I started at Starbucks today! It was about half boring book and computer study and half practical. During the practical part, I tasted three coffees, two pastries, four frappuccinos, and four teas and juice blends. Oh yes. It was totally as awesome as it sounds. I'll be in training for two weeks or so (since I'm not working a whole lot of hours until after the election) so it'll be cool to see how things progress. But I do, as advertised, get a lot of free coffee. I intend to try pretty much everything on the menu. The other cool thing is that another girl started the same time as me, so there are two of us training together. It makes me feel good not to be the only incompetent one. Not incompetent for long, I hope.
The bad news is, I never got my absentee ballot, so it looks like our ongoing struggle with the post office somehow scuttled my attempt to re-register to vote after moving. (The struggle with the post office is a long story, but the short version is that for weeks they had our house listed as vacant and nothing we could do or say would convince them we actually lived here and needed to recieve mail here. Finally, now we have mail service.) Today I tried to go to the Auditor's office, since it's the last day to register to vote in person or settle registration disputes, but while I thought they closed at 5:00, they actually close at 4:30. This continues to amaze me: how many places are open 9-5 (or less) when the majority of their customer base needs them to open at other hours because we all work during the day. In this case, it's the government, and they have no competition for their business, so they have no reason to trouble their employees with working evenings. Except, you know, that whole serving-the-public thing. Grrr. On the plus side, though, Evan's letting me research the issues and advise him on his voting, so it's almost like I get to vote. Yeah. I keep trying to convince myself of this. The fact is, it is too difficult to stay registered to vote. I always thought it was outrageous when people complained how hard it is to register, because it's really easy to register the first time when you're 18. But for young people like me, so often in transition, it gets complicated. I have had 9 different mailing addresses since I turned 18. So each time I move, I have to re-register, and I have to do it at least 30 days before the election. So since I moved too soon before the primary, there was no way I would be allowed to vote in it. Then, there is too small a window (read: 1 business day) between when absentee ballots go out and when you can settle disputes about your registration (i.e. not having recieved an absentee ballot), and you can only do it during regular business hours, so if you work during the day, you're just out of luck. And if a politically aware, highly motivated person like myself can't manage to get registered to vote, this system is messed up. It occurs to me also that this system of registration is especially disenfranchising to younger, working people who rent and move frequently. Wealthier, older people usually own their homes and therefore are stable enough not to have to re-register. Way to go, Washington's electoral system, kicking the little guy again.
But then, maybe I'm just upset because my caffeine and sugar buzz is wearing off.
Well, I've been itching to blog about my campaign job, but I'm really afraid of getting fired if I say too much, since I (theoretically) do deal with some sensitive information regarding campaign activities and tactics. So I'll be very general until after the election. (November 7th! Register to vote NOW if you haven't yet: here for Washington residents; other states can be found easily with Google.) I will say though, on the extreme offchance that anyone here is registered with the 8th District (Auburn, Renton, Bellevue, and the many rural suburbs all the way out to the Cascades): Darcy Burner is an awesome candidate.
A lot of my work is either rather draining, in that it involves a lot of voter contact (i.e. phone calls and doorbelling) and I'm not so much a people-person. Plus, people are really rude to solicitors (although, legally, we're not considered solicitors, since we're not asking for any money). So that part of my job is not fun for me. But it's probably good for me too, for the same reason: it will help me to get better at it and get more comfortable with it. Most of the rest of my job is rather menial computer and filing tasks, but I like those pretty well. Yes, because they allow me to be really compulsive. Yes, I've been watching a lot of Monk lately. Leave me alone.
Meantime, I've been working pretty hard to get a job at Starbucks because we really need the money. I pretty much figured after the campaign was over, I'd look for a legitimite job. But the more I look at it, the better Starbucks looks for me. After tips, I'd be making around $10 an hour, and I'll be eligible for medical benefits (which a spouse can buy into) after three months. The opportunities for promotion sound pretty good, and really, other than the fact I've never worked as a barista before, I'm already pretty well qualified to be an assistant manager. So I expect I could move up quickly. And some of you may recall my secret desire to open up my own cafe someday. Well, wouldn't managing a Starbucks be really good practical experience for that? So, I'm not saying I'm going to work at Starbucks forever, but I am thinking I'll be there for several months while I see if I like it. I am SO not looking forward to more job search. And I've had several good interviews so far. The most recent one has me really fired up. The manager seems really cool (and smart--she was the first one since I graduated college to ask the really obvious question: "Since you're clearly overqualified for this job, how do I know you're going to stick around and won't bolt when you find a better job?" She worded it more tactfully, but that was basically it. And she gets points for asking the tough question there.) So I'm waiting to hear back. I sent a thank-you note after my interview, which you're pretty much supposed to do, but I've never actually done before. I just left the interview thinking, "I really want this job. What can I do to help my chances?" So...yeah. I'll keep you posted on that job. I've got a couple more days until I'm likely to hear back, so we'll see.
In other news, Chris and Evan and I have a new D&D campaign going with Aaron and Solomon. I'm a barbarian, and I kick a lot of ass. Plus, I got really lucky with my ability rolls, so my character isn't even that dumb. Evan's a ranger, and he's sad because his pet bat got eaten. It's been a great campaign so far, but it's like pulling teeth trying to coordinate five schedules to get together.
And finally, Loki has been neutered and declawed. It's already mellowed him out a bit, which is good news for me, because I am a tired and impatient mama.
