On Morning Commutes, Job Rewards, and Other Matters ...

Ah, how I've been enjoying the morning drive to work these past few months! Exceptionally blessed are they who get to park in clearings and breath in cool, clean fresh air from the trees that surround them as they climb out of the car, who pull up next to a cardinal perched in a red berry bush and corn blue wildflowers that shyly peek out from their leaves, who travel only country roads and lanes at the edge of town instead of crowded city thru-ways and high-speed four-lane highways, who have only two stop lights to worry about the whole trip, who take only fifteen minutes - more or less - to get to work, who work in sequestered modern office buildings - built of stone and wooden stair rails and big glass windows - in wooded areas off the main drag, and who drive past fields, subdivisions, cemetaries, churches, county schools, and country homes and farmsteads only freshly overtaken by the burgeoning town. And who also must make an easy detour around the train that occasionally crosses the towpath that winds its way through the woods.

Summer Lights

This picture is as close as I've been able to come to the memories of my childhood when the lightening bugs were out in July.

I'm still learning to take decent pictures of lightening bugs. It's hard. =:O

I took this picture on a very slow setting, the camera propped on the arm of a bench to steady it, no flash,and with the multiple spot meter setting. (Hence the streaks) I then "developed" and enhanced it in Photoshop with the curve, saturation, and artistic tools, to make the little guys show up like they normally would to the naked eye. :)

There just don't seem to be as many lightening bugs in recent years as I recall in my mind's eye ...




Click on the image to see it at higher resolution

Fire FliesCome ride with me 'neath fading skies,

past floating fields of fire flies

Like champagne bubbles, they burst and rise,

and steal the star light from the skies.

Now here, now gone, the summer flies,

and fades to autumn before our eyes

So come ride with me in the pale moonrise,

past floating fields of fire fliesJeanne Winstead Copyright 2001 more of JuneBug's poetry


Happy ShutterBugging!

JuneBug

And then it was over ...

Wow, it's been awhile.

I know I said I was going to do a series on job interview questions, as I continued my job search, but guess what? After five years - count 'em, 1,2,3,4,5 - (well technically I was finishing up a masters and doing a graduate assistantship during part of those), I finally found a job in my field. Well sort of. Close enough, anyway. Yippee!!! Woo Hoo!!! I'm finally hangin' up my steel toe boots! :D

So now I don't know what I'm going to use this blog for. :)

Okay, I might still do the interview question series.

Or maybe I'll start a series on work life.

And then there's always the photography.

Right now everything's so new - and so busy as I acclimate myself and learn this new position - that I just haven't had time to breathe or reflect on much of anything else. I love it though! (One of my first duties was attending a week long training by Wipfli on OMB Circulars in Helena, Montana - a pretty far piece for this hoosier girl. =:o)



Anyway ... this is a holiday weekend for those of us in the U.S., so happy July 4th to all those who celebate. And to those still on the job hunting path, hang in there! You will find something suitable - and when you do, remember to extend a helping hand to some other job seeker! :)

Junebug

On Dentists and Technology Obsolescence

Hi, everyone! I've got a couple more articles for the Job IQ series in the works, but this week, on my birthday (and one year anniversary at my stop-gap job), I'm taking a breather to say that I went to the dentist recently and it got me thinking about some things.

I haven't had dental care in a couple of years, which is unusual for me. Unfortunately with my new dental insurance I had to switch from my dentist of thirty years to a preferred provider. My dentist of thirty years is in his seventies and still practicing. He has taken excellent care of me all this time. While he built a beautiful modern office building several years ago, his tools have remained essentially the same over time- the traditional lifting and reclining dentist chair, the spitting fountain, etc. And of course his fingers, his eyes, his intelligence, and his formidable skill.

What's your job IQ (Interview Question)?

