They wave and smile but there's envy in their eyes

2004-10-25 - 12:53 p.m.

I know, it's early to be writing in here, but I'm frustrated and there's nobody to talk to. So I'm going to eat leftover meatloaf and write in my journal. Sounds like fun, no?

This morning I did get e-mail from Hospital #3 with all the details of my hotel and car and everything, so that made me happy. I also got an e-mail from Hospital #1 with a map. Very cool.

What I didn't get was a phone call from Hospital #2. So, as promised, I called them. I called their HR department. The first guy I talked to couldn't help me and wouldn't give me the number of anyone who could. At that point I called Flik just to vent and she told me to call back because maybe there's more than one person answering the phones and I'd get a different more helpful one. "What if I get the same guy?" I asked. "Hang up on him. But not before yelling, 'You suck!'" "You give such great advice."

So I took Flik's advice and called again. Turns out she was right and this time I got someone much more willing to help. She gave me the name of the person in charge of the next step along the path of my application and then told me she was going to transfer my call. And she did...to a fax machine! "Screeeech scrrr EEEEEE!" No, I don't speak fax. But since she gave me the name, I looked it up and got the number and called back. This time I got an answering machine stating that this person is out of the office and won't be back until Wednesday.

I'm planning on flying out on Wednesday. So what do I do now? The plan is to fly out Wednesday, interview at Hospital #1 Thursday, interview at Hospital #3 Friday, then spend Saturday and Sunday looking at apartments with my brother and sister-in-law. I'm going to buy my plane tickets today. I'm trying to decide whether to fly home Sunday evening or stick around until Monday evening in case I get a call from Hospital #2 later and can schedule an interview for Monday. What are the odds of that happening? The plane tickets are the same price, but I'd have to pay for an extra day of hotel and car.

Speaking of money, I decided not to try to get by on what's in my checking account. I transferred $5000 from my savings to my checking. My mom wanted me to do twice as much, but I think this should be plenty. I certainly hope that this is plenty.