Monday, July 6, 2020

Goodbye for the Foreseeable Future

Happy Monday, Dear Readers. I have an announcement to make.

I decided when I started up this blog again that I would only keep it going until I was full-time employed. This past week I was able to take a skills assessment, have a wonderful interview, and sign some paperwork. Tomorrow I start my training period for working with Frontier Airlines in their customer support department, so rather than have my usual Tuesday blog upload, I am posting this note to my blog today.

I have been humbled by this process of finding work. I didn't find the job I wanted, but I found a job I'm good at and the pay is steady. In today's economy, with everything going on, it is better to get a solid paycheck than to keep waiting for perfection.

So goodbye for now, Dear Readers. I hope you are all staying safe, washing your hands, and drinking enough water. Take care of each other, and I'll see you around.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

The Joy of Summer, Part 2

Happy Tuesday, Dear Readers. I hope you had a good week, and were enjoying the sun if you were able.

Summers in Colorado, being on the eastern side of the mountains, means an extra-long twilight; there is the twilight-set as the sun goes over the mountains, and then the actual sunset as it sinks below the horizon. It is during this twilight time that, if there are any clouds in the sky, they are made resplendent with sunset colors. It is a peaceful, beautiful time that I love to sit and watch; a reminder of simple beauty existing no matter what else is happening in the world.

Summers also mean that everybody who lives at in my HOA with a fishing pole and some time on their hands will at some point try fishing in the ponds on the HOA's grounds. The ponds are connected to the protected wild-space to the west of us, so there are always fish swimming about. Yesterday I saw no less than a dozen people spaced out between the two ponds, obviously enjoying their time outside.

The one thing I have noticed this summer is an uptick in summer showers during the afternoons; mostly light and gentle rain that lasts from 30 minutes to 2 hours, with the occasional thunderstorm. The mornings start off bright and sunny and hot, only for a general cooling off and the peaceful sound of rain. I love the sound of summer rain, and how it makes the world more vibrant as a result; the plants visibly perk up, even as the world is made quiet from the rain.

I know there is a lot of ugliness in the world right now, but please take time from doom-scrolling through the news and take some time to appreciate the simple beauty of the world around you this week, Dear Readers. I find it to be essential for good mental health.

Until next week, Dear Readers.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

The Joy of Summer

Hello Dear Readers, I hope you had a good week.

Now that summer is in full swing, I like to go out for walks more. There are nature paths near where I live, and I like to take a mask with me just in case I come across other people, and go for a nice walk in the evenings, after the heat of the day has passed but before the sun goes over the mountains and ushers in the twilight. It's peaceful and lovely and is wonderfully different than being stuck inside my place for months on end.

Even I, as a homebody/hermit, can say that the pandemic state of mind is getting to me, now more than ever. Summer in Colorado is beautiful, and would be my usual time to take a week off of work and go to several somewheres as a series of day trips (the Midsummer Festival in Estes Park is always neat, and before it got too pricey, I would also attend the Denver Comic Con for a day). I grew up in Michigan, where the higher humidity is not conducive to staying outside when it is hot, but with the low humidity in Colorado, I learned to love an entire season outside when I usually would have stayed inside in the air conditioning.

I know things in general are not good right now, and it is stressful for everybody. Remember to take care of yourselves; drink plenty of water, sleep when you can, eat as healthily as you are able, and go for a walk and get some sunlight. Be safe, wash your hands, bring a mask with you if you are going to be around other people, and wear sunscreen.

I want all of us to both survive and live as happily as we are able through all of this. I know it might get a lot worse before it gets any better, so buckle up, Dear Readers. Know that even though we might be going through a bad place, I am there with you, and we will get through this together.

Go enjoy the sun this week, Dear Readers.

-A.M.W.


Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Continuous Self-Improvement

Hello Dear Readers. I hope you've had a good week.

After I earned the last three certificates, I took a little bit of a learning break, and then realized I was bored. Boredom is bad for me, for many reasons, the first of which is that my brain does not handle boredom well, as I like to be challenged.

So I've gone back to Codecademy and I've been having a great time. I brushed up on my HTML5 knowledge, and now I'm almost done with their CSS course. It's been fun building on what I started learning at 13, when dial-up internet had finally come to my hometown and I could figure out how to make web pages.

I'm of the opinion that as long as people are learning, they are growing. I like to grow, and to know more when I go to bed than when I woke up that morning, a continuous self-improvement. I also enjoy learning new ways to express myself, as communication is always an important part of being human. Coding is just another language to learn to help express something visually, and I enjoy it.

Whatever way you like to learn, and however you enjoy communicating, I hope you are taking time for yourselves, Dear Readers. Have a good week.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Having Imagination And Mental Fatigue

Hello, Dear Readers; I hope your week was a productive one.

Usually, having an imagination is a great thing; I love to write, and part of my previous jobs did entail some work imagining scenarios of how customers might react to different promotions. I like being able to create a world in my head and explore it, and then write about the interesting bits down.

Living in 2020 with imagination is...not great, honestly. It's like this year is actively striving to create the world's weirdest apocalypse year bingo card, and every time I think about the implications of each new event and how those could turn out for people, I honestly can't predict what could be next. It's like trying to figure out a domino effect in an M.C. Escher painting.

Things that have already happened in 2020 Bingo: World-wide plague? Check. Mass layoffs in the USA? Check. Protests all over the world against systemic oppression? Check. The USA almost starting WWIII? Check. Murder hornets? Check. Summer-season wide-spread forest fires (first in Australia, now in the USA)? Check. Ebola having another outbreak in Africa? Check. The USA's Pentagon releasing possible proof that aliens exist? Check. Dams which are privately owned and not given proper upkeep breaking and flooding people out of their homes? Check. Dogs and cats, living together in harmony? Check.

I am mentally fatigued to the point where I feel disappointed but not surprised when each new event happens. Our new version of "normal" (in quotes because none of this is even remotely normal) is such that if the next big news story is that Atlantis rose from the sea and declared war on the companies that dump waste in the ocean the most, I'd read through the article while drinking my coffee, watch the video footage, think 'good for them for standing up for themselves', and move on to the next news article.

