December 23, 2016

Today is my mother's birthday. She and my father drove home from Baltimore today. My father reports that she is going to cook a turkey (for him, really, because she doesn't care) for Christmas on Sunday. I warned him that she may not have the energy to complete the job, so he should take that into consideration. Translation: Dad, you are the Plan B cook.

​Addison has colitis. It took me until this afternoon to figure that out. Duh. She had diarrhea twice in the middle of the night and all day today. I made some basmati rice in beef stock for her. I gave her a half cup of rice with a spoonful of wet dog food, and she inhaled it. Jasper got some rice with his dog food, so he was happy, too.

I met a Canadian woman named Sherri last night who is parked down the street from me. Before stretching class today, she warned me that the class gets crowded after the New Year and she advised me to arrive early to get a spot. I did some modifications to the CD exercises to get more out of the session. I hope that doing these classes will help my hamstring heal. When does, I'll think twice about playing ping pong again with 70-somethings.

Jean told me on Wednesday that I would be receiving a package via USPS Priority Mail today. She said it is a Christmas present but that I should open it immediately. It was delivered to me by a staff member at quarter to three today. I opened it immediately per Jean's instructions. The box contained three 12-inch pieces of homemade pepperoni, a slab of smoked cheddar cheese, and Christmas and birthday cards – neither of which was signed or sealed so that I can reuse them. That's funny. Maybe I'll sign them and send them back to her.

The pepperoni is the best pepperoni I have ever had. I put two sticks in the freezer, and I ate about two inches of the third. A friend of Jean's smokes it, and apparently she had him do these sticks especially for me. Again, Jean's a good friend.

I applied for a job via ZipRecruiter the other day and I was required to register with ExecuNet to complete the online application. During the registration process I was asked if I want a free resume review. I said yes, and a call was scheduled for today at noon. I knew that I would be pitched to hire ExecuNet to “package” me as a job candidate. During the call, I answered the man's questions about me and my desired job, and I took notes on his comments about my resume. He directed me online to a resume he had redone for a "client." I told him that disliked it per se because it's too wordy, there is no white space, it is three pages, and it's unreadable on a smart phone. Further, I wouldn’t take the time to read it as an employer.

Next, he critiqued my LinkedIn profile, and I agreed with his comments as they pertained to search optimization. However, he then proceeded to trash my photograph because I'm “wearing a hat and there is too much going on in the background.” For the record, I'm sitting at a cafe in Rome, wearing a dress, a sweater, a straw hat, silver pearls, have a cappuccino in front of me, and I'm reading a guide book. You can't really see my face, but I think it adds mystery. (My friends love this photo.) He said I should have a head shot with no background. He finished by pitching ExecuNet’s services to me: I listened out of politeness, thanked him for his time, and I updated my resume and LinkedIn profile as soon as the call ended. Although it was unlikely from the start that I’d hire anyone to “package” me, his assault on my photograph would have trumped both a perfect sample resume and great pricing. Someone needs to “package” him.