I'm ready to be on vacation again. Seriously. I enjoy working, but there are so many things I would be able to keep on top of at home if I could find the right part time position...or if I won the lottery...of course, to win, one must play.
I'm feeling very frustrated. I had an interview for a full time position within my current company today. It falls within my area of expertise. Unfortunately, there is also a candidate who is already working within the department, and she is a strong candidate for the job. I wish there were some way that they could indicate when there is already a front runner for the job, so I could save myself the trouble. Don't get me wrong, the interviewer was very nice...but I view it as a bad sign when she repeatedly says, "What about a job in _____? That seems like it would be a great fit for your skill set."
I recently received an email link to a job posting that is perfect for me...three states away. This is turning out to be the story of my career lately. I know it is partially because my standards are high in some areas. I am not willing to relocate. I would really like to stay with my company. It has to pay at least a certain amount and be within a reasonable commute from my home. But these have always been my standards, and somehow I have always had the right opportunity come up eventually. And some of them have come up in horrible economic times, so I am unwilling to accept that as a justification. I have been looking for a LONG time now, and nothing is working out. I'm out of ideas. Help!
Thanks for letting me vent. I'm seriously considering buying a few lottery tickets on my way home tonight.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Worm Food
I have been delinquent in posting this month! I got caught up in summer fun...we had our back yard fenced in, bought a canopy/umbrella and a picnic table and so have been spending most of our non-work time outdoors. This past week we were on vacation down the shore, which was the place to be in the record breaking heat! We were fortunate that we were not in the path of the derecho either at home or down the shore - it passed between the two. Our home is far enough north and my parents' home down the shore was far enough south that we were very fortunate.
We've spent this week getting back into the swing of things, unpacking, cleaning up, checking out how the garden did in the extreme heat while we were away. My plants all survived the heat just fine, but something is eating all of my bean, squash and zucchini plants! To the point that I don't think many of them are going to make it. There are times when I wish I had a security camera pointed at the garden so that I can see which critters are responsible. It's hard to formulate a defense without know what is getting in...through the ten foot fence!
The week before we left for vacation, we bought a Worm Factory and set it up. We have been there done that with traditional compost piles and we have a compost tumbler. Both worked fine, but I was really looking for an option that would allow us to compost our kitchen scraps year round. I prefer to keep as much as possible out of the landfills, and composting is so easy. I had been thinking about giving vermicomposting a try for quite some time, but it took me a while to get past my hang ups about having worms in the house. I am so happy I did get over it, because it's actually fun to vermicompost. My daughter is especially enjoying it. She loves checking on the worms to see if they are eating and loves to watch us feed the worms. I was a little nervous initially that she would be inclined to relocate the worms, but she understands that they live in their composter and are very happy there.
So when we bought the Worm Factory, I was thinking that we would put it in the garage, because I didn't really want worms inside the actual house. When it arrived, we were experiencing such extreme temperatures that the only option was to set it up inside the house so our worms didn't get cooked. It's in the kitchen, and I am really impressed that there is no smell whatsoever to this unit. The worms settled right in and made no attempt to make a run for it. I must admit, the first few mornings, I half expected to walk into the kitchen and see worms everywhere, trying to get away! I made the obvious rookie mistake and overfed the worms, but it worked out to be perfect timing for our vacation. A week and a half of benign neglect solved that particular problem, and now that we are back, we are well on our way to some really nice looking compost and we and the worms are ready to start the next feeding tray!
My next challenge will be learning to pressure can. Everything I have read seems to be designed to scare people away from pressure canning with warnings about how you can easily kill your whole family. I am refusing to be frightened off, though. I live near a large state university, which has a large agricultural school with a food science department. I am hoping I can find some kind of resource there. Many of the warnings I have read tell you never ever to can your own recipes, that they must be tested thoroughly by food scientists before it is okay to pressure can them. I'm wondering if there is somewhere that I can submit a couple of recipes to have them tested out by pros.
We've spent this week getting back into the swing of things, unpacking, cleaning up, checking out how the garden did in the extreme heat while we were away. My plants all survived the heat just fine, but something is eating all of my bean, squash and zucchini plants! To the point that I don't think many of them are going to make it. There are times when I wish I had a security camera pointed at the garden so that I can see which critters are responsible. It's hard to formulate a defense without know what is getting in...through the ten foot fence!
The week before we left for vacation, we bought a Worm Factory and set it up. We have been there done that with traditional compost piles and we have a compost tumbler. Both worked fine, but I was really looking for an option that would allow us to compost our kitchen scraps year round. I prefer to keep as much as possible out of the landfills, and composting is so easy. I had been thinking about giving vermicomposting a try for quite some time, but it took me a while to get past my hang ups about having worms in the house. I am so happy I did get over it, because it's actually fun to vermicompost. My daughter is especially enjoying it. She loves checking on the worms to see if they are eating and loves to watch us feed the worms. I was a little nervous initially that she would be inclined to relocate the worms, but she understands that they live in their composter and are very happy there.
So when we bought the Worm Factory, I was thinking that we would put it in the garage, because I didn't really want worms inside the actual house. When it arrived, we were experiencing such extreme temperatures that the only option was to set it up inside the house so our worms didn't get cooked. It's in the kitchen, and I am really impressed that there is no smell whatsoever to this unit. The worms settled right in and made no attempt to make a run for it. I must admit, the first few mornings, I half expected to walk into the kitchen and see worms everywhere, trying to get away! I made the obvious rookie mistake and overfed the worms, but it worked out to be perfect timing for our vacation. A week and a half of benign neglect solved that particular problem, and now that we are back, we are well on our way to some really nice looking compost and we and the worms are ready to start the next feeding tray!
My next challenge will be learning to pressure can. Everything I have read seems to be designed to scare people away from pressure canning with warnings about how you can easily kill your whole family. I am refusing to be frightened off, though. I live near a large state university, which has a large agricultural school with a food science department. I am hoping I can find some kind of resource there. Many of the warnings I have read tell you never ever to can your own recipes, that they must be tested thoroughly by food scientists before it is okay to pressure can them. I'm wondering if there is somewhere that I can submit a couple of recipes to have them tested out by pros.
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