Category: Family

My last day at my old job was Tuesday, June 29, 2021. Through networking, I’d applied for a job at a Fortune 200 company. I started the interview process about three weeks ago, fast forward until June 18, 2021, and I met with the manager of operations and the senior director of operations. I did my homework and did a lot of research on the company.

On the day of the interview, I took the day off. I even made sure I had plenty of STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) questions and answers ready for the meeting. That’s the format that this company uses, and the company also mentions this on their website. The interview was virtual, and it went well. However, they could not see me on video for the first 30 minutes! Whoops, I thought they could. I could see myself and both of them just fine when this was brought to my attention after finishing the STAR questions. I immediately started the process of troubleshooting this situation. It took about three minutes, and they were able to see me and commented on my perseverance in resolving the issue quickly. They cheered once we were all on video. The Senior Director of Operations joked about starting the interview again, and we all had a good laugh. I must say it was one of the best interviews I’ve had, and I left with the feeling that “This job is mine!”

 

I GOT THE JOB!

Of course, I didn’t find out that news until two days later. The talent agent reached out to me on Friday, 6/18/21, and gave me the good news. I was at work and stepped outside to take the call. I did an excited fist pump when she told me the news. She was so excited for me also. I like this talent agent. She’s friendly, responsive, and has gone above and beyond to assist me when I had questions. After the initial excitement and chatter had dissipated, “A” went on to say that it was apparent that I did my homework. Because both of the interviewers were very impressed with my responses to the STAR technique, she was right; that weekend leading up to the interview, I did research the STAR technique, came up with numerous questions, and used five incidents throughout my work career that could be used in any scenario presented. Later that evening, she emailed me the acceptance letter. They were offering me much more than I originally had anticipated. She was so happy when she told me my salary on the phone. She also mentioned that she would be sending over the paperwork to grant my permission to do the background check.

The next phase was the background check. Over the years, I’ve had several of them, and so I was not concerned at all. That is until I discovered the company they were using. It appears that a lot of the popular companies that do background checks outsource their work to other countries. That’s not automatically an issue; however, time constraints and occasional trouble understanding one another can be an issue. I’d read this and discovered this for myself with this background check. Everything, except for my employment, came back clear. Since I’d already read horror stories about this, I was prepared.  I had W2 transcripts for past jobs; they used paystubs and all three years of W2’s for where I was currently working. I did not want them to know I was looking for work. Monday, June 28, 2021. I received word from my new company Investigative Team that my background check had cleared, and the Talent Agent would be contacting me to go over the next steps. She did the following day. I received my credentials for Workday, and I’ve begun the Onboarding process. I still need to take a photo, which I will complete today. I also need to complete the tax information. Everything else, except a few benefits-related videos, was completed yesterday. I must say that my entire interaction with my new place of employment has been positive. I’ve dealt with five people from the new company, and they all have been cordial, professional, and prompt. That’s exactly how I am at work, so you know I’m thrilled to see that with all that I’ve interacted with thus far.

Preparing for working at home full-time

Monday, I had a cable technician come to the house to install Xfinity Blast; however, since there was a tree in our yard that had grown over the telephone and power lines. He told me that he could not do the job and would have to come out once the tree limbs had been removed—more on that in a later post. My employer still have to send out the monitor, computers, and I’ll need to do my I-9 verification. It’ll be exciting being on the other side of the verification. As an independent contractor, I’d occasionally conduct inspections to verify that a remote worker had the proper office set-up. I always knew that I most likely would be on the other side of that equation.

No more weekday commute!

I will not miss the daily traffic on 695. It typically took me 1.5 hours round trip. Of course, that was on a good day; sometimes, it took a bit longer. I’m also loving the fact that I won’t be using as much gas. My Prius gets excellent gas mileage; however, I’m thrilled that I won’t have to travel for work. I’ve worked from home several times throughout the years, so this is not a new experience. I prefer working from home, and it means I’ll get to see my daughter more!

I must say that I’m thrilled with the opportunity. I was listening to my interviewers, doing my research on employees that work at the company, and viewing how they treat their customers. I’m very sure that I’ll be happy working at this organization. A bonus is that the company is recognized as one of the top places for employees to work.

 

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What does a Human Resources Recruiter do?

 

Here in the USA, you can request electronic copies of your W2 forms (work documents) by going to the IRS website.

I had no idea you could get electronic copies, until last evening when searching the Reddit forum stumbled upon a screenshot that I’ve included below.

