December 20, 2007

Life has its hurdles. Sometimes we clear them. Sometimes they just get in our way. Not sure how I am doing this week, but I feel like I am clearing some for a change.

Sunday was the worst ski conditions ever. We had a free day at Alpenglow, our local hill. We got an email inviting us to help pack down the base by skiing on it. They promised us that eight inches of new snow had fallen last week. After an active day at Alyeska on Saturday, we decided to stay closer to home. The cost was zero, we got there at one, the lifts closed at two, the temperature was three, and we skied four runs. Easy as counting.

As we road up the lift the first time, we could tell it was going to be challenging. The snow under the lift was windblown into rows. It appeared that the wind had blown across the hill one day and up the hill another. It made a criss cross pattern of crusty looking snow drifts with shiny crusty snow in the blank spaces. We could see a couple of ski tracks every once in awhile, but they were always headed across the hill. When snow conditions are bad, people tend to traverse a long way because it is difficult to make turns.

Hardly any people were there, but the few that were seemed to be heading toward a gully. We decided to follow the prevailing wisdom. The first run was rough. The second was even worse. The conditions varied from heavy powder, to breakable crust, to what they call boilerplate. I think they call it that because it is like skiing on the side of a boiler where the only texture is an occasional rivet on the smooth hard surface. Breakable crust is one of the hardest conditions to ski as you have to practically jump your skis free to get them to turn. The challenge was that we didn’t know if we were going to land on soft but heavy powder, smooth and slippery boilerplate, or breaking through more breakable. The powder would grab our skis like hitting the brakes, tossing us forward, but still allowing a nice smooth turn. The jump turns landed on boilerplate would let our feet slip out from under us, causing a backward falling motion. Landing in more breakable would stop the rotation of the skis and lock us into whatever direction we were headed, usually directly down hill, until we could execute another jump. The unpredictability of the surface challenged our balance. We handled it beautifully. Well, neither of us fell.

By the third run we had figured out that sticking near to other people’s tracks gave a better read on the snow. Where the tracks disappeared, you knew to expect an impenetrable surface. Where the tracks broke through the ¾” crust, the skis left a jagged path. The softer smooth snow was marked by smooth tracks. My feet were pretty cold after the fourth run so it was about as much as I could ski anyway.

The next hurdle life threw at me this week was an interview. It was expected, but it challenges me mentally. Do I want a career or just a job? Do I know how to answer their questions? It was a challenging interview. The questions weren’t tough, although some of them were illegal. The challenge was that it was clear that my qualifications were considered questionable. I have learned so much about qualifications in the last few years. Objective qualifications are easy to measure, but not all that relevant. They are usually set by people who think that you need to have had the exact same experiences that they have had in order to be able to do the job. College educations aren’t used to prepare people for the work world, they are used to classify them, to ‘qualify’ them for certain positions.

This interviewer seemed baffled by an electrical engineer with only two years of experience that fit his image of relevant experience. I resisted the temptation to ask him if wanted someone with 20 years of experience or just one year of experience repeated 20 times. As the interview progressed, I could sense a change in attitude. As I answered technical questions with a superior understanding, I could see him struggle to come to grips with my capability. My old boss participated in the interview. I think I sensed her relaxing as the interview went on. I think she was getting nervous having recommended me. I think she was reassured that I was who she remembered me to be. I think she sensed that her boss was starting to see how I could contribute.

I don’t know if I will get an offer. There are plenty of other behind the scenes decision makers that will be as puzzled. It is there loss if they can’t see it. It might be my loss, too, but if they can’t see it, I probably don’t want to work for them anyway. I don’t know if I would accept an offer. I suspect the money and the opportunity will be too much to pass up, but that is still a few weeks off. For now, I think I cleared a hurdle, but I am not really running a race. I am just kind of moving along.

The bitter cold has continued. We have had single digit highs and some below zero temperatures. We are upon solstice. The darkness has achieved its peak and it hasn’t seemed that bad. It is amazing to think that the light will be advancing upon us again. We have cleared the darkness hurdle for a third time.