Thursday, June 30, 2011

1/2 of a new job
I found out yesterday that I didn't get the position that I interviewed for a couple of weeks ago, which is not surprising since I was definitely NOT qualified for the job and it wasn't just the degree requirement. Although they hired someone else, the interview still paid off for me. I was offered the opportunity to work 1/2 day in my current role in Customer Service and 1/2 day in the IT department until October and I'm very pleased with the arrangement.

Funny thing though, most every one I've told so far has been disappointed that it's not an increase in pay. I'm a bit puzzled by that because even though it's not any more money, I'll be doing more of what I like to do and that seems like a pretty good deal to me. Same money, but more fun. I don't see anything wrong with that picture, but maybe I'm just wired differently.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Still waiting...
I haven't heard anything on the results of the job interview. Maybe by the end of today?

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Three hours in the hot seat
I had a job interview today that was three hours long. It's a job that would be extremely interesting and very challenging. I'm don't have the qualifications that they were requiring for the position, but despite that, I was asked to interview for it anyway. There's plenty of unemployed talent in Austin that does have the qualifications that they were asking for so I think my chances are pretty slim. Nevertheless, it was a real treat to get to sit and talk with the people that interviewed me (all of them brilliant) and that alone was well worth the three hours of my time. It reminded me a bit of the annual conference I used to go to in Canada. Although I was probably the least knowledgeable person there, I never had any trouble talking with all those movers and shakers of the industry and what a great opportunity to listen and learn. Same thing here, because although it was an interview and I did answer a lot of questions, I still spent the majority of the time listening to the people who were interviewing me. And that was a very cool thing.

Friday, June 10, 2011

RV gardens
I've been posting about my veggie plants in pots and let me tell you, I am not the lone ranger here at the RV park. In fact, my handful of pots are nothing compared to many of the other residents here. For example, I have a new neighbor a few lots down that moved in this week. There must be at least 15 pots of assorted veggies that came with them, obviously planted months ago and doing quite well. Almost everyone has at least one tomato plant, most have five or more. There are plenty of herbs and flowers too. I never thought of RV-ers as gardeners, but they obviously are.

Thursday, June 09, 2011

The beat, er, HEAT goes on
Not a record high today, but 97 degrees is still plenty hot for the first part of June. I literally needed pot holders to hold the steering wheel on my car after it sat in the sun all day. I didn't have any pot holders though so I had to waste gasoline sitting in place while I waited until the A/C had cooled it down enough to touch. With gas prices as high as they are, I need to pick up a couple of cheap oven mitts at the grocery store to throw in the car!

I discovered that something was munching on the leaves of my green bean plants today while I was at work, but there was no sign of the culprit when I got home. I was planning on planting squash this weekend, but maybe I'll do another pot of green beans instead in case these get munched to death. Oh, and a neighbor gave me some okra seeds to plant. I don't actually eat okra, but it might be fun to try and grow it.

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Checking in
I'm still doing well. A quick rundown:

I got a new BBQ grill, an off-set smoker, and cooked the best brisket I have ever made on Memorial Day weekend. I also discovered that I like bratwurst when it's smoked with mesquite wood, but not when it's smoked with pecan wood.

There was a lay-off at work, but it didn't include me. Up until this week I had been very busy at work and it's only now that I'm starting to notice the slowdown in business. Seems like half the USA is in a drought and the other half has had too much rain. Our business depends on the grass growing and it's not doing that in most places right now.

Speaking of drought, it's been unusually hot and dry here early in the season and we just had 5 days in a row of record high temperatures. This does not bode well for my veggie plants in pots.

Well, that's it for now - time to get to sleep...