 

I already knew you could get hard copies from them. However, that takes up to 90 days to receive. You can also request to receive old copies of your W2’s by getting them from the employer. Here in the USA, they’re required to keep copies of those forms for four years. If I’d known that, yesterday morning, it would have been extremely helpful when talking with a company that needed proof of a place where I’d worked. I do keep copies of my W2 forms. However, I was at work, and I also knew for those particular years, that I would have to do some digging since I’d moved those documents.

It took a few minutes to register at the IRS website. You have to fill in personal information, and you’ll have to enter evidence to verify that you are who you claim. Identify theft is a thing after all. After jumping through those hoops I was able to access my electronic W2 forms. I especially like that all the information isn’t visible, some of the info is blurred. I was able to access files from 2011 – 2020.

 

From the IRS website.

How awesome is that? I was able to download the years needed, and Monday, I’ll be submitting the requested forms.

 

 

Wishing all the awesome father’s a wonderful Father’s Day. It’s not just once a year, I need to let my dad know year-round how much he is appreciated, and I do exactly that.

My father was diagnosed with arthritis last year, and so this year, he’s moving a lot slower, which is tough to see. I’m used to seeing him be so active. After much coaxing and prodding, I’ve finally got him to get physical therapy. I made all the arrangements. He has treatment not too far from their house, and it’s an hour long. He’ll have therapy twice weekly. I know that will help him a lot, and he’s starting to do the exercise again, something that had almost come to a standstill last year. He didn’t gain any weight; he’s still trim; however, the lack of motion wasn’t doing his arthritis any favors. Both I, my brother, my mom are happy that he’s finally agreed to therapy.

 

In other news

A few exciting things have happened in the past few weeks that I have to keep quiet for a bit, not only on my little quiet corner of the internet, for the most part, I have to keep quiet about it with people I know. So here’s hoping that I can make the big reveal soon.

Sometimes, it’s hard to believe that my Toyota Prius is 18 years old! I bought the car used; it had two owners before me, and I believe both did a great job of keeping it clean. I like a clean car, so I do my best to keep it looking nice.

 

The proceeding pictures are before I cleaned my car photos. Yes, my car sure is filthy!

Well, up front had not been touched. In the back, I’d just sprayed the seats with a cleaner and was about to steam them clean. Or that was the plan until I discovered a stain on the back seat once I’d sprayed the fabric.

I thought it was interesting how that stain just magically appeared when the fiber was wet.  If you look at the back seat, you’ll see a dark mark in the center of the seat. After a lot of spraying/vacuuming the area with the steamer, I was able to eliminate most of the stain, and although the carpets and seats appeared clean in my vehicle, I still was able to pull up a nice amount of dirt. That stain didn’t happen while I had the vehicle, so I imagine one of the former owners had a spill in the back seat? They might have mopped it up, and while it appeared clean on the surface as soon as the fiber became wet, voila! The stain made an appearance. I’ve been using my Shark to clean my car; however, I bought a portable car vacuum this past weekend.

It’s the VacLife. I’m impressed that it holds a charge for longer than 10 minutes. Additionally, once I figured out how to properly place it on its base, I love it even more.

The wet/dry vac that I was using was the Bissell Little Green ProHeat handheld Deep Cleaner. I bought it last evening from Loews. It’s too early to give an accurate review of either item; however, I’m impressed with them thus far. Hopefully, they’ll both continue to do an excellent job. I did a lot of research before choosing both of them.

 

It’s been hectic (and stressful) the past several weeks, and when I feel stressed, I clean even more, and I’ll knit. Now that I think of it, I haven’t done any knitting in the past few weeks; however, I have ramped up cleaning. So our house is even cleaner than usual. I do believe I’ll take a break from that. Ok, I’ll still clean; I’ll go back to my normal level of cleaning (which still is above average, I guess) and start knitting. I have a few work-in-progress knitted items that are crying out for attention, one being a super soft woolen blanket that I started several months ago and have only knit a few rows. It’s high time I change that.

 

 

 

My goodness, where has the time gone? It seems like just the other day that I was bringing her home from the birthing center. Yes, I had natural childbirth, and now she’s 18. Sighs this fall, she’ll be in college.

I took the day off of work, and I left my job early yesterday to spend more time with my lovely daughter.

This morning, I purchased 12 balloons for her. Why only twelve? I wanted to get 18 today; however, 12 balloons in my little Toyota Prius were already hogging valuable viewing space. I have not bought her balloons since she was a child going to Chuck E Cheese; however, judging by the smile of delight that spread over her face when she saw the balloons. I know she was happy. Tomorrow, I’ll add six more balloons to make it 18. My daughter is low-key and rarely asks for anything. As she became older, I typically gave her money for her birthday (and she saves most of that) and some little trinkets.