I would like to end this blog with some fanciful predictions for 2020 to go with the theme it is apparently running on, but I'm slightly anxious to put any ideas out into the universe that could come to fruition and hurt somebody. So instead, predictions for 2020 that will help humanity.

1) A legitimate cure is found for COVID-19 which is both shelf-stable and efficient to make and give to people with minimal side-effects. I say shelf-stable so that it does not require refrigeration to be viable, which helps in the shipping and maintaining of the cure to hot climates.

2) Scientists figure out how to efficiently clean the oceans of all the garbage and micro-plastics.

3) Technology is created and implemented that will drastically reduce harmful emissions made by large manufacturers.

4) Strides are made towards positive systemic changes for the betterment of all humans.

What sort of things do you want to see in 2020? Have a good week, Dear Readers.

-A.M.W.

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Solidarity In A Time of Division

I did not post yesterday because yesterday was a social media blackout for content creators, and as small as it is, my blog qualified as content creation. I am so sad and angry at how peaceful marches have been brutally responded to by police; people protesting police violence given more police escalation and violence, and all of it condoned by the current executive administration.

The current executive administration got voted in because of division, and they are determined to keep up their divisive tactics. However, I don't want to talk about the aggressors, but of how we can help each other. We have to stand up for each other, because it is now in stark focus that those in power are not willing to represent us, as they promised when they were sworn into office. We must act in solidarity to each other; as a neighborhood, as a city, as a state, and as a nation.

Be kind to yourself, and be kind to others. If you go to a protest, make sure to hydrate and be watchful of police presence. Stay as safe as you can, and have an exit strategy. Also, educate yourself about the history of America squashing progressive movements, and learn from their playbook. The history we were taught in school is woefully insufficient when it comes to how America became the country it is today, and by and large, whitewashed in the name of patriotism. The information is out there; consult your local librarian.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay connected to each other, Dear Readers. We get through this together, or not at all.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Memory and Kindness

Hello, Dear Readers. I hope you are healthy, and that your week was a good one. For those of you in the United States, I hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend. I spent my Monday crocheting and quietly contemplating my grandfathers and my maternal uncle, all of whom have long-since passed away, and all of whom were in the military at one point during their lives. I had talked to my Dad, a Vietnam veteran, on Saturday, during what turned out to be a hilarious "first time using video chat on a tablet" adventure for my parents. Mom thought it was perfectly fine to start the call in a dark living room with only the TV on for light, until I let her know I couldn't see her or Dad, and then once they turned on some lights, neither of them could figure out where the camera was, and none of us could stop laughing. Remembering it still makes me smile.

Memory is an important, but odd thing; it is like an intangible muscle in some aspects, that we must work with it in order to remember things consistently. We get so much information every day, every week, that it is so hard to keep up with everything and remember the most important bits. As the influence of fast information via the internet grows, our attention spans shorten and we aren't given enough time to process the information given to us. It doesn't help that 2020 is proving to be an overwhelming experience of information, whether it be from health professionals, or the news, or government entities, or viral videos of what people are doing on the other side of the world for the betterment or detriment of their fellow human beings.

Be good to yourself, and take the time to process all of this mental information. A lot can happen within every news cycle, and between juggling working from home (or looking for work from home) and keeping informed (and for some of you, also taking care of at least one kid), it can be a lot to handle. Take some time away from the screens each day so that you can process everything you've taken in, and take care of yourself; stretch, breathe, drink some water, and remember to eat.

I don't know how long this new normal may last, but we must remember to be kind to ourselves, both physically and mentally. Have a good week, Dear Readers.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Self-Paced Personal Improvement

Hello, Dear Readers; I hope you are healthy and have had a pleasant week.

Back in April, I signed up for three continuing education courses online. Get Grants!, A to Z Grant Writing Part II - Beyond the Basics, and Project Management Fundamentals. All of them were self-paced, so I could read through the each course in its entirety right off the bat, and that helped me tailor my learning experience.

I find that self-paced classes are much more in keeping with my learning style; some days I don't feel like logging in to read at all, while on other days I feel like going through three chapters of material, and still others I feel like I've studied enough to take half of the quizzes for the course all in one go.

For these online classes, you have three months from the day you sign up to finish the course. As I was still under a stay-at-home order, it seemed like a way to use the time of both unemployment and obligatory sequestering as a way to improve myself. On Sunday I took the final exams for both Get Grants! and A to Z Grant Writing Part II - Beyond the Basics, and passed them both. On Monday, I took the final exam for Project Management Fundamentals and passed that as well. Three more certificates for my resume, and a nice feeling of accomplishment besides.

Since the stay-at-home order and then the safer-at-home order, I've made time to look for work, take those classes, play video games, watch an abundance of streaming video, and even started crocheting again, to both help with anxiety management and for me to do something with my hands while I'm job searching.

I'm working on a shawl that is turning out breathtakingly fugly, both due to the varigated yarn I'm using and the "haha, follow what pattern, I'll wing it as I go" attitude I've adopted, ensuring that the yarn colors don't stripe nicely together. While the color palette of orange/white/dark grey/dark blue/light blue looks great while it's in the skein, when there's giant patches of orange next to giant patches of light blue, it's actually getting to the point of "so ugly it's cute again", which was not my intention. I still fully intend to use it around the house when it is finished; the yarn is thick and soft and perfect for slightly chilly nights.

Sometimes the projects we use to improve our skills and ourselves aren't the prettiest when they're done, but they served a purpose. I'm using this shawl as a way to practice new stitches that I've been learning from YouTube tutorials, as well as practicing old stitches that I felt I was getting a bit rusty on. I'm working at my own pace, so the end date for the project is not set, but I don't feel rushed; even if I finish this project sooner rather than later, there is always more yarn and there are always some actual patterns for me to try. Pacing myself is important, because I need to know and respect my limits. Many people try to work on themselves in such a regimented way that they forget to be kind to themselves too, and that will inevitably lead to backlash.

