Down to Four Bucks a Day Now

 I thought it would be good to update the Cost per Day for the Drama Playset.  We have now owned the Drama Playset since January 14, 2022.  

Conservative Estimate:  I'm assuming that 4 kids using the playset most days equals one kid using it daily.  Also, we have had an additional kid most of the year.

So using the time and date duration calculator to figure the time between January 14, 2022, when it finally arrived, and today this year, I get 1172 days.  

that works out to $6000/1172 = $5.92 per use.

Slightly Optimistic Estimate:  If we get more optimistic, then we can assume 4 kids using the playset most days equals two kids using it every day.

That works out to $6000/1172/2 = $2.56 per use.

If we take the average of these two values, we get the more like CPU of $3.84.

So as we have owned this for 3 years and some change, it costs $4 to keep my kids entertained and off their iPads.

Same as Always

In the month of February two recruiters reached out to me about contract positions at Law Firm A and B.  Recruiter A used the customary safe language of no promises but probably 3-6 months and might extend, with a slim possibility of going to FTE (Full-time Employment).

Recruiter B said the role would convert to FTE if things looked like a good fit.  This is the new normal because it's easier to offboard a contractor than a FTE.

There were 3 possibilities:  1) they both make offers and I have to choose; 2) only one makes an offer and it's pretty academic.  3) neither make an offer and I'm back to square one.

In the interest of not extending the suspense, neither made an offer, deciding to go with that person I always lose out to: Mr. Stronger Candidate.

Law Firm A just had me do one interview with the director I'd be working for and I recognized her name from when I was a support engineer at the No-Name Software Company.  I thought we had a good interview, certainly better than many of the ones I've had over the years.  Truthfully, I hoped she'd hire me and even if it only lasted 6 months it would 1) get me back in the game and 2) bring in some sorely needed income.

Law Firm B was a different story.  The first guy I interviewed with wanted, if hired, me to start FTE from the get-go.  Naturally, I said I would but this was not something I was prepared for during the interview.. it was quite a surprise.  The feedback was that he felt I'd be a good fit for the team, but let's see how the technical goes.

One issue was like always, they needed me to live in a particular state where they have an office.  And guess what, Tennessee would qualify!  All I would have to do was get an apartment and work from there.

But they still tried to find someone else.  I got a call from a 3rd recruiter for the same role!

The timeline gets fuzzy but eventually, Law Firm B schedules three back-to-back-back 30-minute interviews with some people.  Someone from the business side, a guy I actually interviewed with last year (who swears he was advocating for me then and now), and a director.  

In the end, they decided to go with someone else.  The good thing about this experience was the recruiters didn't abandon me, they were in relatively constant communication all along and even tried to help coach me.

The bad thing is that this shouldn't have taken as long as it did.  I can see mulling it over for a day or two but to make a candidate wait a week and then a weekend just to tell him that you're going in another direction is just cruel and insensitive.  

Winter Beard

 As it happened, we got our kids haircuts at the beginning of the year.  The place we go to has a punch card for adults and my was full, so I got my hair cut too.  But that day (January 4th I do believe) kicked off an experiment.  I decided to grow a beard. 

I've always had Weird Beard.. In my 20s, if I shaved on Monday, I would not get 5 o’clock shadow until about noon on Thursday.  Later in my 30s, the stubble showed up sooner, but it was still like nothing, nothing, nothing, then boom: 5 o’clock shadow that looked like I hadn’t shaved in a week.

I never minded because I’m not a beard, mustache, or goatee person.  And while the stubble grows faster as I have accumulated more spins around the sun, it still took probably longer than one would expect.  it was a good two weeks before anyone really noticed.  It was a good month and a half before the pepper was more noticeable than the salt in the salt and pepper beard.

Most people, including Nightingale liked it. In fact a lot of people who said they liked it also asked if Nightingale liked it.  There is one Friend-From-High-School who was against it but this is more about a relatively recent spat we've had on the Book of Faces and her opinion has no currency.

I personally didn't really like it.  it's itchy, scratch and I have to trim it to keep from looking like a cooter.  I was only gonna keep the beard until middle of February but I extended it to the middle of March.  I trimmed most of it off this week and will eventually get around to being clean shaven again, probably when Spring officially starts.

I might do Winter Beard next year but maybe not.