And The Wheel Goes Round

Most of my regular readers already know this story, but I want to make sure I write it down for posterity. As I think I mentioned a few months ago, my tenure at Cutters Edge has come to an end. For a variety of reasons (not all of which I agreed with), the decision was made to close down the office I moved to Harrisburg to open three years ago. My dad offered me a different job within the company but it wasn't a job I was interested in, and I decided this would be a good time to get out of the fire rescue equipment field and back into something I had a better feel for, and got more enjoyment from.

I decided to try to get back into web project management, something I had done plenty of in the 90s before the .com bubble burst and sent me to Cutters Edge in the first place. I spent much of March & April looking for web producer jobs in the area without much success. I did get very close -- it was down to me & one other candidate -- at a company right here in Harrisburg which I would really have enjoyed working at. They regularly place on the "best places to work in Pennsylvania" survey and in the time I spent interviewing I could see why. It was a tight-knit group who seemed to work really hard and get along really well. I really enjoyed the vibe at the office and I was pretty crushed when I didn't get that job.

Once they published their press release showing who they had hired, I went and applied for that guy's old job, at another production company, this time in Lebanon. I went for multiple interviews there, including a half-day spent "shadowing" the PM staff, and once again was one of two finalists. Once again, I didn't get the job. Very demoralizing, especially since those were pretty much the only two leads I had (though in retrospect I think I wouldn't have been too happy at that second company -- the president seemed a bit hard to get along with). In each case, it took them about two months to come to a decision, which meant weeks of waiting and multiple interviews before I was told I wasn't wanted.

After I got turned down for that second job things looked pretty bleak. There just aren't a whole lot of web jobs in central PA for a guy who isn't a programmer, and I was starting to expand my search to project management jobs in industries that didn't really interest me all that much. I was certainly feeling the pressure to provide for my family, something that I hadn't had to deal with the last time I was on the job market.

In early June I re-connected with an old friend on Facebook. This is a guy I met on The Well back when I was living in Chicago -- we quickly became real-life friends as well but once I moved to the Bay Area and he quit The Well we drifted apart. The day I added him as a friend, he sent me a message telling me that his company was hiring, and was I by any chance looking for a job? Now, I have no market research experience but my buddy seemed to think that I would be good in the position, and when he sent over the job description, I had to agree. They were looking for people with good writing skills, strong analytical skills, and knowledge of, and interest in, a wide range of topics.

I spoke to my buddy on the phone a few times and he passed my resume and writing samples on to the VP in charge of hiring. All the while, he regaled me with stories of how tight-knit the office is, and what an awesome time he had working with a tremendous client list (including companies like MTV, MySpace, adidas, the NBA, Sony BMG, ESPN, Disney, Nokia, etc. etc. etc.).

I spoke to the VP a few times and things went well enough that the company flew me to Chicago for a half-day interview. I met with the VP, the president, and a few of the other research directors and managers, and everything went very well. I felt like not only would I be able to do a good job, but that I would enjoy working for the company.

A week later, they made me an offer, I accepted it, and in two weeks I start as a Research Director! I actually already have my first client and have my first business trip all planned for my second day, when I fly to Denver, then Sacramento, then Salt Lake City to do a series of ethnographic (in-home) research studies.

Throughout the process I pushed to allow them to let me stay in Harrisburg, but ultimately they wouldn't go for that, which means that we're moving to Chicago! (This is what is known in the business as "burying your lede.") That's a dream for me, to move back to my home city, but I know it's going to be tough for Daryl and will be a pretty big adjustment for Zosia as well (no big deal for Vivi, I'd say). So, in between business trips and learning not only a new job and company, but a whole new career, we have to sell this house, pack everything up, buy a house in Chicago, and move. All in the next 6-8 weeks.

It's daunting, and at times terrifying, but the end result is going to be really positive. After the multiple rejections it is really nice to be wanted by a company, and specifically to be appreciated not just for my skillset but for what I enjoy doing. The sorts of things this company does are the sorts of things I already did in my spare time -- the possibility of getting paid to talk about new products, product positioning, branding, etc., is almost too good to be true.

This is a job with a future, I think. I didn't have a future at Cutters Edge -- at least not one that was all that attractive. Now I have something to look forward to that could be rewarding not only professionally, but personally as well. All I have to do is get through the next few weeks of The Present to get to that future.

Fire. Crap.

