The Day Work Ethic Changed.
(Ed. Note) As the editor I’m very fortunate to read the prefaces Howard writes as an introduction to his article submissions. This week I felt compelled to share Howard’s preface with fellow 405ers. We can all relate to Howard’s jury duty experience and his dedication to the “Good Hunting” column is displayed as he persevered through myriad computer problems. I hope you enjoy and I urge you to show Howard your appreciation via comments.
Wow! This has been an exciting week, as I was waiting to see if I would serve on a jury, I received three more responses from prospective employers asking for interviews. This was quickly becoming a few days of high drama. Would I have to serve on a jury? Would I have to postpone interviews as a result? Would the interviews still be there if I had to serve? Would I lose the job opportunities that I have been waiting for? As prospective jurors were being questioned by the lawyers, little did I know, yet another issue would be waiting to contribute to this drama. during the last few days it was becoming harder to boot up my desktop. I faithfully kept my internet security up to date and did daily malware scans, yet the problem persisted until I received a Windows/System32 error that prevented me from booting my PC up. I began thinking about what I had backed up and all the things I had done during the last several days that I did not yet have backed up. System restore, did not work! The backup shadow copy of my system failed to restore my PC! Would I need to spend money I hadn’t planned on for a new desktop??
Fortunately my writing for this week’s submission was on paper. In fact, I had moved all of my 405 club projects from my desktop to my laptop (where I am now writing this) prior to the PC crash. There was some additional good fortune. I was one of about 40 people in the courtroom, where 6 jurors and two alternates would be needed to hear an expedited case beginning on Monday. As each name was called I was wondering when would I be called, and would they ask me to serve? Finally, several hours later the lawyers had their jurors and alternates, and I was one of 5 people who did not get to the interview process. I was then informed that my jury duty obligation for civil court has been satisfied for the next 6 years (however I could be called as early as 2011 if there is a grand jury summons). Fortunately I will not have to postpone the three upcoming interviews for next week (with two on Monday!) Now I have turned my attention to my ailing desktop. I was about to run out and spend $140 for a three user Windows 7 licence, (figuring that a clean install would solve my problem and get rid of the acursed Windows Vista on my PC) when I came by some diagnostic tools that I had saved some time ago. After a six hour analysis of my PC, the tests revealed a defect at location DIMM 2 (the circuit designation for where the RAM is stored). Tomorrow I will find out if some fresh RAM will save the day. This will help to keep my mind off the interview marathons I will face next week.
Take care.
-Howard K. Young.
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Soon the Christmas rush will be upon us. For those of us who are in between jobs the question of how we will manage our budget so that we can buy gifts is difficult, to say the least. This is the time that we may look to retailing jobs as a temporary solution so that we may buy some gifts for our loved ones.
