Thursday, November 10, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Gratitude to see
First of all, I am horrible about blogging and technologically what the marketing folks call a "laggard." I don't keep up with techie lingo, gadgets, and trends. I find technology surrounds or even engulfs me, so at the end of the day it's kind of nice to have some actual face time and not be so connected. Although, I am so connected!
Any who, I was in deep thought today, probably a squinted brow and staring at a random safety procedures poster on the metro "just in case," when something came to me: I am so grateful to SEE! It sounds strange to be so grateful to have eye sight (although I have gotten contacts recently). I see so many people with guide dogs on the metro, in the metro, on the streets, and I am utterly amazed.
My roommate and I stopped and guided a blind woman home one day. We learned she had a boyfriend, they shared an apartment, she had a child. She dressed stylishly, and albeit the cane and lack of direct eye contact, I probably wouldn't have known. She was very grateful that we helped walk her home. She hesitated off to the side of the crowd before exiting the station, and I took a look at her, then my roommate, and we knew what we had to do. A woman huffed at us at the top of the metro. It was disgusting. Are you really that inconvenienced lady that we are helping and talking to a nice woman? It's very cliche of people to be angered here when they can't move through at lightning speed. But look at what you can learn from someone when you finally stop and help. Mind you, there are tons of reasons NOT to help, especially in the city of beggars (aka DC); but, it was nice to have a good conversation and walk arm in arm to her apartment building. We could have been anyone, she could have been anyone, but sometimes it's nice to open up and help someone out.
I often wonder what brought this on, and how the blind are able to get along in such a rat race. Do they count steps? Do they ask for help? Do their dog have their pattern so together that this is the sole purpose of the guide dog? I want to pet the puppy! I sometimes have a hard time dodging traffic and I CAN see. Then I get proud of those who are visually challenged for continuing on with the day to day life. I wonder what they do for a living, and hope they have a good job. It completely amazes, and I had to comment on the www of how I am grateful to SEE!
SEE ya later :)
Heather
Any who, I was in deep thought today, probably a squinted brow and staring at a random safety procedures poster on the metro "just in case," when something came to me: I am so grateful to SEE! It sounds strange to be so grateful to have eye sight (although I have gotten contacts recently). I see so many people with guide dogs on the metro, in the metro, on the streets, and I am utterly amazed.
My roommate and I stopped and guided a blind woman home one day. We learned she had a boyfriend, they shared an apartment, she had a child. She dressed stylishly, and albeit the cane and lack of direct eye contact, I probably wouldn't have known. She was very grateful that we helped walk her home. She hesitated off to the side of the crowd before exiting the station, and I took a look at her, then my roommate, and we knew what we had to do. A woman huffed at us at the top of the metro. It was disgusting. Are you really that inconvenienced lady that we are helping and talking to a nice woman? It's very cliche of people to be angered here when they can't move through at lightning speed. But look at what you can learn from someone when you finally stop and help. Mind you, there are tons of reasons NOT to help, especially in the city of beggars (aka DC); but, it was nice to have a good conversation and walk arm in arm to her apartment building. We could have been anyone, she could have been anyone, but sometimes it's nice to open up and help someone out.
I often wonder what brought this on, and how the blind are able to get along in such a rat race. Do they count steps? Do they ask for help? Do their dog have their pattern so together that this is the sole purpose of the guide dog? I want to pet the puppy! I sometimes have a hard time dodging traffic and I CAN see. Then I get proud of those who are visually challenged for continuing on with the day to day life. I wonder what they do for a living, and hope they have a good job. It completely amazes, and I had to comment on the www of how I am grateful to SEE!
SEE ya later :)
Heather
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Settling In...
I had a fabulous weekend...
