Category: General

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I suspect we’re about to become dogless.

IMG 0210The last of the dogs is OLD, I mean really old.

He’s had by my count 2 big seizures and with each one he gets weaker.

On the plus side, he’s had a good life, at least since he came to live with us.

We think he was abused and for our part we’ve been able to give him a loving peaceful home.IMG 0004

Here he’s been spoiled, cuddled, loved, even though he’s stubborn as hell, and now he’s nearing the end of his life.

It’s sad but part of nature. 

This guy came from a household that didn’t pay him any attention, and possibly may have abused him. 

In this household he learned to play and that toys were for him. He learned that people loved, and wanted him, and that he didn’t need to be afraid, even when he messed up.

He learned that printers can be barked at when they start making printer noises and spitting paper at him. He learned that his people would laugh at his antics and tell him he was a good boy.

After many years in this household he’s nearing the end of his life.

He’s gone blind, and over the past month or so, has lost a lot of weight. 

He’s learned that when he needs to go outside, his people will carry him up or down the evil stairs setting him gently on his favorite patch of the yard, or on the top deck where he can go inside under his own power. He’s learned that we’ll still tell him he’s a good boy and give him treats.

Up until the past few weeks or so he’s been his usual happy self, but now he’s sleeping a lot and not particularly interested in much. 

Sound like a Grandpa you know?

I’ve been looking for a job using my laptop in the living room so I can be near him when he wakes up.

He gets upset if he wakes up alone. I think he wakes up not knowing exactly where he is.

All I have to do is speak to him, reassure him that all is well, he’s safe, and someone is guarding him. Typically, he’ll breathe a sigh of contentment get a drink of water, and go back to sleep

He’s snoozing now, chasing bunnies in his sleep. That’s a good thing, at least in his dreams he has a chance of catching them. He was never fast enough to catch them in his youth, but he loved chasing after bunnies and squirrels.

I’m melancholy about his ending and can only comfort him. Well, that and share a bit of my breakfast bagel with him, which he highly approves of.

It’s tough letting go of someone you love. I’ve always thought of my dogs as people not lesser beings. Generally they’ve picked me to be their human, not the other way around. 

It’s been a honor to have been their person. Even in the heartbreak of losing them I’ve been happy to have had them in my life.

I’ve decided that there will be another dog or two in my life. I’ve also decided that I’m going to get rid of used rugs, (placed on the floor to keep the elderly dogs from slipping on the hardwood,) the well used dog beds, and many of the toys. That will give the new dog(s) a fresh start in their new home, a place which they can make their own.

Oh, it won’t be for months at least. I’m not going to be ready to open my heart again until it’s healed from losing Red.

A friend of mine says that your dogs that have passed will send you a new dog who needs you as much as you need them.

I hope he’s right.

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The problem with paying for a resume rewrite

A few months ago, I began an experiment. 

I paid to have my resume rewritten. The experiment was worth it, in that I had a fresh set of eyes looking at my resume.

Another benefit was that I was able to do some comparison between my old resume and the rewrite to determine if the choice of wording, layout, etc. would have any effect on the response rate.

In short, it didn’t.

The rewrite is something that I was never really happy with, because it was not “My” voice, nor did it reflect me the individual. The rewrite is pretty generic and while it is “true” it is also boringly high level.

I have a pretty good command of English. Many would say that my use of English is better than most. The wording in the rewrite is convoluted, (some might say tortured ) English. When I first read the rewrite, I thought that the writer had simply opened a Thesaurus then stuck their finger down the poor tome’s throat to induce vomiting.

The paragraphs are needlessly complex, using words that while technically correct, give the appearance of desperation, and someone trying impress, by putting lipstick on a pig.

Nonetheless, despite my discomfort, I used the rewrite. My reasoning was that the search engines are looking for keywords before even presenting a resume for consideration. You have to get your resume in front of a live person to get the interview.  Because I didn’t know what those keywords were… I deferred to someone who was supposed have that knowledge.

