I was laid off at the end of May and here it is September 1. I had a great summer with Jim and Sean, went on two vacations, and took care of most of my project list and now I'm ready to go back to work. I need to go back to work. Not just for the money, which I do need, but I am not a successful stay at home kind of person. I need to be busy and challenged. I need to make a contribution to a company that I enjoy working for and I need to be productive. There are alot more projects I could be doing both inside and outside of the house and I will continue doing that until I go back to work but now that Sean is going back to school and vacations are out of the way, I'm ready.
So, the all important "networking" has to be stepped up. I'm checking all of the common job search websites but word of mouth and contacts both personal and professional will hopefully help to increase visibility.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Alaska update
Ok, it's time for pictures then on to the next post. I have alot of ground to cover since I haven't posted since the 11th of August.
So, this cruise we went on was on Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) and took us up through the Inside Passage of southern Alaska. This was our second time going to pretty much the same places but this time on a different NCL ship. At any rate, I would recommend this trip to anyone. And it is not just for old people. There were alot of kids, teens, young adults as well as us "old" folks. It was a 7 day cruise which went to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, and Victoria with a couple of "at sea" days. The scenery was the most amazing part of the cruise. It was incredible. The mountains are right next to the shore, the glaciers so close you can practically reach out and touch them and the wildlife phenomenal. We saw humpbacks breaching, orcas hunting, harbor seals snatching salmon, bald eagles in trees, and big bears near the shore. The weather was perfect and the water was like glass. Something that we didn't see last year that we saw on this trip was a glacier "calving". This meant that a chunk was breaking off and falling into the water. It literally crashes into the sea. So cool!
In Juneau we went panning for gold, in Skagway we went on a helicopter and walked on a glacier (it was 8 degrees there), and in Ketchikan we went to the fish ladder then went shopping. In Victoria we went to Butchart Gardens but it was very disappointing because it started getting dark almost immediately after we got there.
The food on the ship was great, the casino was a blast, and the juggling duo of Sharkbait was really funny. It was so good that we bought their video.
Just to give you an idea of how incredible the trip was, we took over 1400 pictures. Of course not all of them are perfect and you wade through the imperfections but I would have to say that over 1300 were keepers. I bought a new program for making great slide shows called "Roxio". It took a bit to figure out but I made a killer slide show set to music with transitions. It consisted of a little over 300 pictures.
So, this cruise we went on was on Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) and took us up through the Inside Passage of southern Alaska. This was our second time going to pretty much the same places but this time on a different NCL ship. At any rate, I would recommend this trip to anyone. And it is not just for old people. There were alot of kids, teens, young adults as well as us "old" folks. It was a 7 day cruise which went to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, and Victoria with a couple of "at sea" days. The scenery was the most amazing part of the cruise. It was incredible. The mountains are right next to the shore, the glaciers so close you can practically reach out and touch them and the wildlife phenomenal. We saw humpbacks breaching, orcas hunting, harbor seals snatching salmon, bald eagles in trees, and big bears near the shore. The weather was perfect and the water was like glass. Something that we didn't see last year that we saw on this trip was a glacier "calving". This meant that a chunk was breaking off and falling into the water. It literally crashes into the sea. So cool!
In Juneau we went panning for gold, in Skagway we went on a helicopter and walked on a glacier (it was 8 degrees there), and in Ketchikan we went to the fish ladder then went shopping. In Victoria we went to Butchart Gardens but it was very disappointing because it started getting dark almost immediately after we got there.
The food on the ship was great, the casino was a blast, and the juggling duo of Sharkbait was really funny. It was so good that we bought their video.
Just to give you an idea of how incredible the trip was, we took over 1400 pictures. Of course not all of them are perfect and you wade through the imperfections but I would have to say that over 1300 were keepers. I bought a new program for making great slide shows called "Roxio". It took a bit to figure out but I made a killer slide show set to music with transitions. It consisted of a little over 300 pictures.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Alaska
Well gang, here it is Tuesday morning in Alaska. We are enroute to our first stop which is Juneau. This morning we have seen humpback whales and dolphins. Yesterday there was a huge pod (around 60) of dolphins right off the bow of the ship. It was very cool. I'll check back later. See ya!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Keep close those that you care about
After I wrote about the value of association I realized that I needed to follow up on searching for someone that I had been thinking about for some time. I worked for a really great person back in the late 70's and the last time I talked to him was when Fawn was about 2 years old. His name was Mike Bresnan. My father introduced me to him when Mike owned a gas station across the street from the Ballard Locks and the Lockspot Tavern. The space has since been occupied by a Taco Time. Mike then took over ownership of an Arco station in the Shoreline neighborhood of Seattle. He called it Mike's North City Arco. It was on 175th and 15th NE. Long about 1975/76 I lived about 3 blocks from his station and eventually went to work for him. Yes, I was a pump jockey. I also learned how to work on cars, process credit card receipts, do the banking, and close the books each day. I was only 16 years old when I went to work for him but I learned alot in the 2 years that I worked for him. He was a great person and very caring human being. He and his wife Sally were involved with the Lake City Vigilantes for alot of years which is a Seafair staple. They volunteered much of their time to the community and charitable organizations. At any rate, I had not spoken to him or seen him since 1983. While I had thought about him from time to time over the years, I did not make the effort to find him. I emailed the secretary of the Vigilantes on the night of the Seafair parade because seeing them again made me think of Mike. She emailed back to me that Mike had passed away in 1991 from cancer. I could just kick myself for all the times that I could have picked up a phone and said hello but I won't. See note below. I know that if he had not somehow affected my life, I would not now be thinking about him some 30 years later.
*Sidenote: Regrets are those things that you did do (and should not have done) or should have done (that you did not do) that you simply have not made peace with. You cannot change the past but you can control how you approach the future. Make peace with your regrets and you will eventually learn that they are a part of what makes you the person you are today, for better or worse.
So, you all have people that you know that from time to time you say "I should call them", or "I should stop by and see them". The opportunity to do that will not come by and hit you over the head to tell you it's time. Don't wait, pick up the phone and say "hey". Email them, drop by and see them. If these people are important to you, make it a point to tell them what you think of them and what they have meant to you. Ask yourself if these are people that you would truly miss if you found out, after the fact, that they were gone.
No, you are not too busy. No, you do not have too many things going on and there's just not enough hours in the day. No, you will not "get around to it". As a wise Jedi Master once said, "Do or do not, there is no try". He also said "Always in motion is the future".
*Sidenote: Regrets are those things that you did do (and should not have done) or should have done (that you did not do) that you simply have not made peace with. You cannot change the past but you can control how you approach the future. Make peace with your regrets and you will eventually learn that they are a part of what makes you the person you are today, for better or worse.
So, you all have people that you know that from time to time you say "I should call them", or "I should stop by and see them". The opportunity to do that will not come by and hit you over the head to tell you it's time. Don't wait, pick up the phone and say "hey". Email them, drop by and see them. If these people are important to you, make it a point to tell them what you think of them and what they have meant to you. Ask yourself if these are people that you would truly miss if you found out, after the fact, that they were gone.
No, you are not too busy. No, you do not have too many things going on and there's just not enough hours in the day. No, you will not "get around to it". As a wise Jedi Master once said, "Do or do not, there is no try". He also said "Always in motion is the future".
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