of the above, and that if I let myself think otherwise then I’m being delusional.

Which perhaps is another puzzle. I believe I experienced this when I was job hunting immediately post-college. That is when I was interviewing for every receptionist/assistant position in NYC. Including one at a glue factory way the hell out in Brooklyn (seriously, it was a looooong ride on the R train) staffed solely by Orthodox Jew.

That was an awkward interview.

On the plus side I put $500 in my savings account this paycheck. On the negative side, I spent an obscene amount of money on clothing. On the plus side, I will be returning a large percentage of it, so no harm done. Mostly.

Now, to get a job in DC, so I have a place to wear all my cute clothes. Suburban Jersey + no dress code at work means I’m wearing jeans and plain sweaters everywhere.

Dream Medium

Rachel Not Rebecca — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:18:45 +0000

One of the main reasons I haven’t wanted to get all angsty about the Great-DC-Job-Search (other than the fact that whining is not an attractive quality) is that I don’t want to listen to people tell me that I’m being fatalistic, or that I CAN do it, or making suggestions about what I should try.

Here are the facts: I never had a fancy (unpaid) DC internship when I was in college. I could have one summer, but it would have involved paying for houses and not making any money. I chose instead to go home for the summer and work. There were lots of factors involved in that decision, and at the time, I wouldn’t have been happy in DC, but I am paying for it now. I have NO DC experience, and this is somehow relevant even for non-Hill jobs (I don’t want to work on the Hill). The Libertarian Fellowship was so important to me because it was a back door into DC. A shortcut, so to speak. I knew that the chances of me getting a job in DC the old-fashioned way were/are very slim and that that fellowship would have given me an in.

The other thing is the type of experience I have. I have a Masters degree from a very good university, where I also worekd as a research assistant. But my resume also evidences that I’ve been a glorified (and at times, not even glorified) secretary since college. I was lamenting this with Virginia, a girl who graduated a year before me; job postings want you to have 3 years of experience, and the only experience you can get is admin work, and then that’s not good enough.

Do you know what I would have done, as an intern, in DC? I would have made copies and filed and answered phones. Yes, I recognize that location is everything and there’s more to it than just the clerical aspect. But I hate that that looks more important on paper than what I do now (and I do all those things and a whole hell of a lot more). I hate that my only option is a lateral move into another admin position – that that is my only hope of getting into DC, and that is still a small chance.

I don’t want to hear about how I just have to be patient and try and whatever (yes, I know I sound whiny) because these are not the off-the-cuff ramblings of a frustrated job searcher. These are just the facts. They are something that I have been painfully aware of for a long time. To an extent, this knowledge may have kept me from job hunting in DC in the past – fear of rejection/failure and all. I know the odds and they are not good. Add in the recession and they slip to sub-zero.

So I don’ t exactly know what to do. My motivation is sapped. Writing another cheery cover letter makes me want to stab my eyes out. I know that everyone searching for a job must feel the same way. It’s a disheartening process, to see these jobs that I would be perfect for and not get a resposne to my carefully crafted applications. And then I read the barrage of job hunting advice that’s on the internet about networking and promoting yourself and finding your job through twitter (and how you’ll never find a job the traditional way, not in this world) and it’s even more confusing about what to do. What am I supposed to do? Blog incessently on my RealName wordpress account (I don’t use it, I just snatched up the name) about the places I want to work and why they should hire me? Because I do have 2-3 places in mind that I would LOVE to work.

I don’t know. I know that my frustrations are the same as almost everyone going through the job hunt. But I feel so trapped. I feel that the decisions I made five years ago are haunting me now and that this is my life. A future something great destined to spend her life answering phones and ordering office supplies. I like my job and for the most part I do way more than that, and there is nothing inherently wrong with those things.

But I want to be something other than a glorified secretary. I don’t want to have to answer someone else’s phone. That’s my dream. Right there.

Of the Century of The Week

Rachel Not Rebecca — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:54:10 +0000

We’re supposed to get walloped with snow tonight, but considering the “snow-pocalypse” missed us completely, I’m skeptical.

Speaking of snow-pocalypse, my friends in DC tell me that everything is still a mess down there. Keithers has no classes/work again today and Michael (who works for the federal government) says his office is one of the many that is closed tomorrow.

So two feet of snow can shut down the federal government for two days. I think the terrorists have won.

Trivia(l) Pursuit(s)

Rachel Not Rebecca — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:38:30 +0000

Brent, Joe, and I went to Trivia Night locally last night and I had a ridiculous amount of fun. First, I laughed more in one night than I have in a month. There was competition for lamest confession and discussion of 90s music. Then Trivia began. We scored perfectly the first two rounds. And then we bombed the third round (stupid questions such as “Which slipper did Cinderella lose; her left or right?” and questions-we-should-have-gotten-right-but-second-guessed) and didn’t do much better on the fourth. We were resigned to losing, and then the final bonus round was geography (blue category!), so we bet the max, and we won.

From my description you can see that trivia is Very Important and that this victory made me (well, us) way happier than it rightly should have. In the car ride home we were still discussing it, and future team strategy, and I was like “Guys, you do realize that we’re the only ones there to tonight who are STILL DISCUSSING THIS.”

But I wouldn’t have it any other way. It feels good to be a team again (Joe and Brent were on academic decathlon with me in high school) and to make ridiculous references throughout the game that no one else would get but us.

