Posts Tagged ‘Phoenix’

7th April
2010
written by bob

For the first time in my life I have actually experienced an earthquake. Mind you it was the tremors of an earthquake since the epicenter was 500+ miles away but the fact that the house and contents were shaking was enough. The experience was pretty cool yet very alarming at the same time!

I was just sitting down on the couch to video conference with my family back in Canada and wish them ‘Happy Easter’. As our Skype call connected I yelled for Katherine to come out to the living room as my family sat patiently watching me. At first I thought the cats were fighting under the couch but quickly realized that is impossible since they can’t fit under it. I looked up and noticed the TV and the DVD rack was swaying a large amount. My thought then turned to “I think we are experiencing an earthquake”. Strange to think that though since Arizona doesn’t experience that kind of thing. The worst bit of weather that we see here is August monsoons which are usually pretty mild. As things shook, I could only wonder if the movements were going to get stronger (worse). After a couple of minutes the shaking was over.

I resumed my Skype call with my family while checking my Twitter messages. Sure enough, people in southern California were tweeting they felt a ‘strong’ earthquake. Not soon after, most media outlets began to report a 6.9-7.2 magnitude earthquake in northern Mexico about 100 miles south of Tijuana. While living in Vancouver, BC there were the tremors of 3 earthquakes felt although I personally never felt any of them; 2 of which I believe were during the night and I sleep like a log. Not much wakes me up – just ask Katherine! :)

Thus, it was an experience that had eluded me until this past Sunday…and if this is the only earthquake I experience for the rest of my life, it will be just fine with me.

10th August
2009
written by bob

Yesterday, Katherine & I attended “LaidOffCamp Phoenix”. What a great time! I mean, really…I wasn’t too sure what to expect other than the usual: keep your resume up-to-date, make sure you have good recommendations, hit the online job boards, prepare for interviews, send post interview ‘thank you’ notes, etc.

A few months ago, Katherine was asked by a good friend Rachel Reese, the event Organizer, to speak at LaidOffCamp and agreed to do so. She was part of the “Laid Off Panel”. Fortunately for us, Katherine has landed a job since being asked to do this but still figured her experience of being laid off was relevant for other to hear and learn from.

The entire day was filled with speakers in various rooms throughout the day and after looking through the remaining schedule and found a couple of other speakers that I was very interested in hearing what they had to speak about. Susan Baier spoke in the 11 o’clock session on “How to Land That Gig”. While I had never met Susan, I thoroughly enjoyed her session and, before the end of the day, I would really come to know what a great person Susan is.

Lunch break! Pizza was provided by TekSystems and was delicious! Sat at a table and met some new friends: Ray Marano, Parker Neff, and Richard Dewey. We had some great conversation for the next hour until our next session and the one I was honestly looking forward to the most, “Escape from Cubicle Nation”. You see…I’m a software developer and my daily life is spent stuck in a cubicle coding. Of all professionals that have the ability to work remotely whether that is at home, a coffee shop, gangplank, or in another country, I’m pretty sure I would have the easiest time. All I require is an internet connection and laptop.

Pam Slim, author of the book, “Escape from Cubicle Nation” was next up to speak. BTW…I’m still looking for my escape from cubicle nation however; I have ideas in my head. As Pam would say, I’m dreaming and scheming. Not only was Pam’s presentation excellent, she also engaged her audience with real life examples. And to top things off, Pam gave out copies of her book to some of those attending. We were fortunate enough to receive a copy and I am looking forward to reading it! If anyone ever gets the opportunity to hear Pam speak, I would definitely recommend it.

The last session we sat in on was called, “Go It on Your Own: Run Your Own Business”. The panel consisted of April Holle, Susan Baier, James Archer, Remi Taylor, and Byron Bowerman. All these people have/had started their own businesses and offered their experiences in doing so. Quite honestly the information offered up by these entrepreneurs was invaluable and it was really great to hear there are people out in the world that are willing to help others get started “escaping from cubicle nation”.

Afterwards a good gathering happened at Liberty Market and thanks to Joe Johnson for allowing us to congregate for some cold drinks and great food; especially the ice cream sandwich! The day, in our eyes, was a tremendous success from all aspects. I hope in the end that those who are still looking for employment we able to get as much out of LaidOffCamp as I did. Thanks Rachel et al!