Busch Gardens Interview

Fair warning, this is a long post. I didn't want to break it up into two, though.

This weekend, Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA had open interviews for stage technicians. They also had auditions for dancers, singers, and instrumentalists. As tempting as it was to bust a move, I decided to just go for the interview and forgo the auditions. :-P

Since I love Williamsburg, and went there pretty much every summer as a kid, I made a weekend of it. I left at 7AM on Friday so I could get there in time for lunch. I made it in almost exactly six hours, and went straight to the Williamsburg Winery.



I've been here once before, but I was only 19 or 20, so I couldn't do any tasting. I got there just as a tour was ending, so I joined in at the end for the tasting. I toured last time, so I didn't really need to again. After the tasting (and after buying a couple of bottles) I went across the way to the Gabriel Archer Tavern. It's a little pricey, but this was my mini-vacation, so I splurged. I had a glass of wine from the winery; a turkey sandwich with gouda, apple slices, lingonberry chutney, and honey mustard; and a bowl of French Onion soup.



It was all amazing. A. mazing. Well worth a few extra dollars.

After my winery adventure, I went to check into my motel. The ride there was awesome... my GPS took me right through the William and Mary campus, and along a back road right behind Colonial Williamsburg. It was relaxing and gorgeous. When I found my motel, it looked ok, and the location was amazing, but I was the only person there. It was back away from the road a little, and as it got later and darker, I was pretty sure I was going to be murdered/robbed/raped. The room was nice enough, though, and it was clean.



I got settled in, and played on my computer a little before heading out again. I drove around awhile, just poking around. I wanted Zaxby's for supper, so when it got to be about 6:30PM, I went into 'points of interest' in my GPS and typed in Zaxby's. Well, apparently the one in Williamsburg is newer than my GPS, because it told me that the nearest Zaxby's was 109 miles away. So I looked up the address and found it that way.



That bright blue sign was like music to my eyes... you know what I mean. Zaxby's is a southern thing, and I loved it during my time in SC. I got some fantabulous chicken, and stopped at Brusters next door for a milkshake before heading back to the motel. When I got back, there were actually two other cars there! It was less sketchy with other people around. I got comfy, watched some tv on my computer, and went to bed.

The next morning was my interview. Tech interviews started at 10AM, so I got around and checked out a little after 9AM. Busch Gardens was only about 5 minutes away, so I found a Starbucks and had breakfast while I killed some time. I had the strongest Americano ever. I think it was just a grande cup full of espresso. It was wonderful.

I got to the entertainment department at about 9:50AM, and there were already 7 other people there. I waited about an hour for my turn. The woman who interviewed me was the same woman that I met with two years ago when I interviewed there. Once I told her that I used to have hair, she remembered me.

My interview went very well, much better than last time when I didn't actually know anything about anything technical. This time, the only question I couldn't answer was about some kind of... system... or coding... or... something. I can't even remember. She didn't seem to expect me to know it, anyway, it just would have been a plus if I did. So she asked all of her questions, and I asked all of mine. She said the park opens at the end of March for spring breaks and whatnot, so if she wants me to start in time for that, I'll get a call within the next week. If she wants me for later in the summer, I'll hear from them in the next month. If they don't want me at all, I won't hear from them ever. So now I wait.

After my interview, I drove up Rt. 60. That's the road that has a million restaurants along it, some local stores, civil war stores, outlet malls, etc. I swear, any restaurant that you can think of has a franchise in Williamsburg. Go ahead, name a restaurant. There's probably one in Williamsburg, and it's probably along Rt. 60. There are also Pancake/Waffle Houses on every other corner. (Waffle Houses are to Williamsburg what Starbuck's are to New York.)

The Williamsburg Pottery Factory is also on 60. I love the Pottery. They've been there forever, and they've recently started renovating. This is what it used to look like:


(Photo courtesy of... somewhere on the internet. I did a Google image search, I don't remember. :-P)

This is what it looks like now:

(Click for a larger view.)

They're just finishing up the changes, so they aren't open yet. This was the first time in my 25 years of life that I've been to Williamsburg and couldn't shop at the Pottery. They're re-opening at the beginning of April. I'm super tempted to go back then (if I'm not already living and working there). As much as I'll miss the old version of the Pottery, and re-living my childhood whenever I was there, I hope the revamping will boost business and allow them to be open for another 74 years (they first opened in 1938).

