Well, got my first call for an interview…in my desired field…very near the DC area. This is exciting for two reasons (Three, sir!) …Um, yes, three reasons.
One, if I get the job, I’ll get to live in a location I really like, doing the job I really want to have.
Two, even if I don’t end up with the job, the fact that a school in an area like that would even notice me gives a sense of hope that the other places I’ve applied for might notice me and call as well.
Three, just getting called for an interview at all (especially in my field of interest) after getting nowhere for the past…well, more than a year now, is plain exciting. (Well, I shouldn’t say I’ve gotten “nowhere”, but I mean, just in terms of finding work.)
I’m scheduled to interview late next week, so we’ll see what happens. Could hear back from some of the other places in that time, too, since some of them aren’t scheduled to go through applications until early August. I’ll keep you posted.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Clocks
“In manufacturing such a product [seconds and minutes], the clock has the effect of disassociating time from human events and thus nourishes the belief in an independent world of mathematically measurable sequences. Moment to moment, it turns out, is not God’s conception, or nature’s. It is man conversing with himself about and through a piece of machinery he created.”
- excerpt from “Amusing Ourselves to Death”, by Neil Postman
Yes, I’m aware of the irony of posting this quote out of context, considering the content of Postman’s book. But I still thought it was a profound statement.
Perhaps I can once again escape the confines of time.
- excerpt from “Amusing Ourselves to Death”, by Neil Postman
Yes, I’m aware of the irony of posting this quote out of context, considering the content of Postman’s book. But I still thought it was a profound statement.
Perhaps I can once again escape the confines of time.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Anywhere and everywhere while I’m nowhere
Out of fear of a temp job landing me a permanent job that I have no interest in, I’m making my last attempt to get into the international field.
For the past few weeks I’ve been applying for positions all over the country. This is the time that they’re hiring. If I don’t get in this summer, then I think it’s unlikely I’ll get into this field as all my relevant experience will be pushed further into the past.
I think I’ve applied to about 10 or 12 colleges/universities. We’ll see if any stick. For now I’m signed up with one temp agency. Gonna sign up with another one tomorrow.
For the past few weeks I’ve been applying for positions all over the country. This is the time that they’re hiring. If I don’t get in this summer, then I think it’s unlikely I’ll get into this field as all my relevant experience will be pushed further into the past.
I think I’ve applied to about 10 or 12 colleges/universities. We’ll see if any stick. For now I’m signed up with one temp agency. Gonna sign up with another one tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Target unlocked
Well, I had orientation today at Target and, um…yeah. It wasn’t quite what my understanding was at the interviews. This particular job would have required frequent lifting of heavy items which is far removed from what I think I need to be doing to my body. Plus the shifts would have been crazy early, so the combination of lifting stuff before my muscles had a chance to loosen didn’t sound very good to me. Anyway, I don’t want to say much about it.
Anyway, so now it’s on to Plan…um, I don’t know what letter I’m on now. But whatever letter this next plan is will involve me going to the temp agency to take, well…temp jobs. I’ve worked for this company before at their Bellevue branch. And it’s summer, so there should be seasonal work available. Also, they do job placement, so if my primary plans (the positions I’m waiting to hear back from within the next few weeks) fall through, I should be able to get set up with something.
Hmm…I still feel like writing, but I think that’s it for this post.
Anyway, so now it’s on to Plan…um, I don’t know what letter I’m on now. But whatever letter this next plan is will involve me going to the temp agency to take, well…temp jobs. I’ve worked for this company before at their Bellevue branch. And it’s summer, so there should be seasonal work available. Also, they do job placement, so if my primary plans (the positions I’m waiting to hear back from within the next few weeks) fall through, I should be able to get set up with something.
Hmm…I still feel like writing, but I think that’s it for this post.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Bridging the gap
Ok, so I guess I’ll pick up where I left off four posts ago. I withdrew from the teaching program a few weeks ago. I’ve applied for a few positions in the field I originally wanted to get into. I’ve made improvements to my resume and cover letter that better communicates what they’re looking for. Anyway, we’ll see. I don’t want to mention what the positions are or where they’ll be. I’d rather just talk about what happens than what might happen.
In the meantime, I’ll be doing a “whatever job” at Target. *sigh* I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I’m glad that I’ll be earning a paycheck. But on the other hand, this is incredibly humiliating and depressing. The last time I had a setback this big was when I didn’t make it into the military. But I replaced that with going to university to study biology. That’s a decent trade.
Well, I still need to be patient as I’m certain I have a shot at these other positions I’m applying for. I don’t see myself ending up at Target. But from my past, I know it’s easy for me to get stuck in these kinds of jobs, both because I get too comfortable with them and also I have a hard time trying to do more than one thing at a time because I always focus on what I’m doing. ...Anyway, I’m not going into that right now.
Um…so, yeah. There you have it. I’ll write more when I have more to say.
In the meantime, I’ll be doing a “whatever job” at Target. *sigh* I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I’m glad that I’ll be earning a paycheck. But on the other hand, this is incredibly humiliating and depressing. The last time I had a setback this big was when I didn’t make it into the military. But I replaced that with going to university to study biology. That’s a decent trade.
