Unfortunately, much like Bele and Lokai from "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield", their hate for each other might be all they have left.
Hi I'm Seán Reiser, this is my Personal Blog
“A person is what they think about all day long”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
One of my problems is that I tend to overthink things. In my head, I suspect this question is asking me if I'm a native English speaker, but when I see “professional” I'm thinking, “do I get paid primarily for my English skills?” I have friends and acquaintances who make their primary living as writers. They make money off their novels, create marketing content, and write television shows, plays and movies. They’ve won awards. They have two hour debates over the use of an Oxford comma. They are professional writers.
When you add in the 260 point chasm between my Math and English SAT scores from high school I really don't class my English skills as "professional". I even think I'd be lying if I call my skills advanced. I'm mid-level at best. I could probably get a B on a regents level High School English class. I have average skills so I’d class ,myself as mid-level.
As I say, in tech 53 is the new 85
I was filling out a job application for a senior architect position on LinkedIn this evening, and one of the questions I was asked was how many years I've been working in technology. I put in 33 years and it tells me it's an invalid value. Did some testing the largest number you could put it was 29 years. I seem to have three choices:
- Lie, which would invalidate my application
- Track down the company and send an email to their HR department
- Skip it and move on.
I have to admit it does wonders for one's self-confidence. I'm not saying it's age discrimination, because I believe it is incompetence, not discrimination. But it's clear to say that somebody could interpret this as a message "people over 50 need not apply". So I lied on the application, and corrected it in my cover letter.
As I am contemplating the possibility of working onsite again for the first time in a long while, I'm thinking about what changes I'll need to make to make it happen. I don't think it's the freedom of working from home per se that I miss, or the ability to sneak off for a lunchtime nap.
I've taken to the habit of dictating my email, blog posts, specifications, long form text, etc.. It started innocently enough, Anne broke her arm and was trying to work at least part time while she was rehabbing. I started dictating my writing basically so I could understand the dictation functionalities in macOS just so I can answer questions if Anne asked. Then I found something out first off my hands felt better. I've been struggling with carpal tunnel issues as I've gotten older and dictating more of my correspondence allowed me to save keystrokes in my hands for coding. I also find that I "write" better when dictating over typing. When I type I tend to be a little more formal in my writing than I am when I dictate it. Of course, I can't do this in a modern office, especially if I'm working in a cubicle. It would be too distracting to my office mates and I fear I'd come off as a modern day Don Draper.
As a funny aside, I have added "SR:siri" to the bottom of my business letter template as a modern version of typists' initials.
In the "it figures" category, the bedroom air conditioner died last night halfway through this week long heat wave. We headed over to PC Richard and ordered a new unit. By the time we could sign off from the co-op it'll be next Friday before it's here, just in time for the heatwave to end. We jerry-rigged some fans to blow air into the bedroom from the living room and around the living room AC overnight. This is the most expensive way to go I suspect that we're also cooling off the living room while we're sleeping but it's good for a couple days.
Luckily Anne is out of town for a few days so I can close off the bedroom and sleep on the couch for a few days using the living room unit.
For a long while I’d put a translucent apple rainbow sticker over the glowing apple cutout my on MacBooks Pro. Most people would ignore it, some people understood, a surprising number of people thought it was a statement on gay rights. It was just nostalgia for me. Dating back to my first computer in ’84, my Apples had a rainbow logo.
While I was working with a non-profit I was presenting a new design for their logo and website, presenting from my laptop. This non-profit is one of those places that Sr Democratic operatives work when the Rs are in power. Participants in the meeting included a former Attorney General, a former Assistant Sec of Defense (who would rejoin the Obama Administration as Secretary), someone who would become President Obama’s Chief of Staff and the guy who wrote the 9/11 Commission Report (all very serious people, who I think could have me killed with one phone call). The meeting went off well, and with some minor modifications, they used the designs I presented
Well, after the meeting the comms director gives me a tongue lashing. About how important people don’t want frivolous things around. She became a dog with a bone, so eventually I removed it just to stop the argument. Now a days The Apple doesn’t glow any more. so the rainbow logo isn’t as fun on my machine.
Temperature hit 95° today. Scorching hot even inside the apartment.
Was on the phone with somebody the topic of the weather came up. Is asked where my air conditioner was set and I said it was at 79°. The reason I keep it there is that at 80° my hands sweat and the trackpad on my laptop stops working. I'd probably keep it a little warmer if I could, especially in the current world with the cost of electrcity.
| Seán Reiser