Monday, November 22, 2010

Better Living Through Chemistry

The telephone rang at about 5:45pm one Wednesday night.

"Is this Mr. Craig Davison?" inquired the caller.

Since this was the post-mid-term-election-era I didn't slam the receiver down, but instead confirmed that I was, indeed, Mr. Craig Davison.

"This call is to confirm that you have an appointment to take the DuPont pre-employment test this Friday at 3:00 at Bethany Community College."

"DuPont?" I wondered.

I had submitted an application there for... something. Must have been a Quality Control or technical position. The fact that I was once again in the middle of a one-week layoff from the dishrack factory made any such invitation only that much more welcome.

I confirmed that I would be there, with my picture ID.

A few days and 35 miles later I arrived at the testing facility. I was part of a group (thirty, or so, by my estimate) that was there to take this test. Another group was leaving as I got there. And another group would be taking the test after we were finished.

"Yeesh! Are they screening a hundred people for just one job?" I wondered as I handed over my ID and a copy of my college transcripts.



The first part of the test consisted of fifty math/physics/manufacturing questions. There were questions about weights, volumes, levers, etc.

That was followed by 100 "attitude" questions. We'd have to indicate whether we strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed, strongly disagreed or had no opinion with statements like, "It is acceptable to steal from the company as long as I don't get caught."

There was also a brief "computer skills" portion where we had to write a brief paragraph in Microsoft Word, save it, print it out and then delete it.

Well, I guess I must have done well enough with these daunting tasks, because I have a "four to five hour" interview at DuPont scheduled for Wednesday morning.

And guess what?

Yep. I've been laid off from the dishrack factory for another weeks, so my schedule s once again clear for my new best friends at DuPont.

Whoot!

4 Comments:

Blogger bardhol said...

1: Congratulations!
2: Something Evil has gotten ahold of your address book and is sending out spammy emails to all your friends (unless you are taking a sudden evangelistic approach to male performance pills).
3: How th' heck are ya, anyway?
Me, i've been animatin'. Working on my f...ffffffifth? animation of the year as we speak. i do it in my spare time from watching the little tater tot, who just turned a year old (!)
Well take care my friend and don't forget to put the kibosh on the whatever-it-is that has gotten a hold of your computer!

November 23, 2010 1:54 AM  
Blogger Craig D said...

Ah, Mr. Holmes! ALways a treat to hear from you...

Yeah, something evil and stupid hijacked my address list and sent out a panopoly of stupid links.

I'd love to see some of your animation someday. My own "tater tot" turns SEVEN this Sunday. I bet you're enjoying yours!

November 23, 2010 10:38 AM  
Blogger bardhol said...

i am!! Seven, wow.. wasn't she just three or four a couple of months ago?

Well, 'someday' has arrived and i can show you some of the animation. This is the latest one, which is really more of a 'proof of concept', as i had to finish it in a week and a half:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUmeO9ZVY_w

this one, which is my personal best, and took about four weeks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ-6qvcUejw

and this one, which took forever:

http://www.aniboom.com/animation-video/434145/nuts/

don' know if you ever saw this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1rvDAGQWSY

do enjoy, and hang in there brother.
At the risk of sounding trite, consider the sparrows..

December 14, 2010 4:16 PM  
Blogger Craig D said...

BURLABBY, Bar-d-hol!

I was only able to wtch these without sound. I bet the L-O-V-E one would be only that much better if I could hear what was going on.

Great to see what became of the FLAKEY-Os concept!

The Incumbent Rock piece looks pretty Saturday-Morningish.

Killdozer seemes to like nutshells - what more can be sa1d?

Now, excuse me while I go consider some sparrows. Merry Christmas to the Three Little Holmes!

December 16, 2010 11:59 AM  

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