April is my official anniversary month of joining Apple but four years earlier, I finally broke through as a temp, I mean “contractor.”
I had failed to land the internship spot twice which turned out to be a fortunate matter, interns in AppleCare were eliminated the following year. I had also zero luck getting through via tech. Back then, the hiring leadership went by knowledge/ability and not potential, the latter variable is what I’m always interested in seeing in action.
The nice lady from Adia managed to land me a gig that didn’t rely so much on tech, Sales Support. These are the people who assist the customers after the sale has been made on the non-tech things: paperwork primarily. I was very lucky, I got a spot helping out a cool division and I think it’s what helped me finally move over to tech support in the Fall.
Learning the Apple culture was very intriguing. It took me over a week to stop dressing business casual as I had been doing at Towers; I can’t remember the last time I wore khakis to work and if I did it was probably as a part-time projectionist. All the people were pretty cool yet I felt sad for the lady I was covering for, she was terminally ill with cancer. I could tell she didn’t want to go on leave, working was a big part of her life. I only hope her passing was painless much like the days I trained with her.
Having a 40-hours/week job was a huge relief. The first four months of 1995 had been filled with disappointment. From the Chicago trip to interview at Loyola to the numerous near misses on a bill or rent. One thing I always did enjoy was getting a pair of cheap pizzas at the nearby Mr. Gattis, using them to keep warm while eating and watching the new, mediocre shows on WB. Now with a substantial raise of income, I was seriously enjoying life in Austin. Matters had turned a positive corner at Towers too. I didn’t need to quit neither, Doc was suddenly understaffed so I maintained the leasing department on the weekends. Working every day didn’t feel very harsh. A day with Towers earned me a meal plus I was still in my foolish twenties, I probably missed out on many evenings of good sleep.
When I did have time off, I enjoyed the hell out of it. My brother’s wedding in mid May, a Saturday at Hamilton Pool and the piece de resistance, my 27th birthday.
What’s hard to believe now was how I managed to do this without a car and on $8.50/hour. In Austin today, your residence would be a dumpster.