working out for Disney

[HouCuseChickie]

When the recruiter called me to interview, she walked ahead of me and not next to me. She didn't bother making small talk and entered the office before I did. Maybe this is a Midwestern thing, but every interview I've been to, the hiring manager walks along side you as they take you to their office and makes small talk. She had herself centered in the hall way, that if I walked next to her, I would have been in her personal space. She also never picked up or looked at my resume.

I don't know if the recruiters are local or are flown in for these things, but this behavior is not normal practice for this area. I would expect to walk side by side with a person into a room, exchange some pleasantries to avoid quiet awkward moments, and see them holding some kind of documentation on me. I know it's not an apples to apples comparison, but it reminds me of something I encountered during sorority rush decades ago. Some houses were known to only take certain kinds of girls (looked a certain way, particular religion, etc.). The girls who fit their stereotype were walked side by side into one room, chit-chatting it up with sisters along the way. Some even had papers in hand...which usually meant they had a legacy or buddy in their group. The girls who didn't fit their norm were led single file behind a sister into a separate room with some less than interested sisters that were placed in there to try and entertain us while the others spent time with the girls under serious consideration.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I got up around 5:45 this morning (not normal for a Saturday) to get in a workout before we went to my FILs. I really overdid things with my abs yesterday, so I could only do my basic abs today, but I made sure to put a lot of focus on strengthening my legs. Supposedly, this could help me with avoiding runner's knee (which has been an issue in the past). So, I boosted the tension for my biking and did a few sets on the squat machine. Tomorrow is my longer run. I'm thinking about pushing it until 9am so I can wait for the humidity to go down. Hopefully, I won't feel so full by that time. We got BBQ tonight and I am painfully full! It was soooooooooooooooo good! Brisket, sausage, potato salad and coleslaw for me. They even gave me one piece that had a crispy burnt end. YUM!

 

[Sans Souci]

Thank you! He said he's sleeping better since starting the treatments, but it seems to be aggravating his arthritis. Still, he seemed to be in good spirits and still trying to do as much on his own as possible. My FIL lives north of Austin. It's a little over a 3 hour drive from our home. So, it's not Houston area, but it's also not like my parents who are in south FL.

That seems like those are positive things--the sleeping better and do things on his own. The arthritis sounds awful though. I hope he can get that sorted out with his doctor.

 

[Sans Souci]

I don't know if the recruiters are local or are flown in for these things, but this behavior is not normal practice for this area. I would expect to walk side by side with a person into a room, exchange some pleasantries to avoid quiet awkward moments, and see them holding some kind of documentation on me. I know it's not an apples to apples comparison, but it reminds me of something I encountered during sorority rush decades ago. Some houses were known to only take certain kinds of girls (looked a certain way, particular religion, etc.). The girls who fit their stereotype were walked side by side into one room, chit-chatting it up with sisters along the way. Some even had papers in hand...which usually meant they had a legacy or buddy in their group. The girls who didn't fit their norm were led single file behind a sister into a separate room with some less than interested sisters that were placed in there to try and entertain us while the others spent time with the girls under serious consideration.

I said this to my husband last night--that it felt like a sorority rush. I never did one myself, but I knew people who had. Before the interview, we each had to get up, introduce ourselves, say which airport we flew in from and answer a question. They were little, fun questions--nothing heavy. I don't know if I did something "wrong" there, other than being 45 in a room full of people in their 20s. I didn't have crushing anxiety, I was smiling and I answered the question. I don't know if all of the five recruiters conferred briefly and decided who was a hard no just from that. I think that's why I was given the desultory interview. The first round of interviews are with flight attendants not HR people, and it shows.

I did provide my resume as soon as I got in, we all did. It was on her desk when I entered her office. I offered her one when I got into her office, just as a courtesy. During the interview, I saw she wasn't looking at it. So, I tried twice to get her to look at it by saying things like, "If you'd look at my resume, you'd see..." that sort of thing.

My final question was, "Is there anything you'd like United to know about you?" When I answered, she didn't even bother to write down what I was saying. So, I was never taken seriously, even though my resume reflects a genuine desire to help and serve others.

My husband suggested that I not bother to reapply there. I don't like how I was treated and I prefer my coworkers to have more than three brain cells.

