May 20, 2014

Well…I did it.

I sent another email to the person interviewing (and hiring) for the open position at what I have always described as my “dream job.”

The last email I sent accompanied my formal application to the position in very early April.

It’s where I have wanted to work since I was a senior in high school.

I don’t really understand why I wouldn’t be considered…contacted…and even interviewed?

Frustrating.

This whole process is frustrating.

I did actually interview for the same position less than 3 years ago and by all accounts, I was a real contender.

I know that there is a great deal of pressure on organizations to find the “secret formula” for a traditional print product to succeed and thrive in its online iterations.  

Malleable 24/7.

I just hope that desire…actually; mandate…does not translate to always looking toward the media professionals with concentrated online experience.

What I’m trying to say is that I have extensive experience on both sides of that complicated equation.

While I have spent the majority of my career on the print side, I have learned, along with everyone else, how important it is to translate ALL your skills to multimedia with an eye toward innovation and creativity. 

And, for it to be ever-present in your brain.

That is, if you want to continue to be successful in the current “mobile-obsessed” culture.

The speeding train coming straight down the track is all about mobility, and in getting what you want, when you want it, usually on your smartphone.

I don’t want to be overlooked (or frankly run over by the train) for something that I know I am extremely qualified for...and capable of...because I come from what has taken on the unfortunate nomenclature of “traditional media.”

Ugh.

And, of course, I am counting the days…the hours…the minutes…until my interview next week.

The third and final interview.

And then…some kind of resolution.

…..

I decided that it might be a good idea to try and take advantage (on this beautiful sunshiny day) of Mom’s back deck (also known as Harry’s ship) by taking my laptop outside to write emails, review job postings and to write this post.

There were a few small challenges to overcome for that to happen.

My MacBook Pro was at a 28% charge, so I had to find some extension cords that I could run from an outlet in the kitchen, out the hallway door, down the 4 stairs, out the back door, across an area measuring about 12 feet, up the three stairs to the deck and to the far side where I had set up the picnic table, benches and two chairs...finally connecting the power to my computer.

Then there were the gnats.

Ugh.

Not a lot of them, just a few bothersome ones. 

They flit around my eyes and face and make a considerable nuisance of themselves.

Just enough to be extremely annoying.

I’d read this before…on Google. 

Vanilla extract. 

Apparently gnats do not like vanilla extract.

A little dab...

Dab some on a cotton ball; apply it to your cheeks and around your brow and your ear lobes. 

One entry on Google reads: 

        A little elderly man told me this and I was skeptical. 

        Everyone I tell is skeptical, but I’m the only one at the outdoor party without gnats. 

        I put some on a cotton ball and rub it on my cheeks and neck. 

        It works for thirty minutes or so.

It does work.

So…gnat-free I’m enjoying the light breeze, the shade of the umbrella, the buzzing of the bees around the apple blossoms, the tweeting and twittering of all the birds, the distant sound of a Woodpecker on an old hollow tree…and just being outside.

Oh...and I almost forgot...the consistent "eeeeehh" sound of the mole chaser at work.

Honey bees buzzing around the apple blossoms.

Yesterday, I continued our ongoing project of the beautification of Mom's yard, by raking the area in the back yard under the old clothesline.

There were so many branches and twigs and sticks and cut berry bushes that it would have taken an eternity to pick them up one by one, so I got the little delicate rake and raked the area, hauling the sticks and other refuse by wheelbarrow into the woods behind.

I was careful to take notice of what were weeds and what were flowers or ferns, trying to pull up all the surrounding Nettles.

The scientific name of Nettle comes from the Latin uro ("I burn") an apt description of the result of handling the leaves or stems of that nuisance of a plant. The downy hairs that cover those leaves and stems are actually hollow tubes through which a severe irritant is injected. 

The result of touching one can be a real stinging sensation and pretty unpleasant at that.

On one of my forays into the woods to dump the contents of the wheelbarrow, I came across a snake.  

Thankfully, it was a little snake.

I chased it around the woods with my iPhone for a solid five minutes trying to get a picture of it that would show a sense of scale and size.

I had left my phone on the deck, abandoned the wheelbarrow to mark the spot where I’d seen the little slithery being, and hoped that it would be somewhere near there when I returned to record it’s presence.

It was just where I’d left it.

Mother Nature’s natural disguise didn't exactly work flawlessly as I pursued the snake through the leaves and underbrush where it tried over and over to escape my pursuit. 

The little snake.

Later that night Mom looked it up in…yes, of course…Reader’s Digest North American Wildlife, An Illustrated Guide to 2,000 Plants and Animals.

We determined it to be a Pine Snake.

Pine Snake, Bullsnake or Gopher Snake. According to our fabulous guide:

All these names refer to the same species, a powerful constrictor that seeks out rodents in their burrows and occasionally climbs trees in search of birds and eggs. 

Ugh.

Our flawless guide to the creatures you encounter,
while living in the country.

When Mom arrived home, I could tell from her reaction to seeing my handy work when I showed her what I had done, that she really didn’t want to tell me that I shouldn’t have, because of all the hard work. 

I know that she wanted to say that it probably would have been best to leave the ground cover of leaves and twigs just where it was.

It would help to retain the moisture for the scattered ferns and Jack-in-the-pulpits that I had uncovered.

It was extremely dry last summer and anything that would help the natural growth retain moisture right now is a good thing.  

Exposing the soil is not.

Especially since we don’t know what this summer will bring in rainfall.

Her complete silence was the answer to my question, “Should I not have raked it like that?”

When I repeated the question, begging for an answer, she replied, “Well, I don’t know. It might just get too dry now without the leaves...”

That little voice. 

The one that talks to you sometimes while you are in the midst of doing something that you aren’t really one hundred percent certain about in the first place?

Well…that little voice had said just that to me.  “Maybe it’s best not to clear the ground of all this natural insulation…”

If only I had listened.

Ugh.

Under Mom's garden hat for yard work on a sunny day.