Speaking of football, how fucking dumb is this thing?
http://www.tailgateapproved.com/tg/#/foozie
Advertising is something I try not to pay too much attention too good or bad, but seriously, WTF. Tailgating is awesome by nature--it's drinking beer & grilling outside before a football game with old college roommates and thousands of your closest friends. For a Saturday or Sunday morning in the fall it cannot get much awesomer than that. Throw in tossing around a football, and that's my idea of fun. I don't need some foam-finger coozy that makes it impossible to drink the beer I'm holding. How the fuck am I supposed to drink with that thing on?
A grill/cooler I can kind of see. The dog-vest/condiment holder is something I could almost get behind. But this entire ad campaign is ruined by this retarded foam finger. It drives me crazy to the point of screaming at the tv every time it comes on. STFU pitch-guy. The guys at Mad Men would laugh you out of the building with this stuff.
Sorry, just something I had to get off my chest.
Current beer-scale: 8.6
9/30/09
thanks but no thanks
I got a call for a second interview yesterday...unfortunately they were looking for someone willing to work saturdays. As close to desperate as I'm getting, I'm not there yet. So I thanked them for calling and said I wouldn't waste their time for a practice interview.
As difficult as it was to say no, it was the right decision. Getting a second call does up my average tremendously too, even if I didn't end up actually interviewing. I'm up to about 50 resumes out right now, and 1 out of 25 feels a lot better than 1 out of 50. Not great by any stretch, but better.
In the meantime, let's get to the weekend so I can watch some more football already. Leaves are falling apples are getting picked, and I'm in the mood to get fall-down drunk on oktoberfest.
Current beer-scale: 8.4
As difficult as it was to say no, it was the right decision. Getting a second call does up my average tremendously too, even if I didn't end up actually interviewing. I'm up to about 50 resumes out right now, and 1 out of 25 feels a lot better than 1 out of 50. Not great by any stretch, but better.
In the meantime, let's get to the weekend so I can watch some more football already. Leaves are falling apples are getting picked, and I'm in the mood to get fall-down drunk on oktoberfest.
Current beer-scale: 8.4
9/29/09
Like a frowny face drawn in a bowl of lumpy oatmeal
Not the best way to start a day, but when your alarm's going off and that's the image that pops into your head, it's probably a sign.
It's fall today, with big wind gusts and waves and leaves. Time to layer and hold out until the weekend.
Current beer-scale: 7.1
It's fall today, with big wind gusts and waves and leaves. Time to layer and hold out until the weekend.
Current beer-scale: 7.1
9/27/09
back behind the wheel. pt 2
Yikes. 400+ miles round trip to visit friends in Iowa that just had their first kid. The kid was absolutely adorable, two months old. The rest of Iowa, not so much. Still worth the trip.
On the way home, we stopped to grocery shop so we wouldn't have to in the city. I bought beer, but should have bought more b/c the ND-Purdue game was so aggravating I drank the entire 6 of sam adams oktoberfest, along with the two linie's I had left over. So much for having another during Bears-Seahawks. A win is a win is a win though, so cheers.
Speaking of beer, High Life's fall packaging was almost enough to talk me out of the oktoberfest. Almost. Next time I'll just pick up both.
Current beer-scale: 6.3
On the way home, we stopped to grocery shop so we wouldn't have to in the city. I bought beer, but should have bought more b/c the ND-Purdue game was so aggravating I drank the entire 6 of sam adams oktoberfest, along with the two linie's I had left over. So much for having another during Bears-Seahawks. A win is a win is a win though, so cheers.
Speaking of beer, High Life's fall packaging was almost enough to talk me out of the oktoberfest. Almost. Next time I'll just pick up both.
Current beer-scale: 6.3
9/24/09
back behind the wheel
Not only did I have to shave for an interview yesterday, I had to drive to and from work to get there in time. Even though I wasn't sharing the fact I had an interview, you would think no beard and no bike would probably make it fairly obvious what was going on. You would if anyone noticed things like that at least.
It made for a long day. Let's just say things didn't seem to go too well, and by the time I was stuck on Ashland on the way home I was incredibly jealous of everyone I saw riding by.
Don't worry, traffic wasn't moving when I took this shot.
