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So here's the rollercoaster ride that was today...
11 years ago
I had a call yesterday, asking me to come and interview for a Pharmacist Tech position today at 11am (it was my preferred application and I was super happy to hear that was the position I was being considered for!). Of course I accepted and after some prep, off I went. The interview was with the store managers and it went great, they loved me and said it was the best interview they've had for years now.
They also said, "it's usually 2-3 weeks" between the first and second interviews but "for Tom, let's skip the delay." I left the store expecting a call within a few days to let me know what was going on... they called me 30 seconds after I left the store and said "hey, can you do TODAY? 3:30pm in Pensacola with the District Manager?" SURE!
It was on the way to that second interview that disaster struck!
Before even crossing the Pensacola Bay Bridge, we stopped to grab Maple a drink at a Tom Thumb off the Avalon Exit. As we left the gas station and turned back towards I-10, I'd just turned onto the On-Ramp when I decided there was no way it was the road surface I'd been feeling and suspected a flat tire, better stop before we get onto the highway! Sure enough, when I pulled over my suspicions were confirmed, we were almost riding the rim of the front left.
It had just hit 2:30pm and although we had a pretty large buffer, I figured I should play it safe. I was able to track down the personal line for the District Manager that I was due to interview with in an hour's time and explained the situation, she assured me that she would be there until I made it in and to stay safe. PHEW!! I felt better! Right, time to get cracking and get us moving again!
We had a spare tire and the tools to fit it, so we started to go ahead and change it, but the guys who put on the tires in the first place used too high of a torque setting on the impact wrench, meaning that we couldn't get the damn thing off with the tools we had! Crap! Hindsight is definitely 20/20, we should have had a 4-Bar in the car! So, we decided to give the quick fix stuff a go, luckily we weren't too far from the gas stations. Maple offered to go but I decided it wasn't the best idea as he struggles more in the heat so off I went. I walked back to buy a can of the stuff and when we tried it, it seemed to work, but we didn't have enough so I had to go back again and buy more. Now, drenched in sweat and really feeling the heat I returned with two more cans of Quick Fill (or whatever, I can't remember). The tire was flat again! Meaning it was a sidewall puncture, or something similar and there was nothing we could do other than to get the spare on....which we couldn't do!
At this point, I thought that literally nothing else could go wrong.
So we had to wait for the roadside assistance guys to show up (whom Maple had spoken to as soon as we discovered we didn't have the leverage to get the flat tire off the car) which was 45 mins!
All the while I was getting increasingly worried about Maple because I can handle the heat better, and yeah, I might have been drenched in sweat and a lil dizzy, but he's diabetic and a big guy, plus he's my man! It's my job to worry about him. Luckily enough we had glucose and insulin (never leaves the house without it).
In the end we were stuck on the on-ramp to I-10 in 100+ heat for over an hour and 20 minutes.
I was was keeping the District Manager updated the whole time and she was assuring me, she'll wait for me. When we finally got back on the road, we had to stop at a gas station so I could clean myself up, get my tie and shirt back on (I'd taken off my dress shirt so it wouldn't get sweaty and was just in my undershirt). I got the oil off my hands, cleaned off my suit pants, put on my stuff and went to the interview and she bloody loved me! She told me she felt awful that she didn't think to offer to reschedule and did nothing but apologise and make sure I was ok for the first couple minutes. I told her, even if she had offered to reschedule, I would have said no. I hadn't gone through all that, just to turn back.
Turns out that me calling her so early to tell her we'd had a flat tire and would be delayed (and keeping her updated with our progress) was a huge plus. Saying that my "attitude and dedication to make it to the interview in a such a professional manner" had seriously impressed her and she will do everything in her power to help me get this position as she feels I truly deserve it.
So the interviews went great! All the details of the work, benefits and training process+future prospects sound fantastic so I'm now eagerly awaiting a phone call from the guys at the store (who both really liked me too) to let me know what's going to happen.
After a long and incredibly stressful day (in both a good and bad way), Me and Maple finally got home at around 7:30pm and immediately passed out in bed. He's still asleep now, but I woke up at around 4:30am and I reckon I'm not gonna be able to sleep more, maybe I'll nap later.
