I'm so lucky

Well, I quit my job. That's right, after working there for a mere two months, I have quit my seemingly non-obtrusive executive secretary job. Let's just say it wasn't a good fit. And the ironic thing is that President Hawkins, after I had left the office for the house to quit, told Eric how lucky he was as an employer to have me working for him. What did I do to deserve such a great friend?

What I will miss most are my two favorite co-workers in all of California - Kelly and Eileen. Those are the ones that have kept me sane and happy for the past couple of months, in spite of everything else going on. They welcomed me in and treated me like a friend from day one and I am really glad that I got to know them. Kelly is such a great teacher - encouraging and positive - she's going to be a great mom someday. And on my last day when I was really upset and wanted nothing more than to just sit there and feel sorry for myself, Eileen gave me a big hug and asked me (knowing that I am LDS) if praying would make me feel better. Then she proceeded to say a little prayer in my behalf. I feel so lucky to have been blessed with such friends.

Fear of Heights?

This weekend I left work early and we headed south a few hours to a fire tower in Sequoia National Park (I think it was called the "Needles" fire tower). We spent Friday night in Porterville which looks a bit like a drug dealer's haven and spent Saturday hiking about five miles up and down dust and rock to and from a pretty sweet fire tower. However, I have yet another occupation to cross off of the list of possibilities: fire tower watchman. These people have to be in their little towers which are perched pretty precariously very high in the air every day from 9am-6pm which means that they either have to hike in and out every day - which would invariably include at least an hour of driving on the twisty roads to get to the nearest town, or they have to stay in their little huts all week long. How on earth do these people amuse themselves?!!

We were lucky to have chosen the day we did as the lady who lives up there was leaving that day - apparently budget cuts have mandated that there be no more fire watchmen even though fire hazard is "very high" according to Smokey the bear. While we were hiking up a helicopter came and went carrying off her "honey pot", which is not at all what it sounds like. We were very glad not to be blown off of the mountain when the copter took off.

The best news of the weekend is perhaps that I've gone to bed pretty early comparatively which should make getting up on Monday less painful than usual. Have I mentioned that I am definitely not a morning person?

If not for friends...

Here's that update all of you fans have been anxiously awaiting. I have a job!!! It's not the job of my dreams, nor is it in the field that I hope to go into, but it pays the bills and allows me to slowly pay off my education debt in order to further my education with a master's degree. I have come to realize that I will never get far in the field of HR without a master's degree and thus it has become a permanent part of my plans. I hope at some point prior to reentering the academic world to gain some practical HR experience, but one can't have everything.

I work at depobook, a court reporting agency owned by members, as... well, I guess an executive secretary. I do everything from answering phones, scheduling depositions, scheduling court reporters for those depos, taking orders for products, assembling & packing products to creating invoices to charge attorneys and pay reporters. Forgive me if that leaves me uncertain as to what my job title should rightfully be.

Life is good as I am surrounded by good people who keep me going and keep me spontaneous. Long live YSA!

Beautiful Horizons

For the last month and some I've completely given up the job search in favor of spending time on the following: helping Joy out with her move from Layton, Utah to Germany; going to a family reunion with all of my siblings, nieces, and nephews; and going to the California YSA Conference in Fresno. All were worthwhile activities and I'm really glad to have participated in them, but now I've got to get back to my regularly scheduled activities, i.e. spending most of my time on a daily basis applying for every HR job anyone has ever heard of. I'm excited because whereas in the past I've had to keep to local jobs since I had so much stuff going on this summer, now I can extend my search to the entire United States as I have no moral objection to living anywhere I don't have to learn a new language to live. Maybe that preference will change in the future, but for now that's the way it is. Woo hoo!

LINNEA SLADE PASSES HUMAN RESOURCE CERTIFICATION INSTITUTE EXAM

Modesto, CA, June 24, 2009 -- Linnea Slade recently passed the Human Resource Certification Institute's Professional in Human Resources (PHR) exam.

