Last night, I had this dream where I was on my way to the final interview with the company I've been trying to get a job with. I had to go downtown, in Chicago, even though the job was in Kalamazoo. I took the el downtown and got off the blue line. I was waiting for the brown line to take me to the interview. The red line came by. It was a very long train, and it was dirty and dusty. I waited. a few more red line trains came by. I waited. I finally saw a brown line train, but it had no doors. Another brown line train came by, but it rode *on* the platform, very quickly, and I had to jump back to avoid getting killed. Then I realized I didn't know what stop this place was on. It wasn't at the Chicago stop like I thought, or if it was, I didn't know how to find it. I wasn't sure what I would do once I got on the train. I kept waiting. Something happened, I forget what, and a CTA cop started giving me a hard time. I teased him about being an uptight navy type, and he got really mad and kicked me out of the train station. Oops. So, I walked out and was going to walk from the loop to Chicago and Franklin, but it was too far, so I just started walking to another el stop. I looked at my watch, and it was only ten minutes until my interview. I called to explain that I was stranded in downtown Chicago, but I got the HR woman's voice mail, and so I left a message and asked her to call me back. I then called Rob and he came and picked me up. He started driving me to the interview. I looked at the clock, and I still had a half hour until I had to be there. Wow, I guess I had read my watch wrong. I told him that I had already called to reschedule, but he said it didn't matter. Then I realized I had my Ryo-Ohki backpack. I couldn't take that to an interview. So, we went looking for a purse. We were driving through underground tunnels. There was a Hindu woman selling purses and dresses. I got out to buy a purse. Rob thought it would be too small, but I didn't. We got back into the car and the purse was not a purse after all, but a little kid's shoe and nothing could fit in it. Then Rob suggested that I just carry all my belongings in my pocket. Then I woke up.
Weird.
This may be hard to believe, but I kind of miss Chicago some days. I mean, I don't miss all the bullshit I had come to associate with that city, but I do miss the city itself sometimes. The old buildings, the trains, the diversity of neighborhoods. Some days I look out at the mass of strip malls that surround my apartment and I just want to scream. I miss the trains most of all, though. Especially now that I'm somewhere that you pretty much have to drive to get around in. (Well, there are busses if you don't mind it taking you an hour and a half to go five miles.)
But life is better here. I mean, I don't miss my old apartment (but sometimes I do wonder what would have happened if we'd gotten a place in Ravenswood instead...) and there is no way in hell I could have gotten anything nearly this nice for this price in Chicago. There also is no way that I could go to an even remotely decent school for the price. To be able to do what I'm going to do, I would have had to go to some overpriced private school, or commute a couple hours into the suburbs every day. (which is what it would have taken without a car, and even with one, it would have shaved maybe twenty minutes off of my commute time, and a car would have opened up a whole other slew of headaches.)
And I'm in better spirits in general. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm as mean and surly and cynical as ever, it would take more than a small hippie town to change that, but I'm certainly a lot more relaxed and it's so much easier to get stuff done.
I actually really do have the final interview for that job, too. Heh, I just got a call from the credit bureau to confirm my birthday so they could do the background check. Background checks always make me squirm. It's the after effects of my wild and impetuous youth. But I'll see how it goes.
I also got a call three calls for interviews yesterday. Rob thinks this job now is a done deal and I shouldn't call, but I'm not sure, that seems to tempt fate. Whenever I rest on my laurels like that it has a way of backfiring. I think I might just go ahead and schedule another interview as sort of a karmic insurance policy.
Well, I slept too late this morning, so I guess I should go. Heh, after that dream, I better not be late...