 

[Sans Souci]

I got up around 5:45 this morning (not normal for a Saturday) to get in a workout before we went to my FILs. I really overdid things with my abs yesterday, so I could only do my basic abs today, but I made sure to put a lot of focus on strengthening my legs. Supposedly, this could help me with avoiding runner's knee (which has been an issue in the past). So, I boosted the tension for my biking and did a few sets on the squat machine. Tomorrow is my longer run. I'm thinking about pushing it until 9am so I can wait for the humidity to go down. Hopefully, I won't feel so full by that time. We got BBQ tonight and I am painfully full! It was soooooooooooooooo good! Brisket, sausage, potato salad and coleslaw for me. They even gave me one piece that had a crispy burnt end. YUM!

I saw one bbq place at IAH. The name escapes me now. It smelled delicious, but my appetite was non-existent. If I hadn't had such a long journey home with delays, I would have bought some to eat when I got home. I'm kind of kicking myself now. Oh, and my gate wasn't far from the Pappadeaux you told me about!

 

[Sans Souci]

Well, hopefully the test goes well for him. Why doesn't he want to take it?
Over here, kids in 6th grade take a big exam, basically like an ACT for elementary school, to see which level high school they can go to, and DS was so nervous for it. He was overly sensitive to light, sound, everything in the week leading up to it, because he had built it up so much in his head and he kept saying it seemed so huge. We reminded him that it didn't really matter for him because the school's advice is what schools take into account most, and he already had his advice for the 2nd highest level of school because Special Education doesn't offer the highest level, and even if he got every answer wrong on the test, they can't lower your advice because you didn't score as high as your advice. Intellectually, he knew that, but it was really really suspenseful for him. But he got the highest score possible, so he was fine. I'm sure your son will be fine, too, but let's face it....tests aren't fun!!

That's great news about your son! You must be so excited for him.

He just doesn't like taking tests. Plus, one of his teachers suggested we request the extra time accommodation for him. He didn't want that, but we did it anyway. You can't leave when everyone else does with that accommodation, even if you are finished. I don't think he liked that. He also has his final exams starting tomorrow, so he's feeling a little stressed out.

 

[Sans Souci]

.

 

[Songbird76]

That's great news about your son! You must be so excited for him.

He just doesn't like taking tests. Plus, one of his teachers suggested we request the extra time accommodation for him. He didn't want that, but we did it anyway. You can't leave when everyone else does with that accommodation, even if you are finished. I don't think he liked that. He also has his final exams starting tomorrow, so he's feeling a little stressed out.

Awww, yeah, that's a lot for anyone. Why can't you leave with the extra time accommodation? That seems odd. I mean....it's great that you can get extra time if you need it, but if you're done, you're done!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

That seems like those are positive things--the sleeping better and do things on his own. The arthritis sounds awful though. I hope he can get that sorted out with his doctor.

While I can't say I recall ever having seen his feet before yesterday, the arthritic reaction was causing them to look deformed. I believe his doctor warned him that this was a possible side effect from the infusion. I just don't know what he can do when he's going through such intense treatment. Hopefully, the doctor can at least go through a pain management plan.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I said this to my husband last night--that it felt like a sorority rush. I never did one myself, but I knew people who had. Before the interview, we each had to get up, introduce ourselves, say which airport we flew in from and answer a question. They were little, fun questions--nothing heavy. I don't know if I did something "wrong" there, other than being 45 in a room full of people in their 20s. I didn't have crushing anxiety, I was smiling and I answered the question. I don't know if all of the five recruiters conferred briefly and decided who was a hard no just from that. I think that's why I was given the desultory interview. The first round of interviews are with flight attendants not HR people, and it shows.

I did provide my resume as soon as I got in, we all did. It was on her desk when I entered her office. I offered her one when I got into her office, just as a courtesy. During the interview, I saw she wasn't looking at it. So, I tried twice to get her to look at it by saying things like, "If you'd look at my resume, you'd see..." that sort of thing.

My final question was, "Is there anything you'd like United to know about you?" When I answered, she didn't even bother to write down what I was saying. So, I was never taken seriously, even though my resume reflects a genuine desire to help and serve others.

My husband suggested that I not bother to reapply there. I don't like how I was treated and I prefer my coworkers to have more than three brain cells.

