Job Hunting: Worse than Real Hunting?

 Ever since I graduated college and started looking for work in my field of study, I've noticed how difficult looking for a job can be. Some positions are very easy to apply for, while others require applicants to jump through hoops and/or require a certain number of years of experience, even for entry level positions. It can be a lot more complicated than hunters looking for game out in the wild.

The Internet has simplified job applications and interviews. People can submit their resumes, cover letters and other pertinent details online. Companies routinely hold interviews via Zoom or other similar services nowadays. However, this ease doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be able to land the job that you want.

Today's job hunters have short attention spans. They want to be able to apply for jobs in a matter of moments. No one enjoys having to fill out personality questionnaires or endure a series of complicated and often unnecessary steps just to express their interest in a particular opening. If one listing takes too much time, they'll gladly move on to the next opening. 

Communication is essential between interviewers and interviewees. I lost count years ago of the jobs that I applied for and heard no response. I understand that some organizations receive countless applications, but that still doesn't mean that a company can't take a few seconds to send a quick email or text message, especially if a person interviewed but was not selected for a particular job. 

I can definitely understand job seekers' frustrations. After all, they just want to be treated with decency, dignity and respect, just like any other human being would. I'm not surprised to see certain applicants "ghost" companies after years of never hearing back from human resources or hiring managers about the jobs that they applied for. 

I'm not saying that ghosting is acceptable in any situation, but a little respect and effort can definitely go a long way. Sometimes, it seems like large corporations have lost their personal touch. I'll never forget the rejection letter that I received by a particular company after an interview years ago. The person who sent the letter signed "Human Resources" instead of their name in the signature line! I joked that I should have sent a response card and signed it "Applicant." 

Life isn't always easy in our Covid world. Workers are deciding that they want more pay, substantial benefits and to be treated fairly. They want a better work-life balance. It's tough to see people working multiple jobs barely getting by while CEOs and other executive level personnel are being paid thousands of times more money than the average employee's salary. The minimum wage in the U.S. hasn't changed in 12 years, while the cost of rent/mortgages/property, food, utilities and many other items have increased exponentially. Some people are having to choose between food or buying their prescriptions, paying for medical care or housing. We can do better, America.

Well, that's all for now. Until next time, have a great week, everyone!

Bucky's 2021 Year in Review

 Things finally started to get back to somewhat normal this year. Even though there were still rules and restrictions due to Covid, it was nice to get out and enjoy live music and the company of family and friends this year.

My first music event was in February during Super Bowl weekend. I made the seven hour drive to the Rust Belt in East Moline, IL for a songwriting session featuring members of Sevendust, Breaking Benjamin, Saul and Three Days Grace. The area was hit by a snow storm just days before, and even though it was cold, it was still a fun time. Some of us congregated at a nearby bar the next night to watch the big game. My team didn't make the playoffs, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a good win. 

I returned to the Quad Cities area the following month for another songwriting session, this time at the Attic studio in Geneseo, IL. My friends and I attended the session and then went to cheer on session attendee and our friend Justin and his band Alborn at the battle of the bands competition at the fairgrounds in nearby Davenport, IA. Alborn won the contest and the right to open for Shinedown later in the year. Some of us went out to dinner at a sushi restaurant and even bowled a few frames at a local alley afterwards. It was nice to get together for breakfast the next morning before going our separate ways. 

I bought tickets for Sevendust's three livestream shows, where the band played through their Animosity, Seasons and Home albums. I finally got to see the band play live again for the first time since 2019 during a run of four consecutive dates this summer. The first show was at the Rust Belt in East Moline. Alborne, Kirra and Austin Meade were the opening acts. I had a great time with friends who had traveled from several states to see our favorite band. I also got to catch up with rhythm guitarist John Connolly, drummer Morgan Rose and lead singer Lajon Witherspoon for a few minutes outside the arena after the show. 

The next show was in Fargo, ND. I was able to head home during the off day between shows and make the trek to the concert that was held in a brewery parking lot on a very hot day. I attended the meet and greet with other fans and had another great time!

The next shows were in Iowa. The first one was at a biker rally in Algona. I reserved a room at a nearby hotel (where Sevendust just happened to be staying) and eventually found the stage and a few friends. Royal Bliss was one of the openers, and I enjoyed hearing their tunes for the first time in a few years. After finding my car in the dark, I returned to the hotel and started looking forward to meeting up with friends at the next show in Cedar Rapids. 

