Nat Update

She got a job! Nat got a job in Arizona, where she's staying for now. I'm very happy for her. It is marketing and sales for an optic fiber company, and her orientation starts on Monday. That's about all I know, other than she continues to pursue a career path in other states, having found AZ not at all to her liking.

Me? Cursory job hunting this week. My normal reclusive state has been upended by numerous social engagements. Monday, we went with our traveling companions and good friends to see The Hundred-Foot Journey, starring Helen Mirren. Maureen and our friends loved it. I liked it. What's not to like about Mirren and Dreamworks? One critic called it, "Food porn," and I liked that part but it inspired me to not cook when we got home.

A Diablo Valley German Shepherd Dog Club meeting Tuesday night saw that day consumed by shopping, and making a black bean, jicama and tomato salad for the annual potluck in the park. Besides the Wednesday lunch with a dear friend to hear about her all-American Chinook puppy Ravi, I spent a couple of hours updating the dog club website and trying to decipher obtuse emails in response to my straightforward questions about content.

Ravi the Chinook at 3 months.

What could top a puppy? Thursday was nose work training followed by a play date for Merlin with his girlfriend Heidi. It is always such a joy to watch the two of them play.

Then Friday in Marin County having lunch and enjoying a ferry port walk with my pal Barbara. We both suffered the same fate at the hands of one particular director (CEA is supposed to mean Career Executive Assignment to a senior staff position; what it really means is Career Ends Abruptly when a new director prefers to surround herself with sycophants - not that I'm bitter). She went on to continue to serve the People of the State of California, at least those of us in the Bay Area, protecting us all from the nasty particulate matter coming out of people's fireplaces, among other heroics. Now both of us have retired and we compared notes about finding work. We've both run up against the so far intractable problem of having to be heavily insured to perform consulting work.

I've looked at job listings, albeit half-heartedly. I did find a response to an Elance proposal for blog and website writing this morning. Following up on that inspired me to dig out my external drive backups to search for samples of previous work. What a trip back in time that was.  I far prefer the present.