Happy April, folks! Spring is coming on fast and strong, and all kinds of things are waking up and greening up and growing up. They need planting or cutting or trimming or weeding or feeding. My husband Benny is on the mend from open heart surgery in January and is starting up with his furniture refinishing sideline business again. After a slow winter, three good job opportunities have come up within the last two weeks, so I have my applications in and am keeping my fingers crossed. My hopefully temporary factory job has been fun lately. I have a brand new pair of eye glasses, thanks to the company I'm working for. After 5 years, I can see again - yes! We've been spending a lot of time out on the lot at the factory inspecting new cars - and since the new car lot is so big, they buy us lunch. You can't hardly beat a deal where they pay you and feed you to get exercise and a sun tan! :)

Anyway, thinking back to all the job interviews I've gone to in the last few years, I thought it might be fun to start a series on some of the interview questions I've encountered. I got out on the web and searched for other sites that might deal with this topic. I've found tons of expert advise, but not much where people share their own experiences and offer their own thoughts. So I thought I would deal with one question a week, as time allows, and say how I would answer it, and hopefully, other readers will chime in with their own thoughts and experiences.

Let's just have fun with it! :)

As I come across useful sites, I will post links. Here's another job blogger that offers some really great insights into job-hunting from her own personal experience! And she's a photographer to boot! :)

So here's my first question. In several positions I have interviewed for, I've been asked,

"What's your idea (or definition) of customer service?"

That question seems to come up a lot, even in companies and in positions where you don't necessarily deal directly with the outside customer. At the University we had a lot of professional development seminars on Total Quality Management and identifying the internal customer, who could be your boss, your colleagues, or other departments in the company. So I guess a place to start may be to ask the interviewer to comment on whom they think the customers are, with regards to this position. In addition to demonstrating general human consideration and courtesy and responsiveness and professionalism, I think I need to know who my customer is, and what may they be "buying" from me, before I can give concretely helpful answers to the interviewers on how I would approach giving the best possible customer service. The other thing I would ask myself is why the interviewer is asking me this question - what information is he/she trying to discover. For instance, do I seem service-oriented? Am I flexible (interruptable) and responsive (quick to get back to people)? Am I easy to get a hold of? Am I a good listener and adequately analytical so that I understand and deliver what the customer wants? Am I attentive? Am I courteous and diplomatic? Do my products work correctly and are they reliable and do I give good customer support for them? How do I deal with realistic and unrealistic customer expecations?

As a programmer/analyst with a background in education as well (and with a bent toward constructist and cognitivist learning theories), I believe the involvement of the customer is essential. And even though we may have limited access to the customer's time, the success or failure of a particular design project may hinge on how well the customer feels that he is able to put things together in his own head. Modern systems design and analysis techniques with their emphasis on systematic and methodological approaches would do well to consider the customer cognition component as well. Part of customer service is scaffolding that process, as I did with an agency in town who were trying to match their business requirements to an off-the-shelf piece of software they had previously acquired.

One unusual twist to this question that I had in an interview was,

"Tell me about a time you absolutely over-joyed a customer."

In my line of work I have had opportunity to make people happy - I told about the time when I developed a "kick ass" service and salvage program to do exactly what my customer wanted in their favorite low budget software package which at the time was Filemaker Pro, or when I developed the Order System and cut a labor intensive task that took a week down to three days every two weeks - and the users loved it because it was soooo easy ... and there are other stories as well. But sometimes you have to stop and really think because while the customer may be very pleased, he may not be a gushing personality, or you may not hear the positive feedback first hand.

Well, that's all for now. One advantage to blogging about interview questions is that I can just tell my interviewers to read my blog. Ha! (Just kidding). But sometimes it would be nice to have more time to consider one's answers, wouldn't it?

Stay tuned for more job IQs (interview questions). ;) And in the meantime, happy spring and happy job-hunting! And here's some May Flowers for you. :)

JuneBug

April Sunshine

Time for another photo post! I picked my first bouquet of daffodils in my new home this week. It was a special treat because I never had much success with daffodils at my previous residence of twenty years. But the former owner of this place sure did, as you can see.