The Cedar Rapids show was held at the beautiful Paramount Theatre. The venue itself is a work of art! I attended soundcheck and got to sit on the stage and talk baseball with Morgan for a bit. I was upfront for the show again, and grabbed one of Morgan's drumsticks that had rolled my way during the song "Denial." I hung out with a few friends after the concert before making the drive back home just before the 4th of July holiday. 

I didn't see the band again until September, when they embarked on a headlining tour with Mark Tremonti's solo band as support. I returned to the Apollo Theater in Belvidere, IL for the first time in four years. I grabbed some lunch with friends after soundcheck and enjoyed another amazing Sevendust show (my 38th so far). I got a couple of guitar picks and bought Sevendust and Tremonti shirts at the theater before heading home the following day.

My first Minnesota concert in two years was in October and headlined by Cold, which was also the last band that I saw perform live before Covid. They put on a great show at the small Turf Club in downtown St. Paul. I participated in the pre-show meet and greet with the band and special guest Sierra Swan (a MN resident who sang two songs at the show) as well.

My last concert of the year was supposed to be in Florida. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. I was going to attend a show in Clearwater FL featuring Sevendust, Tremonti and Daughtry. The show was later postponed until late February due to the sudden passing of Daughtry's stepdaughter. I still had a great week in Florida. The weather was great, and it was good spending time with friends (and doggies) at the beach, a few good meals and a couple of Tampa Bay Lightning hockey wins. It was difficult returning to the frozen tundra after enjoying a week of 80-plus degree days. 

These were my highlights of the year in a nutshell. Unfortunately I haven't been able to upload all the images from my Facebook page that I want for this article yet due to some file format differences. However, if you're a Facebook friend of mine, you can view those images at your leisure. 2021 was a weird year, Politics and the pandemic are still polarizing issues. I'm still hopeful that people can put aside their differences and work together to try and improve the state of our world.

I'm already looking forward to new music and adventures in 2022, even though I don't know when my first trip will be just yet. I'll be celebrating a milestone birthday, and am going to try and concentrate on doing more things that I enjoy. I also want to have a better work/life balance. We'll see how well I do at those goals by this time next year.

That's all for now. Until next time, have a safe and happy holiday weekend, everyone!

Enough About Brandon

 The phrase "let's go Brandon" has popped up on social media quite a bit lately. It originated at a NASCAR race in Alabama last month. The winning driver, Brandon Brown, was being interviewed by television media after his win. The broadcaster assumed that the crowd was cheering for the victorious driver, when in reality many of them were repeating a vulgar insult about the president.

Talking in code like that was something that I hadn't seen since my public school days. It wasn't cool then,  and it definitely isn't acceptable now. I didn't vote for Joe Biden, but I don't think that he deserves to have profanity thrown at him. I'm glad that he has been taking the Coronavirus seriously and urging people to get vaccinated and has been trying to improve our infrastructure despite resistance from his opposing party. I cannot stand Donald J. Trump, but I'd like to think that this kind of behavior is something that no one deserves, regardless of who you voted for. Enough about Brandon already, mmkay?

Well, that's all for now. Until next time, have a great day and don't forget to be kind to one another. 

2021 Minnesota Twins Year in Review

 When I think about this year's Twins season that just concluded yesterday in Kansas City, disappointing and underperforming are two of the words that first come to mind. It was difficult to think that the two time defending American League Central champions would fall out of contention so quickly. I don't think anyone thought that this team would wind up last in the division.

It seems like this team's troubles began in April when several players were unavailable to play due to Covid-19. Injuries, errors, ineffectiveness and underwhelming pitching performances plagued this team all season long. Just when it seemed like there were a few rays of hope, the team would go into a funk or lose a key player. 

Some of the highlights of this season were:

1. Jorge Polanco. The team's former starting shortstop made a successful transition to second base. He also had a career year at the plate, finishing with a .269 batting average, 33 home runs (breaking Chili Davis' 1991 record for home runs by a switch hitter) and 98 runs batted in. 

2. Byron Buxton. Buxton hit a career high 19 home runs this year in only 61 games. However, he missed several months with injuries. Diehard Twins fans have wondered how Buxton would do if he played a complete season. He won the American League Player of the Month in April and finished strong. Hopefully this is just a taste of what's to come next year.

3. Luis Arraez. Arraez finished second on the team in hits with 126 and played multiple positions in the infield and outfield this season. He ended up with a .294 average and 43 RBI. He will undoubtedly find a place in the lineup for most games again next year. 