It's like October of 2003 all over again in southern California, as the Witch Fire and other massive fires burn from Malibu to the Mexican border. Thankfully I don't live there anymore (the Cedar Fire made sure of that) but my dad still does, and my company's headquarters are still located there, in the East County town of Julian.

Julian survived the Cedar Fire, just barely, but Cuyamaca (the small town where I used to live and where my dad is) did not. Ours were two of the homes lost in that fire, and my dad literally just (as in within the last two weeks) finished and sold the home he built to replace the one he lost.

Up until yesterday I watched the coverage of the Witch Creek Fire with slight concern and just a bit of PTSD, knowing that, whatever terrible things were happening throughout San Diego County, at least Julian and Cuyamaca were safe. Well, no more.

I just heard from my dad that Julian is under a mandatory evacuation order as of yesterday. Weather forecasters are predicting that the massive Santa Ana winds, which have been whipping out of the East at upwards of 50 mph, will break down today. Just like in the Cedar Fire, when the Santa Anas stop that's good news for almost everyone, but bad news for Julian & Cuyamaca. The die-down of the wind will give the firefighters a better chance of containing the fires, and if the winds turn around completely and start blowing on-shore, that will raise the humidity, lower the temperature and force the fire back on itself, slowing it down dramatically.

Unfortunately that could also push the fire into unburned areas to the east, which is where Julian & Cuyamaca are. When our houses burned in '03 it was 5 days after the fires started and after the wind changed direction; I fear the exact same thing is about to happen again.

The worst part for me is that, in '03, my dad was in Europe (with me). He's spent much of the last four years wondering if he could have saved his house, rigged as it was with roof sprinklers and a supply of flame retardant. Since he wasn't there we will never know the answer to whether he could have faced down the hundred-foot wall of flame and come out the other side alive. This year he's home and has re-adopted his "hell no, I won't go" attitude. It's impossible to tell a 25-year-veteran firefighter that he should leave, especially when he knows that the area is woefully undermanned due to all the other fires in southern Cal.

Maybe, when the fires get closer (as of Tuesday the flames were about 10 miles away and visible from his house) he'll come to his senses and leave (of course that assumes there will a road open for him to do that). In '03 Daryl joked (OK, it wasn't really a joke) that she would, if necessary, hit him over the head with a frying pan and drive his unconscious body out of harm's way. This time around, there's no one there to do that.

So think nice, cool, light-breeze thoughts for the firefighters throughout southern California fighting bravely to save as many buildings as possible, for the half-million people forced out of their homes and into shelters, hotels, and the homes of friends and family, and for my Dad, who is hopefully not mis-applying the lessons of King Canute, who was unable to hold back the sea.

Killing Me Tastily

The more articles I read breathlessly reciting the vital statistics of Hardee's new Country Breakfast Burrito (60 grams of fat! 920 calories!), the louder the voice in my head gets, saying "buy one!"



Come on! Bacon, sausage, ham, hash browns, sausage gravy, and not one but two omelettes. What's not to love? And, since it gives you half of your day's recommended calorie intake in one easy-to-hold meal, why not combine it with a Denny's American Classic Dinner? That way you can get all the calories you need in two sittings, leaving you plenty of time to do other things, like sit in the waiting room at the local walk-in angioplasty clinic.

The thing is, though, I bet it tastes great. And by the way:

* 16,300 Google search hits for "Country Breakfast Burrito"
* 1,146 Google blog search hits for "Country Breakfast Burrito"
* 283 Google news search hits for "Country Breakfast Burrito"

My compliments to the Hardee's PR team for a job well done.

Guy Goes To An Anti-Abortion Rally With A Videocamera

No, it's not the setup for an unfunny joke -- apparently a guy went to an anti-abortion rally in the not-at-all-ironically-named Libertyville, IL (just minutes from my hometown! Vanilla suburbs, represent!), with a video camera and a simple question for the participants: "if abortion were to be made illegal, what should the penalty be for the women who have illegal abortions?"

The resulting video blew my mind a little.



[Update 8/2: Apparently embedding is now "disabled by request." So to see the video you need to click through to the YouTube page]

These are people who have been working for years to outlaw abortion, and they haven't given a single thought to the consequences for the women who would be made criminals if their wishes were fulfilled. To be honest, this question hadn't crossed my mind, either (though I'm not the one calling for the criminalization of thousands of women), so when I watched the video I had one of those moments of clarity that come so rarely. The national "debate" (it's hard to call it that considering how little actual back-and-forth goes on) over abortion has been raging for nearly my entire life, and never before had I heard this question asked.