Looking on the bright side, at least I managed to get in the door for an interview, and for something that pays a lot better at that. I'm still not quite to the point where I'm going to start panicking and actually getting an interview confirms that. Hopefully it's the start of something good.
This morning it was back on the bike, and avoiding going into the office for as long as possible. Fun way to end the week.
Current beer-scale: 8.8
It made for a long day. Let's just say things didn't seem to go too well, and by the time I was stuck on Ashland on the way home I was incredibly jealous of everyone I saw riding by.
Don't worry, traffic wasn't moving when I took this shot.Looking on the bright side, at least I managed to get in the door for an interview, and for something that pays a lot better at that. I'm still not quite to the point where I'm going to start panicking and actually getting an interview confirms that. Hopefully it's the start of something good.
This morning it was back on the bike, and avoiding going into the office for as long as possible. Fun way to end the week.
Current beer-scale: 8.8
9/20/09
Fancy meeting you, and you, and you, and you...
It got a little busy on the path this morning, with a cancer run taking up most of the space out there.
I wasn't about to complain, b/c what the hell did I care. I was only out killing time not going to work anyway. That didn't seem to stop some of the other bikers out there though.
Oh well. It was a gorgeous day, I'm wishing I was at home looking for jobs instead of work, but what can you do. As long as I can leave early enough to catch the majority of the Bears game, it's all good.
Current beer-scale: very low after 7 or 8 at a house-warming yesterday, where I did my best not to frighten anyone during a hair-pulling ND win over MSU. Yikes.
I wasn't about to complain, b/c what the hell did I care. I was only out killing time not going to work anyway. That didn't seem to stop some of the other bikers out there though.
Oh well. It was a gorgeous day, I'm wishing I was at home looking for jobs instead of work, but what can you do. As long as I can leave early enough to catch the majority of the Bears game, it's all good.Current beer-scale: very low after 7 or 8 at a house-warming yesterday, where I did my best not to frighten anyone during a hair-pulling ND win over MSU. Yikes.
9/16/09
Whoops--spoke too soon yesterday.
It might still be 70+ degrees out, but when the lake is getting choppy that's a sure sign more fall-like weather is on its way.
It was a surprisingly wet ride this morning, but only momentarily. Hopefully it's still a little rough out if I have time to hit the dog beach this afternoon before the Cubs game.
Current beer-scale: 6 Old Styles out of 9
It might still be 70+ degrees out, but when the lake is getting choppy that's a sure sign more fall-like weather is on its way.
It was a surprisingly wet ride this morning, but only momentarily. Hopefully it's still a little rough out if I have time to hit the dog beach this afternoon before the Cubs game.Current beer-scale: 6 Old Styles out of 9
9/15/09
Hi Fred!
Hitched a ride on a tri-bike this morning from Fullerton to Oak St. He hit me with a "HEADS UP!" as I was waiting for him to go by as I was getting on the path after crossing LSD this morning. Go ahead and guess whether I was rolling in about to cut him off or actually just standing there waiting for a spandex-clad idiot to go by. It's early enough in the week that it didn't sit too well with me, so I caught up and latched on for a couple miles.
It bugs the piss out of me when someone settles in behind me. So it seems petty for me do it as an annoyance to someone else, but I always figure if it's bugging me then it's my job to shake that someone off. The guy looked back a few times, shifting after each time to get to a smaller ring, but asshole that I am, I wasn't going to let him go until I was damn ready. Once we went up the ramp at Oak, I used the sidewalk to circle around and head back to work. I don't know if I actually bothered him or not, but I felt better.
Usually someone passes me and I just let them go. Yesterday I got passed by a group of three people that it looked like were in the same mood I was this morning, with two of the guys trying their best to keep up with a roadie in front. The awesome thing was the guy in the middle was on a brompton. I was so impressed I had to catch up to take a picture. It doesn't look like it, but these guys were absolutely flying.
Look at the guy's tiny wheels! That's spectacular.
I can't believe there are so many speed freaks still out. Heading back to work there were at least two more bunches of roadies drafting off each other going the other way. I'm not looking forward to the weather turning more fall-like, but there's always a silver lining at least. Hopefully I have a job to bike to once fall settles in.