Be good to yourselves, Dear Readers. There is enough going on outside that you may feel like you have to do certain things to get ahead, and that very well may be, but do not forget to give yourself a break too. Stay safe, wash your hands, and be kind.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

This Is Starting To Look Real Familiar

Happy Tuesday, Dear Readers.

I remember with visceral clarity what the job market was like between 2008-2012, which was both time for me to go to grad school and trying to acquire a job. It was hectic and messy, frustrating and rewarding.

I remember the fallout of the mass layoffs in 2008 that happened; companies realized they could get people with decades of experience on the cheap, compared to the salaries they'd been paying just a few months prior. Suddenly all the jobs that we as grad students had been eyeing to apply to when we were closer to graduating were out of our reach, as companies were less interested in our shiny new degrees and more interested in snatching up all the people with 10-20 years' of industry experience.

Only in the past five years or so, have I noticed the ludicrous requirements for jobs have slowly relaxed a bit, to something a bit more sensible for employers to look for and expect from applicants. However, with the mass layoffs of March and April 2020, I have seen a return of higher requirements, including more years of experience in general, more years of experience regarding certain job tasks, more certifications, etc. However, I do not think it will work as well for employers this time.

It worked 12 years ago was because the eldest of the Baby Boomer generation were setting out to retire, and with the layoffs happening in 2008, it mangled their retirement plans to a point that they had to get rehired and keep working. Now though, most people in that age range have either already retired or were at a good place to retire when the 2020 layoffs happened, and I think a lot of them will choose their health over the rigmarole of trying to get rehired during a pandemic.

I sincerely hope that when businesses open up again that people will be offered their old jobs back, and that they are hired back at a non-reduced rate of pay. I sincerely hope that people are able to find a job that they love to go to by the end of all this. I sincerely hope that, when all is said and done, we can learn from what we have experienced and be better people and a better society.

Have a good week, Dear Readers. Take care of yourselves.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Managing Anxiety During A Plague

Hello Dear Readers. I hope your week has been a good one.

Managing anxiety has become a far more pressing issue in the past couple months than usual. Anxiety hits everybody differently, but for me I can get insomnia, and/or completely lose my appetite, and/or get a headache because I've hyper-focused on something and forgot to drink water, and any combination of these things will absolutely screw me up worse if I don't take care of myself.

I have a plan written on my white board that says the following:

"If you feel like everything is going wrong, or you can't sleep, or your head hurts, or your chest is tight, or your stomach feels like lead, remember to do three things:
1) Drink water - a full glass!
2) Eat something green or lean protein
3) Take a nap, Nerd!
If you've just done 1, do 2 and then 3. If you've just done 2, do 1 and then 3. If you've just woken up from 3, do 1 and then 2. You are more than your anxiety, and you are more than what is posted on your resume. Breathe."

Living during a time of Plague and also Spring is not great for me. Spring and Fall are prime times for me to get sick, and it's usually a throat/upper respiratory cold, which makes the prospect of getting sick that much more anxiety-inducing. I would prefer to not have to play a game of "Regular Spring Cold, or Plague", just because I came home from running an errand, and then a couple days later started sneezing/coughing. I have a mask, but the amount of people blithely running about without one, so convinced of their superiority that they will be immune to Rona's pull, is irksome. I go out as little as possible in response, and manage my anxiety about going outside to run errands as best as I can when I go out to get supplies.

I hope, Dear Readers, that if you are experiencing anxiety, that you are finding healthy ways to manage it. I hope that the world acquires a new normal that is healthier for everybody, but in the meantime, remember to wash your hands and stay safe.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Update on the Tail End of Stay At Home

Happy Tuesday, Dear Readers. I hope you all had a good week, and a good time with the prompts I provided for creative writing during the last five weeks. Time to go back to regularly scheduled programming, and since I haven't posted a real update in the past five weeks, I will use today's blog to catch up.

Classes have been going well. I signed up for two more grant writing classes, and a project management class. All of the classes are self-paced, and I spent the time to download all the reading material for each class. I downloaded everything first so that I don't have to log in to the online classroom in order to study, and so far I have enjoyed the material.

Job hunting is mostly the same, though I have noticed a significant jump in applicants via LinkedIn for remote positions, which is in no way surprising. I am waiting for restrictions to ease in my county before contacting my agency to ask if the positions I interviewed for prior to lock-down are still interested in hiring me. In the meantime, I have applied to many positions, some of which let me know they were happy to get my application and resume, but they were freezing hiring until further notice.

I took some time at the beginning of quarantine to hand-sew myself a mask, and then a headband to go with it. The headband has buttons sewed onto it, for the elastic of the mask to loop on to, and works well. I wear glasses, and having both the stems of glasses and elastic loops was proving to be too much pressure on the cartilage-filled skin-ridges that help me hear. I also made a mask and headband set which I sent to my sister, who also wears glasses, so that she could be more comfortable when she went out.

I used to consume a lot of news, but since the Stay At Home order, and everything that has happened in the last month-and-a-half (and I had to check a calendar to make sure it has only been a month-and-a-half, because Yikes), I had to cut down on how many hours I spent consuming news for my own mental well-being. I have invested the time into my classes and some de-stressing measures, to keep me on an even keel.

That is the basic round-up for me, Dear Readers. I hope you have a good week!

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Stretching Imagination Muscles, Part 5

Happy Tuesday, Dear Readers! Hopefully this week will be the last full week of stay-at-home, as some people are ordered to do so until April 26th, and most others are April 30th. As such, I'm planning an actual blog for next week, so barring any evolving circumstances, this will be the last writing prompt blog for the time being. Let's begin.

1. In a fit of pique, your beloved decides to send you a letter written in Victorian love-letter style, and beseeches you to write one to them in return. What do you say to your beloved? If you have no current beloved, write one to your ideal partner.

