One Day My Mind Opened Up
Saturday, November 19, 2005
A Little Ways To Go
Well, I had my walk-through of the test set from my Aikido class.
I got a little ways to go, but I'm not that far off, so says the senior student who helped me. It doesn't help that the person I asked to help me is one of the few people in the world that can fluster me!
Seems to be a common theme for me. I see a lot of jobs that I "almost" have all the skills for.
I do hope to start work on an article this week (I may even work a bit from home--assuming I go home). ¶ 11:36 PM
Well, I had my walk-through of the test set from my Aikido class.
I got a little ways to go, but I'm not that far off, so says the senior student who helped me. It doesn't help that the person I asked to help me is one of the few people in the world that can fluster me!
Seems to be a common theme for me. I see a lot of jobs that I "almost" have all the skills for.
I do hope to start work on an article this week (I may even work a bit from home--assuming I go home). ¶ 11:36 PM
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
A New Beginning
It takes a lot for me to admit someone else is right. Call it arrogance, confidence, whatever.
But with my interview yesterday being a bust, I'm wondering if my Aunt may be right on abandoning computers for writing.
I could actually do both at once, continue to search for IT jobs and keep my IT skills up and do little articles for "Progressive" newspapers, or Aikido magazines (how about Bush's pre-emption filtered through Aikido). I actually have two or three in mind and have contacted someone about one.
This would all lead up to "Feeding Off The Beast", an article for Mother Jones on the role that some "Far Right" groups play in funding the GOP.
Hey, maybe a change will do me good. ¶ 11:27 AM 0 comments
It takes a lot for me to admit someone else is right. Call it arrogance, confidence, whatever.
But with my interview yesterday being a bust, I'm wondering if my Aunt may be right on abandoning computers for writing.
I could actually do both at once, continue to search for IT jobs and keep my IT skills up and do little articles for "Progressive" newspapers, or Aikido magazines (how about Bush's pre-emption filtered through Aikido). I actually have two or three in mind and have contacted someone about one.
This would all lead up to "Feeding Off The Beast", an article for Mother Jones on the role that some "Far Right" groups play in funding the GOP.
Hey, maybe a change will do me good. ¶ 11:27 AM 0 comments
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Free At Last?
I have a job interview Monday! And for the last few days I've been a bit nervous (finding out you're one of two finalists can do that).
What I thought up was that some force inside me has been sabotaging me at interviews, and I had come up with the idea of making a list and trying to counter them.
Until I mentioned this to a group of my co-workers at FedEx. Who, after a lot of unraveling my idea, made me realize that I don't need to counter them--I need to mirror them.
For example, one of the odd ones I came up with was "Fear of Fatness"; the notion that I'm afraid that transitioning from manual labor to a desk job would cause me to gain weight. The "mirror" is: "You'll have more time on your hands. You can start studying Aikido more than once a week and may be able to join the 'Y'."
The one that's the easiest to counter is "Fear of Failure". There's no real failure condition here, I have a job (and a half).
But then I realized, the one thing that this, or any 8-5 job would give me, is freedom. The freedom to live the life I was meant to live--not the one I'm forced to now! The life where I can go and hang out in a coffeehouse, catch an indy film (or a hockey game), go to poetry readings and peace lectures. Basically, dare I say, become some sort of suburban bohemian.
And who says I have to live this life alone;)
So all I need to do is ace this interview. And with my mind focused on the positive--it may happen. As an author says "Your thoughts determine your actions" ¶ 7:03 AM 0 comments
I have a job interview Monday! And for the last few days I've been a bit nervous (finding out you're one of two finalists can do that).
What I thought up was that some force inside me has been sabotaging me at interviews, and I had come up with the idea of making a list and trying to counter them.
Until I mentioned this to a group of my co-workers at FedEx. Who, after a lot of unraveling my idea, made me realize that I don't need to counter them--I need to mirror them.
For example, one of the odd ones I came up with was "Fear of Fatness"; the notion that I'm afraid that transitioning from manual labor to a desk job would cause me to gain weight. The "mirror" is: "You'll have more time on your hands. You can start studying Aikido more than once a week and may be able to join the 'Y'."
The one that's the easiest to counter is "Fear of Failure". There's no real failure condition here, I have a job (and a half).
But then I realized, the one thing that this, or any 8-5 job would give me, is freedom. The freedom to live the life I was meant to live--not the one I'm forced to now! The life where I can go and hang out in a coffeehouse, catch an indy film (or a hockey game), go to poetry readings and peace lectures. Basically, dare I say, become some sort of suburban bohemian.
And who says I have to live this life alone;)
So all I need to do is ace this interview. And with my mind focused on the positive--it may happen. As an author says "Your thoughts determine your actions" ¶ 7:03 AM 0 comments
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Here We Go Again
One odd thing about being an Aikidoka (albiet a less than compentent one) is that things "trickle over".
One thing you learn on the mat is that after you get dropped on the mat enough times, you kinda get used to it.
Well as I have had happen to me so many times before--I have a lead on a job. I'm excited but realize that I've had this happen before, only to not get the position.
But now I'm using what I've learned. The recruiter that looked like he had a job for me with IBM is on my hotlist and the recruiter has joined him on my e-mail list; as I add new skills to my skill set, I'll e-mail them updated resumes.
Saturday, when I go to a peace group's conference, I'm gonna bring my business card to hand out during lunch.
I guess I realize that I may need to still try and get a job to find ME! ¶ 8:12 AM 0 comments
One odd thing about being an Aikidoka (albiet a less than compentent one) is that things "trickle over".
One thing you learn on the mat is that after you get dropped on the mat enough times, you kinda get used to it.
Well as I have had happen to me so many times before--I have a lead on a job. I'm excited but realize that I've had this happen before, only to not get the position.
But now I'm using what I've learned. The recruiter that looked like he had a job for me with IBM is on my hotlist and the recruiter has joined him on my e-mail list; as I add new skills to my skill set, I'll e-mail them updated resumes.
Saturday, when I go to a peace group's conference, I'm gonna bring my business card to hand out during lunch.
I guess I realize that I may need to still try and get a job to find ME! ¶ 8:12 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Hoping against hope?
Well, my grand computer experiment is a conditional flop:(
My brother got busy the days before his nephew's birthday and never got around to downloading the program he needed to view my on-line card. So my card is trapped in a limbo of sorts.
Needless to say I left the party with a serious case of egg on the face, not only from likely appearing to be a cheapskate for not buying a gift (though the time I put into the card would likely be $15-20), but also for kind of leaving in a huff.
Now my Brother did say he would call to get everything up and running--but as of now I'm willing to simply wipe the egg off my face and move on:(
But is all lost? He may call and get what he needs, or he may be able to figure out what needs to be done. Of course, I'm sure his place of employment has an IT department.
But I did learn something useful and cool from this, and I may try other uses of these new tools. ¶ 10:39 AM
Well, my grand computer experiment is a conditional flop:(
My brother got busy the days before his nephew's birthday and never got around to downloading the program he needed to view my on-line card. So my card is trapped in a limbo of sorts.
Needless to say I left the party with a serious case of egg on the face, not only from likely appearing to be a cheapskate for not buying a gift (though the time I put into the card would likely be $15-20), but also for kind of leaving in a huff.
Now my Brother did say he would call to get everything up and running--but as of now I'm willing to simply wipe the egg off my face and move on:(
But is all lost? He may call and get what he needs, or he may be able to figure out what needs to be done. Of course, I'm sure his place of employment has an IT department.
But I did learn something useful and cool from this, and I may try other uses of these new tools. ¶ 10:39 AM
