Job at the WWF

...(but not the World Wrestling Federation)

Today was a good day, though not quite as good as I had been hoping for. I had been hoping to hear back about an internship that I interviewed for and am really excited about, but alas, I didn't not hear from them. I did, however, start my first day as a 4-day temp at the World Wildlife Fund. I am just subbing for an assistant because she is taking next week off for Thanksgiving. Normally she would be able to just take time off and not need anyone to replace her, but several of her superiors are about to go to the Democratic Republic of Congo for a few weeks for a conference or something, so they need someone in the office.

I didn't really do very much today. My two big tasks were to design some certificates that will be given out at a ceremony in the D.R.C., and to make sure that some expense reports were turned in to the accounting department by 3:00 today. Oh, and I also had to coordinate with a visa service and return some passports to people who are going on this trip. I must say, these four passports were by far the most impressive passports I have ever seen. They all had lots of stamps from lots of exotic places and most of them had lots of extra pages to accommodate all of the stamps. Overall it was a fairly easy job, but it seems like a great place to work, full of interesting people. One of the guys who I am helping to coordinate with on this trip is Bruce Babbitt, former governor of Arizona. I will be meeting him on Monday I think. Hopefully I will hear back about that other internship on Monday too. But then I will have to think about how much I really want that internship, which pays a lot less than even this temp gig, or if I would maybe rather try to get a job here at the WWF... gosh, who knows...

On an unrelated note, here is proof that some people have way too much time on their hands. I saw this story online about an old photo which allegedly MIGHT contain an image of Abraham Lincoln. You can then click on a link which takes you to increasingly zoomed-in images of the photo in question, eventually trying to convince you that a specific tiny blob in the photo must be good ol' Honest Abe himself. It's pretty ridiculous...

And finally, here is a YouTube video of the latest cheesy yet catchy Puerto Rican reggaeton song that I have become addicted to, "Sexy Movimiento" by Wisin & Yandel. I'm not going to lie; there are a lot of annoying things about this video (mostly the mild objectification of women and annoying displays of "bling" and machismo), but you might like it anyway.

Murphy's Law

Suit shopping didn't go as perfectly as I had been imagining as almost all of the stores I went to had little or nothing in my size (I need to bulk up), but I did end up purchasing something late in the afternoon. It's nothing fancy; just a black three-button suit from Men's Wearhouse (the only place that had any suits small enough for me). It won't be ready to pick up until Monday evening, and naturally the place that I am really excited to have an interview with called me today wanting to schedule an interview on Monday. At first I told them I would prefer to come in later in the week so I could wear my suit, but then I changed my mind and asked if they don't really mind that I don't wear a suit if I could go ahead and come in on Monday. So I won't get to wear my new suit to the big interview that I am really excited about... Oh well, I still think it will be good to have a suit, and maybe I won't get this job anyway and I'll still need a suit for more interviews later.

Making Progress

So I've been in DC for a full week now and I have made a little bit of progress. In the next two days I should be scheduling two interviews for next week. I'm not going to go into much detail about the interviews in case they don't work out, but I will say that I am pretty excited about one, and not quite as excited about the other. I feel like I have a good shot at both of them, but probably better chances at the one that I am less excited about. Anyway, I am excited to finally have some interviews on the horizon and I am pretty sure that neither of them would be happening if I were still in Colorado instead of here.

My goal for tomorrow is to buy a suit to wear to these and future interviews. In preparation for this I have spent most of the day today online trying to learn about suits since I have never shopped for a suit before. I learned that three-button is sort of the current suit fashion, but almost to the point where it is almost passé. I learned that non-vented tends to look better and sleeker, but might not be as comfortable (but doesn't really have anything to do with ventilation). I learned that flat-front pants are probably better for skinny guys like me, and pleated pants are better for bigger guys but most skinny guys should avoid pleats. I learned that worsted wool generally seems to be the preferred fabric.

Although a few of my more frugal relatives would probably suggest that I go first to the local thrift store for my new suit, I will not be going that route. I think I will start by going to Express on M street in Georgetown even though they don't really have suits and it will probably be a waste of time. I will probably end up buying SOMETHING there anyway though because I seem to have no self-control in that particular store (is it the trendy music that they play in the dressing rooms? who knows...). After Express in Georgetown, I will probably go to Macy's downtown. If Macy's doesn't do it for me, then I will probably go to the Men's Warehouse, which appears to be more expensive, but also probably has a better selection than Macy's.

I am a little bit worried about going solo without a non-biased second pair of discerning eyes, but I also shop better alone because I don't feel like I am wasting someone else's time, so maybe going solo will be good. I'm not really looking forward to spending the money on a suit, but if it helps me land a job more quickly then I guess it is probably worth it.

So things seem to be happening and I am excited about it even if nothing is really set yet. Hopefully I will totally dazzle these people with my awesomeness and they will want me to start right away. Once I get a job squared away, then my next order of business will be to find an apartment to live in. After that, I suppose an awesome girlfriend would be the next order of business.