Linnea is an April 2009 graduate of Brigham Young University, with a major in Business Management.

HRCI is the credentialing body for human resource professionals and is affiliated with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the world's largest organization dedicated exclusively to the human resource profession. The Institute's purpose is to promote the establishment of professional standards and to recognize professionals who meet those standards.

There are two examination levels -- the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) with an operational/technical focus, and the Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) with more of a strategic/ policy focus. Passing the certification exam shows that an individual has mastered the human resource body of knowledge. Both exams have experience requirements.

Students may take the PHR exam up to 12 months before their graduation date, and recent graduates may take the exam no later than one year after their graduation date. Students and recent graduates then have five years from the date of passing the exam to accumulate the exempt-level experience requirements.

I'm just lucky, I guess

You stop writing on your blog for a few weeks and everyone gets all antsy. WELL! Although I haven't actually been on any big projects since the pressure-washing since apparently the paint still hasn't come in since we asked friends of the family to order it over a week ago. It leaves me struggling to find a sufficient occupation for my boundless energy, but then I am forced to remember that I have a certification exam next week. Aaaaaaa! So I haven't exactly read all of the material in my study books yet, but that's no cause for concern, right?

This weekend I was privileged enough to go to Utah for my ex-roomie's wedding and it was great except that I was cursing myself the entire time for not having the foresight to have spaced out the flights there and back a little more, but how was I to know that I would still be an out-of-work loser? So I got to spend two days in lovely rainy green Utah before squishing myself between the noisiest plane-riders in the world for my trip back to sunny Califonia.

Upon arrival I was pleased to find that my brother had taken my advice to ask out a certain girl in the ward. She is 23, which makes her the oldest girl he has ever asked on a date, and the fact that I told him to date her has predisposed me to like her. Hyrum did his best to include me on their Saturday-night date (what brother does that?) and she was forced to conclude that we are "close". I'm not sure if that's quite the word for it...

But seriously, folks. Keep this on the DL until the man himself decides to publish abroad any news he might have. I don't want to get a rep for spreading rumors... especially when they've only had one date.

This is the life

Can't say I'm not enjoying living the life of leisure living at my parents' house and sponging off of their wealth. I figure I'll return the favor once I actually start making money and they realize that their retirement isn't worth half of what they put into it. That's what you call irony. Or reciprocity. One of the two.

I am very happy to be in California where my soul soars free with the big blue skies and the only responsibilities I have from day to day are general yard work, cleaning, and making various desserts. I tell you, if I could do this for the rest of my life... well, I'd probably be fat, so it's a good thing that I'll be getting a job soon. Yesterday I applied online to three temp agencies and on Monday I'll be visiting them and convincing them to give me work to do. But helping out around the home is so much more satisfying, don't you think?

It's sad how the older I get, the less interesting my life gets. On my mission, so much would happen in a week that I'd have to flip through my planner in order to remember the important events for my weekly emails. At school, there was remarkably less to write about, but I thought about myself all of the time, thus making it possible to crank out a blog for my loyal followers. But now I find that the things I do are only really interesting to me and would sound completely asinine if I were to share them. But I don't want anyone complaining that they don't know what is going on in my life, and thus you see that I have made an effort to update all of you on the exciting events in Modesto.

Last night I saw the new Star Trek movie and I'm hooked. It's the kind that as soon as you leave the theater you want to turn right around and watch it again. Then again, I really am a closet trekky and thus would probably feel the same way about any of the episodes of the original star trek or the next generation.

As for my love life, which all of you seem to think is your business, it is barely a week since I've met anyone near my age, so calm yourselves down. As many of you know, Hyrum has already chosen a mate for me, but said future mate hasn't realized it yet and is pursuing someone else, so I'll have to be patient. Maybe this post is long enough to discourage any of you from wanting to read my blog ever again and I will be truly free to rant as I wish without regard as to who might be reading. Maybe.