Now That's a Wrap - of sorts

I am glad I got out of the house yesterday, taking Sophia to Lincoln Park and the waterfront trail near Fauntleroy ferry dock. It was sunny all day, but it was still 4 o'clock before I freed myself from my desk and went for a walk.

I take Sophia for three walks a day on all but the coldest days, usually around the neighborhood, which has great sidewalks, lots of green space, and even all of the utilities are underground, so the vista is pleasing. Since moving to High Point 18 months ago, I have enjoyed adding at least 30 minutes to my day by not having to drive somewhere with my dog to go for a walk in safety.
Still there are even off-leash issues in my community, altho not very often since the HOA rules reinforce the city law that requires dogs to be on-leash, and you can get fined for letting your dog run loose. I have had issues with a dog down the street from me - its owners are very irresponsible, and it is aggressive and has jumped up and bit me, trying to reach Sophia in my arms. So far every time we have had a dangerous encounter with a dog I have managed to get my dog off the ground and turn my back to the onslaught and no one has shed any blood yet. Amen. It upsets me that we have to live in a world where we have to fear for our lives every day, tho, and I am aggravated that I can not even walk down the street to the pond, and have to use a different route to get there. Just one more thing to worry about in my every day life.

I have given up on the idea of writing my annual "Now That's a Wrap" message. Usually it is a print newsletter that costs us quite a bit for postage and printing and production costs, so we nixed it this year. I thought I would still do an electronic version, which I could then print out and mail just to the great generation who have not learned how to use computers. Now January is almost over, and leaving my blog open to write it before writing anything else has created a blockage for me, so I am just going to bag it, and the great generation is just going to have to live a year without reading about us and getting some cool pictures.

Not that there was much content - that's why it has been difficult to work on. We didn't go anywhere this year, and have really focused on things at home (as in, focused on NOT going anywhere), so other than pictures of the dog and I, or scenery around the neighborhood and pictures of plants, there's not much to show or talk about. There was not one single picture of Steve taken in the entire year. I took this picture last week for this post, he telecommutes for work two days a week, so here is Steve working comfortably in the library and making money while doing it.

If you are a regular reader here, you know we both lost our jobs this fall, altho Steve went back to work in October (He is on a one year contract at Microsoft), and a week later I was out of work, and I haven't found gainful employment yet. You wouldn't believe the ads I have responded to, (or maybe you would), even for part time positions paying as little as $10/hour, and not been able to get a response. I have various versions of my resume, which I think is quite good. But now I think I need to completely strip it to bare bones to apply for these less challenging admin positions.

The headhunters have been great to work with, altho not much has come of that either. I did have one interview at Microsoft, but I was competing against two others and since I did not have any MS campus experience, it was a stretch. It would be great to work at MS, since I could carpool with Steve, but the more time that goes by the less attractive that idea is since our 100 day break won't synchronize, and it would mean commuting for over 3 months alone. I have a line on a couple of opportunities that if I cobble them together would be working about 35 hours a week, altho the pay is a lot less than I am accustomed to. I also have an interview for a FT admin position at a property management company on Monday - it is most likely the same job at the same company I applied at three years ago and didn't get. What is even more frustrating is that it is identical to a job I held 2001-2003 and was only coming back to it in 2006 because the income at the job I had in the middle was just not panning out to be as much as hoped (part commission). Here it is 2009. This is a very difficult time, and the hopes of getting a position that will move me up, or at least cross-train me into a different segment of the industry and have a future I can build on, are hard to hold onto. Yet I am grateful still for the opportunity.

"Value" as a worker has been something I have been struggling with, and yesterday I likened the job market to the real estate market in a conversation when talking to one of my head hunters. He was glad I was a reasonable person, and agreed to start submitting me for lower paying jobs.

Here's my analogy:
The job market is more like the housing market than it ever has been before. Housing prices keep falling (salaries), there is oversupply (lots of people looking for work), and this just drives wages and benefits down further. So, as a job seeker, I am glad I not only got a “hit” on my listing, I am even getting a showing (interview), which makes me a very happy person.

I use the real estate analogy because I have a real estate listing, a house in Upper Rainier Beach, for under $300k, and it has been difficult to get visitors at open houses, and even agents touring the property, altho I am seeing that pick up a little bit now that the new year and the inauguration is behind us.

I have been grateful during this weird winter we are having, tho, to not have a place I needed to be during all of the terrible ice and snow. I don't do bad weather. I already lost one engine in a flash flood, I don't want to smash up my MINI in a wreck, too. One small thing to be glad about, even tho the reason for it is that I don't have work.

So yesterday was cold and sunny and we had an outing. Today there was snow on the ground and the dog stopped on the door jamb when she saw the white ground and acted like she wanted to go on strike, she is so sick of bad weather. And back to talking about the dog - I know Cesar Millan swears dogs live in the present, but there is no denying that dogs also have memories. I have noticed since having the few incidents here in my neighborhood, where people start yelling when the aggressive dog gets loose, which results in my snatching her up off the ground and clutching her to my chest and then yelling at people to get their dog off me, while I am circling kicking at it and trying to keep it from biting me (or her), that she has started to act very nervous around crowds of people yelling (like playing with a ball or Frisbee), and even just walking along if I let her have the whole leash (6 feet) she gets that far out in front of me and seems overly wary. You should never let your dog walk out in front of you anyway, since you are the pack leader and they are the member, but sometimes I let her go the full 6 feet so she can smell around more. Most people use these 16' long Flexi leashes, and the dogs are all over the place and clearly the human is not in control. Sophia and I argue occasionally about it, and obviously I just don't walk fast enough for her. But when she starts looking jumpy like that, I just bring her all the way back in to walk next to me, and she seems to settle down a little bit. Dogs who have submissive personalities actually have problems and exhibit behavioral issues when put into the position of being the leader (like letting them walk in front on a long leash). By my taking over being the leader, she is able to relax and walk a bit easier.

Honestly she is most easy walking on our late night walk, when Steve walks with me. He started walking with me last May, after I was hassled by some older teens on the corner by our house. Then it became a social event, several of our neighbors met up with us and we would walk together at night all summer long and into the fall. Around Thanksgiving the group thing sort of fell apart. But Steve still walks with me, he sets the schedule. I think of it as a "date" walk, since most of the time when we eat dinner we are watching something on the DVR. So we walk and talk, and the dog feels safe and happy. Even if it is snowing - once she is out there and moving she is usually happy to be there.

Well, so this has been a rather random post, but now you know why you haven't seen much on my "pink" blog - not a lot of good stuff to talk about, and not a lot of great pictures to share. I do post regularly on my "green" blog, tho - so much of my life is about green, that is where you will find me most of the time. Oh - and on Facebook.

Note regarding photos: All photos were taken Monday, 1/26/09, at Lincoln Park, except for the photo of Steve, which was taken last week at home.