Life Is Not Purgatory

White Out
... a horrible night to travel!

I expect to leave work around 9:00pm this evening, arriving sometime after midnight at the hotel in Edmonton, where I have a free room and hopefully I'll get a full nights sleep before my interview downtown at noon.

So... if I'm not seen or heard from by Wednesday afternoon, I'm probably a human popsicle in the ditch of Highway 2.

Crossroads
... thinking about the future...

I've been staring at a particular webpage for a few hours now, and find myself wondering what I should be doing. The conversation last night had at the very least opened my eyes to how very little I have in common with most of my co-workers in this industry.

I have some thinkning to do.

ser·en·dip·i·ty
n. pl. ser·en·dip·i·ties
1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.
2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.
3. An instance of making such a discovery.

I've been propositioned.

I was chatting up the sister of my boss and her significant other at dinner this evening and had the opportunity to talk law, religion and politics (and my election attempt) with two very intelligent individuals who both questioned what I was doing in my current profession and not in school working on my law degree... with both of them offering to write references and the SO implying financial assistance.

It has me thinking…

All I Really Want…
… is my voice back!

I spent most of last week fighting off what I like to call the Peruvian Death Flu, and while it is neither Peruvian nor deadly, it certainly made life uncomfortable but that was nothing to what it left me in the aftermath… pretty-much voiceless.

It hit me really hard on the way back to Kananaskis, where I realized that I was scratchy and unable to speak words without my voice cracking and my volume control was practically non-existent and stuck at nearly zero. The best part was I’ve been working the desk alone for the past two nights and it has made my guest interaction quite comedic, but I’ve kept my jovial nature throughout so I’ve been told I have been quite entertaining.

I’m considering a wholesale redesign of my site, but I’m having problems finding a template I like that will be easy to modify with a picture I want to use. Any suggestions from veteran bloggers out there would be greatly appreciated.

On the current employment front word is slowly getting out that I’m on my way out, and I’ve broken the news to my local gaming group – and they are quite crushed. The last session we had was intense with party conflict over what to do with a pair of bandits they had captured – it was very enjoyable all around.

On the future employment front the phone interviews have so far gone quite well (I’m certain the sympathy vote for my voice situation helped) with me moving on to the next step for the first-time GM gigs. The tangential jobs at a number of retail stores in management roles don’t pay as well as I’d like, but they would bring me back to Edmonton so that is worth something.

Employment Forecast
... cloudy, with sunshine expected early in the week.

So as of today I have a much larger number of employment prospects, some in industries unrelated to the hospitality industry... and at least four of those positions are in Edmonton, and that doesn't include a number of line positions I am considering, if just for a change of pace and the experience.

Some leads are much more solid than others, and the most solid I think gets me to Red Deer in a first-time GM slot, although I think that Edmonton is more of a possibility if I want to go diagonal in my career path... but I'm still not certain.

I have two telephone interviews scheduled tomorrow... one for the GM slots, and the other for one of those tangents my brain went on when I went job hunting.

I've informed my boss that I'll be out of his hair within two weeks, and I fully intend to do so regardless of if I have found employment or not.

I am Geek! Here me Roll!
... gotta love those memes!

Spellsword 70% Combativeness, 33% Sneakiness, 64% Intellect, 47% Spirituality

Aggressive, but with the brains to back it up: You are a Spellsword! Score! You have a prestige class. A prestige class can only be taken after you’ve fulfilled certain requirements. This may mean that you're an exceptionally talented person, but it probably doesn't. Spellswords combine arcane might with combat know-how. They're much tougher than mages, like to wear armor, and can cast spells through their weapons. They're very, very, good at doing lots of damage to a single target very quickly, and while not quite as tough as most fighters, are still pretty hard to kill. You're both smart and aggressive, which means that you're probably pretty dangerous when pissed off. You also tend to be somewhat straightforward, which is nice, and don’t have much use for spirituality or mysticism.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 75% on Combativeness You scored higher than 40% on Sneakiness You scored higher than 37% on Intellect You scored higher than 53% on Spirituality

Link: The RPG Class Test written by MFlowers on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

In Defence of Freedom
… Religion v. Expression

In the past few weeks I have been wallowing in self-pity and self-doubt over my romantic interests and employment difficulties that I have been remiss in standing upon my soapbox and pontificating… something I intend to redress immediately.