One of my favorite blogs is entitled November Sunshine. Indiana springs are often as cold and sullen as Novembers are gray, but if yellow maple leaves are November Sunshine then surely the yellow daffodil is March and April Sunshine. :)

Nothing really revolutionary here. I applied the Photoshop palette knife filter to this photo. (I often wonder what my late great aunt Firma Philips would think of desktop computers and programs like photoshop. She was an artist and often painted from photographs from a client when she couldn't paint from a live scene.)

Anyway, here it is! Click on the image for a 1024 version if you want something larger, like for your desktop.




Happy Spring Shutterbugging!

JuneBug

Part Five: Ethics and Lessons Learned

*note to my readers: this is the fifth and final installment in a sort of "catch up series" on my personal job-hunt. I started the series with a couple of job search dilemmas I am currently facing and asked if anyone else is encountering similar difficulties. Then I jumped to the other side of the balance sheet and took a look at the "up" side of being unemployed. :) The fourth post in the series is a recounting of the events that led me to my current job search.

This final post attempts to reflect on lessons learned and on the ethics of current work place practices such as "at will employment" from my perspective. I had hoped it would be shorter than it is, but constructivism and the struggle for meaning doesn't seem to be a short process when life hands us certain materials to work with. Sorry about that. :) After this series the posts should be lighter, shorter, and of more general interest to job seekers as I go about my job search.

Here are the links to the previous posts in the series. It was a story I felt that I needed to tell. Thank you for stopping by.

Intro to the series
My job search dilemma
My (other) job search dilemma
My job search joys
Getting down and dirty



Long before we met our daughter-in-law, my husband used to tell me about a guy named Laurence that he worked with at a local factory that had gone out of business many years ago.

Part Four: Getting Down and Dirty

*note to my readers: this is the fourth installment in a sort of "catch up series" on my personal job-hunt. I recommend starting with the other posts before reading this one, simply in order to place it in context. Since this post is a recounting rather than a reflection or discussion, you may find the other posts more interesting. You'll certainly find them shorter! :) Here are the links for the preceding posts in the series.

• Intro to the series
• My job search dilemma
• My (other) job search dilemma
• My job search joys

The problem with getting philosophical about, or gaining perspective on an actual event is that first you have to review what happened. It occurs to me as I stand on the line in the auto plant, thinking back to my last (fulltime) job (in my field), in between checking spare tires on the cars that go slowly by, that things like divorces and lawsuits are long and incredibly tedious things interesting only to those who lived them. In the end you want to get beyond them (and so does everyone else who knows you). But it’s not simple, is it, because in moving away you also struggle toward the next vista, the one that affords you the bird's eye view, that place where you can lean back and take it all in and perhaps talk about lessons learned and larger ethical issues.

However, for those of you CSI afficionados who appreciate the close camera angles and the gory details, this is my story.

Part Three: My Job Search Joys

*note to my readers: this is the third installment in a sort of "catch up series" on my personal job-hunt. Here are the links for the preceding posts in the series.

• Intro to the series
• My job search dilemma
• My (other) job search dilemma

In my previous posts I've been discussing some of the dilemmas and challenges of work life and of job-hunting. I figure it's time to take a breather from such serious fare and look at the other side of the balance sheet. Life has its hardships but it also has its sweetness. We are currently in the season of Lent, looking forward to Easter and the Resurrection - and yes, to spring. I often think that if the only image we had of Jesus was his Passion, in all its gory detail as depicted in Mel Gibson's latest movie (I'm told), many of us would run screaming the other way. But I don't believe that was God's intent with the crucifixion story. He gave us so much more. He gave us all the stories of Jesus' life and all of Bible history in fact. He gave us the Resurrection. I guess what I'm saying is that we need to put things into their full context. That's also true in our own lives -

Part Two: My (Other) Job Search Dilemma

*note to my readers: this is part two in a sort of "catch up series" on my personal job-hunt. Here are the links for the preceding posts in the series.

• Intro to the series
• My job search dilemma

My other dilemma in trying to find work in my field IS my field, quite frankly. Information Technology is a rapidly changing field. If your present work can't or won't afford you actual work experience and/or training in the latest technologies, as is often the case, prospective employers will often consider you out-dated.

