A Beautiful Day and Career Counseling from the Pointy-Haired Boss

Pam and I made every excuse we could for one more errand out in this sparkling, crisp (sounds like a soft drink) day. All of that rain has resulted in flowers and green everywhere, and we could see mountain ranges to the North from Broadway that I don’t think we’d ever seen before, or at least not this well.

We got lots of odds and ends, and in general, prepared for Pam’s trip that will take her to our old haunts in Boston, her brother’s family in West Springfield, Massachusetts, and a final stop in Minneapolis for the STC (Society for Technical Communication) Convention. She’ll be on the road for nearly 3 weeks. I hope none of her Koi die while under my care.

As for me, I get to continue my job search, which has continued with help from friends and a new career management company that I’ve signed on with. The latter has involved lots of definition of career goals, compiling ‘narratives’ of my work accomplishments to date, and meetings with my assigned contact at their offices. I leave off names and companies here for a reason: The meetings, and my interactions with this person are not going as well as I would hope. Why? As it turns out, the person who is to be my advocate, coach and adviser at this company is decidedly non-technical. Really non-technical, as in not knowing much about the Internet, Computers, the Web, or anything remotely related to Technology. This has proved…challenging to me and is fairly troubling. After all, how can someone advise you on your career if they have absolutely no understanding of what you do to begin with?

Case in Point: At our last meeting, they brought up their Savings and Loan’s web page on their screen, turned it to me and asked point-blank: “Is that all you do”? I was a little taken aback. “Yes, I answered, after a moment of silence where I held back the urge to lean across their desk and punch them in the face, “But that’s not all of it. It’s like asking a Furniture Designer if all they design is chairs.”

While it’s a good thing for me to make sure that I can relate to a non-technical person (which is not something I usually have a problem with; I’m a self-admitted geek but I am a result of a Liberal Arts Education), I have to say that rewriting my resumé so that all of the technological reference are either eliminated or simplified is not something I would have done on my own, and I wonder if it’s going to serve me well. Will I have a ‘David for Dummies’ version of my resumé that I trot out for someone who I think will give me a blank look if I mention the words ‘User Interface’? Then again, how would someone like that ever be interviewing me for a job in the first place?

On Tuesday, I am to appear for my meeting in formal job interview attire. According to their rules, that’s a dark suit and tie.

Techies in Vancouver: When was the last time you appeared for a meeting in suit and dark tie? It’s not that I don’t have one, or haven’t worn one in my life, but it seems to reinforce the idea that these people have no freaking clue whatsoever what tech culture is like.

If this continues to irk me and interferes with my job search, I may request a different person to work with, which may prove a bit uncomfortable for all concerned. Nevertheless, I’m going to give that some serious thought. In the meantime, it’s back to my old resumé, which I’m trying to use to create more ‘narratives’: “Once upon a time, there was a need for a clickable HTML prototype…” (*Doh!*)

Social Butterflying

Last night was the Blogger Meetup, and despite the Canucks game going on (a few kept in touch via wireless), we managed to talk about other things besides hockey. This time, Isabella was able to make it, and did some play-by-play Twitter of the group to Robert Sanzalone, a fellow Vancouver blogger now living in Japan. Jan posted a list of everyone who was there with links to their blog, and John (along with Jan) took some snapshots (I wish my mouth hadn’t been full of Chorizo (spicy, and now, at least I know how to pronounce it properly).

Tonight, it’s VanUE. The only problems with all of these nights out is that I’m away from Pam a lot (and she’ll be gone for nearly 3 weeks starting next week!), and consuming more beer (bad for the waistline). Good thing I got my taxes done, so that’s not keeping me from networking. They say that when you’re a job seeker, this is an important activity, and at least this one is easy compared to some of the other things you have to do (rewriting and rewriting resumé, researching companies, preparing for interviews etc.)

Oh well, out into the rain again!

Sometimes it All Comes Together

Things have been going well for Vancouver. Last night, our beloved Canucks managed to beat the Dallas Stars, and won the first set of playoffs in the final 7th game. It was make or break, and they made it. The celebrating on Robson Street was so loud and long that I suspect a lot of people are heading into work sleepy-eyed this morning.

Yesterday was a picture-perfect day, with mild breezes, sun and a few scattered clouds. Before the game started at BC Place, I met up with Mark, a Computer Scientist visiting from LA, whom I’d met through my article in the LA Times. While we tried to chat over a few brews, the groans and cheers of the crowd would punctuate the evening (I got home before the revels started). As the game-winning goal was made by Trevor Linden we heard the cheers from the whole city from our balcony in False Creek. A slew of hangovers was probably made just bit worse by the return of rain today.

