Waiting for Change

Change comes slowly, especially to the impatient. In October 2008, having gone 10 months without a paycheck and the real estate market in the proverbial dumper, I decided to take a night job. Leafing through the ever dwindling help wanted ads, one ad in particular caught me eye, wanted full or part time, security officers, apply in person. I figured what the heck, I put on khackis and a dress shirt and went in to apply. The application was approximately 10 pages long and I was sitting at a crowded table with 4 other applicants doing the paperwork. Lets just say that of the 20 or so applicants that came through the door while I was there, I wouldn't have hired one of them to mow my lawn. It almost seemed like they didn't want to be considered for the job they were now giving their life story to, not to get hired. Filling out applications must be a condition of continued unemployment.
I met with a hiring manager who went over my application with a fine toothed comb. She asked me how far I was willing to travel and I told her the truth, not very. (Gas was still $4/gal and I drove a 4 wheel drive truck) She told me the positions in Ocean County paid little more then minimum wage but if I was willing to travel 20 miles to a job in Monmouth County, the pay would be substantially higher. I would later find substantial to be a relative term. I was then led into the Vice Presidents office who grilled me on my previous criminal history and past drug use. I assured him I was clean with no record and we got down to business. He told me they had a very prestigious client who needed a responsible, smart, well built, and good looking, wait, he did say responsible and punctual, the other descriptions were from my imagination. Anyway, I accepted the job and have been working the 3PM to 11 shift ever since. It is the easiest job I have ever had but it is also the most boring. Hence this blog. I blog not because I am full of myself, I blog because I am bored. I am not responsible for any people or property, only 6 highly sensitive rooms with classified government information inside. That's what they tell me anyway, they could be training monkeys to fly for all I know. That being said, change is on the way, in just 60 days I will be back managing a real estate office where my commute is a short bicycle ride away, nights with my family, and weekends for Open Houses or whatever else I choose to do. I am currently working there 1 day a week learning all the ins and outs of the office and I can't wait until it's my full time gig. In this case the waiting paid off and in a couple of months I can kiss my security days goodbye!
In the 6 months I've been here I've taken one night off, for my shoulder surgery. The procedure was a success and I'm now in my 5th week of physical therapy at Physical Therapy Works in Point Pleasant, owned and operated by Laurie Boenning, a fellow grad of PPBHS, a member of my wedding party and a first rate athlete in a previous life. In our sessions she's aggresively stretching and strengthening my shoulder in order to get me back on the basketball court just as soon and as safely as possible. Here is her website http://www.ptworks-nj.com I would highly recommend her PT services to any and all who want to get healthy in the shortest amount of time possible. She even treats this 43 yr old paunchy has been as the hoopster he once was! That's all for know...