Job applications still the focus of my days. Really interrupts my book reading and tea sipping but I will soldier on!! Had a lovely afternoon yesterday in my job search. I actually got to talk to managers and hand them my resume. Yay, for connecting with a person!!!
Not doing very well at keeping up with my awards shows! Missed the SAG awards for no other reason than I just forgot. I have been making my annual attempt to see the main award winning movies before the Oscars. Can't say I agree with the SAG decision re: The Help but I certainly agree with the win for Jean Dujardin as lead actor in The Artist. Go see this on the big screen for sure. In one of the scenes, Jean is the spitting image of a swashbuckling Gene Kelly in The Three Musketeers!! Both lead actors make this movie and the costume and set design is top-notch. Hats off to the cast of Iron Lady and especially to Meryl Streep. I doubt this movie would have received any attention if it were not for her. Brilliant. My Week with Marilyn was very good but not up to what I was expecting from all the hype. You could watch either of these on the small screen.
For a movie off the award roller coaster, I finally got to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr. What can I say? RDJ makes my heart beat a little faster. Even more astounding is, how often is a sequel the better film to see!! The connection between Jude Law as Watson is finally the way it should be. Great story, great action, lots of laughs!! I would recommend it for the big screen as the cinemetography is excellent. Well, for those of you who have 52" TV's, I am sure it would be good at home too!!
Still have not seen Hugo. While I was in Cali, the reviews were atrocious and it was a movie I was so looking forward to seeing. As I was worried about being disappointed, I kept putting it further down my list. Now, here it is with the most nominations. Hmmmm! Did see The Descendants while in Cali. Not sure I agree with the nod to George. My friend and I both thought that Jeff Bridges would have done a better job. Warning, sadness level pretty high! Thankfully, I knew that before I went.
Bottom line....there are some fabulous movies to watch right now!! And, it is a reminder to me to never listen to the critics!!!
Tuesday 31 January 2012
Tuesday 17 January 2012
what a way to start 2012
I have spent more hours and brain cells than I could have imagined since I got back from Cali Jan 9 creating, typing, editing and making myself appear fabulous on paper. Yes, resume writing and cover letters! Since I have not had to apply for a job since 1978, there was a bit of learning curve to refresh how to do it. Plus, writing to impress!! There's a skill I haven't used in awhile.
The process of applying for a job now strikes me as so impersonal. Only a few businesses would allow you to drop off the application in person. However, when you did, there was no manager available to give it to or have a moment to speak with. I watched as I passed my application to a busy multi-tasking customer service person who barely looked up and casually dropped it on a big pile of other stuff. Oh, where did you end up my long and hard-worked on application?? How does one follow up on that experience? "Hello, I dropped off an application a few days ago. Would anyone have any idea where it is?"
The biggest learning curve for me has been stepping outside the confort zone of my luddite computer skills. I am so blown away by what I have accomplished in just over a week......I have uploaded CV's and cover letters and created search agents within different corporate career zones, I have copied and pasted and dragged and trashed and have become fond of my new memory stick. Yes, still no printer set up at the house so printing anything has required a trip to my library (only five minutes away, thankfully).
Really?? All this for a part-time job in retail?? Wow, not sure the computer has streamlined the process for the applicant. For those who are out there unemployed going through this process, I can't imagine how it makes them feel. I'm looking for a little part-time retail job so I don't have to think about how much I can spend on classes. It just seems so impersonal and disconnected and like you've not really made any contact. How do I know if they even noticed my resume and cover letter? After all my hard work!!!
The process of applying for a job now strikes me as so impersonal. Only a few businesses would allow you to drop off the application in person. However, when you did, there was no manager available to give it to or have a moment to speak with. I watched as I passed my application to a busy multi-tasking customer service person who barely looked up and casually dropped it on a big pile of other stuff. Oh, where did you end up my long and hard-worked on application?? How does one follow up on that experience? "Hello, I dropped off an application a few days ago. Would anyone have any idea where it is?"
The biggest learning curve for me has been stepping outside the confort zone of my luddite computer skills. I am so blown away by what I have accomplished in just over a week......I have uploaded CV's and cover letters and created search agents within different corporate career zones, I have copied and pasted and dragged and trashed and have become fond of my new memory stick. Yes, still no printer set up at the house so printing anything has required a trip to my library (only five minutes away, thankfully).