I’m terminating the experiment. The rewrite has garnered no interviews of any kind and in fact has generated less interest even amongst the spammers.

So over the next few days I’m going to rewrite my resume from the ground up. I’ll incorporate the elements I like from the rewrite, merging old and new into a resume of my own creation. 

Hopefully, writing something in my voice will make me more comfortable about the resume in general, and be more demonstrative of my intellect and experience. After all, any company that hires me, should hire me, not someone that knows nothing about me, my experience, my industry, or my abilities.

I’m pretty damn articulate all on my own. I tend to speak plainly and my writing reflects that. I’ve always believed that my resume, as a reflection of my career and abilities should stand on it’s own merits.

My philosophy is that the hiring manager should be able to get a sense of who they’re interviewing, and hopefully hiring, from the resume so they can dedicate the interview time to asking relevant questions. I personally hate spending interview time reiterating what’s printed in my resume. Ask specifics about this position, or that particular skill. 

I know that’s old school, just because something is old school doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

After all, I’m looking for a position that I want to excel in and the hiring company is looking for someone who can do the job well, and be happy doing it. 

It seems like a simple enough equation.

I wouldn’t say resume writers aren’t worth the time or money. This is especially true if you have a hard time writing. I would suggest that if you choose to use a firm, choose carefully. Vet them thoroughly and see what value they provide. 

Frankly, I think it’s time for us to stop treating resumes like web pages, stop applying SEO to them. How about hiring managers actually reading a resume?

When I was a hiring manager, I’d read the resumes of my employees word for word. This simple act gave me the ability to mentor, allow for growth, and properly task my direct reports, so that they could be successful. I’d ask them to give me updated resumes once a year. That kept me apprised of new abilities and skills attained by my group, enabling me to better manage and foster growth.

There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing an employee’s face light up because you give them a task they’ve never done before, using something they’ve worked hard to learn over the past year.

Just a thought, again old school.

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Questions that blow through my mind

chinavirus.jpgChina is reporting that the coronavirus may have an incubation period of as long as 14 days. It may also be transmissible during that time.

That means that people wouldn’t know they were infected until it was too late.

So I have to ask… Has the genie already escaped the bottle?

Global travel, tourism, etc. may already have spread the virus beyond the confines of China. Indeed there are now cases reported in Orange, and Los Angeles counties, and other countries around the world. How many people do you bump into in an airport?

The 1918-1919 influenza killed 1/5 of the global population. Not to sound all doom and gloom, but with a population of approximately 7.8 billion people of the planet. If this virus were to do something similar, the death toll would be staggering.

I’m sure the CDC in this country is scrambling to learn everything they can as fast as they can. On the bright side, thus far the deaths have been relatively few versus the number of infections (at least as reported by Chinese media.) That may not be as great as it sounds. The 1918 Influenza initially has a small death toll, then it apparently mutated and in its second wave was far more lethal.

We’re not looking at a Walking Dead scenario. But we might be looking at a 12 Monkeys, or 28 Days scenario. 

China has more or less Isolated Wuhan. The question with a notoriously closed government like China’s is; What aren’t they telling the rest of the world?

Medical folks have been telling us for years that another pandemic isn’t a question of if, but when. 100 years ago, the so-called “Spanish Flu” burned across the planet.

Nature tends to work in cycles, it’s neither good or evil, Nature simply is. Who knows? Maybe the clock has ticked down to zero on a cycle and this is nature’s way of resetting the balance between resources and demand.

If this kind of thing interests you, look up the 1918 flu. It’s interesting reading, not just the death toll, but the global economic, and political, effects.

I found that it refocused my perspective. 

I’m not too worried, my apocalypse pager hasn’t gone off.

I don’t think I’ll be making any purchases other than local food for a while… Ever think about that?

When you open that box of “new shiny stuff” ever wondered what else might be lurking in the packaging? 

Just asking, and you’ll never open a box the same way again.

My gift to you…