After I took some pictures of the Pottery and trudged around the construction site a little, I went to Golden Corral for lunch before heading home. I love Golden Corral more than I should. The new Chocolate Wonderfall is wonderful. If I get this job, and end up back in the south, I'm going to have to join a gym or risk getting morbidly obese.

So that was my mini-vacation/interview weekend. I would love to work at Busch Gardens. This is the third year that I've applied. Maybe the third time will be the charm! I love Williamsburg almost as much as NYC. Hopefully I get a call this week!!

Bucks County Interview

I had my interview with the Bucks County Playhouse today and I thought I'd tell everyone about it. It was kind of an ordeal, and turned into an all-day adventure. I took my camera... but left my memory card in my computer. >.< I took a few pics with my phone, though.

So I started out fine, got an early start. I left at 10:30AM, for a three-hour drive. I should have gotten there around 1:30PM, and had plenty of time to look around, fix myself up, maybe get something to eat.... Yeah, the best laid plans, etc. I got to the ramp onto 78 East and the road was closed... just... closed.... Apparently there was some kind of "incident". The only thing I can imagine that would cause them to close a major highway is a 750-car pile-up, or a nuclear waste spill. Well, it said there was a detour, but the only detour sign was right where the ramp was closed. There were no others to follow. What. the. hell. Well, my GPS kept looping me back around to 78E. After half an hour of driving in very big circles, I turned on the AM radio and it told me to get on highway 22. Ok. The problem with that is, they took allll the traffic from 78E and tried to funnel it through little towns with traffic lights. I sat in traffic for a solid hour. No. joke.

Well, by some miracle and by breaking many speed limits, I got to my 3PM interview at 3:05PM. They didn't seem to be annoyed, especially after I explained, so I'm hoping they didn't count my lack of punctuality against me. After I ran into the building and started talking to the wrong (very confused) receptionist, one of my interviewers came and got me. I talked to them for awhile, and they realized that I'm more qualified for a tech position than anything they were interviewing for. Sooooo, they called the TD and set up an interview for me at 5PM.

At this point it was only about 3:30PM, so I had plenty of time to wander around. I had to go to the bathroom like whoa, but the two gas stations in town had none. I finally found a coffee shop with a customers-only bathroom, so I bought a coffee so I could pee. After my $3 urination, I walked around Lambertville for awhile (where the BCP offices are), but it's pretty small so I headed over to New Hope, where the theatre is.

Here's where I finally got to chill and take some pictures. It was an awesome little town. I really hope this job works out, just so I can walk around New Hope every day.

The first interesting thing I came across was... this....



After some research, I've discovered its name is Boomer, and it is a "19 foot long bronze beast". Interesting.

While wandering, I noticed that there were ice sculptures sitting around everywhere.



They were a little melty since it was 50 degrees out. There was an awesome one over in Lambertville that was a wine bottle holder, but I saw it right after the first interview and I was all flustered and trying to find a bathroom, so I didn't get a pic. It was very cool, though. Take my word for it.

The whole area was gorgeous, mostly because of the river.



That's the bridge between Lambertville, NJ and New Hope, PA. The theatre is right on the river. It actually used to be a mill, and there's a little creek beside it, too, that powered the mill.



While walking around, I went into a little bookstore right beside the theatre - Farley's Bookshop. It was totally awesome. There were gazillions of books, and it was just very laid back and smelled like a used book store. You know what I mean. Everyone likes the way books smell. If you don't, get a Kindle. This store had the best book ever.



Also, the best cat.



As soon as I walked in, she started following me around and meowing until I petted her. She followed me all around the store and looked very sad when I finally left.

Once I finished wandering, I went back to my car and got my stuff. There was another person interviewing when I got there, so I took a seat in the tech office. I poked around a little and stuck my head in the theatre. Once we started talking, he seemed impressed with my resume and experience. I knew how to do everything he asked about, and he said they were thinking about getting an Ion lighting console like they had at Clemson. I'm all about the Ion. He's not sure how many people he's hiring, or what his budget is, so he'll make decisions on staffing once he knows all of that.

Coming home, there were no traffic issues, but I missed a turn and my GPS took me along every out-of-the-way road it could, before finally taking me right through the center of Easton. I think it was punishing me for not following its directions.

If I don't hear anything from the BCP by Feb. 11th, I'm going to go down to Busch Gardens in Virginia to interview. I'm really keeping my fingers crossed for this job, though. I love the area, love the theatre, and could totally see myself there. I guess only time will tell!