Great -- I'm writing a blog for people who have a higher level of education than I do :-P.
24 April 2008
16 April 2008
Job-Hunting Rant
I do the majority of my job-hunting online. Most of the local openings are listed on Careerbuilder, so that is where I place most of my applications. They have a function called Saved Jobs, which I have just discovered is practically useless.
The idea behind Saved Jobs is that it saves a record of jobs that you applied for. Well, it saves the date but nothing else! This is useless to me because what I really need is the job description. If the job listing has expired, couldn't Careerbuilder leave the job description in my Saved Jobs file and disable the Apply Now button?
If you are wondering why this aggravates me so much, I will give you an example from this morning. I got a message on my answering machine saying that XYZ company wants to talk to me about the job I applied for online. The company name didn't ring a bell. I have been keeping my own list of my job hunting activities, and it showed that I applied to XYZ company on 13 Mar through Careerbuilder. When I went to Careerbuilder, the job had expired. I don't have any idea of the job description, the hours, or the location. I don't like to go into a phone interview without brushing up on the job. Grrr.
Now that I know I can't trust the job sites to track this information for me, I guess I will have to write it all down myself. It's not that big a deal, but it is frustrating to find out a month later that something I was counting on doesn't work.
The idea behind Saved Jobs is that it saves a record of jobs that you applied for. Well, it saves the date but nothing else! This is useless to me because what I really need is the job description. If the job listing has expired, couldn't Careerbuilder leave the job description in my Saved Jobs file and disable the Apply Now button?
If you are wondering why this aggravates me so much, I will give you an example from this morning. I got a message on my answering machine saying that XYZ company wants to talk to me about the job I applied for online. The company name didn't ring a bell. I have been keeping my own list of my job hunting activities, and it showed that I applied to XYZ company on 13 Mar through Careerbuilder. When I went to Careerbuilder, the job had expired. I don't have any idea of the job description, the hours, or the location. I don't like to go into a phone interview without brushing up on the job. Grrr.
Now that I know I can't trust the job sites to track this information for me, I guess I will have to write it all down myself. It's not that big a deal, but it is frustrating to find out a month later that something I was counting on doesn't work.
06 April 2008
Gardening, or Community Service In My Own Yard
For years, I've wanted to try my hand at herb and vegetable gardening. I've had a few false starts but I am confident that I will follow through this year, in part because my neighbors are also starting gardens. My neighbor LJ is the type who will keep me honest because she asks me every day how my plants are doing. In the past I have started seeds in a fit of productiveness and then gave up when it was time to transplant them. This time I have been keeping up with my plants because I know LJ will be checking up on me!
Even though I have room to plant in the back yard, the area that ABM has given me needed some preparation. So I did a bit of lasagna gardening (aka layered composting) in that area, which involved layering newspaper, dried leaves, grass clippings, and compost. Hopefully it will be ready in the fall for me to plant broccoli and spinach.
The lasagna gardening isn't the only composting I'm doing. I also started a tiny compost pile behind my raised beds. I found a lot of worms in my pile today which I think is a good sign. LJ is a great help with the pile because she actually cooks with fresh produce and gives me her scraps. When you open my compost bucket, it smells like onions and coffee grounds. The bag of scraps she brings me every night smells like dinner!
For a more immediate crop, I am planning a container garden. My four crops will be tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and basil. I bought the seeds in a pack of hybrids that were designed for containers, so they should do well. I started the tomatoes in an egg carton about a month ago and they look great. Today I started my cucumbers in toilet paper rolls. Yes, I am using whatever is handy, from yogurt cups to pie pans and more. It is either ghetto or green, depending on how you look at it.
Today I spent a good bit of time out in the yard, not only tending to my plants but also picking up trash. I'm sure the neighbors were glad to see a grownup from this house outside doing something. Everyone around us started working in their yards a few weeks' ago. I went outside long enough to tend my beds but left the rest of the yard alone because that is usually ABM's domain. However, as part of my goal to make sure that this period of unemployment is not wasted, I have decided to make more of an effort with the general yard work. I don't want us to be the house with the trashy yard and overgrown grass that everyone talks about. Call it my service to the community -- I'm cleaning my yard to save them from the sin of gossiping :-).
Even though I have room to plant in the back yard, the area that ABM has given me needed some preparation. So I did a bit of lasagna gardening (aka layered composting) in that area, which involved layering newspaper, dried leaves, grass clippings, and compost. Hopefully it will be ready in the fall for me to plant broccoli and spinach.