Of the fundamental rights in a modern democracy none is more important than Freedom of Speech and Expression. There is a disturbing trend in modern society to censor free expression for fear of insulting or antagonizing a particular religion community.

Most who are reading this are likely thinking of the virulent reaction of many Muslims to a series of caricatures of Mohammed that were published in a Danish newspaper and reprinted in a number of European periodicals. In nations such as Syria, Iran and Jordan where secular interests are suborned by religious tenets the sacrilege of the cartoons has been met with violent protests, assaults upon foreigners, the destruction of embassies and consulates, and calls for the deaths of the cartoonists. In more secular Muslim nations protests are just as outraged, but have so far – for the most part been non-violent. In western nations, the protests are more subdued but Muslim leaders are using the court system try to prevent the publishing of such depictions because they are sacrilege in Islam.

I’ll remind people of the story of Ernst Zundel, the holocaust denier who was held in a Canadian prison (without charge) on a security certificate, for disseminating his beliefs to like-minded individuals. Eventually he was extradited to his native Germany where he now faces charges relating to his anti-Semitic, halocaust-denying beliefs. I don’t agree with Mr. Zundel, but I think that the damage we are doing to the fundamental right of free expression is dangerous. The German Republic is undermining its democracy out of collective guilt for the actions of Adolph Hitler and his Third Reich for fear of alienating the Jewish community. Where is the threat that Ernst Zundel poses to the world that he should be incarcerated? Certainly his beliefs are distasteful, but he does have the right to express them.

Freedom of Religion is also Freedom from Religion and therefore I have the right to draw a caricature of Mohammed – should I so choose. In fact anyone has the right to draw a picture of Jesus, Mohammed and Jehovah in a circle-jerk, while eating pork on the Sabbath. Offensive, yes. Criminal, no.

Modern democracies must safeguard Freedom of Expression from attack, regardless of the source. Once dissent and satire are silenced – despotism is not so far away.

Fingernails on the Chalkboard
… the twilight days of my current employment

Everything about this place annoys me. I see changes being made as we prepare for my fade into the background, changes that frustrate me and yet I am utterly powerless to stop them… it’s not a feeling I’m used to. I think this must be how lame-duck politicians feel in their final days in office, mentally preparing themselves for their disappearance into oblivion only perhaps to be remembered as a footnote in some future history book. There are few of the things that are more than simple annoyance and it is only my eminent loyalty to my mentor that is keeping me from packing up and arriving hat in hand at my friends places in Edmonton. I’m certain I’ll be able to struggle through it… I just need to make sure I’m on the same page – currently I don’t think I’m reading the same book.

As for good news, I spent the past two days job hunting, having applied to well over a score of places in Edmonton and elsewhere and I’ve even had a few telephone interviews, and been short listed to move onto the next stages. The least successful was an amazingly good interview for a casual restaurant chain that ended in a personality test – only they discovered that I’m a little to independent minded to fit into their cookie cutter management style.

The most successful was an interview for one of several first-time GM slot with a major hotel management company that has GM vacancies in Red Deer, Brooks, Regina, Saskatoon and points further east. I’ve been short-listed for a face-to-face interview with the Regional Manager and the VP of HR early next week.

Another quite successful set was for the Operations Manager of a lodge-style resort in Jasper that seems very interested in my unique and rather eclectic experience, and they moved me to the second step of a employment questionnaire… and I am supposed to hear from them by the 20th.

So, while my future employment is up in the air – the prognosis is good!

Arrrgh!
... Blogger ate my posts!

I'm trying it this way to see if this works, as I have had to retype these posts three times as blogger keeps eating them.

Turbulence
... unexpected shifts in the flow.

