Day #52 more, more motivation...

My Previous Job/Career in Four Boxes...
Yesterday and today I decided to unpack the residue of my more recent job.  During the weeks before I left I went through all of my files (paper and electronic) and drawers and aggressively deleted and recycled most of it.  It was an interesting process.  I'd look at something and decide if it was immediate trash, if it was something I needed to think about or look at again (delayed decision) or if it was something that my successor might want of need.

When I left I did leave several tidy piles of budgets, personnel files, strategic plans, contracts, organization charts and memos on various topics for my successor.  He has done with them what I would have done with such a treasure.  He's ignored it all.  Good for him.  History is meaningless I've been told, and my vision of the future certainly is of no value to your vision of the future.  On this particular topic I did fail to take my own advice about leaving things for your successor which is based entirely on About Schmidt, a movie I frequently recommend.

After numerous iterations it came done to just a few files and a few boxes.  As I've opened them I've chuckled a few times and I've also looked at things and wondered why I brought it home.  I did find four toothbrushes and four brand new tubes of toothpaste in my desk.  You know, the kind that dentists always give you after a checkup.  There were always good intentions of brushing my teeth at work but apparently I cycled through quite a few cleanings, x-rays, discussions of gum issues, etc., without ever brushing my teeth...at work.

At my home working locations I have my favorite pens, miscellaneous items of distraction, nail clipper, dental floss and who knows what.  The boxes I brought home contain from my previous work 'working' location my favorite pens, miscellaneous items of distraction, nail clipper, dental floss and who knows what.  There is some duplication and yet some unique items but I don't want those work working location items at my home working location.  They worked where they worked.  At home they are misfits.

As of Day #52 I really care little about my past work, increasingly focused on my future work.  I'll recycle the four empty boxes.

Online...
LHH has a lot of good ideas about selling yourself and penetrating the networking world and making progress on job searches.  Today I ignored part of their advice and found another great position which is an IT leadership position (good), which is a large company initiative on small business (good) and which is about 3500 feet from my house (good).  This is worth pursuit.

The other most recent online application had a succinct response which was in total as follows:  
 Hello John,

Thank you for your interest in employment at XXXXXX, Inc.. If your qualifications match our needs, we will contact you to learn more about your fit in this position.

Thanks again for your inquiry.

Was this a bot response?  Should I follow up with a phone call?  Should I email them?  They are also looking for an HR person so I probably cannot call their HR person.  I know a lot about HR.  Perhaps I should apply for their HR position along with the other position.  It seemed that there were quite a few positions at their organization that would be a fit.  If none of my qualifications meet any of their needs I'll have to shrug off any thoughts of "you are a misfit for for all kinds of jobs you think are right for you!"  I'm good in bad weather so I'm going to shrug (or shake) that premonition off.
 
Motivation...
Writing motivation seems to be a roadblock to many people, often.  Bill Holm provided quite a bit of motivation for me when I realized you could write pretty much about anything.  It's not clear why it took so long for me to figure that out.  In the visual arts it was clear long ago that you could drive to the mountains to make so-so images or you could work within a fifty foot radius of where you happened to be standing an creatively look at mundane objects and package them with interest.  With the right purpose our words can do the same.

As motivation my son sent me this link to an interview of David Sedaris.  I'm sure I've listened to him on MPR and I'm not sure that I've read any of his work but I did order Naked not because of the title but because of his thirty-five year writing career of describing and sharing normal events in his life. 

My daughter reads this, too.  She's different in her commentary and feedback.  The other day she said "you are a mess."  When I asked why, she said the blog posts seemed to indicate...that I was a mess, but she went on to say that there seemed to be some clarity, some balance emerging.  She's right.  This is an adjustment and it's not a twenty minute oil change.
 
Writing every day is good.  It's probably improving my spelling and sentence composition. There does need to be some focus on style variation.  My typing has been about the same for a long, long time.  In earlier posts I'm sure I've given tribute to Miss Ruth Woods my 8th grade typing instructor (1964?).  "Don't cross your ankles!"  She speaks to me when typos become frequent.  I also keep a wooden 12" ruler in my middle drawer.  She carried one and whacked us with it.  I have one at my home 'work' location.  I never had one at my work 'work' location.  That might have been what was missing.

JFK...
There are a lot of memories.  He was a great President to be the first President for a young person to be aware of.  He was bright, had a differentiating accent and spoke to all of us, encouraging us to be be hopeful  and to be part of the future. 