2. You are on vacation! It's just you and a pile of books, and some puzzles, and a lovely cabin in a heavily forested area, which your rich grandfather built himself back in the 1950s. The cabin is fully furnished, and has gas, electricity, and running water. All of the systems have their main controls in a small shack off to the side of the clearing where you parked your car. One night, just after the sun has gone down, the power goes out. There is no storm or heavy wind which could have caused this, so you get ready to go out with a flashlight to reset everything from the shed when you notice the complete and utter absence of sound outside. No animal noises at all, not even the song of crickets or the family of raccoons you know nests in a tree not too far from the house. The hair on the back of your arms and neck stands up as you finally hear the sound of skittering on the front porch, and you hold your breath as the storm door is jostled, then slowly let out your breath after the action is not repeated. After a few moments, the skittering noise is heard moving away. What do you do?

3. You have been turned into an animal familiar as part of your training to become a magical apprentice of a warlock/enchantress. They can communicate with you telepathically, so you can still talk to somebody while you are like this, but everybody else will just assume you are just an animal. What animal do you turn into, and what sort of shenanigans does your magical teacher order you into while you are like that?

4. It is a beautiful day outside. You start to take a walk, and notice a calico cat, fluffy and friendly, on your path. She turns about your legs for a few moments, purring as she receives pets, and then trots off down the path. You are going the same way, so you travel with her for a few moments, before she turns off the path and after about 10 feet, looks back at you and mews. On a whim, you decide to leave the path and follow her. You swear you only follow her for maybe 20 minutes, the fluffy plume of her tail easy to see, but when you look at the darkening sky and your watch, you realize it's been four hours, and nothing except the cat looks familiar. You keep following her, as trying to backtrack seems futile right now, and soon you come to a clearing. The clearing has stone pillars, carved with runes, at the four cardinal directions, and a single stone stand, carved intricately and three feet tall in the center. The stand has a small wooden chest on top of it, and just enough room for the cat to leap up and sit on the corner. She blinks slowly at you and mews again, and you get the distinct impression that she is smiling. What do you do?

5. Big businesses no longer push for a boring "formal business" aesthetic, and let people dress and style themselves however they want, because as long as you do a good job, your aesthetics do not matter. Facial piercings, tattoos, dyed hair, and wacky outfits are totally fine, though if you prefer something more conservative that is fine too. What is your preferred aesthetic, and how do you get to change how you look now to look how you want? How do you feel about going to work and comparing styles with your coworkers? Thinking about your coworkers, do you think you can guess the style they would wear if given complete freedom to do it without repercussions?

As always, think these scenarios over, have fun, and enjoy playing in a different head-space. I hope you are all staying safe, are healthy, and are washing your hands. Until next week, Dear Readers!

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Stretching Imagination Muscles, Part 4

Happy Tuesday, Dear Readers. I hope you are all doing well in this time of pandemic. General update about me: I have signed up for more online classes, and I will be diving into those as soon as I post this entry. I have hand-sewn a mask for myself along with headband, and then did a second one which I sent to my sister. I have made soup and applied for jobs and stayed home as much as possible. I'm still holding out hope that when the stay at home order is lifted, the office I interviewed with right before all this went down does want to employ me in some capacity, as I was up for two different positions in their office, and I was very impressed with the place.

Now that all the personal stuff is out of the way, here are your writing prompts for this week:

1. Great news! Your cousin invented a working hovercraft, about the size of a small sedan which floats, and they want you to be the pilot while they video proof that it works. They give you a how-to manual and a minimum instruction about the control panel, which is less them piloting while you observe and more of them making you sit in the pilot's seat while they point to different things and say "this one does x". Do you read through the how-to manual, or do you wing it? What shenanigans do you get up to while learning how to pilot this vehicle?

2. You've taken up a handicraft (e.g. knitting, crochet, embroidery, spinning, weaving, etc.), and you've gotten rather good. The next time you join a march/parade, you decide to use your craft to make a sign/banner. How fabulous is it, and what does it depict/say?

3. A bored billionaire wants you to be their player piece in a life-sized game of Monopoly, which goes strictly by the actual rule-book. You get to walk around a constructed city set up like a Monopoly board, with holograms to simulate houses/hotels, wearing a hat that looks like one of the Monopoly tokens and doubles as a headset so your billionaire can tell you how many places to move. Whenever the billionaire "buys" a property, you have to place a sign on the property saying your billionaire owns it, and when they "buy" houses/hotels, you have to activate the hologram to display the appropriate amount of buildings. The jail is a real building that you have to get locked into, with an on-duty warden. For this ridiculous job, which takes a full day to play, the billionaire will only refer to you as the Monopoly token on your head, but they promise to pay you $100 per hour, and double that if they win. Do you take the job?

4. You, as an archaeologist, are on a dig when one of your diggers uncovers a stone door, slanted down like a cellar door you might find behind a house. You read the inscription and it appears benign, so you document everything, and open it up. There is a set of stone stairs descending into the dark gloom of the earth, but as you contemplate who goes on the expedition down with you, a whistle-like screech emanates from somewhere deep within the opening. The sound gets stronger and stronger for 10 seconds and then abruptly cuts off, leaving your ears ringing. You look at your team and they look at you. Do you go down into the ancient underground, or do you look to see if maybe there are other ruins topside to look at first? No matter which you choose, what do you find?

5. For video game nerds: You get sucked into the last video game you last played, and you can choose to be a non-player character, or a new antagonist (think mid-level boss), or a new option for people to play as the protagonist. What game are you in? Which do you choose? If you choose to be a non-player character, what do you choose to do? If you choose to be a new antagonist, what is your aesthetic and attack type?

As always, enjoy these, have fun, and I hope you have a good week! Stay healthy, stay occupied, and wash your hands!

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Stretching Imagination Muscles, Part Three

Happy Tuesday, Dear Readers. Colorado has extended the stay at home order until April 26th, so I find myself with even more time on my hands and more time to think up prompts for you. Wear your masks outside, remember to wash your hands, and stay safe! Below are five more writing prompts to give your brain a dose of fantastic what-ifs to contemplate.

