Cold morning and I'm fine with not riding

[bill_schubert]

I've become a wimp.  It is around 40 and I never thought about riding.  Even a few months ago I would have bundled up and gone out.  But the combination of cold and high cedar pollen have sapped my will to get out there.  Some of it is that I know in a week or two it will be warm EVERY morning and I'll get back to 60-80 miles a week in short sleeves.  And some of it is that this year, for the first time, my immunity to the local crap in the air has failed and I am now an allergy suffering resident of Central Texas.  There are only two types of people who live here.  Those that have allergies and those that have not lived here long enough for their immunity to fail.  This part of Texas wants us gone and will make us suffer to stay here.  I've lived all over the world and never seen anything like this.  More infuriating is that it now has claimed me as if I'm a Texan, something I've strenuously resisted for the 11 years I've lived here.

Meanwhile, our first interviewee will be here this afternoon.  He has hardly any computer experience but that is not necessarily disqualifying.  The only person who actually read the advertisement well enough to add the word Orange to his application ended up picking up another job so we never even met him.  We've culled the 30 or so applications to eight and have invited four to visit us. The first has the advantage of joining us for our weekly wings and beer ending to the week, a tradition I started a couple of  months ago when I acquired an air fryer.  Before that we just had beer, how boring.

Interviewing can be a miserable process for both sides.  I'm not good at it and tend to take what comes through the door.  I've got my exec helping this time, going through the applications and applying some scrutiny beyond what I typically do.  So this one might be different.  Picking up a third person, the right third person, would change all of our lives.  We're pretty overwhelmed right not and I've put off hiring as long as I can to build up some cash.  It has mostly succeeded but we are all too tired and we're not getting the small things done which, in our profession, can be a disaster for the businesses who depend on us.  The payoff for getting the right person in the bottom rung of the company is really a big one. It would enable me to back out of helping with the shop, maybe make me do more on the business side (marketing, blogs, etc) and give me a random day off every now and then to get some more time in on my bike.

Comments

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

For the first time since I've moved to the Austin area, I've experienced Cedar fever. It wasn't fun. I sometimes wonder if allergies are worse here because of the constant ups and downs in temperatures during the Winter. This coming Tuesday the high is supposed to be 84, so you definitely should be able to be back on your bike.

Good luck on hiring someone to join your staff. The payoff for getting the right person in the bottom rung of the company is really a big one. This is certainly not a statement you hear very often. It tells me you're a wise man.

By the way, I am an LJ friend of Susan's and live in Pflugerville.

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

You have my allergic sympathies... I'm going on a search to learn more about the Juniper trees and what makes them dump their stuff into the air. I've got an excellent site that gives me daily updates (pollen count info is everywhere) but it only tells me why I feel like crap today. Marginal use there. At least I don't think I've got a virus.

But I want to know what will happen tomorrow and there seems to be a dearth of such information. I'm going to find some kind of prediction so I can take meds in advance rather than in arrears.

[rosegardenfae.livejournal.com]

Your post makes me even more pleased that I didn't stay in Texas very long and opted not to relocate there.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

I hate interviews from both sides of the table, I'd rather give people a go and see what they are like

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

I'm terrible at interviewing but have had a pretty good success rate at hiring. The biggest thing for us is we have to hire people who present well when they arrive at the customer's home. We've got a lot of elderly and vulnerable customers who rightfully should be suspicious so I'm careful who I send there and have to talk to them for a while before hiring.