 

What did I make for her? I made another pizza in my Ooni Pro.

She enjoyed the pizza and had a few slices.

Tomorrow, I’ll be making Mexican food. About an hour ago, I asked her what type of dish she’d like; she said, “Something good!”

Today, I bought her a cake; we added birthday candles. Her grandparents were present, and her uncle (my brother) called, and we sang Happy Birthday. She protested that she did not want us to sing for her; however, she seemed pleased.

 

Happy birthday pretty princess. I love you!

This afternoon, I was surprised when I saw that I had a delivery. The UPS delivered a large box to our home.

At first, I was puzzled trying to figure out what it could be, and then I saw the words on the box! It’s my 16″ Ooni Pro Multi-Fuel Outdoor Pizza Oven. Over the past week, I’ve been checking the website every few days to see when shipping would begin for the oven. I ordered the 16″ Multi-fuel Ooni Pro on January 6, 2021. Initially, I was supposed to receive my pizza oven in April; however, with the government shut down, and some businesses still not performing at 100%, it was moved to this month. I understood the delay in shipment when Ooni reached out to me. Was I disappointed? Of course, I was looking forward to making my own restaurant-style pizza at home. However, I understood.

I will say that receiving the oven today was a surprise. Ooni has done an excellent job with customer service and they’ve reached out to me several times, since I placed my order, to send me updates along with delicious pizza recipes to try out when I received my outdoor oven. They also informed me that they would let me know when my item had shipped. I never received a confirmation that my order was being shipped.

In fact, when I log onto the website, it’s still showing my order as unfulfilled. I’ll reach out to them tomorrow to let them know that I received my oven. I’m so glad that I was home. Of course, as soon as I brought the oven into our home, it started pouring down rain! Here’s hoping that I have a chance to make some pizza tomorrow. However, it’s still raining, I’ll just hold off until next weekend.

Last month, while driving my car, I noticed that the air conditioner wasn’t working. It was in the ’70s, and I was headed home from work and would be on the road for at least 30 minutes, so the warmth was noticeable but tolerable. It’s not warm today. It’s about 50 F!  While I was hoping the issue was that my Toyota Prius needed freon gas, I was convinced it was the compressor after checking online. It turns out I was right. When I popped into the auto-mechanic shop on Wednesday, Pete (owner) called one of their suppliers to get a quote on the compressor. After he got off the phone, he looked at me and said, “You’re not going to like what I have to tell you!” I laughed and said, “I already knew it was going to pricey because of the look on your face.” My cost would be $750.

Although I wasn’t thrilled with the price, my local mechanic does excellent work, and his prices are always lower than anyone else in the area. Also, his turnaround time is fast. You usually have your vehicle the next day. My father uses them also, and Pete (owner) and many of the mechanics know him well. I dropped my car off last evening and picked it up about an hour ago. No complaints about the price/cost. I’m blessed that I have the money to fix the issue.

I’m still driving my 2003 Prius, and since I purchased it about four years ago, this has been my first high-cost fix. The front door’s power lock worked erratically shortly after purchasing the car, and the driver’s side completely stopped working a few years ago. Initially, I’d planned to purchase the actuator motor and fix it myself; however, I believe I’ll have my mechanic do that for me.

 

The second round of COVID shot went well.

My father’s second round of his COVID vaccinations went well. This past Sunday, I took him to Johns Hopkins for his second dose. I had my daughter accompany us. I dropped them right off at the entrance and parked my car at the garage that was right by the hospital. What’s great is, thus far, he has not had any side effects. On the day of his shots, my daughter and I stayed close if he did react. My mom was working that day, so that meant he would have been home alone. Since I’d read that some people do have side effects, it made sense for my daughter and me to spend the day with him to ensure that he was fine. Dad was a bit stubborn and told me repeatedly that he was fine; however, he did appreciate the concern and thanked me later that day. I had excellent role models. My parents did the same thing for my father’s parents when they were alive. My mother’s parents have been dead for several years. Since I’d already taken off the following day, the activities we’d planned to do Sunday, we postponed them until Monday. This past Monday, we went back to HMart and finally had a chance to see some Cherry Blossoms!

In other news…

I’ve been doing a lot of meal prep. I’ll have to post pictures of what I’ve been making. Later today, I do believe I’ll do some sewing and knitting, and tomorrow, we’ll be going to a local park that’s close to an airport so we can watch planes take off. We haven’t been to that park since my daughter was four years old.