Saturday, August 30, 2008

A friend of mine sent me this motto. I love it!

Enjoy your day!

Powerful Women's Motto: Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders & says... 'Oh crap ....she's awake!!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

I Have Three Good Fingers

Ojau, O'll asmoee it. I don'e tyoeo very weill.,

Using my three good fingers and looking down at the keyboard often is the only way I can type. It all started in high school when I just barely passed the minimum of 24 words per minute with three mistakes or less (or something like that). Then I attended a college that had a career center where students got paid to type other students papers; the only catch was you had to turn it in 4 days prior to it's due date. It was at this point in my life that I learned not to procrastinate as it was well worth it to get my work done early to avoid typing a paper.

My first few jobs required very little typing on my part, so my exceptional typing skills actually worsened. Rather pitiful.

The amount of time I have spent on a computer has steadily increased over time with different career choices, but it was actually in the voluntary fundraising positions I have held that has made me wish I had more fingers to use for typing. Begging for money often starts with an email correspondence, followed by thank you notes and continued emails.

I may actually have to break down and learn basic typing skills at age 50 as my fingers can not keep up with my thoughts! And, I get headaches looking down at the keyboard and then back up at the screen all day. I am dizzy even before my first glass of wine.

I found an online typing tutorial and keyboard program at http://www.typingweb.com/ that's free for individuals. Doing everything at home avoids the embarrassment of other people seeing just how fast my three fingers can type.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

When Did I Become the Older Woman in the Office?

Last day I worked in an office was March 12, 2004. Approximately 20 people were employed in the office and I was about the mean age of the group. Our office always had several sharp, older women as secretaries and administrative assistants and several older, upper management men while I was employed there. We also had a slew of younger people in the accounting department and in the field positions. I felt I had room to grow and the ‘ceiling’ could be inched upward as my work deemed necessary. Age never seemed to be a factor.

Jump ahead 4.5 years and now I’m OLD? How did this happen so quickly? A few months ago, I was attending a dinner party and we were discussing several projects this one man’s company was pursuing and how he was looking for an experienced project manager to handle their new project. He said that one guy he was considering had all the experience he was looking for, but that he didn’t think he wanted to invest in someone who was 50 years… too OLD! That comment starting me to think about my own career and how I will be perceived by my future employer.

Suddenly I am insecure. I start thinking about how I am a little overweight, have many wrinkles on my face and whether I should “get those taken care of” before I start interviewing for jobs! Wow. What about my qualifications and my skill set? Did I forget about these and will they really matter to the interviewer?

Secretly I worry about this in my private conversations.