Anhydrous Wit

Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

One Down. Any More to Go?

I had an interview with the city parks & recreation department this afternoon.  They told me it could be anywhere between two weeks and two months that I'll hear back about the position.  That's not bad, when you consider they have to deal with municipal red tape.  It took them a month between the posting deadline and the day they phoned me to set up the interview (which was a further two weeks).

It's far better timing than another opportunity.  I received an e-mail last week regarding a position with a city in California.  That's funny; I don't remember applying there.  Maybe they heard of my awesomeness and decided they want me?!  No, in fact, I did apply for the position -- back in October!  Yes, it took them nearly five months to ask me to submit my resume with a cover letter, but they say that interviews for desirable candidates will take place in the first week in April.  (While I'm online, I'd better see how long it should take me to drive there, and figure out if it will be worth my while to spend that time and gas.)

Anyway, that's how my job hunt has been going:  a little action followed by a lot of stagnation.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

A Dirty Mind in a Clean Body

While showering last night, I pondered about the nouns and verbs we English-speakers use when cleaning ourselves.  One takes a bath, or one bathes.  One takes a shower but does not showere.  Similarly, when drying off, one does not towele off.  However, one could say, "I bathed/showered then toweled off."  Would it make English simpler or more complicated if more nouns had an "e" added to the end when turning them into verbs?

Such are the things I ponder when I'm in the shower.  I could think of you, I suppose, but then I wouldn't be showering so much as...

Never mind.

Thursday, March 05, 2015

For the Birds

My mom has a birdbath on the back patio, and she enjoys watching the variety of birds that come to drink and to bathe.  This winter, I have seen more species than usual:  the American robin, scrub jay (not a pinon jay), various sparrows, various finches, various juncos (winter only), European starling (winter only), American crow (winter only), mourning dove, northern flicker (winter only), and ladder-backed woodpecker (first time I've seen them).  We had another rare visitor a few weeks ago:  either a sharp-shinned or Cooper's hawk.  It hung out at the birdbath for an hour and a half (and scared other birds off for that period).  Strangely, I have not seen any greater roadrunners this winter, which we normally see.  Overall, it's not a bad variety for a urban/suburban birdbath in a part of the country not known for its trees.