Work day concluded, changed to jeans, picked up Vincenzo to make supply run
to Occupy Memphis. We gave blankets, hot packs and other supplies donated by ShadowCon Staffers to the chilled heroes, and on the way back to return Vincenzo
to his abode, we passed a demolished church and scored many many bricks
for completing walkway in front yard.

We thought we had to ask permission from the overall-wearing men who were onsite, but found out they were fellow scavengers - scrap metal and wires. Every penny counts when you are the 99%

Tried to come up with a wordy essay to tackle the topic of learning to brag.

After considerable time spent trying to find flowery phrases that are both humble and happy, I can not come up with anything other than to give a list, and if some bragging spills out, so be it.  It was not all acheived by the puny sweat of my brow alone, so when I brag, I brag on a team.

G.W. classes and activities for the last few years:  win-win.   The word win appears twice because not only was our schedule full and our course offerings and activities innovative and interesting to the populace, but also, the win was behind the scenes, too.   Specifically, the drama and .... ahem.... personality clashes.... managed to settle down and behave themselves, leaving everyone to simply enjoy their vacation week in March, as it should be. 

Two years running of perfection, built upon three prior years of ever-improving, ever-growing ambitions and projects, is plenty good for me.  Mission accomplished; what's the next assignment? 

Well, I have a landcrat offer that I am considering, an exchequer offer that I am honored to have received but must humbly decline, and the amazing prospect of an A&S office that is turning out to be quite fun.  I also have now membership in the Order of the Silver Lamp, and while receiving that recognition is both an honor and a treat for me, the membership also comes with the implication that I am an artisan and/or scholar of some kind, and not merely the wrangler of them.   For all the offers of offices, perhaps my chance is now to spend a little less time on administrative duties, and a bit more time actually getting my hands dirty.

And such dirt to get into.  From the saffron crocus crop now on it's 3rd year in my garden (yet still never worked up into an entry), to the full-on historically accurate living history environment demo that Mistress R. keeps encouraging me to enter, to the viking garb I've inexplicably started researching and entering at events, there's stuff I'd like to be doing now. 

On a more personal note, once my fears get conquered, and make no mistake- this job certainly provided a couple of large big bad paper tigers for me to face down - once I get them conquered, well, why stay and do the same'ole same'ole?  Sure, enjoy the hum of a nicely repaired engine for a while, but geez, no reason to hang around and gloat. 

For those looking to say something nasty (and aren't there always those few?), this isn't casting off an undesirable job.  I've enjoyed it tremendously, and the connections and friends I've made in the process I wouldn't trade for a bucket of gold.  Time to face facts tho:  in most Gulf Wars positions, three years, not five, is the norm.  I'm ready to rotate around, (have you seen the size of my hips?  When I rotate around, I really rotate a ROUND).  I'm ready to make A&S entries and teaching my SCA focus for a while.  I'm ready to get into other things.

Or, in the inimitable words of John Hodgman:

"You're Welcome."


;)

In 2008, Michelle, a 53-year-old Illinois resident with 19 years experience in information technology, became another casualty of the Great Recession. More than a year later, after a long and fruitless job search, she finally heard from a headhunter who thought she sounded like a great fit for a post he was looking to fill.

But when Michelle told him how long she had been out of work, the headhunter turned apologetic: His client, he said, wouldn't accept people who had been unemployed for more than six months. Michelle would go on to stay jobless for so long that she ultimately exhausted all her unemployment benefits, and, for the first time in her life, was forced to apply for food stamps and welfare.

Michelle's tale was recounted at a recent Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) meeting devoted to the issue of hiring discrimination against the unemployed. As the commission found, Michelle's experience is far from unique. No one officially tracks how many job openings explicitly bar the unemployed, but several news reports since last summer have uncovered numerous online job postings that require candidates be employed during the application process. One such listing was posted by the cellphone giant Sony Ericsson--a move the company later called a "mistake."

Job-placement professionals say that over the last year, more and more employers have made it clear they won't consider job candidates who aren't working. "A lot of our recruiters have had clients who have come across this," Matt Deutsch of TopEchelon.com, which brings recruiters together to collaborate in finding jobs for candidates, told The Lookout, calling the practice "unfortunate."