And I think that's what irks me the most with all of this...I would expect this during sorority rush, but not in corporate America from a company with such a public presence. Maybe I'm too idealistic, but even if they didn't intend to hire you...for whatever reason (valid or not), they don't get to skip out on professionalism just because they know they've already weeded out certain people. I mean, even if they don't hire you, every person that comes in is still a consumer. So, every person affiliated with the company should have a brand responsibility to show the company in the best light possible. I've been on plenty of interviews and while I haven't left all of them with a positive feeling on my chances for the job, I've can't recall ever walking out of an interview process thinking the hiring staff were a bunch of idiots or worse...discriminating against me for some reason.

It reminds me of an oil & gas interview from my early days in Houston. In hindsight, maybe I should have reported them, but the woman who interviewed me informed me that while she thought I was great and would be passing my resume on to her boss for the next round, she asked me not to get my hopes up. She essentially told me that her boss and his cronies were a bunch of sexist pigs and that he never hires women for the position I was seeking. I've heard this has always been a big issue in that particular industry, but I guess it's improved some over the years because I do know of a few woman now who work for o&g companies. Still, while this woman was very honest with me at the end, she still gave me a proper interview and treated me like a human being...even though she knew I really didn't stand a chance. And that's what really bothers me with this whole United thing.

I would have to agree with your husband. I wouldn't want to work for them if they're going to treat anyone like you were treated.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I saw one bbq place at IAH. The name escapes me now. It smelled delicious, but my appetite was non-existent. If I hadn't had such a long journey home with delays, I would have bought some to eat when I got home. I'm kind of kicking myself now. Oh, and my gate wasn't far from the Pappadeaux you told me about!

I think it's Gatlin's BBQ. I've never had their food, but I guess that's part of living in an area where certain kinds of food dominate the culinary scene. When I lived in NJ, that was mainly Italian and Chinese food, but here, it's BBQ, steak and Mexican. Surprisingly, the cue we got last night is from a supermarket. One of the big chains here (HEB) has added BBQ restaurants to some of their stores. I was skeptical, but since I didn't want to wait forever at the award winning place up the road and had heard great things about this place, we decided to try....and I am so glad we did. That's funny that you were also right near Pappadeaux, but i know that feeling of just wanting to be home and not up for anything like that.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I went for my longer weekend run today. I'd run a 5k for the last couple of weeks, so I decided to bump up the mileage a little bit. Nothing major, but I decided to push it to 3.5 miles. I was worried about my pace, since it was 12 degrees warmer today than my run last weekend, but I was only a tenth of a second off from last week's...which is good, because in theory, you're going to be slower when it's hotter and/or when you're running longer. And aside from being really hot today, I didn't feel like I was pushing myself nearly as hard as last weekend. So, this means my speed runs during the week are helping. I mean, that's how it's all supposed to work, so that's good. You push yourself during your short weekday runs to boost your fastest pace so that when you "relax" more on your weekend run, you're conditioned to run faster. After my run, I biked for 10 miles, did some arms, legs and abs...and was ready to drop. BUT...there was a house to clean, so I vacuumed, dusted, cleaned the kitchen, did a bunch of laundry, cleaned out all of the trash cans, worked on some bags for donation, and got to clean one of the bathrooms. Oh...and there was the weekly grocery shopping as well....and Sunday family dinner. WHEW!

I did have an issue during my run that really bugged me. I asked about it in one of my run groups just to confirm I was following etiquette. On trails and sidewalks, at least in the US, you run on the right and only move left to pass. So, it's a lot like driving. I came up on a straightaway and another jogger coming from the other direction came into sight...and he was on the left side . Soooo, his left/my right = same side. I've seen him before and he normally follows protocol. He's very fast, so I would assume he knows proper running behavior. He had probably the equivalent of half a block to move to the right side, but he stayed on the left...not even a hint that he might do the right thing and get to the right side. I didn't feel like playing a game of chicken with some idiot guy's ego so I moved to the left. I may have said something as this jerk passed, but I was so hot and frustrated that it came out more like some of the ramblings of the dad in A Christmas Story, when he's griping about the furnace. The people in my one run group had some very "fun" terms to describe the guy. So, that made me feel better. I mean, I have no problem yielding to someone faster than me if we're going the same direction, but this was more like someone driving the wrong way on the road. Oh well.

Tomorrow is a rest day, so I'll get to sleep in a little. We're back to our work from home schedule too, so with the exception of Tuesdays, I should be getting an extra hour of sleep for the next 10 or so weeks.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

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Hmm...so if it is is forbidden in the US to ask for a date of birth on applications, then maye they thought you were 35, going by your pics. You look too young and, well, fit to be 40. (Guess it pays to read this thread!) Then perhaps when they discovered from your resume that you are - what, 40, 41? - they may have lost interest.

