I must open this particular blog with some disappointing news. One of the major “irons” I had in the fire has fallen through, it would seem. They were supposed to make their calls by today and well…today is over, right?
Believe it or not, I was actually rejected for a job (different one, mind you) before I even got up this morning. I checked my email first thing and received this email. (The name of the organization has been deleted to protect the guilty.)
Hello John, , (Yes, I noticed the double commas and the space between each as well.)
Thank you for your interest in our *************** position. After careful consideration, the team has decided to proceed with other candidates for this opportunity.
Again, thank you for your interest in ******. We wish you success in your job search.
So, a pretty generic “Thanks but no thanks” type of email. Disappointing but plenty of other fish in the sea, I guess. However, there was a bit of a “red flag” in that it arrived in my in-box well before usual business hours. When I went back and checked, I discovered what time it had actually arrived.
12:10 a.m.!!!!
Okay, I understand that this was probably an automated thing. Somebody probably created a list of the rejected applicants and set it up to go out on Friday morning. They probably forgot or mistyped something so that instead of going out at noon, it went out at midnight.
Oh well…I met with Sam at Community Employment Services at the local library this past week and she had a number of jobs for me to look into applying for. Between her list and the ones I’ve discovered on my own, I’ve had a fair number of jobs that I have sent out resumes to (with a few more to check out over the weekend and into next week). This particular path may not have led to a job but that doesn’t mean the next job isn’t still out there.
But while I may not have gotten a job, I did get a dog. Albeit, not a real dog. I picked a replica of a Bassett Hound (the breed I’ve always wanted to get, if I were a dog person) during our travels this past week. I’ve named him Fred after the dog in Smokey and the Bandit, although I almost named him Flash after Roscoe P. Coltrane’s dog in The Dukes of Hazzard. My Mom suggested we put him on the bench in the living room but now she says every time she looks over, she thinks there’s something real sitting there.
My Mom and I headed to Brownsville last weekend for their Reuse-A-PalooZaha event. We didn’t find too much there. We were going to go to this weekend’s event in Innerkip and check out the town-wide yard sale but we decided to stay home and get a few things done around the house. As I said, I do have a few more jobs to apply for plus I need to get ready for Oxford Local History Day which takes place at the Ingersoll Library on May 9 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. I will be representing the Heroes of Zorra Project. I have compiled some of the videos I have created about the Heroes of Zorra as part of an exhibit.
My Mom will most likely spend the weekend working around the house. She has some big plans for some landscaping that she wants to start on, although the bulk of that may not start until next week. But one task that I will be able to help with, and a sure sign that spring has finally decided to show up, is mowing the lawn. I mowed the front lawn on Monday and will hopefully be able to get to mowing the back lawn over the weekend (weather-pending obviously).
I am hopeful of the weather improving – or at least staying the same as it was today – because I have decided to try and walk a kilometre a day for all of May. (Hey, that rhymed – sort of.) I saw something about this particular initiative on Facebook. Not sure if it’s an official thing or not but decided to try it out. I’m finding that I’m spending far too much time just sitting at the computer and wanted to get walking and get some fresh air. I found a “cheat” on Google Maps to determine how far a half-kilometre from my house is and went out for a walk this afternoon. As it turned out, I came across my next-door neighbour who was going for a walk with his son down to the local playground. It was a great chance to chat with him for a few minutes. So…fresh air, exercise, a little less screen time and a chance to talk with my neighbour. All good!
NASCAR is headed to Texas this weekend and while Texas is a good track, it will have some mighty big shoes to fill after Talladega last week. I already have one post about it up on John Milner’s Track Talk (The Stories of Talladega) and there’s another one I’d like to get around to writing over the weekend.
In closing and, as always, if you have thoughts about anything I’ve written here or if you’d just like to check in and say “Hi” (or more), feel free to chat me up on Facebook Messenger. Until next week (when I hope to have some more positive news to report), I hope all my readers (from Sweden or Canada or North Bergen, New Jersey, and all points in between) have a safe and happy week.
johnmilner.ca 