Pages

Friday, May 13, 2011

Waiting on a friend


This afternoon I am back at one of my 'old haunts' just waiting on a friend.

Friendships have always been in integral part of my life.
I don't have a lot of friends, just a handful or two that I truly call friend.

Most of my friends don't live nearby.
In fact, all but 1 friend lives in a different city,
And most live in a different state.

It makes it difficult to stay in touch.

Sure email, texting, Facebook and such make it easier,


But my dearest friends I need to sit with more often than opportunity allows when we live in different cities. I prefer to look them in the eye when I listen,
I want to see the laughter on their face when something is funny,
Wipe their tears when life brings sadness,
share a hug when they need comforted,
Or a give them a pat on the back when congrats are in order.

Its hard to do that when you are in different cities.

So in spite of a this week being crazy, busy, hectic, and mentally draining,
I am sitting at Johnny's waiting on a friend I haven't seen in several months.

I just wish all my friends could be so close.


"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." ~Albert Schweitzer

"She is a friend of mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order. It's good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind." ~Toni Morrison, Beloved

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Looking for work in Oregon

My last post was over a week ago,
sadly for me,
but perhaps a relief for anyone tired of my ramblings.
My lack of blogging is directly related to my last post...
I found work,

I have a weeks worth of blogging rolling around in my head,
just no time for typing.
But tonight, I am making time.
I had planned to start on one of several ideas such as:
Space Age Gas stations & the price of Gas,
Collections,
Hot air balloons...Take me away,
The struggles of being a working mom again,
TGIF,
or Worry
just to mention a few.
(Perhaps now you can imagine all the constipation in my brain.)
But tonight something else caught my attention as I sat down to write.

Tomorrow I have 2 family members with job interviews;
a son and a son-in-law, both of whom currently live with me. 
While I hope they are both successful in their interview process and finding a job,
I was especially captured by the job posting for Rogue Brewery where my son-in-law will be interviewing tomorrow morning.
Are you Rogue enough to work here?
We have jobs – some existing, some new, for hard core unemployables who understand:
We believe “Job Security” is a myth, seniority is not fair. 
God gave us 1 mouth and 2 ears for a reason, 
win-win is a book title not a reality, 
the risk of insult is the price of clarity, 
thinking, problem solving, courage are more important than WPM or other computer skills, 
but we do have pet and legal insurance, 401K match, phantom plan, 2 paid holidays, bad health insurance (like most others not paid for by us) for Government staff, 
hurt feelings report.
We do not plan, budget, forecast, or waste time on getting bigger. 
We only wish to get better.
Failure is encouraged – 
Even if you suck at one position you may be perfect for another position within the company.
You will be interviewed by a decision maker. 
Ties are not recommended for the interview, 
nor slacks or jackets, all of which are banned by our dress code
– or would be if we had one.
The following are banned words: 
great, excited, end-of-day, execute, throw down, great question, may I say something, may I ask a question, devil’s advocate, on one hand, in the long term, xmas, mo, outside bos, depends, synergy, build brand awareness, dude, Oh my god, spaced it, 24/7, close the loop, working on, ball in my court, on my radar, proactive, dear, reach out, same page, brain storming, in progress, behind the eight-ball, and others.
Aggressive people appear to do well here, passive aggressive – not so well.

Do not be offended if you do not get a form letter in response to your application. 
If we received it, it will be read and given consideration. 
If called for an interview do not be offended if the meeting is brief. 
Hiring decisions will be inexplicable 
– this ain’t widgets, we will be wrong a lot. 
Please review our website, prior to application and interview, so as not to waste each others’ time. 
These are mostly new positions 
– we have no HR department so may not have the answers you think we should have as a business. 
That’s because we are not, 
we are a revolution. 
Rogue is not for everyone and everyone is not for Rogue. 
DARE, RISK, DREAM.

I couldn't help but laugh when I read this.
As I just recently completed my own job search,
and many of my own sentiments were represented in the Rogue Job Application,
I wanted to add a few more in regards to what I was looking for in a work environment:
I honor honesty, integrity, and simply being upfront.
Competition doesn't need to exist because we are all working towards the same goal...
getting along and keeping our jobs in a difficult economy.
When in an office environment made up of primarily women remember...,
junior high and high school were a long time ago.
There is no place for backstabbing, lying, cheating, rumor starting, or misleading information.
And most of all-
Be Nice!
If everyone lived by the rules we all learned in kindergarten we would be much better off.

[Source: "ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN" 
by Robert Fulghum.  See his web site at http://www.robertfulghum.com/  ]
  • Share everything.
  • Play fair.
  • Don't hit people.  (Not even with words.)
  • Put things back where you found them. (My folks always taught us... leave things nicer than you found them.)
  • Clean up your own mess.
  • Don't take things that aren't yours.
  • Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. (And don't be afraid to take it to the next step and say, "Will you forgive me?")
  • Wash your hands before you eat.
  • Flush.  (I would add: use the plunger if necessary and don't make someone else do it for you!)
  • Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
  • Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
  • Take a nap every afternoon.  (Or at least get up from your desk and go stand outside in the sun, or the rain!) 
  • When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
  • Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
  • Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we. { So do dads.  :(  }
  • And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.
For my sons and everyone else out there looking for work, praying for work, trying to maintain their sanity at work....
Hang in there.
And try to Be Nice.




Steppin' out with DWNTWN
DWNTWNimages.me