Good morning, good afternoon and good evening, dear readers. It's great to be here today. In fact, it's great to be anywhere.
MUSIC APPRECIATION
Many years ago, when I still flew, I went to Los Angeles on vacation. I visited a lefty guitar store, one of the main ones at that time. It was truly Disneyland for me. A store where almost every guitar was a lefty. He had one of everything. The one that really rung my bell was a 1958 lefty Stratocaster. It was like heaven made from wood in my hands. It was so magical that it almost played itself. It was only twelve grand or so, just a hair out of my budget.
Hidden away in the back room was a treasure: a 1960 lefty Les Paul standard. There were only three ever made. McCartney had one, someone in another country had the second and I got to hold and play the third. It was a decent guitar at a decent price - only $95,000. I was a little disappointed, mentioning to the store owner that it only played like a $35,000 guitar. Price aside, it was not for me.
Yesterday I opened an issue of Vintage Guitar magazine and discovered that one of these Les Pauls just sold at auction, for the bargain price of $194,000. Don't I feel stupid for not picking the guitar up when it was under a hundred grand...
THE CONTINUING SEARCH OF BUNGALOW LEFTY
To no one's surprise, I am still without a job. Of course the title probably clued everybody in anway. Let's emphasize the positive and state that when I get a job, I'll have to go back to writing... well... whatever it is that I used to write before the hammer fell. And you'll have to read it, so let's just give thanks where we can.
You were probably wondering what sorts of interesting job search results have appeared. Let me ease your burden and list some of them:
- Visual Impairment Service Team Coordinator [VIST Team - FREEZE!]
- Customer Destruction Specialist [now here's one we can all get behind]
- Concierge-Event Planning [because I love people and hospitality]
- Java Developer [I'm more of a java consumer]
- Tumor Registrar [a room for how many organs, sir?]
- Freelance Sports Photographer [because I love sports and can't take a picture with an idiot-proof camera]
- Geospatial Technician [huh?]
I had an incredible interview the other day.... it was an intensive security position with a very large company. Everything looked good, I liked the job description and they seemed to like me. Then BOOM - the anchor dropped. The job required over fifty percent travel. I don't know about you but two months in beautiful downtown Utah just doesn't make my nipples swell.
I have spent a whole lot of time consuming job interviewing tips from all over the place. I can safely say that I know what not to do and even a bit of what TO do. The key to a good interview is to anticipate the questions and have answers ready, in addition to examples. During a phone conversation, it should go something like this:
Tell me about yourself. Hi, my name is lefty and I make people nervous.
What is your ideal day on the job? Thanks for asking. I'd start with an intensive review of the evening's security events, followed by some chocolate, pizza and then the strippers. I'd close with some oral.
Wait - I need to put you on hold - my wife is flashing me.
Where do you see yourself in five years? Certainly not in this dump. I intend to avail myself of all the benefits and run like the wind. With any luck, I'll be able to blame it all on the boss.
You were laid off? Why? I'm glad you chose to ask this highly illegal question. My position was eliminated, right after I eliminated the CIO and half of the board. Just because I soiled his wife was no reason to be so upset. Yes, that was a chainsaw, but I couldn't have done it because I could never start the damn thing.
How do you keep current with security news? Websites, news readers and Juggs magazine.
With preparation like this, it's amazing that I don't have multiple job offers.
IT'S OK, I'M INDEPENDENTLY WEALTHY
Remember the well-meaning neighbor? The one who asked when our house was going up for sheriff's sale? We're finally one-up on him: we called the mortgage company and, as it turns out, they're not all that keen on calling the sheriff. The best moment was when we were going over our finances, Lieutenant Mortgage came to the conclusion that without our mortgage payment, we were four dollars in the hole. Suffice it to say, they're quite content to work with us. This works out well, as I can't rely upon public wifi to write these sagas.
NOT QUITE ERRATA
I passed the dog on my way in. He had his face buried in something of weird color. Then I got distracted by the neighbor washing her car in those shorts and....
Ok, so I passed the dog on the way in. When I got back to him, he was finishing up someting. Minimal detective work indicated that he had bored through a pizza box to get at the poisoned pizza that he stole from the trash. He has a cast iron stomach, largely from eating cast iron.
Speaking of trash, I mentioned our new automatic trash can. Wave my hand over it and it opens, then closes on its own. Apparently it needs a tuneup because it tends to open and close for no apparent reason. Every night we sit in the living room and hear the can opening and closing. It's almost a form of cheap entertainment these days (as everyone knows, I'm a cheap and easy date. Mostly easy).
Last but not least, I need to unburden myself. This is just between us, ok? I don't want the wife to find out. You see, it's about the wife. For some reason, perhaps due to all that loud music when she was little, her hearing has gone to hell. I didn't want to be the one to tell her that she answers her cell phone in speakerphone mode, then puts it to her ear. Mostly she puts the phone down and talks to it REALLY LOUDLY. I keep telling her she's shouting. She keeps telling me she's sorry, then goes back to shouting at the phone again. It's getting so I can't hear the tv or watch porn on my laptop.
I feel much better now - thank you.