Where to start? Today was an interesting day, it started off with me fighting off a sinus cold, and devolved from there. I had a long conversation with my boss today, where it turns out that I am actively being sabotaged here at work. In the past-week I have butted heads with all but two members of the management team with them running to him demanding that I stop stepping on their toes.

So I’ve been asked more or less to back off, and simply direct my attentions to the desk… the only problem is currently that managing the desk isn’t a full time job – it’s barely a part time one (we are that quiet), coupled with the suggestion that I actively look for other employment opportunities as although he and I work well together, the majority of the rest of management and I, do not.

Revenue projections are so low in the next three months that they may have no choice but to start cutting management positions – and mine being the most nebulous will be the first to go.

I’ll admit, I was mad – actually I was furious. I’ve bent over backwards to help other department heads here, and I consistently get attacked for it. So from now on if doesn’t relate to the front desk, security or revenue management – it’s not my problem.

I then sat down and had a long conversation with my mentor and GM about what direction I should be taking with my career path, and he made a few suggestions that I’m taking to heart. However, it does appear that I will be returning to the city in within the next couple months...
...whether or not I’m employed however will be another matter entirely.

New Toys II

Good News! I totally forgot to mention that I have a shiny new cellphone, which will be useful for planning my next trip into Edmonton. Bad News! I have lost my entire phone list... and given that I have been dependent upon speed dial these past years I'm totally SOL.

So... if you would like me to have your phone number please email me. I'm not used to my phonebook being empty. Help!

New Toys!

So I just got my brand new 1440x900, 19" LCD Widescreen monitor and it's very pretty, which will hopefully allow me to move my computer (it's alot more compact) into my room given the soon return of my roomate from Quebec.

The trip to Edmonton was very productive in some ways and an utter waste in others, but I appear to be settling into the routine of a three-day trip to Edmonton every two weeks, with my next trip just in time to see STOMP and the Alberta Speech from the Throne. I've committed to spending alot of money in the very near future - more details as they develop.

I'm also being a lemming, having stolen this interesting personality awareness model from Rodicon and the Rook.

Sleeping Audit Off
Well, it's aproaching 9:00am and I am just crawling into bed, which means I'll likely be in town late (around 8:00pm) and I'm still minus my phone which will make planning this trip much more difficult.

Middle East Crisis
… is this how the world ends?

If you take a look at the middle east right now you will take note that there is a whole lot that is coming boiling to the surface and it looks very much like things are going to get a whole lot more violent and bloody there before it gets any better.

For starters we have the fanatic, fundamentalist President of Iran who is stoking the furnace of international relations with his escalating war of words about Israel, coupled with his breech of the international agreement on nuclear energy that we reached by the previous administration, and his announcement that with the referral of Iran to the UN Security Council he is prepared to start the enrichment of uranium immediately, which has prompted many in the US and in Israel to openly contemplate a pre-emptive strike against Iran.

As I am wring this, the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Syria are still burning and on their way to becoming smoldering ruins in waves of increasingly violent protests over the publishing of a series of political cartoons in a Danish newspaper featuring a caricature of the prophet Mohammed. Islamic law is very touchy about any printed depiction of Mohammed and comedic caricature is apparently no exception.

Add to this the ongoing insurgency in Iraq, the allegations of election irregularities in what the US Administration had hoped would be a beacon of democracy for the entire region only to find that Iraq may simply have been the powder-keg that ignites into multinational warfare.

Even Afghanistan, the lonely star in the dimly-lit post 9-11 sky is starting to backslide… as the al-Qaeda fighters from Iraq are being caught streaming into the backcountry undermining the tenuous government control of the country outside the Capital of Kabul.

And they say things are getting better in the Middle East? What are they smoking... Afgani Opium?

Quiet, Lazy Week

Yup, I’ve been totally unproductive this week although I did introduce my local gaming group to Shadows over Camelot, which I am glad to say was a big hit. Although I appear to have lost my cell phone (which sucks).

I did get a response from my email, which politely but firmly shot me down… not that I was expecting otherwise…

The next four nights however, I’m stuck doing audit but it’s all-good, it does mean that I’ll be in town Tue-Thu next week.