Go Coogs' wrote:My parents divorced shortly after I graduated high school and they pretty much told me I was on my own during my first semester of college. My dad moved to Phoenix and my mother moved closer to work in downtown Houston and put their house on the market. I didn't have very much success in obtaining a job that paid more than $5.25/hour, so I found three jobs that paid the same shitty amount. I worked at two golf courses and Blockbuster Music for a little over a year while splitting rent with a couple of friends in a below average apartment.
I got pneumonia just before the holidays and was admitted to a hospital for a couple days and ended up missing work for a couple of weeks. I was told if I couldn't fulfill the schedule, then I'd lose my job(s). Sure enough, my lung collapsed on Christmas Eve night while I was shooting some pool with some friends who were home from college and I was back in the hospital. Shortly after, I was relieved of my duties at two of my three jobs. I couldn't afford rent, so I was forced to move into my brother's trailer which was parked behind a bar in hickville located northeast of Houston. It was God awful there. People I met while living there ended up being arrested for possession of crack. It was so surreal to me, but I managed to stay away from the trouble. Once I regained my strength, I caught a break and was offered a job as a rush driver for routes in rural areas. The only setback was having to quit school because the gig was 14 hours a day Monday thru Friday and a few hours every other Saturday. The job did pay $680 a week which was a huge increase from what I was making pre-lung collapse. I saved up enough money to put a deposit down on a nice apartment in uptown Houston (aka Galleria Area).
After doing the rush delivery thing for nine months, I realized I was working a dead end job and had to find something with benefits and a future. I applied for a nighttime position at the Federal Reserve Bank and was hired shortly after my bad ass interview. I received full medical & dental benefits, 6% matching on my 401k, subsidized lunches & breakfasts, paid for tuition, paid vacation, paid Park n' Ride, etc... It was a great job. By the time I finished school a black cloud started to form over the fed and talks of layoffs were swirling through all departments. It was going to be based on seniority, so I bailed before I was going to get the axe.
I spoke with my father-in-law about my options and he said I could test the market or come work for him. I applied to a few mid-level corporations and received a couple of offers, but they could not match what my father-in-law was offering, so I chose to keep it in the family. I worked for him and completely restructured his back office and compliance department. I worked on all sorts of other projects for him before I settled in as the Rep training coordinator. It was fun for a while, but reps/advisors can be such crybabies, so I decided to try something new.
I enrolled in a JUCO and received a technical degree in Process Technology within a year (took 45 hours in fall & spring semesters and two summer sessions). I went through a bevy of recruiters looking for jobs as an operator at a chemical plant. After weeks of searching I received one response. It was a chemical plant in Beaumont (75 miles away from Case de Rumps)...oh why the hell not. I took a Wonderlic test and a Mechanical Aptitude test and passed with flying colors. I was called for and interview a few weeks down the road. Two months later, I was hired in as an operator. It was a far cry from what I had ever done before professionally, but I loved it the minute I stepped foot on the plant grounds. Great job and great people. Oh, and the money ain't bad either. :wink:
INRAT
In summary, you got some pussy.
