Type-d'oh!

A woman I met in the MBA program has a friend Joe who is doing an ergonomics study and needed subjects, so I volunteered. The qualifications were that you had to be a "touch typist" who could type at least 40 words per minute, and be right-handed. I'm right-handed and didn't know off-hand (pardon the pun) how many words per minute I can type, but I typed the first 40 words of his email in under a minute so I figured I was okay. The study pays $15/hr., I'm currently unemployed, and I'm interested to see the results, so I volunteer.

When I get to the UW Medical Center building Joe is waiting for me, and shows me inside. He explains the study and what it will entail, and then I sign my life away. I get comfortable at my chair and he measures the height of the chair, the desk, and the distance away from the desk that I am sitting. He shows me how the keyboard has a strike-plate underneath it to measure the pressure I am putting on the keys when I strike them. Then he has me begin typing some sort of literary work that appears on the computer screen in front of me. After typing for about 3 minutes or so, he stops me. He says, "I'm sorry...This is not your fault, but, you do not qualify for this study."

So, reminisce back to 198x. When I was in grade school I actually chose to go to summer school, because it gave me a chance for social interaction that I wouldn’t normally get living out on the farm. I did have a brother and sisters, but they really were not functioning even close to my level such that I could have stimulating social time with them. (My brother was mentally retarded, and my sisters are 7 and 9 years younger than me.) My parents gave me permission to ride my bike the 5 miles into town, and I took fun classes like Spanish, German, arts & crafts, etc. But this summer, one of my classes turned out not to be so fun – typing. I can still remember Mrs. Gear clapping out A-S-D-F-J-K-L-semi. I was bored almost to tears, and Mrs. Gear was way too strict for my taste. I hated this class!

As it turned out, one day when I was riding my bike back from school my front tire got caught in the railroad tracks I crossed on my route. This sent my bike and me in different directions, and I ended up with both bones in my left forearm broken. Although the event itself was not fun, I had a quiet sense of joy when the doctor told me I had to wear a splint that covered my arm and my hand. This meant that I wouldn’t be able to type! With such a good excuse, I never had class with Mrs. Gear again (or any typing class, for that matter).

So today, after stopping me, Joe had a look of awe and disbelief on his face. He said that I type very well and very fast, but I do not use the correct fingers on the keys. Of course I know that, because I just developed my own typing style over the years, even though I never completed a typing class. I don’t really know which fingers I use on which keys; my fingers just fall where they need to. Apparently, this study was specifically to test the right ring finger, which is supposed to be used for a few specific keys if a person types the “correct” way. Joe told me that I actually alternate between using my ring finger and my middle finger. He even went so far as to say that I should consider myself talented for being able to do that and not having to look at the keys when I’m typing! So, he gave me my $7.50 for the time I spent there and sent me on my way. D’oh!

Interesting stories...

Seems like Billy Corgan's parents weren't too wise in the ways of child-rearing. Reading Billy's confessions (http://www.billycorgan.com/confession34.html), it seems like his parents would be the type to act out that Jack Handy "deep thought" about bringing the kids to an old burnt-out warehouse and saying, "Oops, looks like Disney World burned down..."

On Monday John and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary by going out on the town. Our night started with dinner at one of our favorite old haunts, La Fontana.
As always, we had a tasty meal in the quaint romantic atmosphere of this little restaurant. And, since we were there early (6pm), we were the only people there. (I think some more people came after we did, but they all ate outside, while we chose to stay inside.)

After dinner we walked over to the Moore Theater and picked up our tickets to see Billy Corgan. Our timing was impeccable, since they started letting people in just as we got our tickets. I got in line to be seated while John went back to the car to get the sweater I forgot. Since the line had stretched around the block, John only arrived about two minutes after I was seated.

The crowd at the show was very interesting. Lately we have been finding that when we go to concerts we are some of the older people in attendance. Here, however, there were a few younger people, but I would say that the majority of the attendees were thirty-something geeks. We fit right in. J No, now that I think about it, we were way out of our league as far as geekiness goes.

