Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Tell Me Thur... Tuesday

First let me say... blogger just forced this new format on me. Hate.
 
Secondly, it's time for another TMT hosted by Rockin' Ewe Stockdogs. I'd like to give a big shout out to Jaenne' and say thank you for taking this on for a few weeks. Since Jaenne' is starting a new job and my life is settling back down some I'll be taking Tell Me Thursday back starting... uh... the day after tomorrow! It'll be fun, so put your thinking caps on.
 
Here are last week's questions:
 
1) Given the current "state of things", I have been very lucky to get a job so quickly after becoming unemployed and to have other, even more attractable job possibilities pop up. So, give me at least one good thing that has happened recently - dog wise, non-dog wise or both!
 
One good thing is that I got a sweet deal and was able to refinance my house and save a lot of money. With the housing market as it is it does not look like I'll be selling any time soon, so figured I'd go ahead and do it. The other good news to it was that I only borrowed what I owed, so I didn't increase my mortgage by much. WOOT! Big thanks to Beth Chuck who got me to consider it.
 
In other good news... I finally bought myself a set of pruning shears, and last night just pruned my hiney off. I was a pruning fool. The Prunemeister. The Pruninator. Prunilicous. Trees everywhere fear my wrath. Muaaahahahahaha! What that really means is I can now mow the back corner of my yard without putting an eye out.
 
For some reason Pia found the pruning thing to be exciting. Nick thought it was scary, and went inside to hide.
 
2) How did you end up working in the field/profession that you are currently in?
 
Well, it was sort of accidental. I started out working as "summer help" in the billing office for the Radiology dept. at our hospital (one of them). My first job there was just shredding papers. Then I got to do more things, and over four years of summers and winters I got to learn many different jobs. When it came time to find a job in college I just looked for a light secretarial position, and it went from there. I never really intended to go the Executive Assistant route. I'm good at it - and I used to love what I do. Some days I still do.
 
I'd still like, some day, to go back and get my Master's and get licensed to counsel. That's really where my passion lies. Unfortunately life has gotten in the way, and it's not in the cards at the moment.
 
3) I got the typical "What are your hobbies?" question at this interview yesterday. What kind of response do you get when you tell people that you "train and trial dogs for (fill in the blank)"?
 
Oh goodness. I usually just hope they don't ask about hobbies. If they do I sort of hem and haw a little and try my best to put it into terms that make the most sense to laymen so to speak. I usually just leave it at "I do sheep herding with my dogs". Yes, the "herding" word rankles me, but it makes the most sense to people. Most of the time they just nod and go on. I try to just sort of glaze right past it - they can figure out my real deal later.
 
One time at an interview I struggled and squirmed as the person continued to question me. She even asked me how many dogs I had. Squirm. She had more border collies than I do, and also works sheep with them. It turned out that she hadn't trialed in a few years, but we knew some of the same people. THAT turned out to be a great interview. Too bad the job didn't pan out.



10 comments:

Doniene said...

Can you come to my house with your pruners?!!!! Got a few trees/bushes that need trimming!! LOL

You can changer your blogger interface back - click on the "cog" tab on the top right hand corner of the new interface and you will get a drop down menu - there's a selection for old interface !!! Yeah - I changed mine back and haven't had any problems!!

I've been reading the TMT - just haven't had time to answer - I'll try to today!

Have a great day!

livin life said...

I know...I just logged onto blogger and thought I had maybe hit my wordpress blog instead! What the heck!?!!!!! Man I hate change...even change for the better is hard change! I really don't like pennies for change either. Maybe they learned from FB that they have to force change because there are people like me who will not do it on their own!

Mr. Apple said...

I have a 10 acre orchard that totals close to 2,000 fruit trees so come next winter, I may need the "Pruninators" help!!!


So, are you for hire?? :)

Steffi said...

I have a jungle in my back yard that could really use some pruning... ya know.. if you happen to be in TN in the near future :)

I'm also finding this new format confusing!

- Steffi

Laura Carson said...

As for the format - it says that in 30 days they're forcing it either way. Poo. Me no likey. I don't like change anyway, and this is no exception.

As for the pruning - I'm always open to negotiations. ;) Mr. Apple wins first, though, cuz... fruit trees? Awesome!

I've always wanted fruit trees. My grandmother had crabapple trees. Not tasty.

The shears I got were at Aldi, of all places, and really worked quite nicely last night. Nice to not have to go borrow a set this year. There's something cathartic about hacking away. Not only that, but it's instant gratification.

Jean said...

I share your dislike of blogger changes and your like of pruning! Give me a pair of pruners and some unruly bushes and I'm a happy camper.

Like you, I just refinanced my mortgage - took out enough for a major kitchen reno, a new roof and some landscaping and only increased my mortgage payment by $10 a month! Yay for low interest rates. :)

Mr. Apple said...

Ok Laura, aka the "Pruninator", let the negotiations begin.

Let's see......mmmm. How about this? If you prune an apple tree for me then I'll make you an organic, wholesome, wild berry pie using the same berries like the ones that you used to feed to your brother. Hahaha, I am just picking with you. :)

And speaking of negotiations, when I was just a young boy, people would often come by my grandfather's house looking for some part time work and they would ask my grandfather if he needed any helping picking his apples or if he needed any help pruning and etc. And then the discussion of pay would inevitably come up and my grandfather would sometime respond to them by saying, "I'll pay you 10 cents a day plus all the apples that you can eat." My grandfather was just joking with them but the look on those people's faces when my grandfather would first say that to them was priceless!!!


Oh and by the way, I have some european prune plum trees and if you have never eating a tree ripened european prune plum then you don't know what you have been missing!! I am fairly certain that I can turn Laura, the "Pruninator", into Laura the "Prune-Inator".:)

Laura Carson said...

Now I loves me some prunes. I won't go into details but I cannot even keep prunes, plums, apricots, or dried apricots in the house. I have no self control, and it turns into a real situation.

I would so totally prune weed, mulch, pick, drag branches off, whatever... for 10 cents a day and all the apples I could eat. Joke or no joke. Would have loved to see their faces though.

Haha, funny about the pie. It would seem fair though. J probably owes me a bunch of those pies and would applaud your efforts. He begs Mom to not tell those stories anymore. If only he knew...

My grandmother used to have japanese plum tree in her front yard, and a chestnut tree in the front next door. Mmmm yum.

It's got to be about strawberry picking time... all this picking talk is making me think about strawberries too!

Mr. Apple said...

Your comment about working for 10 cents a day and all the apples that you can eat reminded me of a saying that you have probably heard, "Choose a job that you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." When I am working in my orchard it doesn't feel like work to me. Actually, I consider it to be fun.

And yes, I love dried fruit as well. My grandmother helped me dry alot of apples this year and I must have eaten pounds and pounds of dried apples this year!!

And my grandmother's fried apple pies, OMG!!! They are way better than wild berry pie..... of course that's just a guess on my part.:)


And yes, Japanese plums are awesome. I grow this variety called "Shiro" and it is so juicy I usually recommend that people eat them while they are standing in their bathtub because they are so juicy, when you bite into one of them the juice will squirt all over your face and then it will run down your chin and then the juice will drip from your elbows. Messy but so worth it!!!!!

Darn, I can't hardly wait until early July!!

Laura Carson said...

That tears it. Me, my five dogs, and my $8.99 pruning shear thingies will be right over. Will work for food. Berry pies optional. :>)