Taking Tests

Yesterday morning I spent two hours completing tests for Kelly Services, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and typing. I have a habit of clicking around in computer software until I find what I want, but Kelly's tests do not like this, two wrong clicks and you're out, next question. After going through this with the PowerPoint test, I decided to open my copy of the program, clicked around until I found what I wanted, and then went back to the test and made the right clicks the first time. I was glad I could complete these at home, and when I went to Office Team yesterday afternoon I was even more glad.

Yesterday afternoon I went for my meeting at Office Team just after it started to snow. I spent almost two hours doing their tests in their office using an old sticky keyboard and a mouse on an old sticky mouse pad. Yuck, aren't there health laws about that stuff? This time the tests were on office skills (meaning math, grammar, spelling), data entry, typing, Word, and Excel. My data entry is slow, hey I don't do 10 key by touch, typing was 28 words per minute (that sticky keyboard!), office skills were far above average (100% correct on all the math, spelling errors brought me down a bit), I think I was intermediate Word and Excel again, but I can't remember. By the time I got to the Word test I was really tired and I just didn't really care anymore. I can do a Mail Merge when I have time to research it, but not at 4 pm at a computer with a sticky keyboard after four hours of taking tests.

The best part was that the entire time I was taking tests at Office Team, I could hear the receptionist from Office Space answering the phone. I'm not kidding, you remember that woman answering the phone in the movie, "just a moment" over and over, with a high pitched squeak on "just"? This time it was "how may I direct your call" over and over, with the high pitched squeak on "call". Fortunately I kept thinking of the movie, so I could find some humor in it.

I talked to the rep at Office Team and reviewed my scores and talked about what kind of jobs I want. Right now I'm really not feeling very picky. By the time I got home close to 5 pm, I was just exhausted and that was enough for one day.

Just as it started to snow again, I went to meet with the Kelly rep this morning and test results were, typing 38 words per minute, Intermediate Word and PowerPoint, Advanced Excel. Kelly is the agency with connections to Micron. The rep reviewed what he currently has open, asked me about one job that might be a good fit, and gave me some other places to apply. I liked his attitude, he seemed to think I was the prize that I am.

In between everything else yesterday, I called one of my references. I've left her name and number all over town and I thought I should call and make sure she's even still there. I was lucky to catch her answering the phone. She said she has not received one call for a reference. Oh well, it was good to talk to her anyway.

Every once in a while I turn on the TV to see what new country, or which US state is going down. There are teachers protesting at the capitol here in Idaho, too, but Idaho never makes the news. The congressman that introduced the education cut bill had his car graffitied and his mother harassed. I could not figure out why on-line learning was promoted as part of his education cost-cutting bills, until I read the congressman has a long association with on-line learning companies. It starts to make you feel like government will never learn. At least the car that is now covered with graffiti is a used truck.

I think it is laughable that teachers protesting over paying more for health insurance and/or retirement and losing their union representation are associating themselves with Egyptian protesters. How many Egyptians have health insurance or retirement at all? How many of those Wisconsin teachers had family members disappear in the night, never to be seen again? If I was Egyptian, I would be looking at those protesting American teachers and thinking they were a bunch of spoiled prima donnas.

It is weird to be reading the book Reading Lolita in Tehran right now. The author was a teacher in Iran and I'm in the middle of the part where Iraq and Iran are at war. She has just run into one of her old students, who has been in prison for handing out leaflets. She was grateful she was only imprisoned and not executed like most of her friends. If you want to read about real oppression, and oppressed teachers, pick up the book.

Last night I was too tired to do anything else, so I watched most of the movie, Amadeus. I thought I was pissed off at God, but I am no match for the fictional Salieri. Did you know Amadeus means "love of God", derived from Latin amare "to love" and Deus "God"? I'm no Mozart and I related to Salieri. I better be careful.