1. Congratulations! All that hard work paid off and you are being recognized for your achievements. They're running a feature article about you in a magazine specific to your field of achievement. What did you do, what magazine are you in, what title would you really like the article to have, and for bonus points, are there any photographer shenanigans getting you to pose Just Right for the lighting, or suggestions for odd costuming?

2. Submarine technology has improved so you, as a marine biologist, get to explore some for the deepest places on Earth. You come across an odd expanse where the rock looks different, but not in a way you can readily explain, and it gives way to a cave definitely large enough for you to explore should you choose to go in. What are you the first human being to discover?

3. Getting to know the ghosts in your new house. They aren't scary, but they do have some house rules they left for you as their new roommate. What rules do they give you, are they reasonable, and how do they enforce them? Shenanigans encouraged.

4. Due to a genie who was incredibly salty that you didn't choose to use your last wish to free them, they decided to take your last wish and be incredibly petty in regards to your wording. As such, when you wished that all clothing and shoes you wear for the rest of your life, no matter what you put on or what material it is made of, turns into the most comfortable-feeling clothing you could ever wear. Instead of having comfortable clothing for the rest of your life no matter if you wear a starched shirt or towering heels, the genie has decided that, once your outfit is fully on, it will turn into the outfit you loved to wear the most because it made you feel the most comfortable in your own skin. The sizing changes to fit you as you are now, so the outfit can be from when you are an adult or teen, pre-teen or toddler. What are you wearing for the rest of your life?

5. You are an inventor, and just before the order came to hunker down, you placed a large order for various materials to help you tinker. It has finally arrived, and everything is here...plus some interesting extras that you thought were only science fiction, such as crystals for power conversion, a working power armor frame, tiny little stable fusion cores, and a dozen coronets with some sort of wifi programming tablet. The Inventor's Warehouse let you know that they are free to you for being a loyal customer. What do you invent? You can use as much or as little of your new hoard as you like, and as always, shenanigans are encouraged.

As always, have fun! I'm rooting for all of us to make it through this together.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Stretching Imagination Muscles, Part Two

Happy Tuesday, Dear Readers. I am back, with more writing prompts. Firstly because I want to entertain you while you are stuck inside, and secondly because coming up with these is entertaining to me.

1) You are an ecological scientist, working in the Southwest USA. You and your lab partner spend most of your days cataloging the flora and fauna of the desert biome, noting minute mutations for study. You are friendly with the locals, both townies and farmers, and in particular one man who helps trap and relocate raccoons, who has your phone number in case he catches something odd. Tonight, your phone rings and it's him, begging you to come see what he caught when trying to rid a farmer of some pests, and gives you the address. When you get there, you stare dumbly at the creature in the trap, not wanting to believe what your eyes are telling you is real.
"But...they're a myth," you whisper to the trapper.
"Tell that to the chupacabra in my raccoon trap," he replies.
What do you do next?

2) You, in your boredom, have created a new sport which can be played while social distancing. Describe it, and any rules which might help those who seem interested in participating.

3) Thanks to a gifted DNA test from Christmas that you finally got around to taking, you find out you are actually related to a recently deceased Baron from a small country in Eastern Europe, who had taken a test hoping to find a blood-related heir. He had no kids or direct relatives, so the firm handling the estate has contacted you and claimed that as you are the only person who can prove their bloodline connection, you can claim the title, the land, and the sweet castle in the middle of nowhere countryside. There is, however, a catch; you have to live in the castle for at least 75% of the year, as per the last Baron's instructions, and attain citizenship in this European country you are going to be living in for the rest of your life. Do you go, or do you get your entire family to take DNA tests so one of them has to move instead, while keeping the estate in the family?

4) You've won a lifetime supply of your favorite food! Difficulty: The contest bankrupted the company that produces it, so as a last act to make good on the offer, they shipped the lifetime supply to you all at once instead of in manageable monthly shipments. What foodstuff is it, and how do you deal with the excess?

5) Due to an industrial accident, you were put in a coma. Upon awakening a week later, you find yourself perfectly fine...but you now understand what animals are saying when they vocalize. How do you prove you are not insane, or, what kind of shenanigans do you get up to with this new knowledge?

Have fun, Dear Readers!

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Stretch Those Imagination Muscles!

Happy Tuesday, Dear Readers. I hope you are all okay.

This week, instead of me writing on about a topic that is current-events relevant (because I did that last week, and it's all the more pressing now), I want to set up something fun for all of you who might be stuck at home and are suffering from a case of Being An Extrovert Forced To Act Like An Introvert. This will be both a mental exercise and a writing diversion from the news and what is happening outside your houses/apartments. Come with me on this journey.

Imagine the following scenarios, and use the ones that grab you as writing prompts:

1) Cryptids are real and are seen a lot more than they have been in centuries previous, in areas they have never been seen before, and it is surmised that these species have had some sort of population explosion, so they are expanding and sharing territories. Some aspiring vloggers, sensing The Big View Numbers, have gone into the woods outside of town to figure out how to interview either a Mothman or a Sasquatch, while others are going out and trying to capture a Jersey Devil. It's been two weeks and nobody has returned or uploaded new footage remotely. You're part of the search and rescue team, and just as you look up into the thickening canopy of the forest, you spot the one thing you never wanted to; the Blair Witch stick symbol, done up in twigs and twine. You resignedly pull out your phone, report your findings to the Sheriff, and ask for a recording setup before going further into the woods.

2) Due to a wizard's meddling and a severely miscast spell, Minecraft rules about building and crafting things now apply to our world, and all the hostile creatures now spawn at night, with some staying around during the day. Do you choose to change the world outside using these new rules, and if so, how? If you choose not to change the world, do you use the rules to do personal projects (create potions, update your home interior easily, etc.)?

3) You're house hunting, and you found a house that's in the perfect neighborhood. It's beautiful on the inside and out, but the real estate agent seems resigned that you won't want it, as it's been on the market for three years without a single bid. They take you down to the basement, which is finished, with the exception of the side room which has the furnace. As you are down there, looking at the furnace, your teenage kid points and asks "Why is that door there?". You look, and there is indeed a door in the very back of the room...with three deadbolts on it.