One effect of the rapidly changing technology field is to shift the normal progression of education in a person's life into reverse.

Part One: My Job Search Dilemma

But before we get started, a couple of odd thoughts ...

Job Interviews - are you tired of the insanity? Can't there be another way (or three) that employers and employees can get to know one another or size one another up before critical decisions are made? A more frank, out-on-the-table, on-the-level meeting of the minds? Perhaps, for me this blog can accomplish that.

But beyond that, did you ever wonder who winds up getting these jobs that you read about and apply for on Monster, CareerBuilder, etc.? Wouldn't you love to follow them around for a week or few just to see what the job is like and if you really would like to do it?


On to part one, the first installment in a sort of "catch up series" on my personal job-hunt. The series will discuss a couple of dilemmas I am encountering on this particular job-search, take a breather and a look at some of the advantages I've found in being in job-hunt mode, then recount (as briefly as possible) the events that lead me to my job search, then back off for an philosophical overview of ethics and lessons learned. I hope to find some kindred spirits out there, smilarly engaged in job-hunting, and also some sophisticated and savvy employers. In short, I hope to help and to find help.

Introducing a Series on Job Hunting

Greetings on a balmy March day in the midwest!

My next series of entries will revolve around a common theme - a candid look at the challenges of finding work at this point in my life, the rewards of a career, and the ethics of certain work place practices from my own experience. Here's how I hope things will evolve- the next couple of entries will deal with a couple of key dilemmas I am experiencing in my job search. Hopefully some of my readers will be able to relate and even offer their own perspectives. Then I would like to jump to the other side of the balance sheet and take a look at some blessings and things I have to be thankful for in my work life. The final post, if I get to it, will deal with some ethical questions about realities in our present day work environment that have touched me personally, issues such as "at will employment" and equity and fairness, and how I feel about these things.

Scattered throughout, you will find my hopes and dreams and my fears. :) So if you're curious, consider this post your road map, and drive on to part one!

JuneBug

Looking toward spring

In our neck of the woods, spirea is one of the earlier blooming bushes of spring. I always look forward to the fragrant grace of spirea's long, cascading white branches. Here is a pic of abundant spirea blooms taken with my Olympus C3030 digital camera.

I wanted to use this photo for computer wall paper, but it didn't possess the sharpness and detail I had hoped for at larger sizes - perhaps due to camera shake or memory limitations or whatever. At any rate, I tried out Photoshop's palette knife effect to make the image look more like a painting. I was pleased with the results. The image seems almost impressionistic in how it relays a moment of light and color on a young spring morning.

Click on image to see full size photo

Happy Spring Shutterbugging!

JuneBug

The Down Side of Flower Power

Something insidious has been happening in our society. It's been going on for a long, long time, but I just put my finger on it the other day when listening to President Bush's speech in India.

Neither Benny or I are big fans of President Bush or the Iraq war. Having grown up in the Viet Nam era, it makes me feel so sad that we're back at it with a new generation of young people after so long. But when President Bush said, "Don't fall for the assumption that people are satisfied with the status quo of tyranny and abuse in their countries - rather, side with the rebels and the forces of freedom, and give them the opportunity to make their own choice," it made me think.

More Photoshop Artistic Effects

Happy end-of-February, folks! Just a quick post to share a couple more photos with Photoshop Effects applied.

The first - roadside lace - has the underpainting effect applied:

Click image for wallpaper size

Here's the pic without the effect applied:

Click image for wallpaper size

The next pic - summer chickory - has the same underpainting effect applied. I should also mention that I saturated the blues in this pic and also the yellows (and then lightened them) to bring out the flowers before applying the effect. I forgot to mention in my previous photoposts that Photoshop has a "fade effect" option on the edit menu, so that you can lessen whatever effect or adjustment you apply. It's pretty cool.

Click image for wallpaper size

Here's the pic without the effect applied.