Filled with people who pulled me out of my suburban shell and made me get into the city, and enjoy it. I truly did! Catch you up to speed with the new DC adventures:
The Recruiter Game: Play or Be Played
As a recommendation of how to get started in the city, I graciously set out to initially start my job hunt with recruiters. Wear suit, check. Glasses, check. Pearls, check. Croc kitten heels, check. Faux-leather binder, check. Resume on nice paper, check. Then you get to the office. Mostly filled with no career placement tests, only your resume, a few questions, and off you go. For the most part, I can say it feels a bit like you are being championed into a whirlwind of intern-level jobs. In the beginning I said,"YES, I'll take whatever. This is what field I want to break into. If you've got something in healthcare, take me." Then comes the lovely recruiter who sold me a job at a lovely resort in the area. I must say it is a breathe taking place, palatial and grandeur. If I were on the wave of early immigrants coming to America, I'm sure that they were fed the same game..."The roads are paved with gold! Everyone loves working here! Love the people! If I didn't have a job I'D BE here!" ...So I jumped the gun in what was thought to be an extremely crunched time line. Ha. The time crunch was supposed to stop me from thinking it through. As I thought to myself, this won't be too bad. It'll be something to fill my time while I'm looking. WRONG. It was a paper-shuffling gig that was poor planned, to where to staff did not even know where to place me and said, hmm, ok you can start with learning how to answer the phones. Tactfully smiling and acting eager to learn, inside, I thought I was dying! I clearly thought this was something different. Clearly, I was fed "the game." Play or be played. With the advice of my MommaC, I was able to stand UP to the recruiter. Tell them that this isn't what I was looking for, and dust myself off. The anxiety of wanting to not burn a bridge quickly faded as I thought, is this bridge worth crossing to begin with? Well the game is a commission game. A game of competitive placements, with me redefining my search to the remaining recruiters! As I have the tendancy to be polite with out wanting to disappoint someone, that's what you have to do to change the game. :)
Filled with people who pulled me out of my suburban shell and made me get into the city, and enjoy it. I truly did! Catch you up to speed with the new DC adventures:
The Recruiter Game: Play or Be Played
As a recommendation of how to get started in the city, I graciously set out to initially start my job hunt with recruiters. Wear suit, check. Glasses, check. Pearls, check. Croc kitten heels, check. Faux-leather binder, check. Resume on nice paper, check. Then you get to the office. Mostly filled with no career placement tests, only your resume, a few questions, and off you go. For the most part, I can say it feels a bit like you are being championed into a whirlwind of intern-level jobs. In the beginning I said,"YES, I'll take whatever. This is what field I want to break into. If you've got something in healthcare, take me." Then comes the lovely recruiter who sold me a job at a lovely resort in the area. I must say it is a breathe taking place, palatial and grandeur. If I were on the wave of early immigrants coming to America, I'm sure that they were fed the same game..."The roads are paved with gold! Everyone loves working here! Love the people! If I didn't have a job I'D BE here!" ...So I jumped the gun in what was thought to be an extremely crunched time line. Ha. The time crunch was supposed to stop me from thinking it through. As I thought to myself, this won't be too bad. It'll be something to fill my time while I'm looking. WRONG. It was a paper-shuffling gig that was poor planned, to where to staff did not even know where to place me and said, hmm, ok you can start with learning how to answer the phones. Tactfully smiling and acting eager to learn, inside, I thought I was dying! I clearly thought this was something different. Clearly, I was fed "the game." Play or be played. With the advice of my MommaC, I was able to stand UP to the recruiter. Tell them that this isn't what I was looking for, and dust myself off. The anxiety of wanting to not burn a bridge quickly faded as I thought, is this bridge worth crossing to begin with? Well the game is a commission game. A game of competitive placements, with me redefining my search to the remaining recruiters! As I have the tendancy to be polite with out wanting to disappoint someone, that's what you have to do to change the game. :)
Friday, March 4, 2011
There's no place like home...
So the past couple of weeks were full of fun commuting, meeting with recruiters, computer testing, and all that jazz....it's nice to take a deep breathe and come home where your family is to rest and catch your breathe. "Home is where the heart is," as they say.
DC update: It's the smaller milestones that make me happy again! For instance, WOW, I decided on an apartment and negotiated the start date to April. There is something about knowing where you are going to lay down at night, and being happy with that, that brings an odd sense of accomplishment! After 30+ emails looking at places, I was exhausted mentally of searching. My new roomie and I clicked immediately. We said to one another, "You are the most normal person I have met in this search!" And so it was.
