An Apology

As some of you may have noticed, a previous blog about me getting a job at Victoria Mansion has been pulled. That's because it came to my attention that I had been led to believe that I had the position, when I did not. The position ended up going to someone who use to have the job, has some time between now and when he starts his Ph.D program. So of course they rewarded him for his past efforts by giving him his old job back. As someone pointed out, you should never think you have a job until you have it in writing. I guess she was right. But given my past experiences, I have always been offered jobs over the phone or in person, without having signed anything until way after the fact. Call me naive that this job was mine I guess. I feel betrayed, but what can I do. They have offered me an on-call position, meaning I would do the job they originally offered me but on an on-call basis, but I haven't decided what I should do. One year from now Old York will be over, and I will have half a job at Maine Preservation. If this guy does indeed go on to his Ph.D program, then I was told that the job would be mine (again, in my mind). While I'm not going to bank on that, the appeal is definitely there. I have some thinking to do. Several people have told me to find out how much they are willing to pay me for "on-call" and then make my decision from there. We shall see. But I am sorry for misleading people into thinking I had the job.

Score!

Some news, finally! I have scored a talk/interview with Victoria Mansion for the Site Manager position! For those of you who don't know, I worked in their giftshop on Sundays during the holidays, so I got to know the staff and volunteers pretty well. So when I saw the Site Manager position posted online, I had to go for it! The funny thing is that I know the girl who is/was in the position, so I'm wondering what happened/is happening with her. Anyway, it's another part-time gig OF COURSE since it's my life, however it would replace one of my jobs that I haven't been happy with lately, plus I would manage some of the operations of the house which would be so cool. It's obviously not totally a done deal, but I'm very excited that I at least have an interview. So be thinking of me 4pm on Friday!

A curator and a registrar walk into a bar...

I'm probably the only one that will find these funny, but I had to share.

You might be a museum professional if:

You find yourself compulsively levelling picture frames in restaurants and department stores.

Your first thought is that a mime in the park is a collection manager who has absentmindedly forgotten to remove their white cotton gloves.

You obtain a "non-profit" status for your home.

You take notes while watching Antiques Roadshow.

You think $40,000 a year is a lot of money.

Your co-workers quiz each other to see who can identify more accession numbers.

You arouse anxiety in museum security staff because you pay so much attention to the anti-theft devices.

You pay more attention to legibility of the labels than the contents of the cases.

The United States Coast Guard is a military, multimission, maritime service and one of the nation’s five Armed Services.

Not a ton to report, but I figured I had to do a special posting just for the occasion - Erik finally has his first drill scheduled with the Coast Guard!!! Woo hoo!! He's reporting for duty President's Day weekend. About f-ing time if you ask me. I'm planning on hopefully going down to Boston that weekend, but we shall see. Some of you may recall the last time I tried to go down President's Day weekend - I ended up bailing since I had to spend almost $400 to get the brakes on the car replaced. Dumb.

Sushi in Portland

All I have to say is that I hope that I get sushi the next time I visit y'all in Portland. And some crab Rangoon. yumm.

xoxox to all the Riders and Happy New Year's.

Yo, 2006! With a special post-New Year's addition of Karla's Tales...From the Gym!

Happy 2006 everyone! The consensus so far is that everyone thought 2004 sucked, that 2005 was a transition year back to some good for once, so that means 2006 is going to rock! Let's hope we all agree come December of this year.

Anyhoo, New Year's Eve was a fun time in the Rider household. Uno and Dos came over and Erik made the best Asian spread this side of the Mason-Dixon line! We had 5 courses of yummies, which included pot stickers, crab rangoon, and spring rolls (store bought, not going to lie) which ended with homemade sushi and homemade green tea ice cream. Sushi was a first for Erik, but he has been dying to try it, and he did very well for his first shot at it. He stuck to California rolls since they seem to be the easiest.

So 2006 doesn't seem to be much different so far, but holy crap, the gym is another story my friends! This is the first time I have ever had a gym membership, so I have never really witnessed the post-New Year's mad dash to get fit. The gym was beyond packed, to the point where I swear it had to be a fire hazard! I parked in timbuktu and had to wait for a treadmill. There was a line of people at the counter, frantically trying to sign up for a membership. The gym was full of people practically squeezing into their spandex, obviously not seasoned gym people who should KNOW that spandex was not made to look good on about 99% of the population. It was insane! Erik tells me that the average gym boom lasts for about 3 weeks of the New Year and then peters out, so if I can make it another few weeks, I'll be able to enjoy what use to be with the other diehards come February :-)