4) Congratulations! You just won three million dollars in a mail-in sweepstakes you entered! There is a catch in all of that fine print, though; you have to spend ten percent of it on frivolous things (nothing necessary, nothing you've been saving up for to improve your house or life, nothing that will significantly improve your net worth, no giving it away, no donating it to charity or buying things that you will then donate to charity). How do you spend $300,000 in the most frivolous way possible?

5) You've been shot back in time, back into your body when you were 10 years old. There is no going back to the future for you, but you retain all of your knowledge. How much of an Agent of Chaos do you become, having all that adult knowledge in a 10 year old body, in the era in which you were a 10 year old? Shenanigans are most definitely encouraged.

Have fun, Dear Readers.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Searching For Work In A Time of Pandemic

Happy Tuesday, Dear Readers. For those of you who celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I hope you are having a good one.

We have to talk about it; COVID-19 and how it affects literally all aspects of our lives now.

I'm not going to lie; I have been mostly a hermit and doing all of my job searching online, which keeps me inside all the time. I go out to get groceries once every two weeks or so, and the rare in-person interview, and other than that, I've been communicating with people via phone or email or chat. So now that COVID-19 has forced governments to tell people to not go out so much and to not congregate in large groups, I find my way of life largely unchanged, with the exception that the general atmosphere has changed when I go run errands.

I went to get groceries this weekend, and the atmosphere was tense; sections of shelves were completely bare (they were completely out of every size box of original Cheerios, which I had literally never seen happen before), and people spoke to each other in whispers. It was so quiet that it was almost surreal.

A week ago today, I went to a job interview via a staffing agency. It was a good interview, and I am waiting to hear back as there were several other candidates for the position and they needed time to interview others. The atmosphere was not tense, and everybody was carrying on with business as usual. I wonder, if I am sent to other in-person interviews by this staffing company, if that will remain true, or if it will go the way of the supermarkets. I wonder if I will be doing a lot more video interviews instead. I wonder if, in the case that I do get a job through this agency, will I be expected to just work from home and learn via online resources they send me on how to do the job.

However, dwelling on "what if" scenarios will absolutely run me spare, so I know the best thing to do is to wait and see what happens, one day at a time. Either the scenario shows up, or it doesn't, and I will do what I must to keep going. It is important to keep moving forward, and keep yourself busy.

I am still applying to jobs, I am still keeping my house tidy, I am still writing and reading and learning. Do not panic, and do not hoard. Be good to yourself, but be good to those around you too. We either get through this together, or not at all.

Stay safe, Dear Readers; I wish good health for all of you.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Using Humor As An Awkward Nerd

Happy Tuesday, Dear Readers.

When meeting new people, I can get social anxiety, which should surprise nobody considering that I am a massive nerd and growing up I had a significant stutter, so my positive social interactions were, to put it mildly, less than optimal. It is why I gravitated to written communications; with written words, I could get out what I wanted to say, without being an awkward, stuttering mess.

I was able, over a couple years, to stop stuttering (well, stop stuttering mostly; there are still times if I am extremely flustered that it will happen, and yes, it makes me want to cringe myself inside-out when it happens), but the awkwardness stuck around for quite a bit longer, which is when I learned a very valuable lesson which helped me out immensely: if you can get people to laugh first with you, they are less likely to laugh at you for being awkward or stuttering.

I love comedy, but I love comedic timing more; you can turn lots of stories you have from okay to engaging with a bit of timing, and with a turn of phrase and an expression as you pause, you can get people who were not expecting to laugh to do so. I like making people smile, and if I can use humor to leave a good impression, then it is a win-win for me. Laughing relieves tension, and it makes engaging and interacting with people to have a conversation easier.

I am by no means a stand-up comic of any sort, but I work with what I have, and what I have is an absurd lexicon, an ability to use timing in my stories to my advantage, and knowledge of how language and a little bit of hyperbole can go a long way. It works for me, as I can usually get my friends and family to laugh, and just today I was able to get two businesswomen to laugh during an interview I was having to work for their company. In the moments they laughed, I wasn't nervous during that interview and I didn't feel as awkward as I usually do; I was just one professional telling two other professionals a funny anecdote of my past that tied in to what I can help them with in the future.

I hope that you laugh today, Dear Readers. Really, I hope that you laugh every day, but in case laughs are few and far between for you, I hope today is the day.

-A.M.W.






Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Drive to Succeed

Happy Tuesday, Dear Readers.

I took my second course's final exam and passed, so that is one more thing off my plate, and a lovely new certificate to add to my resume. I am figuring out which courses to take next, so I am by no means done. I spent a large part of last week going through the research needed to figure out which staffing service I wanted to sign up with, along with applying to jobs on my own. I was able to narrow it down, and I signed up today. I was contacted by the staffing service and I have an appointment for an interview with them tomorrow morning.

I like jobs which are laid out logically, but have an element of unpredictability to them. The core of the job does not change, but the circumstances around the job can change depending on whom I interact with in order to do said job. To an extent, temporary assignments do this in spades, and depending on the type of temporary job you get, could be a stepping stone to a full-time, permanent position in which you fit.

This is how I found the last permanent job I had; I was a temp for the customer support department, and then the business was bought out by a different company, and at the end of my temp contract they hired me permanently, and after a couple years I was able to earn a promotion into a different department, where I stayed until I was laid off as the company went bankrupt.

I want to succeed and do a good job at whatever job I am handed. I want to be seen as somebody who, after almost 20 years in the workforce, is somebody people can depend upon both as a team player and an individual.

I hope that, whatever it is that drives you, Dear Readers, you are acknowledged for it. Now if you will excuse me, I have an interview to prepare for and clothes to pick out.

-A.M.W.




Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Being A Responsible Job Seeker

Happy Tuesday, Dear Readers.

As we near the end of February, I have to take a look back on this journey of the past six months. I wasn't entirely unemployed during that time, having picked up a part-time work contract that lasted about two-and-a-half months during the autumnal season, but full-time work has proven more elusive than I thought it would be at this point in my life.