Well, I still need to be patient as I’m certain I have a shot at these other positions I’m applying for. I don’t see myself ending up at Target. But from my past, I know it’s easy for me to get stuck in these kinds of jobs, both because I get too comfortable with them and also I have a hard time trying to do more than one thing at a time because I always focus on what I’m doing. ...Anyway, I’m not going into that right now.
Um…so, yeah. There you have it. I’ll write more when I have more to say.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
It works!
I took the personality test twice and got two different results. So, looks like strategy 3 could work to pass the unicru test. See two posts ago for the results.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
No beginning...
There are at least two rationales used to suggest the existence of a supreme being.
1. The Clockmaker argument.
2. Everything has a beginning.
The thing that got us thinking about a clockmaker was the industrial revolution bringing about mechanical thinking. And western medicine gives the illusion that we are composed of interchangeable parts what with organ transplants and such. But it should be noted that when you replace a part on a clock, the clock will not reject the new part. The medical patient receiving their “new part” will reject it. So suffice to say we are not clocks.
That’s all I’ll say about the first argument for now. But for this post, I want to deal with the chicken and egg argument regarding beginnings.
But I needed to introduce the first argument because of the predicament in suggesting the Clockmaker has no beginning or end. A large part of the rationale to believing there is a clockmaker in the first place is because we find it impossible to think that we, ourselves, have no beginning or end.
If we can believe that there is a supreme being with no beginning or end, why is it inconceivable that we, too, have no beginning or end?
What we assign as a beginning is really just an arbitrary point in time on a continuum. For example, we’ll say our beginning is when we are born or conceived. Lot’s of arguments on those two arbitrary points in time, but you can assign other arbitrary “beginnings” as well.
You could say that when your parents met was your beginning, since they would eventually conceive you and you’d be brought into the world. And, their meeting each other at all is a result of their respective “beginnings”, just as arbitrary as yours. So you could say that their being brought into the world was your beginning. And you can just keep going back.
There is another angle to add to this. The idea of us having “a beginning” presumes that we are individuals. But, really, you are not an individual at all, since you did not appear out of thin air. You are a combination of your parents’ genetic make up. You are half your father and half your mother. Only…your father and mother are also a combination of their parents’ genetic make up. So, in short, you are merely a continuation of your father and mother’s respective lines.
No sign of a beginning yet.
Ah, but our planet has a beginning, right? It’s, what, 4.5 - 4.6 billion years old? Well, yes, the earth as we know it. Just like I’m 30 years old as we know it…starting from an arbitrary point in time. But the earth also came from something before it.
I bring up the concepts of energy. Energy is conserved. It’s neither created nor destroyed. All things that live utilize the energy of something else that died (or that will die). For example, we will die eventually. So we expend energy that is transferred to our progeny. And our progeny ensures that part of us will live on (or continue) after we die. But even when we die, our energy is not destroyed. It is passed on to something else that will utilize the energy.
When a star dies, a new star utilizes the energy that was passed on. And when the new star becomes old, it will pass its energy on. When the sun becomes old, it will expand into a red giant and consume the inner planets. Life as we know it will end. But the energy will be passed on.
There is no beginning. There is no end.
1. The Clockmaker argument.
2. Everything has a beginning.
The thing that got us thinking about a clockmaker was the industrial revolution bringing about mechanical thinking. And western medicine gives the illusion that we are composed of interchangeable parts what with organ transplants and such. But it should be noted that when you replace a part on a clock, the clock will not reject the new part. The medical patient receiving their “new part” will reject it. So suffice to say we are not clocks.
That’s all I’ll say about the first argument for now. But for this post, I want to deal with the chicken and egg argument regarding beginnings.
But I needed to introduce the first argument because of the predicament in suggesting the Clockmaker has no beginning or end. A large part of the rationale to believing there is a clockmaker in the first place is because we find it impossible to think that we, ourselves, have no beginning or end.
If we can believe that there is a supreme being with no beginning or end, why is it inconceivable that we, too, have no beginning or end?
What we assign as a beginning is really just an arbitrary point in time on a continuum. For example, we’ll say our beginning is when we are born or conceived. Lot’s of arguments on those two arbitrary points in time, but you can assign other arbitrary “beginnings” as well.
You could say that when your parents met was your beginning, since they would eventually conceive you and you’d be brought into the world. And, their meeting each other at all is a result of their respective “beginnings”, just as arbitrary as yours. So you could say that their being brought into the world was your beginning. And you can just keep going back.
There is another angle to add to this. The idea of us having “a beginning” presumes that we are individuals. But, really, you are not an individual at all, since you did not appear out of thin air. You are a combination of your parents’ genetic make up. You are half your father and half your mother. Only…your father and mother are also a combination of their parents’ genetic make up. So, in short, you are merely a continuation of your father and mother’s respective lines.
No sign of a beginning yet.
Ah, but our planet has a beginning, right? It’s, what, 4.5 - 4.6 billion years old? Well, yes, the earth as we know it. Just like I’m 30 years old as we know it…starting from an arbitrary point in time. But the earth also came from something before it.
