Headhunters

Within 2 hours of posting my resume online I received my first call. By noon the following day I had received 20 calls. Now, still only one week later, I am constantly hearing the ring of my own cell phone.

I have begun keeping a spreadsheet to track each contact, with each company, what jobs they have to offer, the pay, the location....and so on. With all of the jobs out there, it seems that Colorado is apparently all stocked up on OTs. I've heard many reasons including no required licensure, great environment, close to OT program...and so on. No one is optimistic that I will find a job in the area.

It is kind of fun to talk about different locations with these recruiters. So far I've leared where Farmington, NM...Gallipolis, OH...Zanesville, OH...are located as well as considered the coast of Maine, Portland, Tennessee, Nevada, Utah...even now I am on the phone with a recruiter who just called....They may have toll-free numbers, but I still have to keep an eye on my cell phone minutes.

So I am hoping to stay in this area and at the same time find a job that will be a good fit for me personally and in terms of career development.

Fall, Bugling, and Silly Questions

Last weekend Rob and I drove to Rocky Mt. National Park to see the leaves and hear the elk. It was a wonderful day, nicely timed to see the beginning of the leaves changing. Even the drive up the canyon was prettier than I remembered.

In the park we enjoyed the expected clumps of tourists gawking at some elk standing near the side of the road. There was one woman in particular who was not shy or quiet with her wildlife comments - about and to the animals! A few days later I saw a bit on the local news with an interview of a park ranger. This ranger said he'd been overwhelmed with the silly nature of some of the questions tourists would ask. "How old are the deer when they turn into elk?" Or similarly, "At what elevation do deer become elk?" While there might not be any stupid questions, I still think there are definitely silly ones!

And yes, there were many elk. While I had been into the park several times before, this was the first time that I'd heard the elk bugle! It was amazing to sit watching a bull with his cows and hear him call to another bull out of sight and hear that bull call back.

The last thing we did was hike to Cub Lake. I had done this hike with my dad about 10 years ago and have wanted to go back from the moment we left. It was a short hike, still longer than I remembered, and well worth the effort to reach the lake again!

October

It is October 1, and that means it is time to add another goal to the list!

I talked to Connie (my friend and teammate in monthly goals) and mentioned that I would like to expand the scope of my goals beyond just exercise and food related ones for a few reasons. First off, life is more than food and exercise. Secondly, I feel like I would be better able to incorporate goals without burn-out if they all don't center around food. Spacing those food/exercise goals out among ones of other areas might allow me more time to incorporate them as habits rather than rushing onto another facet of food consumption.

So, my goal for October is to be a daily flosser. I know, exciting!

Love - It's what makes a Subaru a Subaru

I got a call this morning from my mechanic saying my car was done and working as intended! Better yet, I was also told that the total cost of repairs and parts came in at $200 less than the lower end of the estimate range. This is not the first time that my mechanic has provided quality repairs at a price below the initial estimate. It feels great to have a place to take my car and not have to worry that I will be taken advantage of! So thanks to Wayne and Joe for taking such good care of me and my car! Now I very well may have enough money left over from the accident to repair the damage to my car door!

Looking for a good mechanic near you? Check out the Mechanics Files to find one near you!

The Job Search

So I have been job-hunting lately. It seems that many of the "promising" leads early on have fizzled out. Today I started up my profile on a networking site (www.linkedin.com) in hopes of revealing potential job connections. While I am still looking for some local options, it appears there are many occupational therapy themed groups. It is a place to start!

Don's Towing Service

Yesterday I watched Don, a bearded man with a long, white ponytail, cart my car away. He laughed at me for being sad, but I really was.

I was sad for the inconvenience of being without my car for a week or two. Sad for the bill that will come at the end of that time. But mostly sad to see my car out of commission, ratcheted down on a flatbed truck...a giant paper weight...or small storage locker...but not the lively vehicle that has taken me to many places over the past few years. It is the first car that I felt safe driving in the snow - we easily went snowshoeing, Christmas tree cutting, and the car brought me safely between Laramie and Loveland and Glenwood Springs and Loveland in many terrible snow storms. This is the car that Emily and Aidan and I drove to Oregon to visit Megan. So seeing my car, unable to be driven, I was sad as Don towed it away.

The "T word"

My car started having some troubles staying in 5th gear, and after some research online I decided to take the car into my mechanic to see what might be the issue. I had some small hopes that instead of a giant, costly repair it would be a simple fix. Unfortunately my mechanic used the "T word"....transmission.

Despite assurances that I had time, my transmission has given up the ghost. It really couldn't be much more convenient...considering. I was pulling into a friend's driveway when it ceased working altogether, and I do have some funds from an earlier accident that will now be allocated to new repairs. (Who would have ever thought that a minor accident would be such a blessing now!?)

So now I will get to juggle commitments with borrowing vehicles and getting more exercise by biking to nearby errands! (silver lining!) Hopefully the next few weeks will continue to go smoothly with speedy repairs and such!