So I went on that interview for the chemical company. It's a small company in terms of employees: 5 people. There's the Salesman/Founder, his wife, his brother The Accountant, The Sr. CSR, and the open position. They sell caustics and other hazerdous material ( don't drop it!) I should say they broker it, since they don't really have inventory. The job is customer service / logistics. And it really would matter if something didn't get where it was going, went to the wrong place, and/ or exploded.

Since The Sarge made me feel like I had the intellegence and job skills of a philodendrine, I was at great pains to tell these people that while I had used Excel and Quickbooks in the past, I was not using them now and would need a refresher on them. Nobody could accuse me of overstating my qualifications in this job interview, during which I met the entire company ( well, that wasn't hard) and which lasted for two hours. I also met the company dog, a dachshound, which dashed into veiw chasing the squirrels in the birdfeeder outside. "And the squirrels, they were merry".

Of course, I would not have a window, at least not at first, since this is literally a job-in-a-basement. The last person left for that ubiquitous "better opportunity" and her desk, which would be my desk, is in the corner of the room, which I am fairly sure used to be a laundry room. Notwithstanding the close quarters and deep hope that nobody's deoderant malfunctions during the course of the day, the surroundings were not that bad. I've worked in much worse places. The Accountant, to whom I would be reporting, was as courteous and pleasant in person as he was on the phone, and the company philosophy seems to be "we're not out to screw anybody" ( that's me paraphrasing, of course) That is, the salary range was commesurate with the level of responsibility, the benefits were fair to generous, the work they want done is reasonable, and they're out to serve their customers well, fairly, and without breaking any laws. I know that, to most people, all this stuff sounds pretty basic. But most people don't have my employment history.

They plan to move to a premisis in Hunt Valley soon, so the basement would be a temporary setting for whatever drama might be involved in the job. I wouldn't have to squabble with anybody about anything being accessable to me when I have to use my cane - it being a total non-issue in light of the fact that the Salesman/ Founder uses a wheelchair. He was an outgoing, classic extrovert type of guy. If I was writing a novel and wrote "the accountant brother - balding, polite, detail oriented, pale, slim, blue eyed and soft spoken" and "the saleman brother - tall, broad shouldered, physically intimidating ( I found myself sitting back in my chair, and then moving my chair away from the table) thick hair, heavy jewelry, suntanned and suave" I'd be accused of writing stock characters - but that is the living description of these two men, who didn't even seem like the same species, let alone brothers born 11 months apart!

Well, I'm not going to worry about the job. There's probably little chance of me getting it: I'm sure they will be very careful who they hire since it's such a small company. Besides, practically everybody I know is coming for Easter dinner and I'm so happy to have a "party" to plan and people to cook for that I think I'll just take a little vacation from all this worry and put my efforts into making sure everybody enjoys my favorite holiday at my house!