All in all, no matter what happens, this has made for one heck of a story! I really have high hopes for this job and all I can say is that after today...
I better get it.
They also said, "it's usually 2-3 weeks" between the first and second interviews but "for Tom, let's skip the delay." I left the store expecting a call within a few days to let me know what was going on... they called me 30 seconds after I left the store and said "hey, can you do TODAY? 3:30pm in Pensacola with the District Manager?" SURE!
It was on the way to that second interview that disaster struck!
Before even crossing the Pensacola Bay Bridge, we stopped to grab Maple a drink at a Tom Thumb off the Avalon Exit. As we left the gas station and turned back towards I-10, I'd just turned onto the On-Ramp when I decided there was no way it was the road surface I'd been feeling and suspected a flat tire, better stop before we get onto the highway! Sure enough, when I pulled over my suspicions were confirmed, we were almost riding the rim of the front left.
It had just hit 2:30pm and although we had a pretty large buffer, I figured I should play it safe. I was able to track down the personal line for the District Manager that I was due to interview with in an hour's time and explained the situation, she assured me that she would be there until I made it in and to stay safe. PHEW!! I felt better! Right, time to get cracking and get us moving again!
We had a spare tire and the tools to fit it, so we started to go ahead and change it, but the guys who put on the tires in the first place used too high of a torque setting on the impact wrench, meaning that we couldn't get the damn thing off with the tools we had! Crap! Hindsight is definitely 20/20, we should have had a 4-Bar in the car! So, we decided to give the quick fix stuff a go, luckily we weren't too far from the gas stations. Maple offered to go but I decided it wasn't the best idea as he struggles more in the heat so off I went. I walked back to buy a can of the stuff and when we tried it, it seemed to work, but we didn't have enough so I had to go back again and buy more. Now, drenched in sweat and really feeling the heat I returned with two more cans of Quick Fill (or whatever, I can't remember). The tire was flat again! Meaning it was a sidewall puncture, or something similar and there was nothing we could do other than to get the spare on....which we couldn't do!
At this point, I thought that literally nothing else could go wrong.
So we had to wait for the roadside assistance guys to show up (whom Maple had spoken to as soon as we discovered we didn't have the leverage to get the flat tire off the car) which was 45 mins!
All the while I was getting increasingly worried about Maple because I can handle the heat better, and yeah, I might have been drenched in sweat and a lil dizzy, but he's diabetic and a big guy, plus he's my man! It's my job to worry about him. Luckily enough we had glucose and insulin (never leaves the house without it).
In the end we were stuck on the on-ramp to I-10 in 100+ heat for over an hour and 20 minutes.
I was was keeping the District Manager updated the whole time and she was assuring me, she'll wait for me. When we finally got back on the road, we had to stop at a gas station so I could clean myself up, get my tie and shirt back on (I'd taken off my dress shirt so it wouldn't get sweaty and was just in my undershirt). I got the oil off my hands, cleaned off my suit pants, put on my stuff and went to the interview and she bloody loved me! She told me she felt awful that she didn't think to offer to reschedule and did nothing but apologise and make sure I was ok for the first couple minutes. I told her, even if she had offered to reschedule, I would have said no. I hadn't gone through all that, just to turn back.
Turns out that me calling her so early to tell her we'd had a flat tire and would be delayed (and keeping her updated with our progress) was a huge plus. Saying that my "attitude and dedication to make it to the interview in a such a professional manner" had seriously impressed her and she will do everything in her power to help me get this position as she feels I truly deserve it.
So the interviews went great! All the details of the work, benefits and training process+future prospects sound fantastic so I'm now eagerly awaiting a phone call from the guys at the store (who both really liked me too) to let me know what's going to happen.
After a long and incredibly stressful day (in both a good and bad way), Me and Maple finally got home at around 7:30pm and immediately passed out in bed. He's still asleep now, but I woke up at around 4:30am and I reckon I'm not gonna be able to sleep more, maybe I'll nap later.
All in all, no matter what happens, this has made for one heck of a story! I really have high hopes for this job and all I can say is that after today...
I better get it.
