Not exactly blown away...but close

As most people have heard the Seattle area got hammered by a nasty winter wind storm on Thursday (12/14). My partner and I lost our power at about 10:45pm and got it back on today (12/18) at some wee hour of the morning. During the 3 days of darkness we camped out with my extremely generous sister-in-law who had thankfully kept her power through the storm. I had to work 2 of the 3 powerless days at the library, which was thankfully warm and bright and full of people escaping the cold.

Growing up we always lived in the middle of nowhere and my parents were meticulous about keeping emergency supplies. We also had gas appliances so we were able to stay warm and eat. Living in the city has contributed to a state of unpreparedness that I don't feel comfortable with anymore. We had a flashlight, and candles but you can't warm your house with a candle unless you want to burn it down (which certainly would be warm). No alternate forms of heat, non-perishable food, bottled water, battery operated radio, or even a good set of warm clothes were available to us in our house. Our poor dogs and cats had to suffer in the cold (with lots of blankets and food of course) but we had to leave.

Now that we're warm we are starting to see the wisdom of getting prepared, of having the right supplies so we can be warm, fed and comfortable for an extended period if we need it. This time it was just a power outage, but Seattle is certainly due for a good shaking as well. Next time, I don't want to worry, I want to be warm.

Until the next storm hits...
Sarah

Behavioral interview questions

Following up on my last post, I learned a bit more about why I failed this interview process. First of all, the questions I was asked are apparently an example of Behavioral interview questions. What? Or at least that's the thought that went through my head. How does one know when an interview will be behavioral? What ever happened to, do you have the skills for this job?

It's been 6 years since I had an interview for a professional position, am I out of date? Anyhow, interviewee be warned, this is apparently not uncommon in the greater Seattle area. The libraries use these questions to determine if you can handle the job, not to assess if you're skilled enough to do it.

Whatever...

Here's some samples for those of you who also never heard of such a thing.
(http://www.quintcareers.com/sample_behavioral.html)

Oh, and as far as reapplying, I have to wait, 6 months.

Grrr
Sarah