So, it got me thinking about memorable moments in unusual snowfall…

1. Growing up in San Jose, I can remember a couple of occasions when it snowed, but it pretty much covered the higher elevations, i.e. Mt. Hamilton, which meant if you weren’t a resident (or didn’t know a clever way to skirt the CHP roadblocks), you were relegated to seeing it from the valley floor.  But, if you were intrepid, and didn’t mind a little hike across “public” land, then you too could enjoy the temporary winter wonderland of Mt. Hamilton.  An ideal mid-winter distraction from school if I ever heard one.

2. High Desert snow…  Aunts & Uncles in Lancaster, (CA, where we pronounce it LAAAAN-caster, not lank-aster like you Penn state wanks), and Grandparents in Bear Valley Springs, also in CA.  3,500 feet+ of elevation, and what would otherwise be bone dry conditions. But, every once in a while, and pleasantly around my birthday to boot, it would snow.  Wonderful, white powder, everywhere.  …and 3 days later, back to 80 degrees and sunny.  Like all good things, high desert snow isn’t meant to last.

3. More High Desert snow.  So, going back about 12-or so years, I had a job as a Project Manager, and it was a travelling job.  One of my travels found me in Albuquerque, NM.  Also, incidentally, in winter.  Indescribable scenery, purple skies, shades of red, pink and orange deepening to the bluest indigo.  On a full moon, the ground a blanket of the purest white, broken into jagged peaks of the deepest blue velvet.  Stars scattered across it like diamonds of the purest ice.

4. Still more High Desert snow…  Sedona, Red Rocks, Christmas.  ’nuff said.

5. Winter of 1998, our first winter in Stockton, in our first house.  It snowed the day we got the house, and we had ice the next morning.  I to watch Angel do a cartoon impersonation, when, after warning her about the ice on the walk outside the house, she proceeded to inform me in no uncertain terms, of her ability to walk on ice.  Funny thing is, she got about 1/2 the sentence out before she was airborne, horizontal, and subsequently on her ass in the walk.  Despite my sincere concern for her well being, I couldn’t help but laugh my ass off.

So, the (conveniently as it turns out), top 5 unusual snow events of my life… To date.

Now, onto bigger and better bogging!!!

So in my search, I’ve determined a few things: 1. Job Search websites still haven’t fully evolved to their full potential.  I mean, let’s face it, they’re essentially search engines with pre-determined targets for search, and the ability form simple queries on keywords provided by us “seekers”.  Given all the hype around “decision engines” and the amount of overall data available to mine around what has to be the fastest growing sector of available public data available (the jobless ranks), it seems to me there is room for differentiation.  Sadly, yours truly is not schooled in the arcane arts of code, and is therefore relegated to sniping from the bleachers instead of getting into that particular game.  Still though, it’d be nice to enter a search on one of these sites, and not get back 500 hits, 475 of which aren’t even in the sector indicated by my resume (presumably parsed when it’s uploaded, but maybe a false assumption on my part).  Which leads me to my second “thing” – In the increasingly growing age of Personal Information shifting online, we need personal metadata, or more specifically, a way to publish it it if we’re willing.  If I author a webpage, or even simple XML (like say this blog posting), I have the opportunity to publish metadata or “tags” if you’d like, in the form of an excerpt.  In the case of a webpage, or something I want to have some rank in a Google, I can plug a bunch of “invisible”meta into the header of my page, and voila, the page is search-able.  Heck, maybe I’m thinking about this all wrong, or I’m not applying the technology properly, or any combination thereof…

So what’s a jobseeker to do? Persevere.  Take advantage of “advanced” searches, one’s which will let you add or omit keywords, and also use filters where ever possible.  And keep on keepin’ on…

Also, have the new resume/CV ready, but part of me thinks it’s solid, and part of me thinks it’s crap…  I’d imagine I’m not unique in this self-criticism of one’s own work.  Still, looking forward to getting some professional feedback on it just the same.  Good news is I have a few folks willing to do just that, and be brutally honest with their feedback too!!!
Peace in your ‘hood, I’m out…  (for now).

A few friends have suggested a totally different career path; perhaps firefighting (I mean IT Infrastructure ops isn’t much different, well except for the real flames instead of everyone running around like they’re hair’s on fire).  Or perhaps I can finally write the Great American novel.  Incidentally, why does everyone want to write the “Great” American novel, why not the “Pretty good” or “Average” American novel?  Or if you’d like to go really daring, the “Sub-par” American novel (it would come with it’s own red pen for easy editing).  Sure, sales of any of these would most certainly pale when compared with the “Great” American novel, but in our value-driven society, it would literally (especially in the literary sense), be the personification of  that old adage “You get what you pay for”.

But, I digress, and now continue with the focus of this episode already in progress:  Get back on that horse, Bill!!!

So, newly minted unemployed person, how do you see yourself?  How do you re-package and sell yourself?  How do you set yourself up to be Searched, poked, prodded, and generally dissected and reconnected in this every increasingly complex job market?  The 3 S’s as I’m beginning to coin them, See, Sell, Search.  Sounds catchy, right?  Problem is, I haven’t the foggiest as to how to do it.  Oh, I could certainly do it for a Capital Project Justification, or an expansion of services for one of my Managed Services clients; Heck, I could easily do this for any of the plethora of different “internal” sales exercises we IT professionals go through on a daily basis, but it has always been a struggle to self-promote, at least for me.  It’s a challenge, but like any good challenge, it’s going to be difficult, but rewarding in the end.  So, here’s to another challenge!!!  (man, I write this like anyone actually reads it, go figure).

After reaching out to my personal and professional networks to get the quick opportunity outlook, settled into seeing how the new technology mediums can help me out with my current “challenge”.  I figure if I can’t parlay the barrage of shameless self-marketing soon to be unleashed on an unsuspecting employment market, at least it’s cheap catharsis.

Of course it’s difficult to explain why I’m home early to the kids, so I’m going with the timeless “… well, I didn’t lose my job, it’s just that when I go there, someone else is doing it”.

Stay tuned sports fans…