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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Working on Self-Improvement

Well, it's New Year's Eve Day, so now is the most appropriate time to think about what has happened this year, as well as ways in which I want to change or improve myself.

This year was, overall, not a good one. Too much stress, not enough writing, and I'm still unemployed at the end of the year. So for 2020, I'm going to sign up for grant writing classes. This will help me add some extra credentials to my resume, and help me stretch out a bit as a writer. I want to put in the time to help myself become better as a writer overall, and acquire more tips and tricks to write more efficiently and succinctly for whichever business I am working for in the future.

I understand that I am very far from perfect, but I also understand that I can be better with some effort. Every year I try to make one positive change to my life; either improving something in my house that will improve my quality of life, or learning something that will help me be a better person overall. Hopefully these writing courses will help me in a positive direction, both as a writer and in acquiring a job.

Here's to the end of 2019, and the beginning of 2020. I wish everybody well, and that your fortune does nothing but improve.

-A.M.W.