Wherein I am called a genius

In my pursuit of employment, Jennifer suggested I apply with the church. One of the jobs had the title "Technical Genius". It wasn't clear from the description what they wanted, but it did say that those that were among the brightest should apply. In school, especially at BYU, I was the one that people would come to find answers to difficult engineering problems we were assigned to complete in our classes. So I applied.

I received an email on December 1st saying I was chosen to take a technical test from amongst the many candidates that applied. I was scheduled to take the test on the 11th. I had two hours to complete four sections: Problem solving, technical knowledge, logic questions, and writing pseudo-code for a sort algorithm.

I took the test and felt I did well in all the sections except technical knowledge, in which they asked for a picture of how people connect and interact to a site like amazon.com to purchase things, and asked for definitions of terms, most of which were networking and database related and therefore I know nothing about them. In fact I had never heard some of the terms before, such as SAN, NAS, HBA, 3NF, SATA, SOA, SOAP (no, not the stuff in the shower), and others. I did know a few, such as TCP/IP, grep, SCSI, NIC. I did my best to draw the picture of the amazon.com thing, but boy it looked weak to me.

The problem solving was mostly "story problems", and the logic section asked questions about people on a amusement park ride, sitting in cars. After specifying some elements like "Amy is in a car with someone else", "Gwen is in car 4 or 5", and "The car in front of Mark is empty and he is alone in his car", etc. they asked a bunch of questions. Then they did a similar thing with trophies on shelves.

I felt that I would not receive a call because the I did so poorly on the technical definitions section. But, to my surprise, on Thursday (the 18th), I received a call at about 8:00 am as I was styling my hair asking if I could interview that day, as soon a possible. Well, since all we were planning to do that day was put Venetian plaster on out kitchen walls, I instead put on a suit and tie and drove to Salt Lake in an awful snowstorm. I arrived late due to the snow/urgency of the request. I apologized to the interviewer, Heber, for my long hair and I was taken up to the "war room".

Those in the "war room" told me I had either the #1 or #2 score on the "genius test." Well, OK, I know I'm not dumb, but I flopped all over the technical knowledge section. So how could possibly be #1 or #2? The only thing I can think is that my lack of networking/database knowledge aided my score. The other sections were quite easy but I did use the full two hours of test time, and I left blank probably 3/4 of the definitions. This may have allowed more time to complete the other sections.

I was taken to a small conference room and the interview proceeded. They asked me a bunch of questions like, how do I learn, and do work best alone or in a group, how did I solve a problem in my previous work, what did I don, yada, yada, yada, you know, the standard drabble interviewers like to ask. Then they asked me the "General Authority" question, as they called it. And we discussed databases for a bit.

Then Heber asked me about the amazon.com drawing. Could I fill it in more? Well, no I couldn't. I told him I wasn't really a networking guy, and I know I bombed that section. He then took a look at scores from each section and said he didn't realize I had done so poorly on that section. Upon closer review, I missed 1 question in the problem solving section and aced the logic questions, with a decent score on the sort question. Oh blast, I said, I thought I had all of those right. I've now reviewed my answers and found I made an adding mistake on the one question I missed.

I asked them about pay, and, surprisingly, they pay well. Apparently they turned that around a few years ago to attract talent.

Heber told me I am a genius, but I would have a big learning curve to come up to speed on networking and data bases. But, says he, I am genius. Well, thanks Heber, now could you please hire the genius???? (No I didn't say that to him.)

Well, NO, they didn't! Turns out there was a hiring freeze, starting Friday/Monday (they weren't sure at interview time), announced on Thursday morning, so they called their top "4 or 5" prospects for an interview that day so they could make an offer Thursday/Friday. I called Heber Thursday evening and asked about the status. He said I was the second candidate for one of their 3 openings and I would know by Friday at 5:00 since they had found out that that was the deadline for offers. Alas, Friday at 5:00 has passed and I have no offer. Also, the kitchen is not done. Well, that's for tomorrow...

How often does your couch look like this?

At our house, it's on a daily basis.

Our van is back!

We got our van back last night. It looks great and runs great. They even cleaned it thoroughly, which hasn't happened in years. Seriously. It looks better than it has in a long, long time.

Lyman started working yesterday. I like the idea of him being self-employed and setting his own hours. I also like that it's only part-time for now. We've still got a kitchen to paint...

What better way to spend a warm December day than an Easter Egg Hunt! It was DJ's idea, and he filled the eggs with Cheddar Bunnies and Sunny Bears for the other kids to find. Amanda missed the first and second hunts, because she was napping. But I'm sure they'll be happy to have another when she wakes up.

Chess, anyone? No crying allowed!

Many years ago, before we had children, Lyman asked me to play chess with him. I knew the basic rules but hadn't played in years. Due to a derogatory comment about my playing ability ("Don't quit your day job"), I vowed never to play chess with him again.
But playing with my children is another story. DJ was in a homeschool chess club a few years ago and he and I are on about the same playing level - advanced beginner. I have a hard time abiding by the suggestion of finding three moves before making one. Anyway, on with the story...
Today I made good on my goal to play with my children more. I asked DJ if he wanted to play chess with me. It was hilarious game, which I won by chance more than skill. Lyman was a spectator at the end and could hardly keep from offering advice. The loser ended up in tears, and immediately challenged a less-skilled competitor, 5 year old Gwennie. Alas, that game broke up in tears before there was a winner.
I guess my next goal should be to teach the kids about good sportsmanship. And to make sure they eat regularly so their blood sugar levels will be more evened out. One goal at a time.

You're Hired!

Yes, I have a job now. It's not a regular full time job, but it could turn into one. I'll be consulting 15-20 hrs. per week at my former employer, Phonex. There is a possibility of becoming a regular full-time employee next year. I'll still be looking for work, but now we can buy a few Christmas gifts and ease the moratorium on spending.

It's actually the perfect arrangement for me now. I can work part time at Phonex and make enough money to feed us and keep a roof over our heads. If S5 begins to hire people again, I can go back there without any hard feelings at Phonex since they know I am still looking for work.

The interesting thing is, this would not have happened if it weren't for my car accident. The body shop where our car is being repaired is just around the corner from Phonex, so when I went to the shop to sign the papers for the car, I went by Phonex. That's when they started talking about bringing me back. Thanks to the Lord for blessings in disguise.

Lyman

If Bad Things Happen In Threes...

Then we've reached our allotment. Lyman was in a car accident last night. Luckily he is fine, but our van is not. It has major front end damage which will probably cost more to fix than it is worth. So, it looks like we will need a new vehicle, as our Cruiser can not legally hold all 6 of us.
On the job front, there is no news. A few places have said thanks for applying, but you're too qualified. Unemployment checks will start coming in two weeks, which will be just enough to cover our mortgage.
We are so grateful to have a full storage room of food, and clothing for the kids for the next year. It's amazing how much money I can save when I have to, and I plan on carrying this frugality over to the time when we do have income again!