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I guess there are times when you need to be reminded that there are very superficial business people out there.

Last week I got an email in response to my resume posted on Craig’s List. This is what it said:

“Can you send references and salary history?”

That’s it. No mention about what kind of work this person was interested in. It was signed by a lawyer.

So I replied that I wanted know what this was in regards to before I sent such information. This was the response:

“I am looking for an executive assistant who can proof read, knows grammar, and is conscientious, organized, has excellent people skills. Would this be you?”

Now, lets step back a bit. The headline for my resume is, “Editorial Professional with 10+ Years Experience.” I’ve been in marketing for more than 15 years. So, I’m thinking why would this person think I’d be interested in an executive assistant position. So I reply:

“Well, yes I do have those qualities, however I’m not really an executive assistant. I’m more of a marketer or publications editor. But thank you for thinking of me.”

Later that day, he calls me. Apparently he’s having difficulty finding someone who can read and write. So he convinces me to come in for an interview at 1:30 pm today. He even confirms this time in writing via email.

So today, I’m en-route to the interview and at around 1:15pm he calls me again and says our interview was at 1pm. I said I had 1:30 and I was on my way. He said it was probably his mistake and looked forward to meeting with me.

So I get there. I’m wearing my typical interview outfit: my nicest trousers (beige cotton linen) and a nice blue knit top. I’ve worn this outfit to interviews where I’ve been offered the job. I’ve been dressing this way for more than 15 years and no one has ever commented on it.

What is this lawyer’s first comment to me? First, that he knew he made the appointment for 1pm because he was seeing a client at 2pm. And then, asked me what kind of job I was looking for because I wasn’t dressed nicely enough. He had clients coming into the office and expected a certain “image.”

I told him that I had been dressing this way to corporate positions for years without comment and that I would not be comfortable in a place that required more. I was out the door and out of the parking lot before the 20 minute deadline for free parking was up.

I mean really, if I had showed up in flip flops and a skirt with no nylons I would understand. Oh, and to make matters worse, his front office assistant was wearing a casual, almost hippy-ish dress. I was definitely dressed more professionally than her.

What a waste of my time. I’d much rather work with people who appreciate my skills and talents and not how I dress — not that I dress like a bum or anything. But my philosophy is life it too short for uncomfortable clothes and threw off that yoke years ago and never intend on looking back.

Nothing riles me more than being accused of something I have not done.

For example, when I was in college I was playing a game of Scruples with my roommate and her friends. The basis of the games is a set of cards, each with a morally ambiguous situation. As each person takes their turn, they read off a card and state what they would do in that situation. Then all the other players vote as to whether the person is lying or not. Depending on the results, the person whose turn it is gets to move forward or not.

Anyway, the situation I picked up was this: I is 2am on a dark country road. You see someone at the side of the road with a flat tire. Do you stop to help?

I said, “Heck no! That could be a trap!”

The others said I was lying.

Well, I wasn’t. I got so incensed that no one believed I was telling the truth that walked away from the game in a huff.

Why do I share this story? Because it happened again this week and it bothers me so much I just want to break something.

A few weeks ago, I hurt my back. I don’t have health insurance because I’m between jobs, so I went to a walk-in, low-cost clinic. The doctor gave me some muscle relaxants and Vicodin, stating that she could tell I wasn’t a person there just trying to get drugs.

Now, I don’t know about you but I don’t like Vicodin. I doesn’t seem to do anything for the pain and it makes me rather nauseous.

Well, my back gets slowly better. I get a job and on my first day by back goes out again — only worse. I was in so much pain, I couldn’t drive home. I was 36 miles from home and my husband was planning on bicycling up to get me. Fortunately, AAA made an exception and had me towed home. I got home early enough to go back to that clinic.

This time, the doctor said she wasn’t going to give me Vicodin because she could tell I was an addict.

Yeah. Right. I love feeling nauseous and still being in pain. Give me some more of that Vicodin.

Erg! I still had Vicodin left. And it does squat for me. I really don’t understand how people can be addicted to it. I mean, really, if I’m going to be addicted to something, its going to be something that makes me feel good — not sick.

Then yesterday, I was talking to me dad and found out that Vicodin doesn’t work for him either. Well that does it. No one is going to make me pay for Vicodin again, it is just a waste of my money.

Drug addict, indeed.

I’m moving to California at the end of the month, so I will be unable to update this blog for a few weeks. But never fear! I’ll be back and posting before the year is out!

In the mean time, check out what I’ve been doing over at DragonWyze Communications or Carma’s Cookery.

It must have started at the beginning of the summer, but I didn’t really notice until the end of August.

For months, my husband had been complaining that my hair was all over the place – the floor, the shower, the bathroom counters, etc. I told him it was because my hair was long; long hair always falls out more than short hair.

So I continued to clean the hair catcher after every shower, not really paying attention to the volume of hair that I was cleaning up.

In early August, I got sick of my husband’s complaints, as well as always having to wear my hair up to keep cool, so I cut my hair to a short style, like in my profile’s picture.

But the hair kept falling out.

The last week of August, I was in an Anaheim hotel room (I was attending Worldcon) when I looked in the mirror and realized I could see my scalp through my hair.

Now, this may not sound like a big deal to some of you, but it was for me. I’ve always had such a densely populated scalp that I’ve had to dig through the hair just to see it. Now I could see it without trying.

Yikes! Once I got home, I called my doctor and made an appointment. However, before my appointment, I got my hair cut again and the hairdresser mentioned that certain vitamins were good for hair growth.

Then it occurred to me. Not only have I been on a diet and extremely stressed out, but I hadn’t been taking my vitamins for at least a couple of months.

I started taking them. And within a day or two, the volume of hair in the hair catcher plummeted.

My doctor examined my scalp and took blood tests to rule out anything metabolic. I’m happy to say that I’m relatively fit as a fiddle. She sent me home with a handout explaining “Hair Loss in Women.” My favorite part was at the end. After discussing causes and treatments, it said, “If your hair loss doesn’t get better with treatment, many types of wigs are available.”

Gee, thanks.

Anyway, the finale analysis is that stress and vitamin deficiency caused my hair loss. This morning, I looked in the mirror and noticed that I could no longer easily see my scalp. My hair is still thin as the new hair growth catches up to the older hair, but I’m no longer going bald. I’ll count that as one of my blessings.

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last posted to this blog. Is this a trend? I hope not. I’ve been so busy this past month:

• Trying my best to post 3x/week to my The Genre Traveler Blog

• Launching a blog about East African tourism and conservation
• Trying to up the blog posts to my pumpkin blog
• Attending Worldcon – what a great experience!
• Turning 40
• Cheating on my diet
• Trying to fit in time to write the next issue of The Genre Traveler due the last week in September (I got to interview “The Coffin Lady” for this issue)
• Packing up for my move at the end of October
• Trying to launch Carma’s Cookery, a website devoted to kitchen creativity and gift giving. My first e-book, Bonkers for Bundt Cakes is just about ready
• Attending to Sprocket who got an ear infection while I was away at Worldcon and has been overrun by hotspots. The poor thing could be called Patch, she’s got so many bald spots.
• Learning how to use my new digital camera – look forward to more original photos taken by yours truly to be posted at all my blogs and websites

Once we’ve settled into our new digs in November, I hope to have more time to devote to Random Thoughts and my other projects. Until then, I think I’m resigned to being a head with its chicken cut off.