Out and Back

Montana

I spent a few days in Whitefish, Montana last week, not too far from Glacier National Park.  I was there for work, and as I wrote in an email to my brother, being there did me a lot of good.  I needed to remind myself what real mountains look like. The photo at left is the view from my room at Grouse Mountain Lodge.

It was cold and snowy but I didn't mind bundling up to venture out.  The people I met were friendly, and when they asked me where I was from I would say I lived in South Carolina but that I was from Seattle originally.  As soon as "Seattle" left my lips there was a smile or a nod of recognition, like we had an understanding.  I was suddenly less foreign.

The trip from South Carolina to Montana was a long haul... Greenville to Memphis to Minneapolis to Kalispell.  I was worried because I only had twenty minutes to make my connection in Memphis, but I made it without a hitch, only to discover in Minneapolis that my flight to Kalispell was delayed by two hours.  It was one of those maddening situations where the plane was there but the crew wasn't.  (They were stuck on a delayed flight from Canada.)  As soon as the gate agent announced that fact, a harried mother hollered out, "Just give me the keys, I'll fly the plane!"  One of her sons was a skateboarder, and as I walked past him on the moving walkway (I made several treks up and down the terminal in an effort to kill time) he noticed my sneakers (Etnies) and complimented me on them.  I guess Etnies are popular with skater boys, so I felt pretty cool.

Right: my tired Etnies. Haven't worn them since last winter, it's been nothing but flip-flops for me since April.

On the road again

I'm writing this post from my local airport as I wait for my flight to Atlanta.  Once I get to Atlanta, I'm catching a connecting flight to West Palm Beach.  Since April, I've been to Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami, and now West Palm Beach.  I guess you could say I've been getting my Florida on, which has been enjoyable.  Every city in Florida that I've visited so far has had a beach nearby, and proximity to the ocean always makes me feel better about life.  My dream dictionary makes mention of the fact that in dreams, the ocean symbolizes sexuality and the unconscious, and I guess it isn't too big of a leap from there to think of the ocean as an origin point... the primordial soup from which all life emerges.  It isn't all that surprising, then, that a lot of people (myself included) flock to the shore whenever an opportunity presents itself... we're all getting back to our roots, so to speak.

I have been thinking about the ocean lately in the context of nature, too.  During the past few weeks, I've been making a study of some of the earth-based religions, and respect for the natural world plays a huge role in those beliefs.  My spiritual path has become a bit more definitive of late -- it is becoming more and more difficult for me to make sense of life and these crazy times we live in without a spiritual element.  I've struggled with the concept of organized religion for much of my adult life, but I am starting to feel as though I may have found something that fits me.  Not surprisingly, it is less "organized" than most religions and lends itself beautifully to solitary practice.  I'm not ready to commit myself yet because I've only recently started studying, but my initial response has been very positive. 

I still have a lot to learn, though.

I hate redeyes

Took a redeye home from San Francisco last night, got to South Carolina this morning around 10 a.m.  I used to think it was possible to sleep on a redeye... all you need is a little Benadryl, a sleep mask, and one of those inflatable neck pillows.  No such luck this time.  Even with my noise cancelling headphones, it was positively wretched.  I think you need anesthesia or horse tranquilizers or something to be able to sleep on an airplane these days.

Or maybe I'm just bummed because I had to come back to SC after three and a half gorgeous days in SF.

Either way, I'm looking forward to sleeping horizontally tonight.

Balance

Today marks my second day working from home.  The work from home thing is standard when I'm not traveling to where my clients are.  I'm sure that once things start to pick up, I will miss telecommuting.  (I really enjoyed it for the month I did it for my old job -- after leaving Pennsylvania but before my successor was hired.)

