Things I Want to Do in the Next Few Months

Here are some of the things I am hoping to do/accomplish over the course of the next few months.  These goals aren't part of any bucket list--maybe a basket list instead...

Vacation in Vegas

I am hoping to vacation in Las Vegas this summer.  I usually travel to Las Vegas once a year.  Over the past few years, I've taken the trip at different times of the year--sometimes in winter and sometimes in summer.  I always have fun, though I never seem to win any money.  More importantly, I usually get the chance to connect with friends who live in Vegas or further west.  And I LOVE the buffets!  Unfortunately, so does my waistline, lol.  I might have to invest in a good camera before/if I head out to Vegas this summer.  The camera on my smartphone does not take good night pictures (or great daytime photos for that matter).  


The above photographs are from my last Las Vegas trip; I used the camera in my Android smartphone to take them.




Get a Job


I think that my decision on whether or not to travel to Las Vegas in the next few months will depend on when/if I land a full-time job.  After I finished grad school in May, I came back to my hometown to help Dad with some things.  I have more or less completed that task and have begun the job hunt.  I decided that--at least at first--I will not use any connections to try to help me land a job because I want to understand the process fully--from resume creation to job application to negotiation/interviews to employment.  Well, I've been at it for about a three weeks now (so still relatively early in the process) and no luck yet.  While I can't yet convey to you what will work, I can probably tell you some of the things that are ineffective.  They include, sending e-mails customer service with an attached resume in the hopes that a friendly customer service representative will forward it along to HR (or for small companies whatever passes for HR); looking at profiles of unaffiliated people on Linkedin (without sending them a message) in the hopes that this action will peak their interest enough for them to review your profile and call you (highly ineffective); posting your CV on a job search site (ineffective for me).  Well, I did say that I wanted to understand the process, and I am learning something from my failures.


Photo courtesy of Microsoft Office.




Read George R. R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons

I enjoyed reading the previous books in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series and look forward to purchasing and reading A Dance with Dragons sometime soon.  While the reviews of the book on Amazon.com were mixed, the grade is still average to above average.  Either way, good or bad, I probably need to read the book because it sets things up for the finale to the series (which should encompass two more books).


Photo from the Books A Million (r) website.  The link is:


http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Dance-Dragons/George-RR-Martin/Q814546307