...It's July 3rd and the anticipation is killing me...
...because I have to work on July 4th! But that isn't even the best part. I don't get any special holiday pay. On the day that we celebrate the extremely important day upon which our great country found its independence I am supposed to work for normal wages and like it...
...for those of you who don't know me, I am currently seeking a new career in something other than mortgages, and in the interim I have gone back to working the same job I left 8 years ago when I graduated college with the future in front of me and the world by its balls, parking cars...
...now don't get me wrong, valet parking is not that bad, you get to drive almost every type of car out there (which would be even more informational and exciting if not for the fact that anyone working as a valet has very little chance of owning an Aston Martin), the hours are flexible enough that I can still interview for jobs, and it keeps the people skills sharp...
...as for job hunting, I am struck by one simple fact that is extremely frustrating and yet at the same time gives me great hope that I can pick myself up off of the hotel driveway and pave a path to employment greatness, and that fact is that no one seems to grasp the concept of following up and/or returning emails/phone calls!
...call me and tell me I am completely disillusioned to think I could ever work for your company, call me and tell me I am just not what you are looking for, call me and tell me that my experience or qualifications don't fit your needs, email me a generic denial letter with my name inserted in the introduction, but don't just let me twist in the wind!
...frustrating, yes. But it gives me hope, because I call people back, I follow up, I understand the concept that when someone leaves you a message or shoots you an email or text message, you reply. It is ok if it takes you a few days, everyone is busy and we all have to prioritize based on our most pressing matters, just do it, acknowledgment is ok, it doesn't hurt, even if what you have to say is not what I want to hear, I'll get over it...
...in yet another indication that "The Year of Humility" will be the title of this chapter in my autobiography, my fantasy baseball team is in dead last place in the only for-money league I am in, and also the only one of which I am commissioner...
...so, while I blast Nothing Else Matters and wait for the fireworks, here's the last word...
Grammy's advice for July 3rd:
"To reach the port of heaven, we must sail, sometimes with the wind & sometimes against it...but we must sail, not drift or lie at anchor."
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
...LCV
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Resume, Schmesume...
...anyone out there hiring? Anyone?...
...I don't have to remind anyone that getting a new job right now is harder than surviving a Siberian winter...
...Ironically, the Discovery Channel paid Bear Grylls (Man v. Wild) to do just that...
...speaking of the esteemed Mr. Grylls, no matter how real you may think his show is, he gets a lifetime ManCard for eating the raw meat off of a dead impala's leg in the episode that I saw last night...
...and he gets paid for this...makes my college degree feel about the size of one of the larvae he regularly gulps down...
...speaking of which, anyone else who watches Man v. Wild ever notice that, whenever Bear eats something in the wilderness, his voiced-over dialogue always contains the phrase "high in protein," or "more protein than [insert typical suburban meat]?"...
...subsequently, as part of our newfound fitness lifestyle and subsequent "high-protein" diet, I am trying to convince my wife that we can become more efficient at removing flies, fleas, mosquitoes, moths and such from our apartment by simply eating them...also, it saves us money on groceries...
...after all, they are higher in protein than that low-fat ground turkey she buys...
...inevitably she comes back with, "why don't we just eat your cats, they bring all the bugs in anyway?"...
...she loves my cats...
...and, by the way, I would never let her do any harm to them (PETA disclaimer)...
I leave you with a personal note. When my Grammy passed away years ago (my Dad's mom, the sweetest woman in the world with whom I had the pleasure of spending seven glorious weeks with every summer in Evergreen, Colorado when I was younger) we went back to her house to see if there were any mementos or keepsakes that me or my parents would want to have. I, of course, requested her collection of the great written works, Shakespeare, Socrates and such. I also took with me a very special item that I had always remembered sitting on her dresser, and one that reminded me of her in a way that nothing else could. It is a daily quote collection, with various sayings, Bible quotes, and some statements which seem to come straight out of Poor Richard's Almanac...
...Basically, it is a stack of mini index cards, one for each day of the year, bound with two big metal rings so you can rotate it each day. I leave you with today's quote and going forward I will end each post with that day's quote in remembrance of my Grammy:
Grammy's advice for July 2nd:
One moment of patience may ward off a disaster.
One moment of impatience may ruin a whole life.
...LCV
...I don't have to remind anyone that getting a new job right now is harder than surviving a Siberian winter...
...Ironically, the Discovery Channel paid Bear Grylls (Man v. Wild) to do just that...
...speaking of the esteemed Mr. Grylls, no matter how real you may think his show is, he gets a lifetime ManCard for eating the raw meat off of a dead impala's leg in the episode that I saw last night...
...and he gets paid for this...makes my college degree feel about the size of one of the larvae he regularly gulps down...
...speaking of which, anyone else who watches Man v. Wild ever notice that, whenever Bear eats something in the wilderness, his voiced-over dialogue always contains the phrase "high in protein," or "more protein than [insert typical suburban meat]?"...
...subsequently, as part of our newfound fitness lifestyle and subsequent "high-protein" diet, I am trying to convince my wife that we can become more efficient at removing flies, fleas, mosquitoes, moths and such from our apartment by simply eating them...also, it saves us money on groceries...
...after all, they are higher in protein than that low-fat ground turkey she buys...
...inevitably she comes back with, "why don't we just eat your cats, they bring all the bugs in anyway?"...
...she loves my cats...
...and, by the way, I would never let her do any harm to them (PETA disclaimer)...
I leave you with a personal note. When my Grammy passed away years ago (my Dad's mom, the sweetest woman in the world with whom I had the pleasure of spending seven glorious weeks with every summer in Evergreen, Colorado when I was younger) we went back to her house to see if there were any mementos or keepsakes that me or my parents would want to have. I, of course, requested her collection of the great written works, Shakespeare, Socrates and such. I also took with me a very special item that I had always remembered sitting on her dresser, and one that reminded me of her in a way that nothing else could. It is a daily quote collection, with various sayings, Bible quotes, and some statements which seem to come straight out of Poor Richard's Almanac...
...Basically, it is a stack of mini index cards, one for each day of the year, bound with two big metal rings so you can rotate it each day. I leave you with today's quote and going forward I will end each post with that day's quote in remembrance of my Grammy:
Grammy's advice for July 2nd:
One moment of patience may ward off a disaster.
One moment of impatience may ruin a whole life.
...LCV
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