Sunday, July 16, 2006

Like Shooting Fish in a Barrel...



Why do people use that expression to indicate something is so easy that it's not worth respect? Let me tell you, shooting fish in a barrel is hard. This is the best shot I got! Most of the time, the fish are down deep in the dark murky water. That one day, they were circling near the top, so I shot. But really, fish in a barrel make a pretty boring picture.

Later today, I'll post updates on the nearly-done baby sweater and talk out loud to myself about what should be next.

Tomorrow, Mr. SABLE takes a quick trip to New England for job interview with a company he has always admired. That's triggering a lot of deep ambivalence from me and the kids. I would love to live near my folks, but I would hate to have to up and move 900 miles on very short notice. The cost of living is much higher there, so it would take a pretty sweet salary offer to lure us away from here. As far as I can tell, houses comparable to one we now own run about 2.5-3 times more than ours would get in the current market here. I doubt the salaries are 2.5-3 times as high. Today we have to see about getting Mr. SABLE some interview clothes. The last time he had to dress up was for the interview here about 10 years ago. He was a lot thinner then, so even though men's business shirts don't change that much over time and his are in great shape, they don't have what it takes. He's trying to decide on a jacket or not. Most of the biotech companies have a pretty lax dress code: more like college-boy-casual than business casual. Which makes dressing for an interview more confusing. I keep pushing for more formality, but one the interviewers here 10 years ago wore a t-shirt.

It's a bona-fide heat wave here. Yesterday we went to Devil's Lake for the afternoon. It was a little on the crowded side: no surprise for a sweltering Saturday. Still, we got a little space in the shade for our stuff and frolicked in the water for a couple hours. Today, after we get Mr. SABLE's wardrobe straightened out, I think he'll take the boys to see Carz. I took them while he was in Germany, so now it's his turn. A good plan for a sweltering Sunday.

7 comments:

turtlegirl76 said...

Cool pic.

Interviews are tricky, but it's best to overdress than underdress. And especially in New England, they'll have a more formal approach to the interview process (this is an educated guess as a transplanted yankee) but if he went with a simple dress shirt with a tie and no jacket, he'd probably be just fine. Just make sure his shoes match his belt. ;)

Helen said...

*giggle* thanks for the laugh.

yes. the weather is awful here too. ugh.

Jerry & Maxy said...

I'm with Turtle - overdress definately. While I'm in education, under dressed folks rarely get a second glance, and I imagine that's across fields. I think your concerns about the cost of living, etc., are dead on, but it would be SO GREAT to have you in New England.

Our true heatwave has just begun today. Ugh.

Margot said...

I dunno, that's a pretty good barrel shot. Funny, you.

I can understand your ambivalence, but I, for one, am excited at the prospect of you moving to NE - because then I could meet you!

EvaLux said...

I'd overdress too... otherwise it would give the impression that you couldn't even be bothered to dress up. The interviewer can be in a t-shirt... he already has a job with the company, but the interviewee should make a good impression and personally I don't think that is made wearing a t-shirt. In Luxembourg they're pretty strict on interview clothing. Our company is pretty relaxed about the dress code thing for the everyday stuff, but if you come for an interview you'd better be wearing a suit.

Cheers Eva

MiniLaura said...

Doesn't shooting fish in a barrel mean shooting with a gun, not a camera? :D

oohhh..moving. I hate moving. Deciding to make a big move like the one you're contemplating is tough. As I get older, the less inclined I am to move. I'm sure your situation will resolve itself in a good way.

Erica said...

My hubby works for the world's first biotech company, and I concur with everyone else. The interviewers may be wearing t-shirts, shorts & flip-flops, but the interviewee should be wearing at least nice Dockers, a shirt and tie or at least a nice button-down shirt. Closed shoes.

So, Mr. Sable works in biotech? How about coming to CA and interviewing at Genentech? If you lived in our area, you could get a 3 bedroom, 1100 square foot house, circa 1944 with a postage-stamp yard for...oh...$700,000! ;->