How to Interview

Okay... so it's been awhile. I've been busy trying to get work. I've been only working 24 hours a week since the start of the new year and I'm barely breaking even. However I have good news and a great story to go with it. The following is a note I wrote on Facebook because so many were asking about what happen.

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A lot of people are asking about my new job and the story that goes with it. So let me start off by saying it’s a full-time, data entry position with the possibility of Web design in the near future with a small property management firm, Delta Management, in Vancouver, WA.

Okay the story…

Last Saturday morning my Aunt Gretchen and I went for a walk with her dog, Bailey, through Washington Park with goal of winding our way down to Portland. We do this every now and again plus Gretchen was going to meet up with an old friend of hers while downtown.

It was early and we stopped at Starbucks for a coffee and a bite for breakfast. We then parked near the Zoo and made our way downtown stopping around noon on 23rd Ave for a margarita for her, a pint for me and some water for Bailey. Gretchen’s friend joined us not long after and we all bought another round.

Half way through my second glass I receive a phone call. It went more or less as follows:

"Hi, we like your resume and would like to meet you for an interview. It says you’re living on Canyon Drive and we happen to be in Beaverton today; can you meet us here?”

“Well, I’m downtown walking around with my aunt and…”

“We could meet you at a coffee shop. There’s a really nice place on the corner of 11th and Marshall, Via Delizia. Can you meet us there?”

“Uh… sure; I can be there in 30 minutes.”

“Who was that?” asked Gretchen and I gave her the quick and dirty of it; which is what you just got.

I finished my pint (yeah, that’s right) and a half glass of water before walking the 12 blocks to the coffee shop for this interview. Mind you I’m wearing now muddy Nike shoes, running pants with dirty paw prints from the dog, a hoody and wind jacket. I haven’t taken a shower since early Friday morning and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t wearing deodorant.

I get to the coffee shop, Via Delizia a classy joint and highly recommended, a little early and I get a cup of coffee. After awhile the couple shows up for the interview; an elderly man and his wife, Ascher and Sue. As far as interviews go it went rather well. They told me about the position, asked me some questions, I asked some questions and that was pretty much it.

“Would you like to see our office?”

They drove me (dirty, caffeinated and still had a little buzz going) to their office in Vancouver. I met with their lead IT guy, Jeremy, and was told a little more about what my duties would entail. I agreed to come in the following Monday afternoon to see their operation in a more official sense since it was Saturday and nobody was really there. Afterwards, Ascher drove me back to 23rd.

I had another interview early on Monday and was dressed much more presentable when I arrived at the office at 1pm. I was introduced to more people, shown the software I’d be using, given a tour of the office and than was given all the official forms to fill out. I got the job and my first full day will be this Friday!

I think in the past couple of days I’ve told this story to a least a dozen or so people by now.

Version 3 is up!

After several edits and re-designs I have finally uploaded the new design to a lesser evil production. Check it out! www.alesserevil.com

Home - a cleaner, more readable look. Plus a listing of Today's Specials. Prices may very.
Information - with links to this blog, favorite Web sites, my email and a little history of a lesser evil production.
Photography - up and running much like the previous version.
Design - a totally new section devoted to what I do on a regular basis: design stuff.

Updates already in the works include original sketches added to the design page and a new photographs.

Labor Day weekend 2008: Dave Matthews Band

The week of my Cousin Kelly’s tragic accident I meet a wonderful family and new friends; the Rinaldo’s (Gavin Rinaldo was my cousin’s boyfriend) They’re good people and I will forever consider them apart of my family.
Vito Rinaldo, Gavin’s father, is a huge fan of the Dave Matthews Band. I kid you not that he wore a DMB shirt every single day I was there. Towards the end of the week I found out the he and his beautiful daughter, Gillian, would be traveling to Gorge, WA to see DMB play Labor Day weekend. I’ve never been to the Gorge nor have I ever really been to a major concert before and when this opportunity came up I didn’t hesitate.
With the concert about a month away there was no way for me to get tickets or camping passes on my own. Most of these were being sold a year in advance. Fortunately, Vito belongs to the major DMB fan club called the Warehouse. Through his connections there I was able to get some good seats that normally I wouldn’t have access to.
The weekend was a blast! I took off of work early on Thursday, ran a few errands and then started the 5 hour drive (I hit traffic leaving Portland) to the Gorge. We camped at the Wild Horse Campground with about 300 Vito’s friends, all Warehouse members. DMB played Friday, Saturday and Sunday night and we spent the every day drinking and goofing off.
I was bummed that Gavin wasn’t able to make the concert due to an overbearing Soccer coach. A lot of the people I met, mostly Warehouse members, asked about him. The only other down side to the whole weekend was that Gillian and I got sick; I came home with a head cold and she brought and ear infection with her that just got worse. “She got Ebola!” her joke not mine :)

FLUGTAG!

I know you're thinking WTF but it's an event. A big event. 80 thousand people were reported at the 2008 Flugtag in Portland, Oregon. It's was entertaining to watch these people and there crafts sail of the edge of a pier built at Waterfront Park but the crowds were such that I couldn't get close to the action.


Flugtag is German for "Day of Flight" encase you were wondering.

Kelly Rose Cortesi

May 30, 1992 - July 23, 2008

I wrote earlier this year about my grandfather's passing and how I was unable to make it to the funeral. His death hurt but was expected because of his health and age. He lived a long and full life. The tragedy of loosing my younger cousin last week is still, and will remain for some time, a complete shock.

My family received the call of the accident on Sunday, July 20th. A half a day had not even passed and I was on a plane from Portland to New York to be there for her at the hospital. She spent several days in the hospital on assisted breathing allowing family and many friends to come buy to wish her well. The hospital was wonderful in the care they gave Kelly, her family and friends.

However her injuries were few but great.

A beautiful wake was held on Friday where several hundred mourners came to pay their respects. A celebration of her life was held on Saturday with slides and prints and stories and song were all dedicated to the spirit of Kelly's short but wonderful life.

Below is her obituary as published on July 26th at LoHud.com, New York's Lower Hudson News.

Kelly Rose Cortesi, an athlete, musician, dancer and honor roll student, died Wednesday following a fall from a cliff in Bear Mountain State Park. She was 16. At Putnam Valley High School, where she was to be a junior in September, Kelly was known for her hearty laugh and her ability to forge strong friendships. She played oboe in the high school band and studied piano for several years. She played on the Putnam Valley High School field hockey team and was a runner and hurdler on the Putnam Valley High School track team. She participated in the YMCA Camp Combe leadership club where she was a counselor this summer as well as a junior counselor last summer. She had also obtained her life guard certification for use at the camp. She was an avid Irish step dancer, having studied and performed since she was six, most recently with the Kelly-Oster School of Irish Dance in Brewster. She also had a keen interest in outdoor activities such as hiking, back-packing, snow and water skiing, and bicycling. She is survived by her parents, Mary and Allan Cortesi, both of Putnam Valley; her brother, Kyle; her grandparents Yvonne and Charles Cortesi of Red Hook, NY, and Ginny and Herb Herbig of Yellow Bay, MT, as well as a plethora of aunts, uncles and cousins. A wake will be held Friday July 25 from 2 to 9 PM at Heritage Funeral Home, 35 Morrissey Dr, Putnam Valley. In lieu of flowers, the family plans to set up a scholarship fund in memory of Kelly.

A celebration of her life...a tribute to her spirit.

A special Thank You to all those who helped the family out during this past week.