Some disappointments were:

1. Andrelton Simmons. The Gold Glove winning shortstop was brought in to anchor the Twins' infield defense. He came into this season as a career .270 hitter. He ended the year with a paltry .223 average in 412 at bats and 12 errors at short. Simmons wound up losing playing time to rookie Nick Gordon at times in the last two months of the season.  Andrelton has long been known for years as an excellent defensive player and has saved plenty of runs, but I can't foresee the Twins resigning him to another contract after a subpar season. 

2. Miguel Sano. Even though Sano crushed 30 home runs in 135 games this year, he also struck out an astonishing 183 times in 470 at AB's (that's 38.9 percent of his at bats). He also got off to his typical slow start and his defense at first base was less than stellar (16 errors). With the Nelson Cruz trade in July, Sano may find himself in the DH role more often in 2022, with Alex Kiriloff, utilityman Willians Astudillo or even Arraez spending time at first. 

3. Pitching. Most fans (myself included) were amazed by how poorly the Twins pitching staff performed this year. I'm not surprised that 35 different players (including Astudillo) took the mound for the team this year. Jose Berrios did well before being traded to Toronto (7-5 with a 3.48 ERA in 20 starts) and team wins leader Michael Pineda (9-8, 3.62 ERA in 22 games) finished strong. Former Cy Young Award candidate Kenta Maeda underwent Tommy John surgery (after a 6-5 record and 4.66 ERA in 21 starts) and may not be available to pitch at all next season. That leaves a lot of holes in the rotation to fill. Bailey Ober (3-3, 4.19), Joe Ryan (2-1, 4.05 ERA in 5 starts) and Griffin Jax (4-5, 6.37) showed what they could do, but the rotation will probably still need some help.

The bullpen was fairly solid for the most part. Alex Colome (4-4, 4.15 ERA and 17 saves in 24 opportunities) anchored the back end after the usually reliable Taylor Rogers went on the injured list. Tyler Duffey and Jorge Alcala were solid, but there were some regrettable outings from Randy Dobnak, Edward Garcia and others. The Twins may need to spend some more money on bullpen help or make a few trades to find the right components. The team has a history of taking a risk on low dollar veteran pitchers, but it may be time to pursue a few vets with proven track records who want to pitch in Minnesota. 

Despite a bad year, there were still some signs of promise. Josh Donaldson played well when healthy and rookies Kiriloff and Trevor Larnach did well in limited duty before going down with injuries. Second year player Brent Rooker also played well at corner outfield spots and as a DH during his time with the Twins and at their AAA affiliate in nearby St. Paul. I wouldn't be surprised if veterans Jake Cave and/or Max Kepler were released or traded to allow these young players to have more time playing corner outfield spots alongside Buxton.

Manager Rocco Baldelli will have plenty of decisions to make for 2022. He's usually trying to figure out where to put Arraez in the lineup and on the field. Now he also has to come up with a capable pitching staff, and figure out where his rookies and reserves fit in the mix. It isn't going to be easy, but I'm optimistic that this team can rebound quickly. Hopefully it won't be long until the Minnesota Twins return to the playoffs. Now if we could just figure out how to beat the Yankees or win a playoff game....

That's all for now. Until next time, have a great week! 

Blogging in a Covid world

 Hi everyone,

I took a break from this site, but it wasn't intentional. I had every reason of blogging regularly when I had something to say, until I had to eventually replace my computer. My old laptop was handy, but it was getting to the point where I couldn't update certain programs and access my blog with it anymore. It's not gone yet but will probably be retired soon.

A lot has changed in the world since I last wrote here. We've had a change in leadership in the White House. We've also had to deal with the global Coronavirus pandemic. Lots of things shut down for a while and we had to readjust our lives. Things are starting to get back to somewhat normal, but it's probably going to be a while. Some things may never go back to normal, which isn't all bad.

I'm thankful that no one in my family or network of friends have contracted the virus, but I do know a few friends of the family who have. Most of them have pulled through and many people I know have been vaccinated. However, I do know of a few friends of the family who lost their lives to the virus. One was a person who was vaccinated. My heart goes out to their family and loved ones, and everyone who has been affected by it.

The one thing I don't like is how politicized the virus has become. It's pitting friends and family against one another at times, and it really doesn't need to be that way. Masks aren't fun to wear, especially to those of us who wear glasses like me, but it's a minor inconvenience in comparison to being seriously ill, intubation or even death. Masks have always been about protecting others than yourself during the pandemic, anyway. 