In navigating an unfamiliar city, it bring me back to first landing in France. We took a pricey cab ride from the train station to the hostel, and went through beautiful and not-so-pretty areas of downtown Marseille and the coast. I was speechless. It was awe and fright rolled up into one big ball of mystery. I thought to myself, "Oh wow. What now?!" Well, we got over that fright. I think the first night the girls and I secretly cried, and tried to smile to one another..and eventually cried to one another over a fine and inexpensive bottle of French wine. Oui oui..weeeeeppppp.
I used that hurdle to propel me to a city that is second to international cuisine and people to NYC. In a sense, I am le Americaine! avidly hoping to make some huge impact on my resume, and have some fun in the mean time. I truly always love a good flair to my stories. I get bored easily. Why not move and make a good story?
Although my time now is push, push, push towards an industry/job/career that I hope carries me well, I rest assured that HP always figures out some way to have some fun shenanigans along the way. It's hard to focus on true fun right now, but sometimes you have to break up that monotony of the job search :)
Til next time...have a wonderful weekend!
DC update: It's the smaller milestones that make me happy again! For instance, WOW, I decided on an apartment and negotiated the start date to April. There is something about knowing where you are going to lay down at night, and being happy with that, that brings an odd sense of accomplishment! After 30+ emails looking at places, I was exhausted mentally of searching. My new roomie and I clicked immediately. We said to one another, "You are the most normal person I have met in this search!" And so it was.
In navigating an unfamiliar city, it bring me back to first landing in France. We took a pricey cab ride from the train station to the hostel, and went through beautiful and not-so-pretty areas of downtown Marseille and the coast. I was speechless. It was awe and fright rolled up into one big ball of mystery. I thought to myself, "Oh wow. What now?!" Well, we got over that fright. I think the first night the girls and I secretly cried, and tried to smile to one another..and eventually cried to one another over a fine and inexpensive bottle of French wine. Oui oui..weeeeeppppp.
I used that hurdle to propel me to a city that is second to international cuisine and people to NYC. In a sense, I am le Americaine! avidly hoping to make some huge impact on my resume, and have some fun in the mean time. I truly always love a good flair to my stories. I get bored easily. Why not move and make a good story?
Although my time now is push, push, push towards an industry/job/career that I hope carries me well, I rest assured that HP always figures out some way to have some fun shenanigans along the way. It's hard to focus on true fun right now, but sometimes you have to break up that monotony of the job search :)
Til next time...have a wonderful weekend!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Day One...
Day one from the gypsy...
Just figuring out my blog lay out, and I will be sure to post more :)
What you can expect to know about my travels is that I am surely coming up with inspirational material to keep you informed as I embarq on my quest to passionately change the world we live in, of course naively moving to Washington, DC. Whether I change it or not, I'm on a journey. The journey is to learn, to absorb, and to utilize what we know. I enjoy chatting about the topic of the day as they come to me! Whether it be world events, celebrity gossip, there is a wide pendulum on which the topics' swing.
What you should know: I use dry humor and sarcasm. If I omit the back story to any humor and you have a question, please don't hesitate to ask!! Scripted, I may appear cynical at times, however, I am the ever optimist with a casual sarcastic swagger. Ya dig?
In moving, you become more of an "observer" than the person in the middle of the action. This will change over time, however, now I reside behind my lap top, observing from my own personal context :)
So here I have time, as I am looking for jobs, a place, and building the next chapter. Enjoy!!
Just figuring out my blog lay out, and I will be sure to post more :)
What you can expect to know about my travels is that I am surely coming up with inspirational material to keep you informed as I embarq on my quest to passionately change the world we live in, of course naively moving to Washington, DC. Whether I change it or not, I'm on a journey. The journey is to learn, to absorb, and to utilize what we know. I enjoy chatting about the topic of the day as they come to me! Whether it be world events, celebrity gossip, there is a wide pendulum on which the topics' swing.
What you should know: I use dry humor and sarcasm. If I omit the back story to any humor and you have a question, please don't hesitate to ask!! Scripted, I may appear cynical at times, however, I am the ever optimist with a casual sarcastic swagger. Ya dig?
In moving, you become more of an "observer" than the person in the middle of the action. This will change over time, however, now I reside behind my lap top, observing from my own personal context :)
So here I have time, as I am looking for jobs, a place, and building the next chapter. Enjoy!!
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