Telecommuting is not without its challenges, though.  One such challenge is that I really like my job.  Really.  So when 5:00 p.m. rolls around and it's time to call it a day, I might pause for a while and pretend like I'm finished, but then I see my laptop and I think, "Oh, I'll just answer these couple of emails," and before I know it another hour has gone by.  This will be a good thing when I'm stuck in a hotel room in the middle of nowhere and I can actually bill my clients for the time I am spending, but right now I don't have much billable work so the emails I'm responding to are largely from colleagues.

(Aw, shoot.  Y'all have probably figured out by now that I'm a consultant.  I'm throwing around words like "client" and "billable," and that, coupled with the fact that I'll be traveling a lot is pretty much a dead giveaway.  All right, I'll give you consultant, but that's it.  I'm still keeping a firm line drawn between my blog and my work life.  You don't get to know the company I work for or the type of clients I work with.)

Anyway, the challenge right now is to maintain a balance.  I don't want to turn into a workaholic.... I guess loving one's job is a good thing, but not at the expense of my personal life and personal relationships.

One cool thing, though, is that once I start getting out on the road more I will be posting a lot about the places I am visiting.  This blog will become a travelogue (or travelblog) of sorts.  Little did I know that "Out and Back" would be a fitting name for this little project in more ways than one, eh?

Employment

I was so upset over nearly getting run down by that jerk in the Chevy that I forgot to mention that I was offered a job on Monday.  I start next week, salary's good, and the work will be challenging.  It is a bit of a change from what I have been doing for the past few years, but it is still in the same general field... I'll be able to use a lot of the skills I've developed over the years, learn some new ones, and challenge myself.  Way cool.

The job will take me out of town quite a bit, but I'm kind of looking forward to that -- we've established that I don't exactly love South Carolina, so the chance to go to different locales will be great.  I'm sure joining the ranks of the road warriors will come with some difficulties (like those stupid airport security rules about putting your liquids in a ziploc baggie) but the fun of seeing new places and meeting new folks will balance it out.

How you like them apples?

Another job interview today.... that's three in the past week for those of you playing the at-home version of the game.

So far, all interviews have been very positive.  I will be surprised if I don't get at least one offer out of this latest batch.

In all honesty, I have enjoyed having a little break from working, and as I was paying bills last night I was marveling at how much further our greatly-slashed income can go here in South Carolina.  At the same time, though, I could do without the occasional boredom that has crept in during the past ten weeks, and although we've had enough money to meet all of our financial obligations, that's been a periodic source of worry, too.  Yes, it will be nice to have both a steady paycheck and somewhere to go every day.  And once I get a job, I won't have to shop at Wal-Mart anymore, either.

Dusting off the old resume

Tonight I dug out my resume and spent some time updating it.  No, I'm not looking for another job at the moment.  I just find it easier to spruce up this document when I have no deadlines or pressures to worry about.  To me, there is nothing worse than trying to get your resume updated and ready to go when:

* there's this job out there that you're just dying to apply for, and
* the application deadline is tomorrow, and
* you realize you have two or three years' worth of relevant experience to cram in, and
* just a few hours in which to do it.

So I pulled mine out, chuckled a little bit at my work history, and added the latest chapter (including a thorough description of my duties and all the things I've managed to accomplish... so far.)

I worry less about my resume these days... I can't believe I used to sweat about it so much.  It had to be perfect, printed on good quality paper, and full of countless achievements and successes.  Nowadays, I realize that resumes get a glance and if something pops out at the reader, then you get called for an interview.  I doubt anyone ever won a job solely on the basis of their resume.  Sure, plenty of people lose chances at jobs based on their resumes (typos, spelling errors, etc.) but I have a hard time believing that anyone ever got hired just from a resume alone.

As I played with my resume tonight, I started thinking about what my "life resume" would look like.  What life experiences would I choose to highlight and which would I avoid?  And most importantly, what does my life experience qualify me for now?  Thinking loftily, I decided to start out with my "objective":

Objective: To obtain an exciting and challenging position in life, with plenty of variety and opportunities to think, act, party, ride roller coasters, drink good beer, and become a better person.

I'll highlight my qualifications later...