Click image for wallpaper size

Some pix just seem to make really good candidates for Photoshop Artistic Effects - maybe try it with one you really like, but you didn't get as sharp or in focus as you would have preferred. What effect you choose depends on the photo's subject and composition. It may lend itself to water color, to pencil, to oils, or something else. You just have to experiment with the various artistic effects to find a good "match." So rather than throw something away, turn it into a more "forgiving" image. I think these effects sometimes capture what I was trying to express more than the original photo.

Happy Shutterbugging!

JuneBug, looking forward to spring

Job Blogging: Is it safe?

Random thought as I was drinking my morning coffee ... I wonder why practitioners in the fields of education and sales and marketing don't cross over to share strategies and techniques more often? What triggered this little "wondering" was a new television commercial that caught my eye last night that used a mneumonic or play on words. That got me thinking about this wonderful graduate course that I took a few years ago in cognitive and motivational strategies for teaching and learning - and it occurred to me that the above mentioned fields have a lot in common - at least they share a primary goal - wanting people to remember - and to act (apply knowledge).

Well on to the subject at hand - Job Blogging and Safety.

The internet although widely used is still relatively uncharted territory for employees and employers. Exploring the unknown does carry some risk and this understandably makes people nervous.

For example. I am not and never have been a prospective employer so I am just imagining the following scenario:

Suppose you are an employer interviewing a prospective employee who tells you they are a blogger. Does this information make you worry about issues such as discretion and confidentiality and liability, not to mention "too much information" - ie) inadvertantly showing your hand to competitors or letting trade secrets slip out onto the internet? You may ask yourself, will this prospective employee be discreet and use good judgement? Is it even worth the risk?

Developing Pix with Photoshop

JuneBug's Job Hunting and Photography Blog


Time for another photo post, folks. :)

I took a photography course at our community vocational college back in the 90's. They didn't have a dark room, so we never learned to develop our pictures. But I remember the teacher saying doing your own developing was almost as key to the final result as setting up and taking the shot. I also remember her saying how long it took to develop color pictures and how once she'd worked all day on just one shot. Several years later I traded in my wonderful Pentax manual SLR camera for my first digital camera an Olympus 3030. I know, I still kick myself and wish I had the Pentax back, but at the time, it was the only way I could afford a good digital camera. The Olympus came with software called CAMEDIA, and the gamma feature, along with the cropping, sharpening, color balance and saturation tools became my new best friends as I attempted to get my photos to display not simply as the camera showed them, but as I remembered them. Then I was introduced briefly to Photoshop and Macromedia Fireworks at the university and eventually was able to procure these products at a sharply discounted price for my home machine.

Now I don't mess with CAMEDIA at all.

Photoshop is my favorite photo editing software, and I've been discovering all sorts of tools with it recently. In addition to the ones mentioned above, Photoshop's curves and levels seem to really zero on certain details in the photo. I don't claim to really understand how these tools work - but I'm sure having fun experimenting!

Here's a photo I took at the annual Potawatomi Festival Parade back in 2003.

Click on image for larger size

Back then the only way I could bring certain details out of the shadows (like the subect's eyes and hair) was the lighten the whole photograph with the gamma tool - and then try to resaturate the colors with the saturation tool. But here's the photo edited in Photoshop. By using certain features in Photoshop's levels tool in addition to Photoshop's color balance, selective color saturation, and curves, I was able to bring this gorgeous miss in her lovely dress out of the background and to give her eyes and a head with hair without fading the entire photograph too much. You the viewer can be the judge of the results and which version you prefer most. :)

click on image for larger size

Here's another shot, unedited, of this young lady with other members of Potawatomi Parade royalty.

click on image for larger size

I mostly used the curves tool and some color saturation in Photoshop to accomplish a similar effect in this photograph - couldn't avoid losing some pretty detail in the dresses unfortunately. I also did some pretty funky things with the color balance tool ... Anyway, here's the edited shot:

click on image for larger size

Anyway, enlightening comments, critiques, and information in general and especially about setting up, snapping, and developing photos in these types of lighting and color situations gratefully appreciated! I think these pics would have turned out better if the girls had been completely in the shadows so the camera didn't have to deal with the extreme range of light. And if that weren't possible then a fill flash would have helped? And then there's the whole issue of asking people you don't know to pose ...