So, the first band to perform was The Crimea. They were so awful, I felt badly for them. Nobody could sing in key and the band was really sloppy. It reminded me of bands in high school that consisted of 4-5 people all playing their instruments as if each individual was the only person playing. The only good thing I can say about this band is that they seemed to have a lot of emotion. Although, every time the lead singer/guitarist whipped his guitar around in an apparent muscle spasm I worried that he was going to knock out either a fellow band member or some equipment. Fortunately both were spared.

During the Crimea set I noted that the volume level was almost painful, and I was regretting the fact that I forgot our earplugs. During parts where the lead singer was screaming/whining I actually plugged my ears, because otherwise I could hear my eardrums rattling. (Does anyone else ever get that sensation?)

The second band to perform was Doris Henson, from Kansas City. After The Crimea, these guys seemed awesome. I thought that the lead singer/guitarist's smile was a welcome sight after the doom and gloom of The Crimea, although John felt like he was trying to be too cute. The band's sound reminded me a little bit of They Might Be Giants, and without the screeching vocals I was able to listen without holding my fingers in my ears (though the volume was very loud nonetheless). I really enjoyed watching two of the band members in this set. The first was the rhythm guitarist, who had a very stiff, repetitive way of moving his body which reminded both John and I of his old roommate. The likeness was uncanny and hilariously familiar. The second interesting guy to watch was the trombonist. Yep, there were trombone parts built into all their songs, and it worked surprisingly well! The overweight, geeky-looking guy played it very well.

Finally the set was prepared for Billy. A black curtain was removed to reveal a background composed entirely of white tiles. The only instruments on-stage included a couple of synthesizers and a drum machine. When the band walked on the crowd got so loud that again I heard my eardrums rattling. Billy acknowledged the welcome by pointing a finger in the air. As soon as the group started to play the tiles lit up in a series of light designs, which was really cool. The only uncool thing is that the sound was so loud that I couldn't hear anything. All of the sounds were just mushed into one blob of noise, so much that I could barely tell that Billy was even singing. I had my ears plugged through the entire first few songs, but then my arms started getting tired. Since John was tired anyway from a long day at work, I suggested that we head out early. I was actually really disappointed because I couldn't hear the music because it was too loud, and if nothing else I wanted to stay for the light show but decided it wasn't worth losing my hearing for.

Photo by Will Pham.

Happy Birthday to John! Today marks the 31st anniversary of his birth, and no, I don't think he feels a year older today.  

Blog Without Pictures

Mercyskye is right. Like a song without words, I can have a blog without pictures. The thing is, I never felt a need to have a blog for anything but posting pictures. I'm kind of at a loss as to this blog's purpose now, so I guess I'll try my hand at ranting.

Job searching is one of the most degrading activities that I have engaged in. I had an interview this afternoon, which of course means that for the day leading up to it and the day of the interview, I'm pretty stressed out. I'm constantly trying to think of what questions they're going to ask, how I'm going to answer, how I'm going to set myself apart from the other candidates, do I know enough about the company, etc., etc. I do a ton of preparation, spend I don't know how long getting my clothes ironed, hair done right, make-up perfect, and get to the interview 15 minutes early just in case I hit traffic or get lost. Then I'm greeted by an HR person who wants to know my complete salary history. That's a pretty personal question for someone who just met me! After asking me some questions, she says, "Okay, well, since you don't have any product management experience, we would probably be bringing you on as a JUNIOR product manager." Does someone with 8 years of business experience and an MBA who made the dean's list really deserve only a junior level position?

After my HR interview, two guys come in for a follow-up interview. One is a product manager who has been there for 3 months, and the other is the VP of Product Strategy and Business Development. They seem distant, and ask me dumb questions like how I would sell their product to plumbers. At the end of the interview they ask me if I have any questions, and I say that one of them is about exactly what the job description is, since the HR representative couldn't give me one. They say they have 7 product management positions opening up in different areas. I ask, "So, which one do you see me in?" The VP says, "Honestly, I don't know, since you don't have any product management experience." These people could have seen on my resume that I didn't have any product management experience! If prior experience was a requirement, why did they have me prepare for an interview? I feel like they had already written me off before the interview even started, and this was all just a big waste of my time.