Tomorrow night is the Blogger Meetup, and I suspect that our celebrations will continue, although somewhat tempered by the fact that it’s not over; the Canucks now have to go on to face the Anaheim Ducks, and will be doing so that evening just as we’re sitting down. (I’m sure we’ll know the play by play, either from TVs or the Wi Fi connection).

The CanadaLine
Today I came across this video via Pacific Metropolis, who track this sort of thing, that details the new mass transit system that is currently the reason that they are tearing up much of downtown and Cambie Street (as well as the airport, I suppose, but I haven’t seen that myself). As it shows, It will make Richmond and the Airport about a half an hour from Downtown’s Waterfront Station, which is the connection to North Vancouver (and ultimately by motor coach, Whistler) via Seabus and the other towns to the east via the Skytrain system.

It’s a typical, cheesy corporate video, with some truly awful stock music and overly plastic narration, but you can get the general idea:

Frankly, if this is what the taxes that we’re filing (due in 6 days and counting) are going toward, I’m more than OK with it. Yeah, I know, I know, there are lots of folks here who aren’t thrilled with the Canadaline, and fought against it (and I suspect that it really wasn’t pretty the way it was pushed through). I say, let’s make the most of it. Finally, people will be able to get from the Airport to Burnaby (and even Surrey) without burning an ounce of gasoline. And with local prices at the pump around 1.18 per liter, as well as the usual Global Warming arguments, being ahead of the curve on mass transit can’t be a completely bad thing.

I remember the videos and praise for the Big Dig back in Boston, but I always hated the idea of a road for more cars, built under the city. So much money and so much engineering (and corruption) merely to build a highway? What were they thinking?

I Still Love Vermont (Again)

Patrick Leahy, Congressman from Vermont, takes Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to task for the Maher Arar case in a Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing. It’s good to see someone in the US Government realizing that Canada (as well as the rest of the world) sometimes wonders what has happened to the USA that they thought they used to know. It’s certainly not the kind of country that now sends a Canadian citizen off to the Syria because they suspect that he might be a terrorist.

We knew damn well if he went to Canada, he wouldn’t be tortured! If he were held, he would be investigated. We also knew damn well if he went to Syria, he’d be tortured.

Here’s the whole exchange:

Someone here the other day told me that the US today (as it relates to Canada) was like ‘Someone had stolen away your big brother and replaced him with someone that you don’t recognize any more.’ With people like Gonzales running things, it’s no wonder that they don’t recognize the US. I certainly don’t.

BTW, for those outside Canada who don’t know of the case, Maher Arar was a Canadian citizen who was stopped at JFK airport, sent to Syria to be tortured and later was found to be completely innocent. He got a formal apology from the Canadian government, along with $10.5 million in damages. Say what you will about Harper, he’s no snake like Gonzales.

Inescapable

I thought I knew how a city could get when its home team was fighting its way toward a championship. I lived in Boston during that remarkable 2004 World Series victory that ‘reversed the curse’, etc. There is still a section in the Boston.com web site that may end up immortalizing the event for the next 86 years — which was the length of time between the two World Series trophies — if they have to. For all I know, there are probably folk songs about the Sox of ‘04 and hundreds of new baby boys christened ‘Johnny’, ‘Jason’ and ‘Manny’.

But for Canadians, Hockey seems to be more than just a sport. It’s a glue for country, including the new citizens (and landed immigrants), maybe because we all agree that Canada invented the sport, and deserves to be the world champions in it, even if things haven’t always worked out that way.

Add to that, a trophy drought of similar length to the Sox. Vancouver, who have not won the Stanley Cup since the ‘Millionaires’ won it back in 1917-1918, is noticeably hockey crazy, even for Canada. You see the cars everywhere, with the flags all over them. Today at the market I couldn’t help noticing more than a few guys wearing Canucks Jerseys. The CBC is running a photo contest of the craziest Canuck fan (you know, the ones who do the whole face-paint thing). If the team does win the cup, they are estimating a $2.1 million cost in Police protection to keep all of the celebrators from running amuck. Speaking of costs, tickets for tonights game were going for $320 for a pair from scalpers.

Some of my fellow Vancouver bloggers are also podcasters. One of them was highlighted for their increasingly popular podcast, Crazy Canucks. Check out the spot on the local TV station at John’s other blog: John Bollwitt blog or his wife and co-podcaster, Miss604. I think they’ve tapped into a real vein of Hockey Madness.

I write this after the home team lost in overtime. It seems that every time I watch they lose. So I’m not sure I’m going to watch the next again on Saturday, when they are away in Dallas.

As for the sports bar owners. I’m sure that although they do want the Canucks to win as much as everybody else, they’d much rather stretch this initial set of playoff games with the Dallas Flames to the full seven. Nothing crazy about that.