Happy Photographing,

JuneBug

A Mixed Bag

JuneBug's Job Hunting and Photography Blog

This is sort of a cross-over blog or a mix between my two main topics - photography and job-hunting. Some of you may have already read that I'm working temporarily outside my field (IT and Instructional Design) as a parts inspector in an auto plant.

Well part of my job is reading and signing off on work instructions. And of course I can't help noticing that many times these work instructions are accompanied by photographs. I also notice that these photographs are often of questionable quality.

So it got me thinking - wouldn't it be fun or kind of cool if I could come up with some kind of training or instructional module for the person who has to take photographs in this kind of situation? Some of the problems have to do with low light conditions, excessive washout because of the flash, poor field-ground separation, main subject out of focus especially when the photo requires macro photography distances and great depth of field.

I'm no expert but what can the ordinary person try in these situations to improve their results? Are there a few simple things? I'm thinking use of a gray card to enhance natural lighting or soften the flash - maybe bouncing the flash - maybe this would help field ground separation and color? Or use of something to reflect more natural light on a subject? The right camera settings - shutter speed and f-stop. How to use the macro photography feature. What else? Wonder if there's anything on the web about this?

And of course how to use various editing tools to enhance the image once you upload it to the desk top.

And what's the best way to present this subject matter to this particular audience? How would they prefer to get this information? How much effort are they willing and able to put in to this? What are their questions and frustrations when they are faced with having to generate a new set of work instructions and to take photographs? The fact is that people in this company do not have much advance notice for making work instructions. The environment is fast-paced and low-budget. Sort jobs come up at the drop of a hat and the customer wants them done yesterday or sooner - especially if they're needing the parts to keep the line running. = :o Furthermore work instructions may have a "shelf life" anywhere from two hours to two years. It's not unheard of for the sort to be over before the work instructions are finished!

What about the rest of the stakeholders in this game? Even though inspectors are required to read and sign off on work instructions, that doesn't necessarily prepare them to do the sort. In fact most would probably tell you they learn more by hands-on training than by reading a set of work instructions with fuzzy pictures of some part that many of us have never seen before . That doesn't mean the work instructions don't come in handy, however - and contribute to a more successful outcome for the customer.

So what's the best instructional strategy and theory to use - philosophically, I am a constructivist and wonder how constructivism would apply? For one thing, the work instructions are how the designer puts the sort together in his or her mind - not how people who actually execute the sort put the task together in their minds. I'm thinking the work instructions and pictures should aid or scaffold the inspectors in putting the sort together in their own mind rather than imposing some lock step regimen. How does adult learning theory tie in?

And practically what does this mean - coming up with a series of photos from work instructions and asking people to identify common problems in them and start to think about how to address them?

Also, while this is somewhat off the topic, I'm somewhat of the opinion that all the inspectors' paperwork and forms could be streamlined and simplified, and that perhaps barcode scanning might be helpful- and that there actually need to be two sets of work instructions - one for the customer to sign off on - and one that is actually a job aid for the inspector to use. Also as already noted, the work instructions albeit short-lived are always a work in progress - and people find their own and more efficient ways the more they get into a task ... but there doesn't seem to be any formal recognition of this fact in the design process.

I guess even if not I'm not currently working in my field, I need to keep my mind active and this gives me something fun to think about at work.

Well this blog post is something I'll probably be revisiting off and on - and I'll certainly share any final instructional product. Would love to hear from anyone who has some ideas or input on this!

Happy Job Hunting!

JuneBug

Job Hunting - Where I am with it

JuneBug's Job Hunting and Photography Blog

Another entry on the same day! Actually, there's not much to report on the job search at the moment. After a strenous year, my husband underwent open heart surgery last month. Helping him with his recovery and working my stop-gap job to pay those bills has definitely put a crimp in my style in January and February. Although I did manage to get in one interview in January while Benny was in the hospital.

