Day 5 colorful cat

Day 5 colorful cat
Originally uploaded by tsakshaug

Day 5 of 366. This is a drawing that my wife's son's girlfriend's daughter made for my wife. Very nice.

stuff in my pockets

stuff in my pockets
Originally uploaded by tsakshaug

At the end of the day I empty my pockets, find the usual stuff. Phone, keys, bandana, knife. Sometimes change. Not tonight. Day 4 of 366

Time to put away the grill?

Time to put away the grill?
Originally uploaded by tsakshaug

This is the first grill to come out in the spring and the last to be put away. Yes, I have multiple grills and smokers. I like this one for quick meals, which is what I would do in this weather. Might be in the 40's by the weekend, time to get some burgers together.

Tea seeping

Tea seeping
Originally uploaded by tsakshaug

Day two of 366. Sally received some tea for christmas that opens up while seeping. Sort of neat looking

Nuts

Nuts
Originally uploaded by tsakshaug

Day one of 2012 365 photos. Or photo a day for 2011. We were making cranberry coffee cake this morning. Here are the nuts

Still Looking

As the one or two readers of this blog know, I am still looking for a job. Right now I am working phone support and making about 1/3 of the money I was making last year, which is really not a good thing. What I am not liking, and I may have written about this before, is how some companies handle their applicants and their hiring processes. Maybe I am a bit old fashioned, but I do like getting some feedback. A couple of weeks ago is a case in point. One night after work, I sent in an application to an outsourcing firm that handles technical support for many well known companies around the world. They called me within 12 hours to set up a couple of screening interviews for the next day. I went in, did well on the interviews, and as I was driving home, they called to tell me that they had sent an online test to me and asked me to fill it out as soon as possible, and could I come for another interview the next day. When I got home from work, around midnight, I did the 24 page test, involving UNIX, windows and other commands, server, SQL and various other questions, I did well, at least that is what they told me the next day during my 2 hour interview and tour. So a few hours later they called and asked if I could have a phone interview with someone from the vendor. My feedback from that interview was good, we even discussed pay and benefits. So after that whirlwind recruiting extravaganza, I hear nothing. I was at their beck and call for two and a half days, and nothing. Not even a letter, Email or voice mail saying "never mind". I am a little put out by all of that. My time is worth something, but they did give me a doughnut, so I guess that paid for it. The pay would have gotten me up to 50% of what I was making last year, which would have been nice. Nothing. Give me some feedback. Is that too much to ask?

What I have learned

What I have learned in my short career outside of education. Working in a warehouse: Warehouse work may not be good for us folks with ADD. Too many flashing lights. I noticed when working on “the line” with my back turned toward the warehouse, I made few errors, but facing the warehouse...I was too distracted, with the forklifts and their blinking lights zipping around. Too much to take in. Found it was hard to let my mind wander too far while stacking pallets, or whatever else I did, made it hard to enjoy the movies and voices in my head. Phone support: I would think that working with numbers is hard enough without having dyslexia. But reading phone numbers, taking credit card information and writing dollar amounts is very hard with it. I don’t make too many mistakes, and usually it is caught by the system or the customer. It gets worse as the day grows longer. I have also learned that I am not cut out for second shift work. I would prefer going in early and getting the day done. My most productive part of the day is around 10 am, and working second shift means I am just getting some stuff done around the house at that time. It is possible to make it thorough anything.