For anyone out there who cares about my life, here's the update: I got a decent 30+hr/week minimum wage ($7.25/hr) job at Cinemark, the local movie theater inside the mall. And Thanks to Dad and Matt, I also have a nice car. A 2004 Volkswagen Passat GLX. I'm quite happy with these things.
It's taken a lot of time and effort to finally land a job (See previous post). I've been through so many applications, rejections, interviews, most of them with no feedback or anything. Back in September, I put out a bunch of apps in the mall. And just for the heck of it, (I think it was actually Aunt Marina's idea?) I put an application in at the Cinemark theater. I didn't see it coming what would end up happening. So then all the stuff in the previous post happens. And now, out of nowhere, I get a call from Mr. T (I pity the foo who tries to pronounce his real name. OK, sorry, that was bad. :S) at Cinemark asking for an interview, and telling me to bring my license and social security card. (This pretty much told me what was about to happen in the next day or two...) In the next day or two I showed up, he interviewed me, and hired me on the spot. He copied my license and SSN and then discussed stuff with me, gave me a packet and handbook to read when I get home, and made me watch a Training video. And so, I was hired at Cinemark as a Concession Worker. (And also, whatever the manager or other employees need done worker)
I started work on the 1st of November. That day, I showed up in black dress slacks and black dress shoes and a white undershirt. I received my black Cinemark Polo T-shirt, ID card lanyard, and cap.
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| You KNOW I Instagrammed that right before my 1st shift. |
It's been pretty fun. Everyone's nice. I'm pretty much the only guy working concession (I've only met girl concession workers so far). Everyone seems to be college age (except highest ranking managers), which is nice. Even though I've been told so far to do dirty work from mopping and sweeping to scrubbing down copper pipes and metal drain covers, It's not a bad job. It especially makes me happy to see even the managers in suits doing this work along with me. It's refreshing to see managers who don't have some kind of 'I'm better than you' complex.
The job has so far consisted of helping the concession cashiers gather the stuff ordered by the customers, doing a little cashier work myself, cleaning, unloading, counting, restocking, checking, double checking and waiting. I'm getting there. I think I'm doing ok for someone just hired.
Dad and Matt have done a lot of work researching cars. The idea/goal was to get a luxury brand (or otherwise very nice) car used with 150,000 miles or less for $5,000 or less. There were many cars we looked at and drove out to see and test drive. Most of them were Volvo, Audi and BMW. One of them was a slightly older Mercedes-Benz S class. That really looked like it was the one... until the inspection came back from Dad/Matt's Mercedes-Benz dealership saying that it needed significant repairs before it would be good to drive. There were some SUVs on the list like a Ford Explorer, Volvo XC90 and BMW X5. We even considered a Chevy Aveo. My goal was simply to get a car with good gas mileage and low insurance rates while still being inexpensive (and in good running and cosmetic condition). Which ruled out SUVs (bad gas mileage) and sports cars (high insurance rates). This pretty much left us searching for nice Sedans. There were some nice BMWs, Volvos and Audis. But the problem is, most of these cars either ran well and looked rough, or looked great and ran rough. Or a mediocre blend of the two.
Eventually, we were lucky enough to stumble upon a nice top of the class Volkswagen Passat. So we went to the VW dealership, I immediately called USAA to get an insurance policy for the car in my name, got that set up, signed the paperwork to get the car in my name, and Bam. Just like that, thanks to Dad's and Matt's awesomeness, I own a nice VW Passat. The coolest part is, the dealer went way down on the price. It was a seriously good deal. The car is in great shape, with only a few little scratches and tiny dents and minor exterior cosmetic things. It runs great, and the interior is perfect and tidy (None of that saggy headliner business). The previous owners clearly took great care of this car.
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| Seriously. It's SO clean! :O |
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| The guages and controls glow red when the headlights are on |
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| The screens glow an epic blue when the headlights are on |
And so I drove my new car off the lot and straight to work. It was such a cool experience. Only thing is, I skipped the detailing, refueling, and cleaning of the car to make it to work on time. It's been good fun driving to work and back home.
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| My ride home from work waiting for me after a crazy Saturday night shift |
Included in the paperwork was the VW dealership agreeing to fix the tail light and the mirror adjustment knob. So the other day, I called up and drove out. I stuck around for a lot longer than I thought, and then finally it was done. While I was waiting I got quotes for the chrome trim around the back bumper (there's a small section of it missing) and the driver front fog lamp (the glass cover is busted, but the light still works). That may take some time for me to save up and repair. Meh.
Josh, our salesman, even cleaned the passenger headlight cover to the best of his ability when I mentioned I noticed it wasn't quite as clear as the other one. It looks great. He's such a cool guy going the extra mile like that. While I was there he detailed and filled the gas tank. He offered to wash it and vacuum it out whenever I next have the chance. Needless to say, I like VW, I like the dealership. So yeah. I'm so gonna take him up on that offer this week.
So yeah. Thank you so much, Dad and Matt, for sacrificing so much of your time and own money to get me this car. I'm very pleased with it. It's like Christmas has come early.
Today, I opened my USAA Checking&Savings accounts, set up auto-pay for USAA auto insurance and set up Auto-pay for my AT&T iPhone bill (so Matt or Dad don't have to pay it anymore, yay for having my own job and bank account..) On my next work shift, I will set up direct deposit. I also checked on University of Houston and FAFSA deadlines for applying for college next year. Yeah.
So I'm definitely on track toward my goals here. I have a life.. :') I have my own job, car, bank account, lovely girl and everything. Yay. :)