Ah, the advantages of being unemployed ... instead of rolling out of bed in the dark and barrelling down the highway with all the other commuters, one can enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee whilst sitting up in bed, watching the sun rise, reflecting on the gift of a new day, and imagining a better world ... it's kind of like making music with one's mind ...

Do any of you have to work outside of your field while searching for a job in your field and how do you handle that? Morale-wise, I mean. Right now I'm working for a sort of temp agency that supplies parts inspectors to local and regional factories. Seems to be the way the world is going these days. Even in my field I've noticed that many job opportunities are with agencies who supply their customer-companies with IT talent and expertise. The blessing is that many of these agencies do give you health insurance and 401k's after a 3 to 6 month break-in period. Mine does and I've been there long enough to qualify.

My temp job is not in my field. In my more positive moments, I've looked at this whole "being-out-of-a-job" experience as a sort of prolonged sabbatical - time away from your usual duties to learn new things and to refresh and re-energize for re-entry. Wouldn't it be wonderful if everybody got to do something really different once in a while - and got to see the world from a different perspective? More importantly, wouldn't it be nice if everyone could participate in the burden or contribute to the things we all deem necessary to our lives, where at all feasible? Things like restaurants and cars and roads and products and houses and health care and 24-hour Walmarts. Maybe if we all got to spend time making these things happen, pouring someone a cup of coffee, or making sure that a part going into someone's new car is all it should be, we might as a society and individuals be more wise in our consumption and more compassionate - we might ask ourselves what would the world look like without this product - what would people's lives be like? When we choose to have, say, 24-hour Walmarts or SUVs or Digital Cameras - what are we giving up and what are we gaining? Even in Progress, there's almost always a trade-off, isn't there? Most importantly maybe we'd begin to see choices where we didn't know there were any. And that's when we become truly free, for how can someone be free if they don't even know they have choices?

Well, enough deep thinking for the day. Another way I look at working outside my field is that now I'm actually getting paid for my exercise. That auto plant is huge - you can easily walk two miles a day or more! ;)

I've been so impressed with the few blogs of other people that I've had opportunity to visit thus far. So much talent in the world ... I found this WONDERFUL liturgy today in three different blogs - for people out of work in this postmodern world - it's called Who Am I ... Enjoy!

And happy job-hunting!

JuneBug

Why Job Blog?

JuneBug's Job Hunting and Photography Blog

Hi, this is Jeanne aka JuneBug and this is my first job hunting post. I also do photography as you can see. I come to blogging a seasoned veteran of web-based communication tools such as message boards and chat rooms. What interests me about the blog format is that it is particularly suited to journaling and reflection, activities that I found so valuable in my masters work in Instructional Design. Additionally while a blog is like a diary or journal, one can incorporate more than the written word into one's pages. Most importantly a web log is inherently a more social way of making and negotiating meaning. :)

Anyway, I thought it might be interesting to blog my search for a job in my field - and to perhaps connect with others who are on a similar journey. For instance: have you ever been to an interview and felt like you wanted a second shot at answering and asking those questions? Maybe an online blog can be just that - reflecting back on an interview and looking forward to the next one ... lessons learned and shared ... wonderings ... journaling about all the activities that go into a job search ...

My job search has been on-going for some time now. So maybe I'll do some catch-up or maybe I'll just start from here. We'll see as time goes on. :)

Anyway, by way of introduction, I am a programmer-analyst type whose successful 20 year career ended in 2001 before I was ready for it to end. It was one of those "I know it happens, but I can't believe it happened to me" misfortunes. Perhaps some of you can identify. :)

Anyway, at that time I was half way through a Masters Degree program in Instructional Design, so I finished that and did a year's stint as a graduate assistant. That's the last formal position I held in my field. Since then I've had to be "creative" about staying alive in my field. Among other things, I've joined ISTE, done a consulting gig, and collaborated on a scholarly paper that was presented at InfoSec CD 2005. And of course I've been searching, searching, searching ...

Oh yes. Last year my husband and I bought a wonderful three acre 1920's farm. We are remodeling it and plan to use it for his furniture refinishing and antiques business "Second Looks". So that has introduced some geographic constraints to my search. Additionally we have family in this area that we need to care for, so we would prefer not to have to move.