Day #51 Reflection

Keeping Track..
My two-day contribution to a single post does meet the goal of a daily blog contribution but it messed upmy numbering.  Today's effort was first posted as #50 but it's actually #51.  I think I'll check the Google Calendar application an see if I can just create a calendar there with the right count.  Sure there is an app for that.

Networking and Connections
Everyone has trouble with trailer hitches and trailer electrical connections.  I'm going to assume that bigger trailers have brake problems to add to that, but it's all about connections.

A couple of years ago I had a tip-up trailer that was, in theory, really good for moving my lawn tractor or ATV from place to place.  Back then the coupler was smooth, the connectors on the truck and the trailer were new and unweathered and worked fine.  The operator failed to check the pin and retention clip that kept the trailer in the horizontal mode.  At about 60 MPH there was an unexpected tip-up.

Now that some time has passed in my initial serious networking and "job' connection work it's clear that there must be some coupler or electrical (synapses?) issues in this process.  Like everyone else attempting to make job/consulting connections there appear to be a short somewhere.  I know that every time I hook up a trailer I'll be thrilled either by getting to my destination without a problem or I'll be thrilled with excitement as the problem occurs.  Over the weekend I'm going to go over my job materials again and look for shorts.

The Road

Sometimes it's not clear if you are in the median or a sane lane.  For the novice, the sane lane is where you can drive at excessive speeds during rush hour if you have passengers (endangered passengers) or you pay some extra money.

Usually the sane lanes are inbound in the AM and outbound in the PM.  There is probably some sort of job like Sane-Lane Direction Technician who deals with this.  I am not applying for that job.




Events, life...
Once in a while you are asked of significant events in your life that shaped your thinking, your world-view, your beliefs, fears, etc.  I always mention Viet Nam for the obvious reasons.  Our parents or lack thereof are good answers as is mention of our spouses, lovers and partners.  Today, as in many years I'm reminded of John Kennedy.  In a conservative, Lutheran town, one did not make jokes about Martin Luther but the Pope was fair game.  It's only been in later years that I've know more of the Kennedy legacy, of Camelot, Marilyn Monroe (you must watch "Happy Birthday Mr. President" on YouTube) but the events of the assasination, the reactions of older people who has experienced the loss of beloved Presidents, the funeral, the riderless horse with the reversed boots, the Oswald murder, etc., certainly evokes not some much emotion; I was but a early teenager then, but a flood of memories.  Fifty years have passed. I can still hear the funeral procession.

Hopefully this will never happen again.  We do need to have more beloved Presidents and we need to respect the history and the legacy and the honor due the Commander-In-Chief, regardless of our own party affiliation.

The Dates of this Search Journey
Today is 11/22/13.  Given my family genes I have a good change of making it to 11/22/33.  Given some life style issues who knows.  I might still be looking for work on 11/22/33.  I'm going re-phrase that.  I'm planning on still being engaged in productive gainful work on 11/22/33.  

Making Connections ---- Day #49 & Day #50

Thanks, son!
My son challenged me on this effort to write every day.  For the past twenty minutes I've been distracted by some old Creedance Clearwater Revival which reminds me of a summer of chaos forty-four years ago when the U.S. involvement in Viet Nam was already more than a decade long.  But with less than ten minutes left in Day #49 I do have something to say.

Making Connections...

I have three minutes left in Day #49.  My comments on this image and thought will be continued on Day #50...wow...it does not seem like fifty days.  This is good.

Seven Hours Later...

Real Work Connections...
Trailers are problematic.  Anyone who is a regular trailer person knows that couplers, lights, light connections, weight issues, tire issues, loading issues and last but not least safety issues surround that seeming simple connection.  I could not possibly get my rural work done without a trailer which is attached to my truck which I originally thought would solve all my transportation issues.  Actually I could use a bigger trailer.

Computer  Connections...
Late yesterday I had to crank out some ad copy and some product artwork, neither of which should have taken much time.  Two computers, two printers and an online cloud application were involved.  My fifteen minute task list turned into two frustrating hours including one overly taxed PC, printer alignment issues, difficult-to-locate artwork components, missing fonts, slow online application and of course a couple of issues with my actual artwork.

Organizational Connection...
Finding the right connectors for a job is a similar endeavor.  You have to find the right people, find people who will articulate their employee/executive needs, and locate organizations who are good at connecting opportunities and resources and who can effectively bring solutions to market.

This is all more difficult than it should be.  I'm going to introduce this 'connection' thought into my introduction letters and also integrate this theme into my resume.  I might even include the photo from this post.  Is there any reason blog content is not good resume content.  The recent application specifically looked for one's web presence.  Thoughtfulness, content and purpose in your online persona seems relevant.

