February Blog Post

It’s been about a month since my last blog post so I thought I’d write another one. I’m mainly writing a lot of cover letters these days and filling out on-line applications. It’s hard to say how much good any single application does but it’s kind of draining. My favorite are the ones where I can send a resume and cover letter without filling out everything again in an HR application. But those are what most companies are using so I do it.

My last job ended on December 31, 2015. It was a one year contract with Volt (VMC) working at Microsoft helping to support the Exchange developers in the Office 365 group. There was some data center work with physical servers and wiring and power and such and there was a lot of sitting at a computer fixing things through an IP KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switch. It was kind of neat to be able to log into computers from Oslo, Norway to Beijing, China and fix what was ailing them. Of course most of the servers I dealt with were in one of several buildings in Redmond, WA or California but there were days of international crisis. But that job is over and now I must cast forth and hope a hiring manager smiles upon me.

I’m also trying to use my unemployed time wisely and take some on-line training classes, get some writing done, try to make a habit out of working out and maybe even practice a musical instrument. But the main thing is to find a job; a full-time job with benefits and a bright future and time to be creative.

I’m in an odd middle ground. I’m old enough that I’m not young; and yet young enough that I’m not old. I have about 20 years to give a company before I can think about retiring. My finances have been beaten up to the point where taking off early and cruising around the world isn’t an option. So I will honor the age-old traditions of trading time for money. Hopefully the time is spent doing things you enjoy.