Today wasn’t the greatest day in the history of Mike. That’s for sure. But there sure have been many that were much worse.

I had to be in Boston by 10:00 this morning, so that meant getting up relatively early in case I missed my train, which I did. I was still in Boston by 9:00 and had time to kill. However, as soon as I arrived for my interview, I realized that I wasn’t wearing a belt. When you’re wearing a suit, it’s not that big of a deal. However, I wasn’t wearing a suit and felt really naked.

I interviewed with seven different people, most of the senior IT department. By the time I was done, my throat was dry and my brain was fried. The last person from IT took me back to the HR types, and Johanna and I chatted for a while. Somebody told Johanna that the IT director wanted to see me before I left. When I walked into his office, he talked for a few minutes and handed me an offer letter.

I start Monday.

The money isn’t bad. It’s not quite as much as I had wanted, but it’s more than my base at my last job. Not only that, this company has an outstanding benefits package, and I don’t have to pay a penny of my health insurance. That’s a big deal for me. They even offer “significant other” benefits. I don’t need that, but it’s nice.

I missed the 2:15 train out of Back Bay, meaning I had to wait until the 3:45 train came.

On the way home, traffic on Atwells Ave was moving at a snail’s pace. While I was at a stop, some idiot rear-ended me pretty hard. There doesn’t appear to be much damage to my car, but there is a hole in my bumper. That’s what insurance is for. My neck is a little stiff, and I’ll see what the chiropractor has to say about that tomorrow.

I’m going to run out and do a few errands. I need to see if Cingular can flash my V600 phone and I need a new pair of shoes. I think I need to pay a visit to Mr. Duddly as well.

I now have a Rhode Island driver’s license, and my car is registered here, too. I need to run out to an auto parts store to get the right sized wrench to put the front plate on (we only do rear plates in PA) my car, and then I’m done. I’m fully insured, too. That was the expensive one. I don’t even want to think about how much money I spent today. I’m praying this job comes through.

In fact, I spoke to Sean from RHT a few minutes ago, and he was going to try calling the client again. If not, we wait until tomorrow.

I met up with Sean at RHT this morning before heading to his client to meet with their IT director. I was a few minutes early, but that’s okay. I had accomplished this by trying a new route to Providence Place, and it saved me a ton of time.

This was the first time I had met Sean, and he said that my test results indicate that I’m a “rock star” when it comes to Crystal Reports. I tend to be a little more modest, but his job is to sell me, and we accomplished that goal, I think.

We headed over to his client, a major nation-wide non-profit organization where we met with Lauren, their IT director. She asked a little bit about my background, and I told her that I had just left a project where I had designed a utility company’s gas bill with Crystal Reports. That got her attention. We talked about their needs, and she threw a question at me about the time needed to upgrade their system. I told her that I’d need to do some homework before addressing that question and that we’d want to test the upgrade before doing anything. That got her respect.

She had to cut our meeting short because she had a 9:30 meeting with her boss. But she said that she was impressed with me, liked that fact that I wanted to test something before committing, and that she’d speak to Sean this afternoon. She was going to get the final approval in her 9:30 meeting to bring someone (i.e. ME) on board.

In wrapping up with Sean, we noted that she actually used the word “impressed” when talking about me and that she was already planning the tasks that she’d be giving to me. These are all really good signs.

II’m not going to hold my breath just yet, but I am going to keep my fingers crossed.

Next, I go to get insurance on my car.

I spent three and a half hours at the Social Security Administration today. That’s just rediculous. Next, I have to get insurance and then get the car registered. I spoke to an insurance broker who gave me a scary quote. I knew my car insurance would go up, though.

After the DMV, I got my hair cut. There is a shop pretty close to my house that suits my needs. It was a young, “ethnic” shop. I hate to sound like a racist, but I’ve yet to find a white barber who does a good fade. He did a decent job. The next time, though, I’m going to make my appointment with Bob. I think he’ll do something closer to what I want. This isn’t bad, though.

Yesterday’s interview must have gone well. The tech company is taking me to the client tomorrow for a “requirements gathering” meeting about the project. Since I’m a SME (subject matter expert) for reporting, they think it’s good to have me there. She thinks that after that, there will be an interview, but she expects it to move quickly.

It was an interesting day.

The interview went well. That was clearly the highlight.

I put up several shelving units today. That’s getting a bunch of stuff off the floor. That makes me happy.

I went up to Swansea to return Kenny’s shades. He was going to poke a hole in my face, but I hadn’t eaten much and I knew I’d never live it down if I went into shock for a silly labret piercing. And I just wasn’t feeling the mood for a new mod just then.

And then there is the government red tape to navigate. I need to get my car registered and inspected. Well, I can’t do that until I have a RI driver’s license. I can’t do that without a social security card, something I lost about ten years ago. That means I have to haul my ass back downtown tomorrow to do that. I was just down there today and could have done that if I had known.

What is it with state agencies and social security cards. They won’t accept a passport as proof of identify (along with my PA driver’s license), but they’ll take a photo-less social security card. Does that make any sense at all? Do you know how hard it is to get a passport?

To make matters even worse, I have to change car insurance companies. I have been with esurance.com for quite some time, but they don’t cover RI. They’re a MA-based company, no less. It looks like I’ll be going back to Geico. I need to find an insurance broker who can help me, I think.

I know, I’m bitching and whining. But really, I haven’t been so content in ages. I’m just happy to be here. If these are the big problems in my life, is life really all that bad?

This was my first weekday in Providence. I had a job interview. It went well, very well in fact. They had me take two skiills assessments, one in Crystal Reports and one in SQL Server Development. I did well with the SQL Server test, but I blew the Crystal Reports test out of the water–in a good way. I was leaps and bounds above their previous applicants. This makes me feel good. She asked me when I could start. I looked at my watch, and she laughed. She has at least two clients who need Crystal Report writers immediately. I’m okay with that.

Kenny left his sunglasses here yesterday, so I’ll probably drive up to his shop tonight and return them.

Today, I have to return the universal remote to Radio Shack (I found my TiVo remote!) and a chair I bought at Home Depot. Then I have about a billion of boxes to unpack. Oh, and I found the missing lamp. It was in the same box as the TiVo remote.

Today was a lot of fun. Good times with good friends and some good food. My french toast was a bit of a hit. Thanks to Liz, Dave, Marty, Tanja, and Kennny for making a great day.

Tomorrow, the interview, getting pierced by Kennny, and then I get to see Brian again. Even if the interview sucks ass, it’s still going to be a great day.

For someone who is unemployed, being here just feels good, and it just feels right.