I have had an amazing support network, which I am thankful for down to my marrow. For every resume and cover letter that has been proofed at the workforce center, for all the calls from friends and family that let me vent, for all the emails and messages sent to cheer me up, for the outings to take a break and regroup with friends, I appreciate every moment of that time.

It is true that I have had some very good phone interviews as of late, but the rub is that it is this late in the game. Money makes the world go 'round, and while I am okay with money right now, I cannot wait forever. It is time to ask for more professional help, in the form of signing up for a staffing service and taking temp jobs. It is not the ideal solution, as I would have loved to get a job in my preferred field, but for now there are future bills to consider, because there are always future bills.

I am still going to look for a job in my preferred field. I am still going to take more classes on grant writing (I need to take the final exam on the instructor-led course I am taking now, and then I will be done with that one and ready to sign up for more). I am still going to interview to the best of my ability, and I will find the job that is right for me. 

I am not giving up, but I need to mitigate what I want with what I need, because what I need is to be a responsible job seeker and take care of myself so that I may be successful in the future. Part of being a responsible job seeker, and in fact a responsible adult, is knowing when to ask for help in accomplishing a goal. It took me a long time to learn that lesson.

I picked up a list of staffing agencies in my town last week when I was at the workforce center. Each one has a list of what type of employment they provide and what job tracks they cover. I have already highlighted a handful to research, as they seem more in keeping with the type of jobs I want and will help pad my resume.

I hope, Dear Readers, that your week ahead is a good one; but I also hope that if it is not, you have people you can lean on and ask for help. 

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Using Writer's Block As A Creative Exercise

Happy Tuesday, Dear Readers!

I wanted to talk about writer's block today. It happens to all of us from time to time, to varying degrees, and is frustrating no matter the degree. The thing to focus on is to not give up, but to redirect your writing to something else. Write a different scene, write some dialogue that you were thinking about, and give yourself some time to rearrange the scene you were stuck on. You'll get it right; maybe not in an hour or a day, but you will get it.

I also like to change the music I'm listening to if I get stuck; depending on how your brain works, sometimes listening to music that has a different rhythm can help. Instrumental jazz always helps me the most, but listening to a wide variety of music can help me when I'm trying to find the right groove to write a scene.

If a change in music or writing something different doesn't help, change locations. If you usually write in front of a home PC, go outside or to a library. Change your place, change your perspective, and let that somewhere new inspire you.

I especially recommend the library; if you need it, all that research material is there for you! Also, there is something so intrinsically calming about sitting in a library and existing there in the moment as you listen to everybody around you.

Whatever you do to keep moving forward with your writing, the most important thing is that you keep writing. Don't let the writer's block wear you down, because you can write your way around it.

-A.M.W.


Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Keeping Your Groove

Happy Tuesday, Readers. I hope your weekend was lovely.

Since we are back in The Roaring Twenties, I have found myself listening to both jazz music and electro swing more often than not when I want to listen to something that isn't a podcast, or just want to have background music. I am one of those people who is willing to listen to any type of music for at least a while, and my taste can sometimes be considered "eclectic" at best.

Music is wonderful; it can be a source of quiet solace, loud jubilation, or inspiration. I usually have instrumental music on when I'm writing, because it helps when there isn't oppressive silence, but I find it harder to write when I'm also half-listening to lyrics, so instrumental is the best option as it helps me keep my groove.

When it comes to being motivated, music helps there too; the right song can get you going on your path forward. Think about this: when you need to motivate yourself, is there a certain song or album you listen to in order to help you get into the right mindset?

Whether you listen to pop, rock, country, jazz, electro swing, classical, or punk, I hope your groove is a good one this week.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Achieving Goals Outside of Job Searching

Happy Tuesday, Readers! Hopefully everybody had a good weekend, and enjoyed watching some sportsball (or, in the event you didn't particularly care for the sportsball, you were entertained by the commercials and the half-time show).

I spent most of my weekend studying. Several blog posts ago, I said I was signing up for a couple grant writing courses online. One of them is instructor-led, and she releases two lessons every week, leaving time for people to do quizzes, assignments, and engage in the discussion board. The other is self-paced, and students can go as fast or slow as they need within reason. On Sunday, I took the final exam for the self-paced course, and I passed with a 97.2%. That course is now finished and I have a certificate of completion.

Acquiring a sense of accomplishment over something you have done, separate from your job search, can be very invigorating. I know I woke up yesterday looking forward to the research required to perform a good job search and creation of job application materials. I didn't even get downtrodden with the all-day snow that was happening outside my window, though it made checking the mail later a bit more exciting, especially with the sheet of ice that was under the snow.

Accomplishments can keep you going, and can help you keep a cheery disposition, even in the face of something most people do not like doing, like jury duty...which is something I may have to partake in this week. I find out on Thursday if I have to report for jury pool on Friday morning to the municipal court here in town, but I don't mind the thought of it as much as I did prior to my final exam. If it happens, it happens, and I go do my civic duty as part of the justice system.

I touched a bit in an earlier post about keywords that the end goal is acquiring a full-time job, and likened it to a game. The end goal, or win-state, of the game is always the most important part of the game, but when playing video games, sometimes it is the side quests that give you the bonuses you need in order to get to the end of the game and acquire the win-state. I view both the weekly posts of this blog, and the online courses, to be side quests that will help me acquire my win-state.

The game continues, and I'm unlocking achievements on the way.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Taking Time Out For Nature

When most of working life is dedicated to staring at screens, and a lot of leisure time is also spent staring at screens (e.g., television, movies, video games, digital book readers, web surfing), it is important to unplug and not stare at screens. This is harder in the winter months, as sometimes the weather is a barrier, but it is still important to go outside. Even if you are not in the best physical shape, breathing fresh air can do wonders to improve your mood and give your brain a rest.

Having been at this job search for full-time work for several months, I find that whenever I am stuck on something, taking a walk around my HOA's campus helps. Breathing fresh air, not looking at my phone, and taking in the beauty that is Colorado helps immensely when I need to sort out a problem. All the things that have been bugging me can get tangled up if I sit still and stew for too long, and stretching out my legs is one of the best ways I've found to untangle the mess and organize my brain.

