Ecommerce Employment Opportunities Heating Up

I have been fortunate in my career to be on recruiters' radar screens.  Part of it has to do with how rapidly the ecommerce space is growing, part of it has to do with what I've been able to do in my career, part of it is that I've always taken recruiter calls and actively helped them to connect to potential candidates (keeping me in good stead for future opportunities) and part of it is related to actions I've taken to make myself found (e.g. LinkedIn profile design, speaking at industry events, being quoted in press releases, etc.)

At the start of the year, though, contacts from headhunters died down to nothing.  This had me worried that I had slipped off the grid somehow, and actually had me professionally concerned.

It turns out it had to be something else, as in the past month I've been solicited to for six different opportunities - all of them but one for household brands.  Every one of them cherry jobs, at least based on the job descriptions.  

I've never seen the space as active as it is right now, and it is fun to watch.

The growth in the ecommerce industry continues unabated.  It is a great place for a career - either as a starting place, or for someone like me in the middle of their career.

Woman Raped Despite 911 Call

This is absolutely sickening:



What kind of society are we becoming?  Obviously one that will need to fend for itself.  

As local budgets continue to implode and the economy continues to swirl the toilet, we've not heard the last of calls like this.  What a sick culture we've become.

Now, tell me again about the "war on women."

The lesson in all of this is that the only person that is responsible for your safety is ultimately you.  Have a plan and protect yourself, because there may be a day (perhaps sooner than you think) where there will be no one to do it for you.

Post Vacation Status

After 11 straight days at the cabin, reality set in at work.  While I worked most days while on vacation, it was not enough and I'm way behind.  I put in a 13 hour day yesterday, and since my wife works until 9 tonight, there's no reason for me to go home, so it will likely be another marathon.

The good news is that I was able to go in the first place.  If not for some key folks on my team that picked up my slack, it would have been impossible.  Hence, I'm very lucky.

So the bad news is that the to-do list is daunting.  The good news is that I'm refreshed, energized, and grateful for the time I was able to spend with my friends and family and the memories we created.  

Onward.  But first a quick look back:

Next Update on Book Cover

It needs work (and I'll be forwarding my edits to Lulu when I return from vacation), but here's the latest pass on the book's dust cover:

 

"How's Your Mom Doing?"

Being up at the lake, I can't help but to think of my Dad and all of the time that he spent up here. The memories of him are thick in the cabin, at the resort, and on the lake.

Maybe that's why I dreamt of him a couple of nights ago.  Since he died, I've had maybe five dreams about my Dad.  It is very rare, and, frankly, has left me pretty unfulfilled.

So when I saw him in my dream, I was excited.  I remember telling him how much I missed him and how often I thought of him.  He looked kind of disappointed, and ultimately spoke, "How's your Mom doing?"

And with that he turned and walked away, and in true dream fashion, went to an area where I could not reach or speak to him.   

I awoke with a vivid memory of the dream, and bothered that it was such a lousy interaction.  I wasn't sure why he said what he said, and was wondering if the Jack Daniel's the night before was just wreaking havoc with my subconscious.

But then as I was fishing I though more about it.  And I think the message Dad was trying to send was something along the lines of stop pining for a parent that is no longer here and enjoy the one you still have.

Another pretty good piece of advice from the old man.  He's still got it.

The Biggest Fish of My Life

I was given a hot tip on where the walleyes were lurking - in the shallows, and in the reeds.  I floated into a likely area, pitched out a minnow-tipped jig, and immediately reeled in a keeper walleye.  Turns out the information from Swanson's Bait was correct indeed.

On my second cast I got hung up, and on my third cast I got bit off.  I loaded up the hook and pitched into the shallows again, and immediately felt what could have been a bite, but as I pulled in the thing at the other end of the line felt like it was too big to be a fish.

I thought at first I was hung up again, but was making headway in reeling in.  Out of the shallow water appeared to be a sizable log that I was bringing up to the boat, except that the log suddenly moved its tail.

It happened to be a giant fish.

The fish gave me a good look on its first pass, and it wasn't really fighting me yet.  I noted it was a giant muskie, and also noted that my hook set was such that the monster would not be able to cut my line with its massive teeth.  I had a chance at landing this fish; I'd just need to tire her out.

About the time I got a good look at her, she got a good look at me and made her first run.  My drag screamed as she sailed out about 20 yards, and I quickly changed my reel to allow me to back reel as she made runs instead of relying on the drag.  

Back and forth we went, with me hauling her close, her getting spooked, me back reeling to try and keep the line from breaking, her easing up, and me reeling her in again.  Finally, after five or six runs, she appeared tired enough to try and net.  Since I was by myself, this was not an easy feat.  I missed badly on my first and second attempts, which led to multiple additional runs by the muskie.  However, on my third attempt I was able to get her nose buried in the bottom of the net and flip her into the boat while the back portion of her spilled over the outside of the net.

She landed with a thud on the boat floor and my jig popped out.  She thrashed about the floor, and I wanted to get a measurement on her quickly and get her back into the water.  I did not have a tape with me, so I got my size 11 feet next to her and walked off three feet plus a third - somewhere between 36" and 40".  She was far and away the biggest fish I ever caught in my life.

I snapped a quick shot of her:

I went to grab her by the back of the head to lift her and release her, but her head was too large for me to get my hand around.  Fortunately for me, she was still thrashing around, and I was on a pontoon, so I opened the front door of the boat and guided her thrashing until she thrashed herself right out the open door and into the lake.

Upon hitting the water, she was upright but stationary for a couple of seconds, but quickly came back to her full senses and swam off.

Me? I just stood there shaking.

I sent some quick texts of the photo to buddies, made a quick call, then got ready to go fishing again.  I picked up my jig, and noticed that, based on how much it had bent, I got pretty lucky that I landed the fish at all: 

I'll likely never catch another fish like that muskie ever again.  I don't fish for them, and they're renown as being "the fish of ten thousand casts."  I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.  I won the fish lotto.

It was just dumb luck, and a lot of it.  And it made for a great memory; one I clearly will never forget. 

Woman in Oklahoma Gets Second Prayer Answered

There's a lot I could say about this woman and her incredible perspective, but I'll let you discover for yourself:

 

Pauly's Fish, Part 2

Last year I told you about my buddy Pauly, and his triumphant return to Leech Lake for some walleye fishing. 

Well, he came up again this year.  Indeed, the Gang of Four were reunited, just like we had been for so many years.  We ate a bunch, drank a bunch, watched Blazing Saddles, Hunt for Red October, and Under Siege for the 48th time.  And we also fished.

Here is the team.  Given JP's grin, somebody was likely just talked about.

 

The first fish?  Well, that would be Pauly.  Again.  All told two walleyes were caught as the four of us fished.  Pauly caught both.

 Pauly came a long way to go fishing with us - literately and figuratively.  Judging by the smile, I'd say it was worth it.

So we conclude another gathering of the Gang of Four.  Nobody got hurt; permanently anyway, and hurt feelings don't count.  Hence, it was a success.  No, we didn't catch enough to have a fish fry.  But judging by Pauly's smile, we did catch enough.  We did indeed.