I'll be winging my way to the San Francisco Bay Area today for an impromptu (and hopefully rewarding) two-day trip.
I'll provide more details upon my return, but this being NaBloPoMo, you know I'll post something from my ol' stompin' grounds!
"I hate talking on the phone!"
-- Kat (definitely a member of the IM generation!)
Just as Tom, Kat and I were finishing dinner this evening, the phone rang. I picked up the receiver, ready to hand the phone to Tom, since his mother's call arrives like clockwork every Sunday evening. Instead of seeing her name on the Caller ID display, though, I saw Aleks' cell number and answered immediately.
"Mom"? Aleks' voice was shaking. "I just passed out."
"What?! Where are you? Are you OK?" The only thing worse than getting a call like this from your kid who you know is on the road is getting it from a stranger. Fortunately, I was talking to Aleks and he was talking to me, so I knew that, at least in terms of "worst scenario," things were OK.
"I'm OK, but I almost just killed a deer. And I almost just crashed the car. And I almost just killed myself. And I'm really shaky."
"OK, slow down, Aleks," I said slowly, trying to calm down my own beating heart. "In fact, are you driving right now?"
"Yeah," he admitted.
"As soon as it's safe, pull over," I suggested. (No -- I demanded.) "Then take a breath and tell me what happened."
At that point, it all came spilling out. Aleks can be dramatic when he has a good story to tell, but this evening no extra drama was necessary. It turns out that Aleks was delivering pizzas (his new job) on a steep, dark, forested road. As he drove down the hill, a deer suddenly appeared immediately in front of his car -- like a few short feet in front of it.
If you haven't seen a deer lately, there are two things you should know. First, they are HUGE. Certainly taller than a small Ford sedan and heavier than you might imagine from any holiday lawn decorations you've observed in your neighborhood. And second, when encountered on a road they are dangerous, whether they suddenly leap in front of your car (as is what happened to Tom 10 years ago; that totalled our car, but Tom was fortunately unhurt) or whether you just come upon them standing paralyzed in the roadway, the proverbial "deer in the headlights."
That's the deer that greeted Aleks this evening. Aleks attributes his quick reaction time to the two Red Bull he drank on the way to work (grrrr!). He swerved to avoid the deer, then he swerved to avoid a tree... and another... and who knows what else. Who knows, indeed -- because as soon as the car came to a stop, he hyperventilated and passed out! When he came to (most likely almost immediately), the deer was gone. That was good news for the deer.
Aleks was OK. That was good news for Aleks and well... for US!
And the car hadn't crashed. That was good news for our already sky-high insurance rates.
Aleks decided to drive on (ever the diligent employee!), and to call us. After telling him to pull over, I suggested that he call his boss and tell her what happened and let her know he'd be a few minutes. She was, of course, understanding.
Tom and I immediately drove to Aleks, where he was still sitting in the car, calm enough now to tell us the whole story -- this time with his characteristic humor and story-telling flare. Apparently Aleks and the deer had a reckoning in the split second that their eyes met and both lives were spared. Aleks is sure that his story is better than the deer's -- though I certainly feel for Mrs. Deer.
Encountering a 17-year-old pizza delivery guy in the middle of your road in your forest when you're minding your own business late at night has to have been pretty dang unnerving for the little -- er, I mean enormous -- fella!
As I attempted to open Picasa last night to add a photo to my slideshow, I got an error message that I'd never seen in the year and a half that I've owned this laptop. It warned me that I am just about to run out of disk space.
Excuuuuse me?
Way back in the early 80's, I produced educational films and filmstrips (you're laughing, aren't you?!) for a now-defunct off-shoot of the Walt Disney Company called Walt Disney Educational Media Company (WDEMCO). My first project was a filmstrip called The Research Paper Caper (that's when I fell in love with producing) and after that I managed the production of a multimedia kit called Cheeseburger, This is Your Life (about food origins and nutrition; we were -- pffft! -- ahead of our time) which, as a multi-media kit, consisted of a filmstrip, a comic book, a poster, and audio tapes. (You're still laughing, aren't you?!)
In late 1983, we were told that WDEMCO would be experimenting with a new type of media called Personal Computer Software, and five of us were tasked with making the first educational computer games for kids. I freaked, of course, being the techno-phobe that I was. (Am?) But I jumped into my new role and loved it. I got to design the characters, stories, lessons, and look and feel, while artists and programmers did the rest. (Ah, those were the days!)
The powers that be at Disney in the early 80's had high hopes for this new business and looked forward to seeing our first games (which we produced with a teeny-tiny company called Sierra Online which was located in the teeny-tiny town of Oakhust, California, near Yosemite). We designed the programs for the Atari and Apple II computers, which had a whoppin' 48K memory, 8 colors, a few pixels per square inch, and which ran our software on a 2400 baud audio tape (later upgraded to a 5" floppy disk). I remember the VP telling us that the "art" was unacceptable, since Mickey's ears weren't as smooth and round as they were in "our movies." It took some time and significant adjustments for us all to understand the new media that we were working with -- both its opportunities and its limitations (and, as a company used to the beauty of movies consisting of individually hand-painted cels, there were both).
Disney did adjust, and our little 5-person team eventually became a new division called Disney Interactive.