Current beer-scale: 5.8
It bugs the piss out of me when someone settles in behind me. So it seems petty for me do it as an annoyance to someone else, but I always figure if it's bugging me then it's my job to shake that someone off. The guy looked back a few times, shifting after each time to get to a smaller ring, but asshole that I am, I wasn't going to let him go until I was damn ready. Once we went up the ramp at Oak, I used the sidewalk to circle around and head back to work. I don't know if I actually bothered him or not, but I felt better.
Usually someone passes me and I just let them go. Yesterday I got passed by a group of three people that it looked like were in the same mood I was this morning, with two of the guys trying their best to keep up with a roadie in front. The awesome thing was the guy in the middle was on a brompton. I was so impressed I had to catch up to take a picture. It doesn't look like it, but these guys were absolutely flying.
Look at the guy's tiny wheels! That's spectacular.I can't believe there are so many speed freaks still out. Heading back to work there were at least two more bunches of roadies drafting off each other going the other way. I'm not looking forward to the weather turning more fall-like, but there's always a silver lining at least. Hopefully I have a job to bike to once fall settles in.
Current beer-scale: 5.8
9/11/09
Is football on yet?
One more day until more football. ND-Michigan, all the excitement I need. To take my mind off things and stretch my legs a bit, I took a ride down to Millennium Park and checked out the cycling center. Turned out to be a great day for a ride.
I don't know what I was expecting, but what I found certainly wasn't that. I think I was imagining something like an overpass rest-stop, but really there were just some indoor racks and a maintenance center. The most prevalent thing I saw were a number of signs designating each area as member-only. Which made it kind of hard to see anything interesting, since I'm not a member. And the one person I talked to about it didn't really seem to care, so away I went. So no pictures for after this paragraph.
There was more walking involved in getting to a cycling center than you would think, but that was my fault. Instead of getting off at Randolph and heading straight to the center I went a little past and took side streets, but there was too much traffic to really ride. I ended up walking through the park itself afterwards, which looked way too much like fall for my liking. Look at all the brown/orange in this picture.
With that boring little side trip wrapped up, I phoned the wife to see if she was free for lunch. Alas, she wasn't. So I headed home to drag the dog to the pet store for food and treats, and now it's back to the grind of looking for jobs and waiting for football. At least there's beer tonite; there's always beer.
Current beer-scale: 7.0
Current beer-scale: 7.0
9/10/09
spare me your antiquities
So I'm back on my coping mechanism, busting my ass. I could use some additional assistance coping though, b/c my beer scale scores are creeping ever higher.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Heineken keg can.
Anyway, someone was telling me today that all I really had to do was follow up on the resumes that I've got out there and I would find something no sweat. And for whatever reason, that struck me as a totally asinine comment. The source probably hurt the impression of what was said, but christ almighty, we live in the digital age. I don't have to "pound shoe leather," I have to write a brilliant cover letter. I don't have to glad-hand, I have to e-network. Thanks for the sentiment, but it's not really hitting home right now.
"The State" had a sketch were an announcer in a cereal commercial was stopping people to interview and David Wain walks by and instead of telling the guy he likes cereal, they start talking about how Wain's looking for work. So the announcer tells him he's "really got to start looking" and "making the rounds." He buys Wain a cup of coffee to get him to admit his cereal is pretty good. I felt a little like that today. Is pounding on doors or repeatedly emailing until I get a response a way to make a positive impression or to come off as stalker-ish and desperate? Of course, if I had heard back for an interview or something I wouldn't have to stop and think about it but that's not the case.
It's like the professor I had in grad school telling us one night, once we had our Masters any job not paying X-amount wouldn't be worth our time. And this was at the height of W's presidency--the tech bubble had burst, people were starting to panic and didn't know if we were in a recession or not, and here's a guy who hasn't looked for a job since he was tenured THREE DECADES AGO spouting out ridiculous figures to "help" in our job searches. Yeah, thanks.
So I'm still not panicked, but I'm not exactly comfortable either. At least football's started, at least ND is 1-0, and I've got more beer in the fridge. For now, that'll have to do.
Current beer-scale: 8.7
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Heineken keg can.
Anyway, someone was telling me today that all I really had to do was follow up on the resumes that I've got out there and I would find something no sweat. And for whatever reason, that struck me as a totally asinine comment. The source probably hurt the impression of what was said, but christ almighty, we live in the digital age. I don't have to "pound shoe leather," I have to write a brilliant cover letter. I don't have to glad-hand, I have to e-network. Thanks for the sentiment, but it's not really hitting home right now.