This virus is a real concern for everyone in the world. It doesn't discriminate and it does not know about or care what your political affiliation is. I'm amazed at the people who follow politicians' advice instead of doctors and other health professionals. Some health experts have even been shunned because they've given different advice as knowledge and situations regarding the virus has changed. I never thought I would be living through things like that. Personally, I trust the medical and health experts over politicians any day when it comes to handling a worldwide pandemic. I have nothing but the utmost trust and respect for anyone working in the medical field over the last two years. 

I've heard talk of possible booster shots eight months after vaccination. I'm perfectly fine with doing that. To me, it's not much different than an annual flu shot. I barely felt the first vaccination shot and the second dose left me tired and achy the day after, but I've been in very good health ever since. 

I'm glad that I've been able to attend a few concerts this summer (I went to four consecutive Sevendust shows at the end of June/beginning of July, but that's a story for another post) and that people can gather in public at shows, ballgames and other events. Each venue and business has their own rules and regulations, and I see no problem with that at all. Whatever we can do to reduce the spread is great in my book.

Well that's all for now. Just checking in now that I can access my blog again. Looking forward to another couple of shows at least later this year. Until next time, have a great weekend and don't forget to be kind to one another. 

Everyone Matters

Hi Everyone!

I wasn't planning on posting again so soon, but I'm finding that writing is very therapeutic in this chaotic world that we're living in right now. It helps me escape from the stress and negative that I'm seeing myself and others getting caught up in.

Things have gotten to the point where I haven't watched the news in weeks. I try to avoid it on social media, but of course it's everywhere, along with other people's opinions. I'm all for having differences of opinions and rational discussions about those opinions, but I'm getting really tired of people criticizing, ridiculing or insulting others who don't think the same way as they do. We all have different perspectives.

I've even seen people insult others who post that "all lives matter" instead of saying that "black lives matter." Of course black lives matter. Racism is wrong. It always has been, and it always will be. The way I see it, people who are saying that "all lives matter" aren't trying to ignore black lives. It seems to me that they're just trying to include people of other races and cultures. After all:
Native American lives matter.
Asian lives matter.
European lives matter.
Canadian lives matter.
Animal lives matter.
All living species matter.
Every living organism is important.

There's also a lot of talk and controversy lately surrounding recent movements to defund police departments. From what I understand, this doesn't mean getting rid of police departments altogether. It sounds like they just want to allocate some of those funds to other services and departments that have been underfunded. I don't have enough knowledge on the subject just yet, so I'm not going to state my opinion on it.

I'm at the point where if you want to follow Trump, go for it. The same thing if you want to follow Biden. In fact, if you tell me that one plus one equals five, I'm okay with that. Think and believe what you want to believe. Just don't treat others poorly because they don't share your same perspective. I'm tired of pointless, counterproductive arguments.

Well, that's enough for today. Time to get back to listening to music and anticipating the days when we can enjoy live concerts in person once again. Until next time, have a great day and be kind to one another.

Ghosting is Bad, Mmkay?

Hi everyone,

I wasn't planning on writing anything until I had a good conversation online with a friend this morning. He brought up the subject of ghosting. He didn't like the fact that a casual friend had blocked him and basically ghosted him when all he was trying to check in and see how that person was doing. It reminded me of a former friend who did things that were very similar to what he was describing to myself and others.

Ghosting is defined as "the practice of ending a personal relationship with someone by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication." By that definition, I guess I've ghosted a few people in my time. However, these actions are usually not intentional. Most times it was just because I lost contact with the other person and didn't know how to reach them. This was especially true before the Internet, when people would change schools or move out of town. I don't intentionally stop talking to someone unless they treat myself or others poorly, or they sit back and allow such treatment to happen. I'm nice to everyone, but I don't have time for nonsense. I'd rather focus my energies and attention on people who treat others how they want to be treated.

I've been ghosted by more than a few people in my lifetime, and I'm sure it will continue to happen. Most times, I don't even give it a second thought. Intentional ghosting is a form of emotional abuse. It's immature and unacceptable. I may think about it once in a while, but I try not to let ghosting bring me down, because I know that I deserve better than that.

If anyone feels that I've ever intentionally ghosted them, I want to personally apologize for that. If you feel like I cut you off on social media, please know that I would dream of hurting anyone. I don't communicate with people as often as I'd like, but that's usually because I'm busy with work and other responsibilities. It's nothing personal. Social media doesn't hold my interest as much as it used to. If we used to be social media friends and you see that we're not, please feel free to friend request me if you'd like. Sometimes my accounts unfriend certain people if I haven't interacted with them a lot. I've had other friends complain about this problem with their accounts as well.

That's all I have to say for now. I hope everyone is doing well in these unprecedented time. Until next time, have a great day and remember to treat others well. Thanks!