Well with the introduction done, the story begins ... stay tuned for breaking news! :)

And happy job-hunting!

JuneBug

What? 2 Posts the SAME Day? =:o

JuneBug's Job Hunting and Photography Blog

Well, who knew I'd be back so soon, lol! I promise this won't become a habit. But as promised here's another image with the Photoshop filter applied. This one's the front porch of our former home - on such an incredibly beautiful winter morning. I worked and worked at getting this image to show how delectably crunchy, icy white the world was that morning, but somehow the camera wasn't seeing what my mind's eye remembered. If only I were a professional photographer instead of an amateur! Anyway, I applied the Photoshop pencil drawing filter to this photo and was pleased with the results. The sharp pencil lines seem to bring out the crystalline nature of the snow or hoar frost. At least to me.

Again - the photo with the filter applied and then the original with just the sharpening applied:

click on image for larger view

click on image for larger view

This also reminds me of many years ago when I took a serious drawing class in college through the art department. I was in awe of the delicate and exquisite technique that some of the students already seemed to possess.

My husband wonders why I spend so much time at this stuff - I come by it honestly- I have a great aunt, now deceased who was a well known scenery painter in Indiana. Her name is Firma Duchene Phillips. If you ever come across any of her paintings, drop me a note. :)

Happy Photographing!

"Purdue Pink"

JuneBug's Job Hunting and Photography Blog: February 2006

Wait a minute. Isn't that supposed to be Purdue GOLD?

;)

(arghh - where are the message board smilies when you need them) Read on ...

Well, here's my first photo blog. I won't be like some people and publish a photo a day, or even week, lol, but as I find suitable subjects and the time ... :)

Anyway, in the process of updating my photography website Second Looks Photography for spring, I came across this photo which I'd never put on the web mostly because it wasn't sharp. But it does capture so beautifully the colors and form of the subject, a pink dogwood that I photographed a few years ago as I was out walking and enjoying the beauty of the campus. That's the great thing about having a traditional campus like Purdue's. It helps, inspires, and refreshes the intellectual and academic life. :) This shot was taken with my Pentax SLR manual camera and scanned in with my Polaroid negative scanner. Obviously the f-stop is wide open in this shot and the speed is probably relatively low because of the lighting conditions that cold rainy day.

Anyway, I've used Photoshop for some years now to "develop" my pictures. I'm not a graphic designer by training - I don't know design, and I had only beginning instruction in the use of this software. But it seems like every once in a while, I make a leap forward with it and discover new things. (Then I have to go back and incorporate what I've learned into all my old favorites - it's a bottomless pit, lol!)

I tried the artistic filter on this shot - first the water color, and then went with the dry paint brush. I ADORE water color paintings and techniques. Because of the image's overall softness and large blocks of color I thought it might be a suitable candidate. Here's the result:

First the filtered shot, then the original:

click on image for wallpaper size

click on image for wallpaper size

Perhaps another filter effect to come in my next photo blog. Stay tuned. :) Oh yeah, and eventually I will find time, I hope, to complete my profile and favorite links - and design a new template etc.

JuneBug

Hello World

its late and I need to go to bed, but I wanted to try this blogging thing out - so here's my first attempt at posting ...

This is cool that you can edit these ... I wonder if you can put in links and pictures and media?

Let's try ...

http://photography.secondlooks.biz is my photography site


Here's a pic of my goofy cat ...
O wow, it works! Isn't he "AdoraBowl"? Hee hee! :)

What about media - here's my Uncle Johnny Deerr's favorite song:



Cool!

Now if it just lets me do Flash, my life is complete - ha!

Oh my goodness that works too.

Well that's all for now ... I thought it might be fun to blog about my job-hunting journey, and to refect on work-life, and network about my photography hobby. I wasn't sure whether to install blogging software on my own website or use one of these sites ... I decided to learn about it first on this site. :)

I'll come back and officially "launch" this baby later ... but for now, hello World!

JuneBug