"The State" had a sketch were an announcer in a cereal commercial was stopping people to interview and David Wain walks by and instead of telling the guy he likes cereal, they start talking about how Wain's looking for work. So the announcer tells him he's "really got to start looking" and "making the rounds." He buys Wain a cup of coffee to get him to admit his cereal is pretty good. I felt a little like that today. Is pounding on doors or repeatedly emailing until I get a response a way to make a positive impression or to come off as stalker-ish and desperate? Of course, if I had heard back for an interview or something I wouldn't have to stop and think about it but that's not the case.
It's like the professor I had in grad school telling us one night, once we had our Masters any job not paying X-amount wouldn't be worth our time. And this was at the height of W's presidency--the tech bubble had burst, people were starting to panic and didn't know if we were in a recession or not, and here's a guy who hasn't looked for a job since he was tenured THREE DECADES AGO spouting out ridiculous figures to "help" in our job searches. Yeah, thanks.
So I'm still not panicked, but I'm not exactly comfortable either. At least football's started, at least ND is 1-0, and I've got more beer in the fridge. For now, that'll have to do.
Current beer-scale: 8.7
9/9/09
move your ass, cupcake!
Labor Day or not, it'll be a long time before I take 5 consecutive days off the bike again any time soon. Gah, my ass. Let's hope Obama can fix healthcare after tonite.
Current beer-scale: 5.9
Current beer-scale: 5.9
9/8/09
woof
Think I pushed it a little too hard this weekend, with Bears, Irish, White Sox and drinking, drinking, drinking. Oh well. What else is Labor Day good for.
Bears game was the only one we didn't have tickets in hand for showing up, but considering it was the last pre-season game and the starters would probably play all of one series, we didn't think it would be too hard to find tix. And it wasn't--we didn't even go scalpers for them, we went up to the box office on the south side of Soldier and got right in. Decent seats too.
I had to take a shot of Walter on the way out to go drink more.
So that was our Thursday night. Saturday was South Bend and the 35-0 home opener win over Nevada. Afterwards it was drinking and cigars until the mosquitoes ate us into oblivion. It turns out a buddy of ours that got laid off last August showed up, still laid off and kinda enjoying it at this point. This was on top of hearing about one more guy getting laid off from the ND athletic department--we're gonna have to make up jackets or something.
I'm blaming my current state on the cigar. Labor Day is usually pretty hard on my allergies; a ride out to the boonies of Indiana plus a rubusto really wrecked me for the rest of the weekend. Oh well. It's a short week and I can stuff myself to the gills with medication until Thursday. So much for interviewing this week. Fun.
Current beer-scale: 8.1
ETA: There's something really awful about riding home in 70 degree weather and getting home soaked with sweat. Unpleasant.
Bears game was the only one we didn't have tickets in hand for showing up, but considering it was the last pre-season game and the starters would probably play all of one series, we didn't think it would be too hard to find tix. And it wasn't--we didn't even go scalpers for them, we went up to the box office on the south side of Soldier and got right in. Decent seats too.
I had to take a shot of Walter on the way out to go drink more.
So that was our Thursday night. Saturday was South Bend and the 35-0 home opener win over Nevada. Afterwards it was drinking and cigars until the mosquitoes ate us into oblivion. It turns out a buddy of ours that got laid off last August showed up, still laid off and kinda enjoying it at this point. This was on top of hearing about one more guy getting laid off from the ND athletic department--we're gonna have to make up jackets or something.I'm blaming my current state on the cigar. Labor Day is usually pretty hard on my allergies; a ride out to the boonies of Indiana plus a rubusto really wrecked me for the rest of the weekend. Oh well. It's a short week and I can stuff myself to the gills with medication until Thursday. So much for interviewing this week. Fun.
Current beer-scale: 8.1
ETA: There's something really awful about riding home in 70 degree weather and getting home soaked with sweat. Unpleasant.
9/2/09
Hit the beach!
Went for a walk today during lunch, over the North Ave bridge and back up to Fullerton.
Why?
B/c fuck it, that's why. That's how I cope w/having two months to find a job.
Current beer-scale: 6.1
Why?
B/c fuck it, that's why. That's how I cope w/having two months to find a job.Current beer-scale: 6.1
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