A mountain of resumes won't peak at a job

I've penned less than a dozen cover letters in 2006, but personalizing all of them takes its toll, even with all the writing I do. The biggest obstacle has been the companies themselves: two of the more desirable jobs were filled internally, so I never reached an interview.

One newspaper dropped the ball entirely, and the opportunities at others dried up; then the same thing happened to my interest in remaining in this field. As much as I love writing that weekly column, I can longer afford to keep writing it. And I have too many other ideas for books floating around my skull to ignore any longer. When writing for paycheck, it makes it much harder for me to turn on the juices once I go home at night.

A job with the state might have been less competitive in another year, but with a huge gubernatorial election and the chance numerous statewide offices could change party hands, more people than ever want that civil service protection (and to continue their pensions and seniority levels). A few others are still out there, so the waiting goes on.

Ah well, no one said casting aside journalism would come easily...

Another old enemy claims victory

My track record against longtime technological foes has taken a nose dive. First, all the years of railing against cell phones vaporized when the need to cut some expenses arose. I still treat it like a house phone more often than not; it stays at home, where it belongs, because, "It's for my convenience, not that of everyone else," as Crites put it long ago.
Nevertheless, the last angry landline love now dials on a cell phone.

Now, I've given in to air conditioning. I blame it on an inefficient casement window machine at my old apartment; the box did a wonderful job of keeping the mud room at about 40 degrees, and did little for the rest of the house, save popping the circuit breaker every time it had to compete with another appliance for electricity. I saw little sense in giant electric bills to cool about 40 square feet of the house, but got outvoted every time.

While A/C is still verboten in the car unless I have passengers (I can't expect them to sacrifice comfort for my rules), this unusually warm May (which started while many in Central Ohio still had their heaters rolling) got the best of me. Eighties are common in May 'round these parts, but now the mercury has pushed beyond 90 every day since Saturday. Just a week before, sleeping with the windows open required a blanket to prevent from getting too cold.
The siesta is a great weapon against it, but the scorching temperatures loiter past midnight, drastic actions (for me, at least) come to pass. The new pad was even hotter than I thought --- even though the thermostat sat just short of 90 degrees, cool air blasted out of the ceiling vents immediately after I flipped the switch. Twenty degrees later, I slept again --- still restless, but begrudgingly thankful for the temperature's dip back to comfortable levels.

Candidates should lie low on Memorial Day

While I witnessed a pretty impressive -parade today. Besides, who wouldn't want to buzz down High Street in circles in a tiny Shriner's car? I could have done without the campaigning. Some of those candidate waving from convertibles are fighting for their political lives, but as they tried to maintain the applause that pored out for the soldiers preceding them (it died down quickly), their volunteers swarmed through the crowd with all sorts of campaign schwag.
I found the excessive campaigning in poor taste on day which deserves a dose of decorum and honor.
July 4th, I can understand. But on Memorial Day, we're remembering the soldiers, not forwarding the careers of those who decided to send them off to war. Next time, maybe the candidates should give their volunteers the day off, just like the rest of us. Either that, or maybe the Shriner should loan some of their little cars to the pols --- on most days, it would seem extremely appropriate.

One sore step for man....

So with a scream in an empty office, I'm now blogging (with extreme belatedness).

Onward to the meat of this .... since Friday, the list goes: reunion with former SNPers at goodbye party; short bike ride then a visit with friends at the Worthington Farmers Market (it is too early in the season for someone without a yard, however; flowers and herbs dominated the stalls); a soporific key party (the alcohol-flavored water called Miller Light tired me out, not the people); ribs with my folks; a BBQ in Clinton Township; a split-second decision to turn north for camping in Knox County (I curled up in a blanket on the dock and woke up with the sun sitting shotgun in my car); and probably the first real Memorial Day event I attended, Worthington's annual parade, where as expected, I ran into BD and her clan.

For all the frenzy, I feel as though I should have done more. Something got missed, but I can't point it out in a lineup, so why worry....

At least I own a good reason for spending quality time at SNP on a holiday: I just signed up for the Columbus Young Professionals Club, and tomorrow morning they're offering a networking coffee at Champps Lennox. I've let my world grow increasingly smaller. One little breakfast isn't going to suddenly shift my social life into overdrive, but it beats sitting around at Sinclair waiting to check commentary pages anytime.
I'm optimistic ... and yes, for those of you who've known me for more than 24 hours, you just read correctly.