11/19/18 Day #48 Back To Where I Did Not Want To Leave

• Yesterday I left where I wanted to be, only because I had an DR appointment this morning.  All is well, so I guess I could have skipped it.
• Now I'm headed back for 24-36 hours.  My son says this seems like a lot of driving.  It is.  He lives in Denmark and rides his bike and the bus.  He's 26 and never owned a car of his own.  I admire that.
• We own three cars for the two of us.  That does not make sense.
• There appear to be at least a dozen usable and used PCs in our home.  That does not seem to make sense.
• There are at least a dozen USB memory sticks and three, no five USB drives within reach.  A couple of the drives are for backups but Backblaze does a much better job than I can, and of course I store pretty much everything in the cloud, anyway.
• I'm enthused about the application.
• One more application this week and a Bush Foundation call are on the agenda.

Full Moon #2 Day #47

I Must Have Missed The Harvest Moon...
This evening as I headed away from where I wanted to be there was a light in the eastern night sky.  Being not far north of the historic Hinckley fire area it was possible that another inferno was in the making.  Perhaps it was some alien event which I've been waiting for ever since the TV series "V" which ended with some sort of red sky that probably killed everyone.

October was a bit odd and that must have been the harvest moon since I have not found any standing corn in Pine County.  This must simply be "deer hunting moon" or "first moon on frozen lake" or "the moon that means it's too late for anything left outside that you don't want to have freeze."  Regardless of any significant meaning it was scenic.  This was reflected on a pond just west of Finlayson.


Finding The Rhythm...
I'm making progress on my 27-year backlog.  There will be visible progress within another month or two.  It's quite interesting that much of the backlog is electronic.  Often I think the PC era is pretty recent but the reality is that it coincides with the 27-year backlog.  I have one PC left that has a 3.5" floppy drive and only a few scores of diskettes left.  Certainly there will be some epic material on at least one of them.

The plan now is to apply for one job per week.  I'm being selective.  I'm only interested in working for organizations of value and projects of worth. 

Day #46 ... Bad Day For Crime

Lights Off & Lights On
One of our neighbors decided that the ever-on security light was not complimentary to rural star watching.  Apparently security lights simplify life for criminals because they don't have to carry flashlights or night vision equipment.  So...he/she had the security light removed.

Two nights ago the neighbor in the other direction awoke to find two people in his house at 2:30 AM and a handgun pointed at his head.  Without getting into all the details the homeowner's 9mm Glock sent the 23 year old criminal to an early death.

Tonight it appears that all the neighbors have turned on all the lights they own.  That should make it easier for the low-lifes to case everyone's stuff.  In this rural area you would expect a lot of gun ownership.  This event along with a big string of arson events a few years ago may result in even more lights and more Glocks and hopefully fewer dead criminals face-down in the front yard.

Monday Expectations
My online application and 'interesting' resume may evoke some quick response.  I expect that there will be a phone conversion this week but I also expect age to be a play...perhaps good, perhaps not.

Tuesday Tasks
Now that I'm on a role I'm going to send a resume to the property mgmt firm.  My connection request on LinkedIn to the CA AEC firm was also confirmed so I'm going to send him a resume, too, in anticipation of their midwest expansion.

Conclusion
All is good, today.

Post #45 Keep This Private!!!

LHH Advice...Keep This Private!
My Lee Hecht Harrison personal coach advised me to keep my Facebook and blog postings private.  Given that the NSA knows every phone number I've ever called and probably every web site ever browsed (yikes!) I'm not really sure that keeping this private will keep a progressive IT firm from finding all my web tracks.

My LinkedIn profile is fine.
 
My FaceBook page is not offensive.

My Twitter presence is quite minimal.  I'm too wordy to be successful.

My personal web page is sort of 2003-2004 era-like and has not been updated.

This blog, in it's 45 days, gives a very small window view into my interests and skills.  Like many other venues it's a work-in-process.


The Company That I Applied To on 11/16/13
My standard comment during the 27 year gig was that I hoped, and knew, that that was not going to be the last place I ever did good work and that my best work was yet to come.  During the course of the last forty-five days I've mused all around the topic of what I like to do.  I did a lot of what I liked during the past 27 years but now I want to re-set the employment/partnership platform to work with the kind of organization and the kind of people where everyone sees the future, not just the end of the current fiscal year (or Friday) and where they act on the future. 

At the risk of cutting off my own foot I've shared all my web presence with them.