And now I'm complaining because 60 GIG (how many gazillion times 48K is that?) isn't enough for me! (And hey, why does it show my capacity as only 50-ish? I guess 10-ish are "saved" for behind-the-scenes duties?) I can't even begin to put that into perspective, given what we worked with 23 years ago, except to say that, to salvage a tiny bit of disk space I deleted a CD labeling software program -- all 240 MB of it!
You know, there was a time when, if someone heard you say "I need more memory; I'm running out," they'd consider committing you to an institution! And a few short years from now, people will laugh at the whimpy 160 GIG external drive that will be permanently plugged into my laptop from now on because, well... "I needed more memory; I ran out."
Ambra, over at Quasi Italiana has bequeathed upon me the Nice Matters Award, saying " I hope it is not the hundredth one you've received..."
HA! Are you kidding? Me? I never win awards (or contests, or the lottery, for that matter)!
I am honored to accept this award and to pass the love on to some other really nice (and inspirational, positive, interesting, friendly) blogging friends. My nominees for the next "Nice Matters Award" are:
Michelle at smoochdog.com, who has been really helpful to me with some job search issues lately. Thanks Michelle!
Dixie at Dixie Peach, who is the nicest wife and friend anyone could hope for! People in her life are lucky to have her around.
Jen at A2EatWrite, who is my most faithful commenter, always so nice and supportive -- and who is also a wonderful writer.
Ree at Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, who is so wildly popular-bordering-on-famous that she'll probably never know I even nominated her, but I absolutely LOVE her blog, filled with Photoshop tips and great recipes (how nice is that?!), and I am completely addicted to reading about life on her ranch!
Holly at Nothing But Bonfires who cracks me up constantly with her (incredibly well-written) stories. When I see that she's posted, I'm so ON it. Need my Bonfire fix! Holly's one of those people who you know would just be a blast to hang out with.
So thanks again, Ambra. You made my day! And to those I've tagged (and, heck, to anyone else who wants to play... since I'm apparently so nice), go spread the love!
I've had it with this one-way job search stuff.
Every morning, my in-box is filled with open positions that I'd apparently be perfect for, based on the search agent parameters that I supplied to various companies like Monster, Career Builder, Jobster and the like -- keywords like "program (project, product) manager," "content development," "educational media," "learning," and "producer." Sounds like me, doesn't it? And you'd think that those search terms would glean something remotely similar to what I do.
But noooo.
Here's a typical piece of gobbledygook that came to me this morning as a job that "just might be a perfect fit": "Manage release activities for intranet and extranet reporting (CAP data warehouses, data cubes, SQL Reporting Services, Scorecard & ProClarity Reports)."
Excuuuuse me?! D efinitely NOT me. That's as me as a "corporate banker, closet programmer, and sometimes mechanic!" And yet, my keywords somehow called up that job -- and a gazillion more like it.
So I wade through those (carefully, because there just might be a gem hidden in there) and then I spend a while doing my own search on sites that I've determined are right up my alley. Sites like Association of Educational Publishers and Pearson Education and VTech and Leapfrog, to name just a few. Sometimes there's something there and sometimes there's not. Truth be told, this method has gleaned far more solid leads and networking opportunities than joining those job sites ever did.
So here's my idea: I think there should be a job seeking site that works a lot like Match.com. Kind of a "we-might-be-perfect-for-each-other-if-only-we-knew-the-other-existed" approach. It seems to me that what I see more often is the "I'll-throw-out-a-line-and-see-who-bites" approach -- from both employers and job seekers!
I think that, in addition to a resume ("the "I am" in match.com-ese), job seekers should also create a job description of their perfect job (the "you-are" in match.com-ese). And I think employers should do the same -- devise a CV of sorts of the company and the job, to present with the job description. And I think that there should be some site that really makes finding each other a collaborative, reciprocal process. I guess LinkedIn comes close, but it lacks the applicant's perfect job description piece.
So, as I often do when I see a glaring opportunity, I'm taking it and running with it! Here's a job description of the perfect job for me at a hypothetical company I'm calling Sandcastle Learning. If you know of this particular job, let me know immediately!
Our Company/Organization:
Have you ever seen a bored, uninterested child learn? (Have you noticed that good job descriptions usually begin with a question?) Neither have we. At Sandcastle Learning (TM), our goal is to create engaging learning products that encourage kids to discover, explore and make connections -- essentially to learn while playing.
Executive Producer:
Position Summary:
We're looking for a creative executive producer of interactive media products for youth. You should be an accomplished product manager, an experienced designer and developer, and a dedicated educator with extensive experience managing people, processes and products.
You are a dedicated leader and educator, an innate bridge-builder, an entrepreneurial thinker, and an excellent communicator and collaborator.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
You will be in charge of sheparding engaging learning products from initial concept through final production, including creative concept design and development, management and mentoring of all team members, and coordination of graphics, technical, web, and other departments in the development of your products. You will create and manage simultaneous budgets of several hundred thousand to several million dollars, and will develop, enforce and adhere to strict timelines.
15+ years experience in the following areas:
So what's Nablopomo called for those of us who already post daily?! (I've posted 574 posts in 481 days! Yikes -- I had no idea I was quite that addicted!)
Mo-NaBloPoMo?
I'd be silly not to join, huh? OK, OK, I'm joining NOW!
And I'll just keep on postin' on, as I have been all along, an average of a post or so a day. Difference being that I'll be officially registered to do so! (But can't I still post here and not have to duplicate there?)
