So it goes...

So my daughter got her first "real" job out of college this week. She will be working for the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute at the University of Minnesota. It was one of two U of M jobs she interviewed for last week. She was offered both, and took this one, as it seemed more challenging and like a better fit. As a parent, there is nothing more satisfying than the sound of your kid getting a job. (A paraphrase from a friend.) That first job after an education is always the hardest. Convincing a potential employer that you are better than the part time job you're currently working is the tricky part. Once you do that and successfully land a job in a career field, you have a leg up as you begin to build experience. You're "in the system" so to speak. It's all skill building and networking after that. My friend Bill in the CADD room at Intelligraphics Inc. in 1988 My first job out of college was not nearly as lucrative as my daughter's, but ...

My wife reminded me that this weekend is the twenty seventh anniversary of our first meeting. The full story has been blogged about before in my Mail Order Bride post. She mentioned that the decision to be brave and come and visit me from NY to Milwaukee changed the trajectory of her life forever. It changed mine too. Her brother, who now lives in Milwaukee mentioned it changed his life too. (He went to Carroll College, lived with us for a couple years and stayed in the area after graduating.) When you think of it, it's kind of stunning how one decision can change the lives of three people. I happens every day I suppose, but sometimes it gets lost in the big picture. I think back to the biggest, bravest step I took. It was during the summer of 1986. I had been  unemployed for nearly six months. My unemployment checks were starting to count down to zero. Strangely enough, after a softball game one night, I ran into one of my co-workers who was laid off at the same time. He ...