Anna Quindlen has a piece in Newsweek talking about this video, as well as an upcoming campaign by The National Institute for Reproductive Health that asks the same question that the Libertyville filmmaker asked:

Lawmakers in a number of states have already passed or are considering statutes designed to outlaw abortion if Roe is overturned. But almost none hold the woman, the person who set the so-called crime in motion, accountable. Is the message that women are not to be held responsible for their actions? Or is it merely that those writing the laws understand that if women were going to jail, the vast majority of Americans would violently object?

[...]

Nearly 20 years ago, in a presidential debate, George Bush the elder was asked this very question, whether in making abortion illegal he would punish the woman who had one. "I haven't sorted out the penalties," he said lamely. Neither, it turns out, has anyone else. But there are only two logical choices: hold women accountable for a criminal act by sending them to prison, or refuse to criminalize the act in the first place. If you can't countenance the first, you have to accept the second. You can't have it both ways."

Looking at the faces of the people in the Libertyville video, I almost get the sense they might be thinking about what they're saying and doing, instead of just blindly doing what they think is right in the name of religion or belief or whatever. Almost. Still, you can't re-think a position you've never thought about in the first place, and if this simple question gets people thinking about what they believe in, and what those beliefs mean, that can only be good.

(Hat tip to Feministing, who posted about this yesterday, and Feministe, who followed up with some questions of her own.)

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Listening to: Hank Williams - I Saw the Light
via FoxyTunes

Barton, Fink; Inhofe, Insane.

Remember Congressmen Joe Barton? Last week when I wrote about Daylight Saving Time, I mentioned that the change in the dates for DST this year was signed into law as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The sponsor of that bill was Barton, a Texas Republican who received more campaign contributions from the oil industry than any other Congressional candidate. I also referred to him as a "climate change naysayer," after going back-and-forth with D-Jo about how to describe his views on the subject, since someone else had already grabbed anti-climate-change fundamentalist.

Al Gore testified in front of two environment-related House subcommittees yesterday. DailyKos linked to the Intersection blog, written by Chris Mooney (author of The Republican War On Science), which linked to video of Gore's testimony. Mooney points out that in order to give his testimony, Gore had to wade through "questions" and parliamentary tricks from committee member...wait for it...Joe Barton. But I'm sure Barton's concerns were solely based on wanting to make sure that the best, most truthful information possible was released to the American public.

And anyway, Barton was nothing compared to Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, which is not surprising given some of Inhofe's previous climate-related pronouncements:

* Stated that global warming was "the second-largest hoax ever played on the American people, after the separation of church and state"
* Compared environmentalists' repeated warnings to Hitler's "Big Lie"
* Suggested that global warming might actually have a beneficial effect on human life
* Implied that the Weather Channel is somehow behind the global warming hoax, in order to improve its ratings

These, by the way, are all courtesy of Wikipedia's Inhofe pagem where you can also readd about Inhofe's views on gay rights, 9/11, and lots more. He's a pistol.

(Update: Scientific American has Gore's testimony, along with the text of Gore's nine-point plan for dealing with climate change.)

Great Coffee...For Me To POOP On

I love food, and I love gimmicks, so it stands to reason that I like food-related gimmicks. Hot dog on a stick? Totally. dessicated creme brulee? Bring it on. pizza with cheese in the crust? Uh, OK.

But I recently stumbled across a product that crosses a line that I didn't even know existed. Just for future reference, let me say this now: please do not serve me any food which was digested by another mammal at any stage of its development.

I'm speaking, of course, of kopi luwak, or civet coffee. For those who may not know just how this product is made, let's follow the life cycle of this particular coffee:

1. Grown on trees
2. Eaten by civets
3. Partially digested and then expelled by civets
4. Beans harvested by people
5. (Presumably) washed
6. Roasted, ground, and brewed

Mmm, that's good poop-coffee! I think I'll pass. If I'm looking for a foodstuff that's spent any time in a digestive system, I'll go with chicha, which is spit out before swallowing and which will presumably get you drunk enough that you can forget that fact.

Good Lord

Twenty-four years old, with six kids, including twins and triplets born within ten months of each other. I'm speechless.