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May. 10th, 2003
Big as a Tank
May. 10th, 2003 12:24 pmTank and Jana flaked out on me last night. We were supposed to go see X2, since I'm the only person on the planet besides ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
beardoc who hasn't seen it. Jana got a baby-sitting job and she had to take it.
Tank hasn't worked a regular job since 2001. Tank isn't really a regular job kind of guy. He wants to be a web designer. Poor guy has the same worthless degree as I do (Journalism) and no experience, but yet he wants a job in web design. Five years ago, you could do this. No one cared, if you could throw around a little HTML, you could get jobs like that. Now with the dot-com bust, you actually have to prove to someone that you can do this...you have to have experience.
So Tank continues to look for the ultimate dream job, but has no job, and hasn't for a year and a half. People don't tend to hire folks that have such a large gap in their resume. this is why my advice is always to get some job...and work towards another. I've hired people, I know.
Jana takes the brunt of this, having to work several small jobs as she tries to complete college and take care of the two of them. She baby-sits, works in a church daycare, teaches flute lessons and probably a few other things. Jana and Tank are also helped tremendously by their parents.
Tank has been loosing weight - mainly because they can't always afford food. Don't worry too much, they aren't missing too many meals. A couple of years ago, we estimated that Tank was 450 pounds, now he may be 400. Not too much. Needless to say, a physical job would be difficult for him. Still, I pointed out that he could get a job at Target, Wal-Mart, Kohl's, etc. It's not a great job, but it is a job, and it will bring income in. He's not getting anywhere with his dream, and falling farther behind since he can't afford to keep up with new systems and platforms.
Tank's a mess, and he's never going to grow up. If you think I'm obsessed with my Fraternity, you should meet Tank. He still lives in the past there. conversations tend to start with "remember when"...and end with, "too bad that's over now." It gets hard to talk with him. I tried to motivate him, get him out of his rut, make him realize it was time to move on, but it never worked. He's taking over the alumni organization from me. I wish him luck...everyone else has moved on.
I've also tried to give him job advice. He worked at Phoenix Comics on the weekends so he could pay for his books each week. He couldn't use it on his resume and never got paid in anything but books, but it was his job. Phoenix closed 3 weeks ago.
Well, since I'm writing about Tank, and not the intended subject...background. I came into the Marching Band and he had already been there a few years. He was mean, gruff and an asshole. It took a long time for him to realize that I was one of the few people who could tolerate him. Sure, we had some really huge blow-ups, especially when I took over the tuba section (The Tubads, as we were called) and later became President of the Fraternity. Two accomplishments he never achieved. He still resents me there. He got his revenge by winning District Vice President, as I had "Only" been Member at Large. 5 people each year out of thousands of brothers in the District are district officers...Similar accomplishment.
He started college before me, and graduated some 5 years later than me. Same degree.
Still, we are friends. We can talk civilly, but we often disagree about things. I've developed and grown, he hasn't. The one I worry about is Jana. She's one of my sorority little sisters. They've been married for four years. I guess they are made for each other she is manic-depressive and always felt that there would be no-one who would love her. She's very jealous if Tank (his real name's Erik, by the way) goes somewhere without her. Tank is happy to have a caretaker in his life. I guess it all works out in some weird, cosmic way.
I saw X2 by myself, and loved it, then slipped in for a showing of A Mighty Wind, alone, but it was fun.
beardoc who hasn't seen it. Jana got a baby-sitting job and she had to take it.Tank hasn't worked a regular job since 2001. Tank isn't really a regular job kind of guy. He wants to be a web designer. Poor guy has the same worthless degree as I do (Journalism) and no experience, but yet he wants a job in web design. Five years ago, you could do this. No one cared, if you could throw around a little HTML, you could get jobs like that. Now with the dot-com bust, you actually have to prove to someone that you can do this...you have to have experience.
So Tank continues to look for the ultimate dream job, but has no job, and hasn't for a year and a half. People don't tend to hire folks that have such a large gap in their resume. this is why my advice is always to get some job...and work towards another. I've hired people, I know.
Jana takes the brunt of this, having to work several small jobs as she tries to complete college and take care of the two of them. She baby-sits, works in a church daycare, teaches flute lessons and probably a few other things. Jana and Tank are also helped tremendously by their parents.
Tank has been loosing weight - mainly because they can't always afford food. Don't worry too much, they aren't missing too many meals. A couple of years ago, we estimated that Tank was 450 pounds, now he may be 400. Not too much. Needless to say, a physical job would be difficult for him. Still, I pointed out that he could get a job at Target, Wal-Mart, Kohl's, etc. It's not a great job, but it is a job, and it will bring income in. He's not getting anywhere with his dream, and falling farther behind since he can't afford to keep up with new systems and platforms.
Tank's a mess, and he's never going to grow up. If you think I'm obsessed with my Fraternity, you should meet Tank. He still lives in the past there. conversations tend to start with "remember when"...and end with, "too bad that's over now." It gets hard to talk with him. I tried to motivate him, get him out of his rut, make him realize it was time to move on, but it never worked. He's taking over the alumni organization from me. I wish him luck...everyone else has moved on.
I've also tried to give him job advice. He worked at Phoenix Comics on the weekends so he could pay for his books each week. He couldn't use it on his resume and never got paid in anything but books, but it was his job. Phoenix closed 3 weeks ago.
Well, since I'm writing about Tank, and not the intended subject...background. I came into the Marching Band and he had already been there a few years. He was mean, gruff and an asshole. It took a long time for him to realize that I was one of the few people who could tolerate him. Sure, we had some really huge blow-ups, especially when I took over the tuba section (The Tubads, as we were called) and later became President of the Fraternity. Two accomplishments he never achieved. He still resents me there. He got his revenge by winning District Vice President, as I had "Only" been Member at Large. 5 people each year out of thousands of brothers in the District are district officers...Similar accomplishment.
He started college before me, and graduated some 5 years later than me. Same degree.
Still, we are friends. We can talk civilly, but we often disagree about things. I've developed and grown, he hasn't. The one I worry about is Jana. She's one of my sorority little sisters. They've been married for four years. I guess they are made for each other she is manic-depressive and always felt that there would be no-one who would love her. She's very jealous if Tank (his real name's Erik, by the way) goes somewhere without her. Tank is happy to have a caretaker in his life. I guess it all works out in some weird, cosmic way.
I saw X2 by myself, and loved it, then slipped in for a showing of A Mighty Wind, alone, but it was fun.
