Inspiration and Onion Sandwiches

You may not think these two things go together, but check out this article from this morning's Washington Post about the oldest person to retire from the U.S. Postal Service. Is this a great guy and dedicated worker, or what?

I love hearing stories about someone who keeps on living, who doesn't stop with advancing age and think that life is behind him. Instead Mr. Reed is looking forward to traveling with his son and discovering new countries he's never seen.

I'm guessing Mr. Reed has also been one of those people who just performed a job as well as he could for the sake of a job well done. Not for the accolades, recognition, bonuses, or sense of entitlement, but because wanted to work each day. We can all learn something from his work ethic.

If onion sandwiches helped him to hang-glide in Rio de Janeiro at the age of 93, then I think I'd better switch my diet.

Thank you, POAC!

If you are a job seeker (or as I prefer to be known now…a Job Acquisition Specialist) and you live in the state of Maryland, there is a wonderful resource (and did I mention it’s free) to help people prepare for the job search.

The Professional Outplacement Assistance Center (or POAC) provides Job Acquisition Specialists with the tools needed to be competitive and get noticed in this extremely competitive job market: seminars, networking groups, one-on-one consultations with staff, computers, books, and more. It’s not a placement firm but a terrific, helpful place for people looking for a job, looking to change careers, or trying to determine what the step should be to get valuable information.  Just check out some of these online resources, as well.

I just attended a two-day JumpStart seminar, which is usually how one becomes acquainted with POAC and which delivers the nuts and bolts of marketing oneself and searching for a job. It’s direct, specific, entertaining, and addresses the concerns most job seekers have:

• Who is reviewing my resume?
• Why am I not getting any responses?
• How much information should I include?
• How can I better navigate the online job boards?
• But I was a perfect match for that job...
• …and lots more.

The trainers are top-notch professionals, experienced, credible, smart and ready to address every question. I would put them on a level above anyone I came into contact with at the outplacement firm (no names, please) I worked with for a while. 

Thank you to my networking group friends for telling me about POAC. Now I’m passing the word along, too.

First Day of Summer is Sublime

“There will never be any more perfection than there is now.”

- Walt Whitman

Beautiful summer, long days and sunshine.

Hydrangeas in bloom providing cuttings for every room.

Golden day lilies.

Cheeriness of red geraniums beside the front door.

People on bicycles.

Fewer cars on the streets and a slower pace.

Bees and butterflies buzzing the flowers.

Tomatoes ripening on the vine, with basil, cilantro, and thyme growing in a pot nearby.

Time to read and escape vicariously to places I dream of visiting.

People don’t seem to be rushing to get places (except across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on Friday afternoons).

Wearing sandals every day.

And I love the thought of pagan rituals to celebrate the summer solstice, from the Druids and the ancient Celts, to the festive Midsummer celebrations throughout Scandinavia. We all celebrate the sun in our own way. 

Happy summer. 

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

It has been almost exactly 5 years since my father died, and holidays, birthdays, and special occasions have never been quite the same. I don't know if one really ever gets over the loss of a parent; it's as though a part of your body has been stripped away and you make do in order to get by day to day, but it's never the same again.

My dad was kind, fun-loving, honest, protective, curious, and the rock of the family. 
He enjoyed gadgets, new technology, great clothes, but most of all he enjoyed time with his family. 
He loved the black walnut cakes and blackberry jelly my mother made for him; he thought she was the best cook ever. 
He never missed a family reunion or get-together and had more fun laughing (and eating and teasing) with his brothers and sisters than doing just about anything else.
He was always the first to have a computer, digital camera, video camera, or any new home item. He is the one who urged me to buy a new computer way back in 1996 so I could get online at home and he could call me via the Internet.
He enjoyed buying his 2 daughters all the great toys he could also play with when we were little, from an enormous race car set (when I was about 8 years old) to basketballs, a toboggan (since we lived at the top of a hill, but it was years before we had a big snow again), bicycles, skateboards, badminton, and more.
He loved our friends and enjoyed the times when kids were at our house, or taking a carload of us to football and basketball games, visiting at college, and going out to huge Mexican or seafood feasts when visiting my sister or me in Texas.
He eagerly took his 2 granddaughters on expeditions to get ice cream, to play at the park, to show off to his friends, to ride his four-wheeler, as well as carving pumpkins and sledding in the back yard.
My father was very protective of his daughters, and throughout my life, anytime we parted he always advised me to "Be good" and Be careful." I laughed when I was 40 years old and a mother, and my father still advised me to "be careful."


So, today on Father's Day, I especially miss my dad more than words can say. Life just isn't the same. Love you lots and miss you still.

BP: Beyond Petroleum Turns Out to be Right

Does Crisis Advertising Ever Work?

Seeing the BP ad in Thursday’s Washington Post reminded me of the Toyota ad from months ago. This most recent full page BP ad in major U.S. newspapers attempted to pacify the public with an assurance of what BP is doing to take responsibility for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. 

We will get it done.

We will make this right.

BP, it’s too late. 45 days after the oil spill they are still out to convince the public of their commitment to fixing the leak and cleaning up the spill by quantifying their efforts. This is not the first ad that BP has run since the spill, but it continues to boggle the mind that they are spending money on ineffective and insincere advertising. People don’t trust anything the company says at this point, and the ads are an insult.

I continue to be amazed that companies like BP don’t seem to have a credible, professional crisis communication plan. In the case of BP, not only did they not have an effective communication plan but they also didn’t seem to have a workable PLAN B (or Plan C, D or E) in case of an oil leak.

The latest BP television spot also began airing yesterday.

I wish instead of spending tens of millions of dollars on uninspired and unconvincing advertising that will likely not change anyone's mind about the company or what has occurred, they would instead invest that money in stopping the leak and cleaning up the Gulf. I fear we have only begun to see the effects of the environmental and economic impact to the U.S.

What Are You Reading this Summer?

I always have a book or two going and am finally about to finish “Freakonomics” (I know I must be the last person in the U.S. to read it but I actually started it 4 years ago…what can I say. Other books kept sneaking in.). 

After that, I’ll read “SuperFreakonomics.” Entertaining reading and books that make one think.

I always associate summer with prime reading time. That probably dates from the summers of my childhood when I loved riding my aqua and silver bicycle to the library in my hometown to load up the basket with Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames, and other escapist novels. And of course starting in elementary school, we were always enrolled in the summer reading club where readers were awarded a star for each book read and, I think, a prize at the end of the summer along with your photo in the local newspaper. I was competitive from a very early age!

I have an ongoing stack of books, some new and some classics that I plan to get to. Sometimes I can’t believe the classics that I haven’t read (“A Moveable Feast,” “Brave New World,” “To Kill a Mockingbird”) but there are so many books and too little time.

Occasionally I just want a mindless but well-written novel that offers a good story.

I love hearing authors being interviewed on the radio program “Fresh Air,” learning about the inspiration behind a book and whetting my appetite enough that I keep adding many of these books to my reading list.  Today I heard book reviewer Maureen Corrigan discussing summer reading in Summer Reading that Will Transport You to the Past, and I was ready to check out my local library for all of them.  

If I can’t go somewhere, then the next best thing for now is to read about it. For now, I’m at home, but I’ll keep reading and dreaming of new places, opportunities, goals, and books I’m longing to get to.

Any recommendations?

Words to live by whether you're employed...or not

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
                             — attributed to Mark Twain (its actual source has not been verified)