I didn’t fall asleep until around 2am, for the second night in a row. I am definitely feeling that this morning and the coffee is doing little to dull it. I have ice cream stashed in the freezer here, and I’m tempted to break it out. Work continues to be filled with crankiness all around.

But I am in a better mood than I’ve been in all week – maybe even all month. Getting rejected from the Libertarian Fellowship certainly left me in a funk and I’ve also hit the wall in terms of available things to apply for in DC. It’s frustrating, because I know I’d be perfect for several of the think tank positions I’ve applied for – there are just other people who would be even more perfect, and they’re probably already in the DC area. I’m that at the point yet where I could realistically (or would even want to) just quit my job, move to DC, and hope for the best with the job search and the powerlessness has left me irritable.

But being around two of my favorite people on the planet, who understand me better than anyone in the world, has done wonders for my spirits. At least for today. And allegedly, that’s the only one that should matter.

And yay, Friday! I may actually be social this weekend (an acquintences birthday tomorrow evening) and then, what the hell it is already February. If I start talking about how time is flying, and how I’m going to be, omg, 27 in May, I’ll just ruin my good mood, so I’m going to stop, and go do something productive.

SOTU

Rachel Not Rebecca — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:24:06 +0000

Hm, I’ve blogged about the SOTU many times.

It took me two hours to get to work this morning due to the snow and people not knowing how to drive.

I think I have applied for every job in DC that I am possibly interested in, minus the government jobs, which just require an insane amount of time per application. Is it hypocritical for a libertarian to work for the federal governemnt? Possibly yes, but if I want to get to DC it may be in my self interest.

Speaking of libertarian idea(l)s, we were discussing the SOTU on The Libertarian Message Board last night. There was of course nothing surprising or new about Obama’s speech. He does not make me rageful in the ways that GWB did, but the alleged Savior of the left sure has been pretty useless. The Dems are such pussies. Anyway, my idea was I want someone to run for president on the campaign of Doing Nothing. No initiatives, no new government programs, no changes, NOTHING. Just keep the status quo and grind government action to a halt.

Of course, the logistics of the government “grinding to a halt” are a bit more complicated (but just a bit, I swear), but the theory behind stalemate is solid. People on both sides complain that lack of bi-partisanship makes it impossible to get anything done, but I’m fine with the two parties bickering their way into inaction. People on both sides also complain when their party isn’t in power in either Congress or the Presidency about the other party having an unchecked mandate. (The mandate, with which, the Dems have still been unable (unwilling) to put together a healthcare bill)

So I say we elect a bunch of underachievers with no ambition of achieving greatness. That’s where we also get in trouble. The idea that the government can give us all these wonderful things. Not only does it set you up for disappointment (which I think the Obama campaign did, for a lot of people) it makes you forget that the government shouldn’t be providing these things in the first place. (A government big enough to give you anything, is big enough to take everything away.

I was up way too late last night, and then there was the commute from hell and I am supposed to actually be social tonight but I’m half hoping we have to postpone due to weather. Suburbia is killing my motivation.

Too Much Thinking For A Saturday

Rachel Not Rebecca — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:14:24 +0000

I don’t mean to go on blogging breaks, but work has been insane, and then, what do I have to say, really? I am still stuck. Oh, and it’s Saturday night, and I have no plans besides picking up some sushi, doing some laundry, and the SVU marathon.

I have basically become ok with the fact that my weekends are like this. I have gotten past judging them as “pathetic” and making self deprecating comments about them. I would just rather be spending my weekends doing nothing in DC (or NYC) and then I would have the option to do something that wasn’t nothing.

I think I might want DC like the way I wanted New York when I got out of college. Back then, I was also craving independence and the opportunity for a social life, to be sure, but I wanted New York because of HWSNBN. I think I want DC, and there’s not even a boy there. I suppose my therapist would say this is progress. Of course, it’s entirely possible that I have just forced myself to not want NYC, because I know that career wise, DC is the only place that makes sense right now. And, given that, there’s no use wanting what you can’t have, or torturing yourself with what cannot be.

HWSNBN still texts me very occasionally. He asked back in September when I’d be in the city next. I said December. He told me to let him know when, but I never did. I didn’t see the point, really, and also all the vain, shallow reasons like I want to be nothing but 100% together if I ever see him again.

So for now, I’m not quite sure what I’m doing. I have a phone interview on Monday for an organization that pays probably half of what my current job does, and who’s political orientation is possibly opposite of my own. Still, they do some interesting work in the security/foreign policy realm, so I’ll give it a chance to see what happens. Already, in my head I’m making excuses for why this is a terrible idea to even consider, and of course this is mere projection, because the phone interview hasn’t even happened yet.

When I moved to New York, I was actually pretty gutsy. Despite growing up 30 minutes away, I didn’t know the city, and I certainly didn’t know the boroughs. I spent the first half of the summer of 2005 job hunting and apartment hunting in the sweltering heat. I learned the neighborhoods of Brooklyn (where I never wound up living) by google map directions and walking. I learned the subway by following the colored lines on the map with my finger. HWSNBN and I were long over, and I didn’t have any friends in the city. I just did it.

“You have to take a step before you’re ready. Because if you wait to be ready, you’ll never take that step. “

Perhaps I would do well to remember this.