When it rains, it pours!

After ten months of no nibbles on my resume, this week I had two headhunters (recruiters) call me about different RPG programming jobs. The first one was in San Jose and was a long term contract position - 12 to 18 months of duration - where I'd be part of a team converting RPG programs to work on Oracle systems. Sounded good! I updated my resume to reflect my recent contract work so they'd know I was keeping my skills fresh and sent it to her. The second was for a permanent job in Los Angeles. The headhunter was really nice and was going to check to see if they'd consider telecommuters. I told him I was willing to fly in periodically for meetings and such. The first job was closed without filling it. They hired one programmer for the two positions and decided to wait and see how he worked out first. The second I haven't heard back from yet.

The test for the other school district was Thursday. My bad memory worked out for me in one way, I'd put down that the test started at 8:30am wihen it actually started at 9:00am. Ha! I forgot that I'd done that! Instead of being 5 minutes late, I was 25 minutes early! That was good because the computer part of the test was given on Macs and I'm a total PC person. Another early person and I helped each other figure out the tools before the testing began. I'm sure I aced this one! No algebra! The math was all arithmetic word problems. I'm fine with those!

Friday I got a morning call from the casting director at VoiceTrax. She had a last minute phone audition for an auto dealer. They needed a little girl to ask about a puppy and a little boy to sell lemonade, using the typical "We only had one at that price" switcheroo auto dealers are famous for doing. I auditioned directly with the person at the company. He was going to let the people know that afternoon and record on Monday. I didn't get the call. Oh well! I made him laugh. :)

Friday afternoons I'm in a Masters Class at VoiceTrax. This was the fourth week and our final one with Samantha, the owner of the school. Her mom provided lunch for all of us. Vegetarian chili, Caeser salad and chips, guacamole, salsa and cookies for dessert! Yum! There was enough left over so I could have the same thing for dinner before I engineered for Susan Blu in the evening. She got there early and I finally remembered to take my copy of the book she wrote. She autographed it for me! I'd also written up a synopsis of each of the children's books I've written because she was looking for ideas for cartoon shows the last time we spoke. I'll post that separately. She was thrilled.

Her big treat for her class was that she just got a new cartoon show to direct for PBS and is currently casting it. She brought the roles with her that needed to be cast! Sam and her husband wanted to take Susan out for a bite before class, but Susan said she needed to make copies. I said, "I'm your engineer, put me to work." So Sam and husband Andre took Susan to eat and I made packets for everyone in the class. I read what each character was as I made copies and assembled the packets. A 10 year old boy! A cat! A small dog! Oooooh! I wasn't so sure about the squirrel or pigeon. Maybe I could do the donut shop lady, too. When they got back Susan said, "You need to audition for this." so I copied another packet for me! YAY!

At Susan's request, as each actor auditioned for a character they thought they could do, I created a separate .wav file for them. She was obviously only going to take the ones who had a chance back with her. When class was over, she and Sam started saying they'd record me on Saturday. But I left my weekend open for our anniversary and wasn't going to be there! Plus, I had heard all the other auditions and had mental notes about what I'd do. I talked them into letting me auditon right then while I was fresh with my ideas. First I did the 10 year old boy. Sam hasn't heard me do a boy that age in years. They were both sitting there looking shocked with their mouths hanging open. Sam said (for the first time EVER), "That was f....ing amazing!" Please excuse me for bragging, but I've taken classes from her for over 8 years now and it's something I've wished for all this time! I asked, "One take wonder?" and Sam said "YES!!!" Susan started to direct me differently for the last few lines and then said, "Forget it. It's great as is!" Sam is famous for saying F---, lol.

Next I did the little dog. They had human emotions, thoughts and and intentions listed that they wanted the dog sounds for. Hooray for that animation short last January! It was perfect training for this! Plus this was a smaller dog and I do little yippy dogs very well having known some. I also pulled from Karen's dog a bit. He's not a little dog but he's very verbal. I just did the little dog versions of what he does. Again the shocked expressions and "F...ing perfect!" from Sam. One take was enough. Whoa! Two in a row!

Last I did the cat. It was the same deal as with the dog, cat interpretations of human thoughts and emotions. I'm fluent in cat, having imitated every one I've ever had. I combined Lee-Roy and Scamperdoo's verbalizations. This cat has a sinus problem just like Lee-Roy, so learning to imitate his sneezes and snorts came in very handy.

They said to come on out. I decided to not try for the donut lady.

They both said they were blown away. Susan said my audition was definitely going to Universal! WHOOOO HOOOOO!
They went off to dinner and I made sure today's engineer would be able to find the recordings. I wish I'd thought to copy mine onto a CD! Oh well. I accidently copied rather than moved the folder onto the Windows desktop. I left the originals in the weird place they'd saved to just in case there was a problem with the copy so I'll be able to get it later.

I'm not sure I can say what the cartoon show is at this time, so I'll have to leave that a secret for now. As soon as I know it's ok, I'll tell you!

Bombshell

Jonathan just called to ask if he could come live with us. His uncle and "aunt" are in Washington (state) house hunting and just contacted a realtor in Modesto to sell their house. Jon says he's NOT MOVING to Washington. His entire family is here in California. He thinks his grandmother, who is the executor of his parents' estate will not go long with Paul moving him out of state. So he thought about his options and we were at the top of his list. Naturally, my heart says YES!!

But my heart isn't the only one involved here. Is Eric up to taking in a 14 year old? Are two adults with ADD up to the task of raising a teen with ADHD?

Jon was pushing me for an answer. He sounded desperate. I told him it wasn't a decision that could be made quickly. We'd have to think about it and give our deepest emotions a chance to take it all in. I pointed out that houses weren't bought and sold quickly and that we had some time before the decision would have to be made. Everything will work out. I feel confident about that and told him so.

*sigh* I hope Eric decides he's up to the challenge!