It's about time... Update Time!

So Wednesday was our Anniversary. Before we went out to do our running around we got a call from the Daycare. Apparantly Emily had a little accident and either tripped or was pushed by another child (we got two different stories, which pissed me off) and had hit her head agaist a cinderblock. We went up there to see her before getting out lunch. Her forehead had a huge knot and was bruised and the bridge of her nose was scraped pretty bad - but she was asleep and they were icing her forehead. They said that they had washed the scraped with anti-bacterial soap and throughout the whole ordeal she never fussed, whined or cried. It broke our hearts to see here like that, as it was her first really big injury of any type. We opted to leave her there since she was calm and asleep, but we decided to pick her up earlier than usual.

Mindy felt like sea food for lunch so we went to Red Lobster. When I went in they had some lobsters in the tank and I swear there were some monsters in there. I asked how much they cost and was told that the big ones went for about $78 each. DA-Y-AM! I told that to Mindy and her jaw just about dropped off. I told her to get whatever she wanted so she opted for the King Crab instead of the Monster Lobster (whew!). Mindy had made arrangements for a sitter so we could go out and have a nice dinner but the sitter fell through. I figured since we had the nice lunch we could skip dinner, but Mindy had her heart set on it so we went out anyway and brought Emily along.

We went to the Gate City Chop House in Greensboro - Pricy but tasty. We managed to get through an appetizer and our salads, fed Emily an entree, but by the time our meals arrived Emily was ready to go. We ended up boxing up our meals and leaving before we ate half of what we had. After it was over the staff told us Emily was so good, so Mindy and were of the mind that maybe we were just being overly concerned about things. In all, it was an uneventful anniversary (with the exception of Emily being hurt) but still a pleasant day.

The Interview

Yesterday I had my job interview for the Training Specialist position. I was tag teamed by two interviewers, one of which was the manager who I had talked too about the position, and it took an hour and a half for the entire process. It included fourteen questions, all pretty much starting with the sentence - "Tell me about a time...". I just love situational behvior style questions. I have always found that the best way to answer is to give them a preface that includes a problem, what I did to address the issue, and the outcome. Some folks leave out those little details so I try to stick to that formula. On one of the questions, about halfway through my answer I decided that the answer was not sufficient so I told them I would rather use a different example. In my opinion, I think this is a good thing because it shows them that rather than commiting to a course of action (or in this case an answer) and not have the outcome be what is needed I am not afraid to change directions if I find something isn't working out correctly. On one of my answers I made a specific recommendation for the Amex training program that I felt would reduce employee attrition throughout the training process, which was very cool because one of my interviewers has been tasked at doing just that! In all, I felt the answers I gave were strong and that my interview went well.

One the down side I found out I was the very first interviewee, so I hope came out with a strong impression of my skill set. Add to that my very short tenure at Amex, and I can see why they may go with different candidates who have been there longer and have served in other positions (such as a coach or team leader). I can only hope that they will see past that and look at my previous work experience and let that speak for itself.

I should know if I make it to the next round of interviews with the department head in about a week or so sinc ethey are looking to fill these positions in time for a glut of training that is scheduled in May.

*crosses fingers*

An Open Letter to the Media

Dear U.S. Media,

Yesterday while at lunch I was watching CNN regarding a law being proposed in Texas about children and Gay adoptive parents. The issue was being discussed with an anchor woman, a member of the Gay/Lesbian Lobby and by some deluded woman who claimed that children who live with Gay Parents are 11 times more likely to be abused than children living with heterosexual couples. Firstly, the fact that CNN let this woman throw out such a ludicris statistic apalls me. Second, that they even let her narrow minded views on television upsets me. Third, that I am unable to find any additional mention on the CNN website about this story disturbs me.

Why is it that I am able to find stories about a woman being arrested for a finger in her chili and a story of an off duty cop (in Texas of course) dropping his gun and expelling two rounds in a bathroom stall, but unsuccessful in finding a story that affects a segment of our population? To provide more detail, a story about a proposed law that is based on bigotry and promoted by overzealous right wing religious fanatics in a state that has the highest level of prisoners put to death under the death penalty and some of the lowest scores in all of basic education in the country?

To all media outlets - lose the fluff and give us some unbiased reporting! There is something called Freedom of Speech, so why not stop bowing the right and use your constitutional Freedom of the Press rights and enlighten us with some REAL reporting. To all my friends who live in Texas, this is in no way a dig at you.

Signed,

A Concerned Citizen Against Bigotry in Texas Politics