Really?? All this for a part-time job in retail?? Wow, not sure the computer has streamlined the process for the applicant. For those who are out there unemployed going through this process, I can't imagine how it makes them feel. I'm looking for a little part-time retail job so I don't have to think about how much I can spend on classes. It just seems so impersonal and disconnected and like you've not really made any contact. How do I know if they even noticed my resume and cover letter? After all my hard work!!!
Monday 9 January 2012
back from Cali--no, not my pics!
Gotta tell ya', San Francisco is one of my top 5 places ever. My list in random order includes Montreal, Paris, Strasbourg, Austria, Seville, Spain and, although small in size, St. Andrew's-by-the-Sea, NB. The list is defined by a feeling I got the first time I visited. Shoulders drop, breathing slows down, you feel like you know the place and it knows you. And, then there's the gasp factor. Short intake of breath, OMG look at that, I'm at.... the Eiffel Tower/they filmed Sound of Music on this spot/Salty Towers.
The architecture of the older homes in areas such as Pacific Heights is not like anywhere else I have been. This is Danielle Steele's house btw. See link below for more. To drive down a city street and have the road disappear in front of you like a rollercoaster makes you laugh/scream and it makes you wonder how they built what they built where they built it. Concern re: earthquakes, o yeah.
http://www.sftravel.com/pachit.html Sorry, no camera that day, impromptu visit to PH plus we found the historical pet cemetery!! Not able to walk around as it is under several overpasses that are under construction in Presidio Park near the bridge so it is off limits. Will try to find more info on that! Copy and paste., couldn't hyperlink. Listen to me!! Like I know what I'm talking about:))))
The drive from Marin in to the city is stunning. As you approach the Sausalito end of the tunnel, it is all rock face and pine trees. As you leave the tunnel, you follow a winding road with numerous panaromic views of the bay and sections of the bridge then you move through the final curve, and voila, the Golden Gate Bridge, in all its 75 years of glory. Once you are on the bridge, the ocean and coast line view is pretty spectacular.
The wine region on Christmas Eve day roadtrip gave me the bug to do some driving. See Doris Day post. On Boxing Day I wanted to see the ocean, so I headed to Stinson Beach. Over the hill and through the woods, deep valleys/gorges, hairpin turns, no guard rails and no lights. (Streetlights, not stoplights) Would NEVER do that stretch at night. Highway 1 continues north past Stinson Beach through heavily wooded sections of redwood and pine. Finally you reconnect with Sir Francis Drake, the main road that goes for miles until you reach San Anselmo. You meander through cattle and horse country and State Park until stoplights and pedestrians appear in San Anselmo (where I stay). One way trip: 7 miles, driving time: 50 minutes plus.
The architecture of the older homes in areas such as Pacific Heights is not like anywhere else I have been. This is Danielle Steele's house btw. See link below for more. To drive down a city street and have the road disappear in front of you like a rollercoaster makes you laugh/scream and it makes you wonder how they built what they built where they built it. Concern re: earthquakes, o yeah.
http://www.sftravel.com/pachit.html Sorry, no camera that day, impromptu visit to PH plus we found the historical pet cemetery!! Not able to walk around as it is under several overpasses that are under construction in Presidio Park near the bridge so it is off limits. Will try to find more info on that! Copy and paste., couldn't hyperlink. Listen to me!! Like I know what I'm talking about:))))
The drive from Marin in to the city is stunning. As you approach the Sausalito end of the tunnel, it is all rock face and pine trees. As you leave the tunnel, you follow a winding road with numerous panaromic views of the bay and sections of the bridge then you move through the final curve, and voila, the Golden Gate Bridge, in all its 75 years of glory. Once you are on the bridge, the ocean and coast line view is pretty spectacular.
The wine region on Christmas Eve day roadtrip gave me the bug to do some driving. See Doris Day post. On Boxing Day I wanted to see the ocean, so I headed to Stinson Beach. Over the hill and through the woods, deep valleys/gorges, hairpin turns, no guard rails and no lights. (Streetlights, not stoplights) Would NEVER do that stretch at night. Highway 1 continues north past Stinson Beach through heavily wooded sections of redwood and pine. Finally you reconnect with Sir Francis Drake, the main road that goes for miles until you reach San Anselmo. You meander through cattle and horse country and State Park until stoplights and pedestrians appear in San Anselmo (where I stay). One way trip: 7 miles, driving time: 50 minutes plus.
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