job search stuff

Training session this morning went well. I got to practice sitting behind the desk and "making appointments" for some of my fellow trainees. I also got to actually check in an actual client, since the office was open today, and didn't flub it. Go me!

It turns out that there was some issue (details as yet unknown) with my contact information. The office manager said she'd tried to phone me and email me several times in December, which is weird because I did not receive any such calls or emails. I was even checking my spam message folder regularly and nothing showed up there either. (I did get a couple wrong-number style calls, but they were all from New Jersey area codes and had nothing but blank silence on the line when I picked up, so I don't think those were from New Employer.) Anyway, I am now listed as an available-to-work person and thus have access to the system. I've set my hours I'm able to work (which is obviously not the same thing as hours I will be working), and am scheduled for a real shift this coming Friday. I may also be picking up a shift from another receptionist next Saturday since she suspects she has a social commitment that afternoon.

So yay! Part-time job number one is GO!

(This particular office is a bit of a pain to get to -- I have to walk twenty minutes into town and then catch a bus for another twenty minutes -- but it's also right next to an outpost of my grocery chain, so I was able to grab lunch after the training ended, and will presumably be able to combine some light shopping with work in the future.)

Turn Left meme answers (all Calormen all the time edition)

This is some stuff from the Turn Left meme (which is still open, if anyone wants to play), which I am posting here for my own reference:

hungrytiger11 said, I'll choose a shorter piece- That darkened over coming years. Ilgamuth chooses a different gift other than perfume.

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Not much changes! He'd probably have picked jewelry or bells or a silk scarf/sash -- those being other traditional first move courting gifts among the upper classes. ( more details )

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To which hungrytiger11 said, See- this is so utterly, utterly fascinating to me. Even though it may not change the story much, I feel like I have a deeper understanding of the cultural practice. It makes me wonder more about Cor's choice of gifts then [in The Courting Dance]. Though they were more the same sort of small things, was his understanding of the nuances as good (due both to the fact that he was a commoner in a household of only men and because of the years that have passed since being in Calormen)?

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Cor and Aravis are different from Shezan and Ilgamuth in that they already know that they're both sexually attracted to each other and capable of living in a functional partnership for the long haul. They don't need the testing/dating period of the dance, which is why Cor jumped to offering two gifts right off the bat and left jesses along with the bells, and also why Aravis didn't bother rejecting that first gift. ( more details )

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hungrytiger11 said, So... I'm greedy but now am curious about another story- Out of Season. What if Shezan had revealed what she knew about the beaver's escape plot, or what if she had chosen to act as dead weight and pulled the eagle from its flight?

Alternatively, what if Rabadash's plot had been successful?

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The entirety of HHB gets derailed, for starters! After that... this is an answer in four parts.

If Shezan overcomes her moral qualms and tells someone about the escape plot, the results depend on who she confides in: Axartha, her fellow priestesses of Achadith, or her fellow Tolkheeras and Tolkaars.

1. If Shezan tells Axartha, the information gets passed to the Tisroc, and from there to the other Tolkaars and Tolkheeras, plus a dozen carefully chosen guards... but not to Rabadash. Marigold Beaver gets chained down to the altar instead of held by a single person, and winds up dead without a much more direct divine intervention. The Eagle likewise ends up dead, killed by the waiting guards. I don't think Aslan would interfere in such conditions, and while it's possible for Achadith to possess Shezan or appear in person, she doesn't need a favor from Aslan that badly and can accomplish her aims in other ways. Calormen therefore has no need to save face with Narnia, and is likely to start some sort of proxy war and/or trade embargo in retaliation for the attempted disruption of their holy day.

( a LOT more details )

And that is that!