The lasagna gardening isn't the only composting I'm doing. I also started a tiny compost pile behind my raised beds. I found a lot of worms in my pile today which I think is a good sign. LJ is a great help with the pile because she actually cooks with fresh produce and gives me her scraps. When you open my compost bucket, it smells like onions and coffee grounds. The bag of scraps she brings me every night smells like dinner!
For a more immediate crop, I am planning a container garden. My four crops will be tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and basil. I bought the seeds in a pack of hybrids that were designed for containers, so they should do well. I started the tomatoes in an egg carton about a month ago and they look great. Today I started my cucumbers in toilet paper rolls. Yes, I am using whatever is handy, from yogurt cups to pie pans and more. It is either ghetto or green, depending on how you look at it.
Today I spent a good bit of time out in the yard, not only tending to my plants but also picking up trash. I'm sure the neighbors were glad to see a grownup from this house outside doing something. Everyone around us started working in their yards a few weeks' ago. I went outside long enough to tend my beds but left the rest of the yard alone because that is usually ABM's domain. However, as part of my goal to make sure that this period of unemployment is not wasted, I have decided to make more of an effort with the general yard work. I don't want us to be the house with the trashy yard and overgrown grass that everyone talks about. Call it my service to the community -- I'm cleaning my yard to save them from the sin of gossiping :-).
04 April 2008
Apple is the country's #1 music retailer?
This morning I read an article about Apple's iTunes being the top music retailer in the US. That is amazing to me. Every time I see a story like this, I do an informal poll of my friends and my kids' friends. Here is why today's article boggles my mind:
--Cell phones are still more popular than mp3 players of any variety around here, with kids and adults.
--Most people don't have cell phones that can play mp3s. The people who do, don't know how to put the music on them.
--More kids than adults have mp3 players, but they aren't iPods.
--The adults I know are still buying CDs. The kids are doing what I did as a kid: trading mixtapes (or mix thumb drives, in this case) created from a combination of ripping CDs, finding free music online, and the occasional digital music purchase.
I would be interested to hear from any of my readers who don't belong to the iTunes Nation. Are you still buying CDs? Are you like me and only loading free stuff like podcasts onto your mp3 player? Let me hear from you in the comments!
--Cell phones are still more popular than mp3 players of any variety around here, with kids and adults.
--Most people don't have cell phones that can play mp3s. The people who do, don't know how to put the music on them.
--More kids than adults have mp3 players, but they aren't iPods.
--The adults I know are still buying CDs. The kids are doing what I did as a kid: trading mixtapes (or mix thumb drives, in this case) created from a combination of ripping CDs, finding free music online, and the occasional digital music purchase.
I would be interested to hear from any of my readers who don't belong to the iTunes Nation. Are you still buying CDs? Are you like me and only loading free stuff like podcasts onto your mp3 player? Let me hear from you in the comments!
01 April 2008
Joe Murphy Memorial Podcast
I didn't get to know Joe Murphy personally, but I enjoyed listening to him on the various Farpoint Media podcasts. He always had something nice to say when I called in to their voicemail line, which encouraged me to increase my presence online and make several new internet friends. If you've enjoyed hearing my voice on various podcasts or appreciated my renewed dedication to blogging, thanks go in part to Joe.
Unfortunately, Joe died of a rare form of cancer on 01 April 2007. It was a harsh blow not only to his real-life family and friends, but also to the many people who had read his reviews and appreciated his zingers on the podcasts. For a lot of folks, Joe is associated with their introduction to podcasting so it was like losing the person who first gave you ice cream.
Several of his friends put together a memorial podcast to share their memories of him. The blog also gives you information about leiomyosarcoma, the disease that took him so suddenly. It may seem strange to listen to a memorial podcast for someone you never met. However, if you have a friend or relative who thinks that the internet is full of nothing but perverts and recluses, point them to this site. The internet has communities just like your church or your bowling league, and people care when one of their own falls.
Unfortunately, Joe died of a rare form of cancer on 01 April 2007. It was a harsh blow not only to his real-life family and friends, but also to the many people who had read his reviews and appreciated his zingers on the podcasts. For a lot of folks, Joe is associated with their introduction to podcasting so it was like losing the person who first gave you ice cream.
Several of his friends put together a memorial podcast to share their memories of him. The blog also gives you information about leiomyosarcoma, the disease that took him so suddenly. It may seem strange to listen to a memorial podcast for someone you never met. However, if you have a friend or relative who thinks that the internet is full of nothing but perverts and recluses, point them to this site. The internet has communities just like your church or your bowling league, and people care when one of their own falls.
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