Well their loss. I'd hire you! Just to see you make those FA uniforms look good!

 

[epcotisbest]

Some daylilies bloomed today.

 

[epcotisbest]

A couple more. Sorry about the quality of the pics. These were snapped with the ipad because I can't find the stupid camera. I am misplacing things a lot lately.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Gorgeous Flowers @epcotisbest !!! Thank you for sharing

 

[Figgy1]

A couple more. Sorry about the quality of the pics. These were snapped with the ipad because I can't find the stupid camera. I am misplacing things a lot lately.

View attachment 380508View attachment 380509

Thank you they're beautiful in my neighborhood we call them deer chow

 

[Figgy1]

Are you sitting down? Are you sure? It's not a rest day and I've not done any yoga at all It was cool and breezy but sunny so I got up and did LS before heading out for a walk for a total of 10 chilly miles. I spent the rest of the day making a chili flavored low carb veggie soup seeing I'm short one kid for a week or so YEA! oops I mean I miss my baby lol but the other is home for the summer. I also spent some time making arrangements for James' summer class which he neglected to tell me he signed up for BT my raw spring cleanse is over so back to my regularly scheduled vegan eating blueberry spinach smoothie for breakfast, large assorted chopped veggie salad with orange/ginger dressing for lunch and vegie soup with wild rice for dinner

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Cross-training gym workout yesterday morning and this morning, plus a run last night. My time still continues to improve and I think a mental shift is starting to happen. I changed up my training run scenery knowing time would be up well before I was home. I really just wanted different things to look at, but after walking for about 5 min after the run, I decided I didn't want to walk. I'm not sure if it's wanting more runner's high or if I'm just enjoying the reduced time in getting from pt a to pt b when running, but after a little more personal debate, I turned on my GPS and decided to run the rest of the way. No intervals, no pushing, no stressing...just running...with a about three 30-second walks. Not only did I get home faster, my pace was good. It felt slow, but I actually was only a smidge slower than I was when I was pushing it and it was faster than my paces from last week. I also thought of @Sans Souci about 20 min in last night when a bug flew up my nose

I also did some fitness shopping yesterday. My husband wanted to be able to track me when I'm out running. Not that he wants to watch, but was concerned in case I was taking a while and possibly got into some trouble (i.e. hurt or worse). I've been running with my old Garmin, which is a model that came out in 2014. It's a good watch, but tech has changed a lot over the last 5 years and it doesn't seem to work with Garmin's site/app tracking function. I was really just annoyed about the lack of Bluetooth connectivity. So, I ordered a popular model that was on sale for $80 off. Plus, I ordered it through the running shop I use, so it also equates to another $15 reward. I'm also excited because this model can hold up to 500 songs. Now, I usually run with my phone and just tap into my iTunes music, but if I'm in a scenario where I don't want to take my phone (and it's safe to not have it on me), I can just use the music stored in the watch. This one also tracks other kinds of fitness activities, so I might be able to get a better idea of what I'm doing in the gym during cross training. I'm going to also have to learn how to use it. A friend suggested I also run with both for a little bit to gauge for any accuracy issues.

On a non-fitness note, I'm kind of excited. We have a travel tournament in Louisiana that's coming up. Unless something changes, it looks like we should have enough time to head down to New Orleans one night for dinner. It's not quite the trip I had planned for spring break that we had to cancel, but it should be fun.

 

[Songbird76]

Are you sitting down? Are you sure? It's not a rest day and I've not done any yoga at all It was cool and breezy but sunny so I got up and did LS before heading out for a walk for a total of 10 chilly miles. I spent the rest of the day making a chili flavored low carb veggie soup seeing I'm short one kid for a week or so YEA! oops I mean I miss my baby lol but the other is home for the summer. I also spent some time making arrangements for James' summer class which he neglected to tell me he signed up for BT my raw spring cleanse is over so back to my regularly scheduled vegan eating blueberry spinach smoothie for breakfast, large assorted chopped veggie salad with orange/ginger dressing for lunch and vegie soup with wild rice for dinner

So will James go back to public school in the fall, or will he be homeschooled again? Can he still participate in music and all that when he's homeschooled?