I bring up the concepts of energy. Energy is conserved. It’s neither created nor destroyed. All things that live utilize the energy of something else that died (or that will die). For example, we will die eventually. So we expend energy that is transferred to our progeny. And our progeny ensures that part of us will live on (or continue) after we die. But even when we die, our energy is not destroyed. It is passed on to something else that will utilize the energy.
When a star dies, a new star utilizes the energy that was passed on. And when the new star becomes old, it will pass its energy on. When the sun becomes old, it will expand into a red giant and consume the inner planets. Life as we know it will end. But the energy will be passed on.
There is no beginning. There is no end.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A (possible) way to pass the unicru test (updated)
*Follow-up to my unicru post*
I think I have a few ideas on how to approach this test. I found a website that asks these questions that are pretty much the same as the unicru test. And, unlike the unicru test, this site tells you what your personality actually is.
This could be helpful in several ways. Let me give you a few approaches as to what you can do about this.
1. Take this test, answering the questions honestly, to see what your personality trait actually is (it will give you your strongest trait). This may tell why you’re not attracting the interest of prospective employers. OR, it may also help you to see what kinds of jobs you should be going after.
2. After you take the test, have someone else (who knows you well) take the test for you and see if the answer turns out differently. (After all, others don’t perceive us the way we perceive ourselves.) See if this answer is more favorable. If so, the next time you take a unicru test, have this person do the test for you.
3. This would be, perhaps, the most interesting. Here is where I suggest a way to manipulate the test. After you’ve taken the test (honestly), see if you can take the test again, answering the questions differently, (but that are consistent with each other) and coming out with a different personality trait. (If you’ve taken the unicru test, you know they ask the same question more than once, usually in an opposite way. For example, first they’ll ask you, “I like to be the center of attention.” Then later you’ll see, “I don’t like to be the center of attention.”)
***Update: It works. I took the personality test twice. The first time I answered honestly and the result was “introspection”. The second time I answered against my intuition and came out “sociability”. So it is possible to tweak the results of this test.***
Still, I think the most practical approaches are 1 and 2. At least you want to know the answer that the employers are receiving.
Now then, here is the website. Mind you there 485 questions. They do go quickly, but make sure you have a chunk of time to do this. If you’re choosing strategy 2 listed above, maybe have them take this test at the same time on a different computer so you can match your results at the same time.
Mind you also that there are a bunch of survey things after you answer the questions. Just opt to skip them. You’ll eventually come to a page that says “Test Results” and to the right, you’ll see a word that describes “your greatest personality trait”.
Here you go.
http://www.funeducation.com/Tests/CareerTest/TakeTest.aspx
I am hoping for one of three outcomes from my strategies. 1. It will help you know your personality and seek out appropriate jobs. 2. You will find a way to “pass” this test. 3. If either my second or third strategy works, I hope to render unicru useless for employers.
I think I have a few ideas on how to approach this test. I found a website that asks these questions that are pretty much the same as the unicru test. And, unlike the unicru test, this site tells you what your personality actually is.
This could be helpful in several ways. Let me give you a few approaches as to what you can do about this.
1. Take this test, answering the questions honestly, to see what your personality trait actually is (it will give you your strongest trait). This may tell why you’re not attracting the interest of prospective employers. OR, it may also help you to see what kinds of jobs you should be going after.
2. After you take the test, have someone else (who knows you well) take the test for you and see if the answer turns out differently. (After all, others don’t perceive us the way we perceive ourselves.) See if this answer is more favorable. If so, the next time you take a unicru test, have this person do the test for you.
3. This would be, perhaps, the most interesting. Here is where I suggest a way to manipulate the test. After you’ve taken the test (honestly), see if you can take the test again, answering the questions differently, (but that are consistent with each other) and coming out with a different personality trait. (If you’ve taken the unicru test, you know they ask the same question more than once, usually in an opposite way. For example, first they’ll ask you, “I like to be the center of attention.” Then later you’ll see, “I don’t like to be the center of attention.”)
***Update: It works. I took the personality test twice. The first time I answered honestly and the result was “introspection”. The second time I answered against my intuition and came out “sociability”. So it is possible to tweak the results of this test.***
Still, I think the most practical approaches are 1 and 2. At least you want to know the answer that the employers are receiving.
Now then, here is the website. Mind you there 485 questions. They do go quickly, but make sure you have a chunk of time to do this. If you’re choosing strategy 2 listed above, maybe have them take this test at the same time on a different computer so you can match your results at the same time.
Mind you also that there are a bunch of survey things after you answer the questions. Just opt to skip them. You’ll eventually come to a page that says “Test Results” and to the right, you’ll see a word that describes “your greatest personality trait”.
Here you go.
http://www.funeducation.com/Tests/CareerTest/TakeTest.aspx
I am hoping for one of three outcomes from my strategies. 1. It will help you know your personality and seek out appropriate jobs. 2. You will find a way to “pass” this test. 3. If either my second or third strategy works, I hope to render unicru useless for employers.
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