Cresting the Hill

That symbolic hill I described earlier seems to have crested sooner than I thought. Oh sure there is another peak still looming over this one, but I got a bit of a break today it seems. On the P2 front the three jobs incubated for a while. The one I really was hopeful for, evaporated as the VP who was doing two jobs decided he liked the one I was interviewing for best, and so he took the job himself and the position disappeared.

Number two has turned into three interviews, but that job has changed too. Similar story, someone internally threatened to walk, so they stuck him in the job I thought was going to be offered to me, and now they are buttering me up to take a backfill management job that sounds like crap. I'll decline that one.

Number 3 went silent after the first interview, but it's a big company. They suggested in the i'view that it might be a bit junior for me, and the bigwig who called today says there's another new project they'd like me to consider. This last one sounds good so far, and will make it even easier to tell #2 to take a hike.

Such a rollercoaster, this process. Are you interviewing for a career change? You know what I'm talking about then. Up and down. I don't take anything for granted, even when an i'view looks like it was great. So, not counting any chickens yet, but I'm hopeful for #3. Why do I get the feeling that there's a big gulley between this peak and the next one, and sometime next week I'll be wallowing in the emotional shallows again.

Oh well, I'm glad I had a few days lead-in to the i'view3 with #2. I did a lot of thinking while doing my P15 project (which I'll get onto shortly) and realized I can continue to enjoy this un-structured life I've been leading, if I persevere in imposing the appropriate structure. A few days in a row of low-motivation really kills the spirit. If I'm still at this for another few months, I'm up for it.

I would like to do Xmas in NY thought, so settling it sooner would be best.

P15 Carpentry
So the hall table project continues. It's been joinery for the past two days, making drawers and a tippy-bin. The 1/4" MDF is quite an interesting material. Very dense, it makes decent stuctures, if you can avoid it's pitfalls - which are likely trying to do any fasteners at all - nails, screws etc. So a box-joint technique of interleaved fingers works great. No splitting or mushrooming of the material, which is great unless you stick some metal into it.

Joining boxes to drawerfronts, I'll do something a bit innovative too I think - dowel pins and glue.

I have to think about finish as well. I want to do a white or near white finish. Perhaps an oil-based topcoat to get the best moisture protection. Being near the entry, the winter track-in snow will mean a bit moisture around. And MDF no-likey the moisture!

Wrap
Remembrance day tomorrow, and we're going to maybe go to the big Ottawa ceremony... assuming it doesn't rain too much. Seems weenie to bail if it rains, considering the experience of sitting in a WWI trench in the rain, with felt and wool clothing, and the mud etc. Well, if nothing else, we can watch it on TV.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, right this minute, is to go to Google and enter: +yourcity +"World War I" then click the feeling-lucky-button and read what comes up. Remember for a moment or two those that gave so much of themselves - whichever side they were on - in such a senseless period in human history.