It's important not to get lost in your own head, because that will lead to so much unnecessary stress, and unnecessary stress can make you sick. Being sick while also on a job hunt 1) is no fun, and 2) makes for additional stress because there are things you still have to accomplish, and 3) can make for awkward interviews, because literally nobody wants to sound sick when they're on a phone interview, nor do they want to look sick for an in-person interview. A nice walk will help you get exercise, relieve stress, and will overall improve your health, as long as you wear weather appropriate clothing.

So take some time today to take a walk; even if it's just in your back yard, or a short jaunt to your mailbox, your brain and body will thank you. I will be taking one as soon as I get this posted, because it is a sunny, beautiful day here, and I want to be out in it.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

The Importance Of Career Consultants

Following up from my last blog about keywords, I went to the Larimer County Economic and Workforce Development Center in Fort Collins. I had been able to contact a Career Consultant there, whom I had sat down with before, and had the good fortune that somebody had cancelled an appointment with her that I was more than happy to take on. 

My Consultant has been and continues to be friendly, helpful, patient and an example of what more people need when looking for a job. She was able to go over recent job listings I had applied to and helped me better identify keywords. She then went through the couple different resumes I have when I submit to a lot of different places for the same job title, and suggested style upgrades and where to place keywords. She even read through a cover letter that I had sent and showed me what was fine and what needed work. She did this all in one hour, and she was explaining the why and how of this the entire time so I fully understood why it mattered.

So now I have a better understanding of where I need to work on my resumes and cover letters, and I've been working on the upgrades. I have a better grasp of how to identify keywords (because it turned out I wasn't as good at that as I thought), and how to better integrate them into my resumes and cover letters, which I am also working on.

Would I have been able to look all this up online and figure it out myself? Maybe. Would I have been able to look all this up online and figure it out myself in one hour? Absolutely not.

Career Consultants are working with people every day from every walk of life to do one thing: help those people get better chance at getting employed where they want to be employed. They know the trends of resumes for certain career types, and know about resources that are at their fingertips but would take you an entire day of careful googling to find. They also can make suggestions that, in your stressed state of trying to find work, would not readily come to you.

If you have gone to Career Consultants before at you county office, make sure to thank them for all their hard work. If you haven't gone there, and you are looking for a career change, or just need some help with your resume, or your cover letter, or your interview tactics, I encourage you to make an appointment. They are there to help.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

The Anxiety of Radio Silence and The Keyword Game

Being in the job market is stressful. There are companies to research, job listings to comb through, applications to fill out, people to contact for follow-ups or more information about the company, emails to set up interviews, phone interviews, in-person interviews, and thank you notes to fill out. Along with that, there are resumes for various positions in the career track of interest to tweak, cover letters to write, and practice for interviews which may or may not ever happen.

The worst is, after all that work, all that effort, to be met with radio silence. Apply with your best foot forward, with what you think is your strongest resume and cover letter, send the follow-up inquiry a couple days later, and yet...nothing. No response. The anxiety of what wasn’t good enough swiftly follows if you can’t shake it off and go to the next job.

I keep thinking of search engine optimization in relation to job application systems, fueled by keywords, which HR departments use to “help” them whittle down which resumes they actually look through to determine who gets an interview. As far as I understand it, have all the specific keywords HR has programmed in for that particular job, and the resume is sent to the department for consideration. Don’t have enough keywords, and your resume could be categorized as unfit for the position and HR doesn’t even see it.

I have filled out hundreds of job applications so far, and I’ve had over a dozen interviews, either in person or via phone. Some of these interviews went well (though not well enough to be hired), some interviews did not, but I was happy for the experience they gave me all the same. The anxiety I can’t shake, the thing that makes me wonder, late at night as I research yet another company, is this: if it wasn’t for the keyword system that HR departments have adopted, how many more interviews would I have been offered? Followed immediately by: if it wasn’t for this system, would I have gotten a job already?

Then the last, most pressing question: if that is the game HR managers are playing via keyword system, what is the best way to game that system to my advantage? After all, if I’m going to have to play by these rules, then I should figure out a way to consistently win and acquire an interview. The ultimate win state is to acquire an interview that lands me full-time employment.

Let the games begin.

-A.M.W.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Dress for Success

‘Dress for the job you want’ is a motto that, via fashion and business changes throughout the years, has become significantly more fraught than the last time I was looking for work. There are plenty of places that still do full professional dress as their standard for everyday wear. There are also a significant amount of places that fully lean into business casual for everyday wear, so nice slacks or dark jeans with a polo shirt or blouse is acceptable.

Of course, interview outfits have rarely changed, even if the in-fashion style changes from year to year. I made an effort to acquire up-to-fashion-date interview clothes recently. I found a retailer, Torrid, that carries the most comfortable business slacks I have ever worn. As a bonus, they have varying leg-length sizes so I could get the short inseam version and finally stop having to worry about scuffing my leg cuffs if I don’t wear heels to an interview or meeting. It helps that Torrid has multiple colors too, so depending on how dedicated one is to color coordination between items, there is plenty to choose from both in-store and online. 

At this point I feel I need to say that this blog is not sponsored by Torrid. I named them because I appreciate the fact that they finally created a suit pant that I don’t mind wearing all day because they stay comfortable. In addition, their selection for plus-sized women really is amazing, and keeps up with current fashion trends, which I also deeply appreciate.

In a perfect world, I wouldn't have to worry this much about fashion in order to be perceived as a good candidate for a job when I'm at an interview. Unfortunately, the world we live in is far from perfect, and to that end I have had to critically assess my clothing choices, both past and present, for the past several months. I feel decidedly more confident in my clothing choices as they are now, and my closet is more organized than it has been in years.

So, here is to the New Year, to new job interviews, and to new jobs. I hope that everybody has exactly what they need to get what they want accomplished in 2020!

-A.M.W.