(no subject)

[lance_sibley]

I didn't post yesterday after my interview, so I'm sure you're all waiting with bated breath to hear how it went. :)

It went reasonably well - most of the questions were the usual type. The HR manager asked me to go through my resume and talk about my career, so I highlighted some of my successes. When asked about why I left Manulife, I tried to put the best possible light on the circumstances, which is all anyone can do. They said that they had a couple more candidates to interview, and that they'd have me in to meet with the IT director within the next two weeks. Hopefully that actually happens, and she wasn't just being polite at the end of the interview. I talked to the recruiter after the interview, and he sounded optimistic.

During the interview, the HR manager had asked about my relationships with past managers, and I gave her their names, while pointing out that my Manulife manager was no longer with the company, so I gave her the names of two other managers I'd been loaned to while I was there. I realized after I'd left that I'd neglected to give them the copies of my letter of reference from my CDS managers, so I went back and left two copies with the receptionist; she said she'd make sure that they got them.

I then mailed off a couple of thank you notes today. I hadn't mailed one to the IT manager after the first interview as the second interview was set up almost immediately, and I thought that it might seem a little odd, since I'd be sending one after the second interview as well (he was present again yesterday and had a few more questions for me).

In other news, I see from various people on my friendslist that 2003 UB313, aka "Xena," got a real name yesterday - Eris, after the goddess of discord, and its moon, "Gabrielle," has been dubbed Dysnomia, which sounds like it's Greek for "bad name." As it happens, though, Dysnomia was the daughter of Eris and the goddess of lawlessness. I found that amusingly fitting, since they've replaced the name of the character played by Lucy Lawless. It's equally fitting that they should have chosen the goddess of discord, given the ongoing disagreement over the new definition of what constitutes a planet.

Seems like the byelection in Parkdale-High Park is getting a bit nasty. Yesterday's Globe and Mail had an article in which the NDP candidate, Reverend Cheri DiNovo, is being accused by the Liberals of having compared infamous murderer Karla Homolka to Jesus Christ (details at the link). As it happens, Rev. DiNovo is the minister who performed the wedding ceremony at Torcon 3 (during which drewan and rvrjoe775 were married) - I'd been put in touch with her by my ex-bf Scott, who was working for the United Church at the time.

Regarding yesterday's shooting in Montreal, I'm glad to hear that everyone connected to gurudata, iangurudata and troystar is safe. I was a little miffed to read that the incident is being blamed on the shooter's interest in goth culture and violent video games. The Toronto Sun's headline (no, I didn't buy it, but it was quite visible through the window on the box up the street) went so far as to blame a game based on the Columbia High School shootings of a few years ago. (I didn't even know there was such a game; that sounds a trifle morbid to me.) Thanks to a link at cristalia's LJ, I read the Canadian Press article, and it seems to me that there were plenty of warning signs that something was wrong with the guy, but nobody appears to have bothered to investigate. Photos of himself wielding a semi-automatic rifle on his blog is more than just "emo." I've known a few emo kids, and they don't go around shooting people. This kid was seriously disturbed.


This seems a little tacky when I've just posted about my reaction to the Dawson College shootings, but here it is anyway, gakked from lizblackdog and others:

Boywhocantsayno

Passable

Passable

Passable

Passable

Click Here to Find Out YOUR Psychiatric Evaluation at QuizGalaxy.com

Uh-huh. The problem is that the quiz asked me what I would do, not what I wanted to do. I can't count the number of times I've wanted to grab someone's cell phone out of their hand and throw it into traffic, but I've been socialized too well to do something like that. :) That might have affected the results. Mind you, having only owned a cell phone for a few months, I myself am finding myself having to learn to keep my voice down. I've found that the temptation to speak loudly to be heard over traffic is a strong one - not to mention subconscious.

Comments

[hoskie.livejournal.com]

I was a little miffed to read that the incident is being blamed on the shooter's interest in goth culture and violent video games.
*rolls eyes* And of course, the media's penchant for saturating us with violent imagery never gets blame. Oh no! It's all that damned Grand Theft Auto.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go shoot some hookers...

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

You do that. ;)

You'd think nobody ever shot anyone after reading a Jane Austen novel...

[whitesangria.livejournal.com]

Good news on the interview. I hope you hear from them soon. And btw, I know you know this: But thank you notes can make the difference between getting hired and not. So bravo you.

And you know what? Kids have been CONVICTED (in a state where there is a death penalty, btw) just because they wore black and listened to Metallica. So, the media picking up on this? So not a surprise. Go to www.wm3.org to read the scariest thing you will ever read about wrongful conviction. Or I'll lend you two (long but horrifying) documentaries about Damien, Jesse and Jason.

And people rarely pick up on something being wrong, when someone is exhibiting serious problems like this. They either pass it off as "not my business", a "phase" or "best not to get involved".

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

Good news on the interview. I hope you hear from them soon. And btw, I know you know this: But thank you notes can make the difference between getting hired and not. So bravo you.

Thank you! Your encouragement means a lot to me. :)

And you know what? Kids have been CONVICTED (in a state where there is a death penalty, btw) just because they wore black and listened to Metallica.

WTF? That's a little... extreme.

I don't think this is the first time I've read about a murder being blamed on a mentally handicapped person, either - unless I've seen coverage of this particular case on 60 Minutes or the like (which is entirely possible). Even if that boy had taken part in a crime, did the jury not believe in diminished capacity?

So, the media picking up on this? So not a surprise. Go to www.wm3.org to read the scariest thing you will ever read about wrongful conviction. Or I'll lend you two (long but horrifying) documentaries about Damien, Jesse and Jason.

Holy crap. I know Arkansas is used as an example of a state full of backwards hicks, but that's beyond the pale.

I would be interested in those documentaries, thank you.

And people rarely pick up on something being wrong, when someone is exhibiting serious problems like this. They either pass it off as "not my business", a "phase" or "best not to get involved".

There's a fine line between picking up on something wrong and being intrusive where there's no cause for real concern, too. But I would think that someone who actually knew the guy would have said something, unless he was a total hermit - in which case nothing could have been done anyway.

"It's just a phase" isn't an excuse, it's an indictment - of the people making that statement. (For some reason I think I'm paraphrasing David Gerrold there, but I don't remember for sure.)

And after reading the coverage in today's Globe, I'm wondering why someone didn't call 911 when they saw him get out of his car carrying a rifle and what appeared to be a second weapon in a shoulder bag. He had to walk around the corner to get to the entrance - and there were plenty of witnesses. Unless they all thought it was a joke - but better safe than sorry.

[montrealais.livejournal.com]

As Dick Cavett once said, there's so much comedy on TV; do you see comedy breaking out in the streets?

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

That's a good way of putting it.

Did you know anyone who was there when it happened? (gurudata's father was the Dean, and his sister is a student - they were both there, but they're fine. troystar's brother teaches there and actually got involved, pulling a student who had been shot into his classroom, and his cousin was also in the building at the time.)

[montrealais.livejournal.com]

My friend Caitlin (not the Caitlin who's in our extended group) was in the building when it happened; she was evacuated in fairly short order and is safe.

A professor whom I used to take classes from at McGill was elsewhere nearby having lunch.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

Not to sound like I'm discounting the lives of the people who were killed and injured, but that's a relief, at least. It sounds as though nobody I'm connected to (albeit indirectly in all cases) was injured.

How are you holding up? It seems that my other Montreal friends - even those not directly affected - are in a bit of shock.