Not that I am a big fan of it either. It is supposed to be self-propelled but sometimes after cutting the grass my calves want to argue that point. Last year I hit a root and it completely bend the blade so I had to do minor surgery. Apparently it is still upset at me about that.
All weekend I tried to start the darn thing. Nothing. I gave it fresh gas, checked the oil and even cleaned the sparkplug. Dang.
I gave in, defeated by the lawnmower. Of course the upside to this is I’ve avoided cutting the grass, but the downside is I am in the running for the worst looking lawn in the neighborhood right out of the gates.
Of course I really can’t blame my lawnmower completely for being so difficult. I have to say that I take responsibility in neglecting it. It was left out in the cold, it was rained on, it was ignored and I think even my dogs peed on it. I guess I would be a little grumpy if I got peed on by the dogs, too.
I neglected it then expected it to come back to life all bright and shiny. Especially at the exact moment I wanted it to work because with Indiana Spring it could be 70 today and 30 tomorrow and I really do not want to cut the grass wearing mittens and a knit hat.
I imagine any guy reading this is shaking his head at me and any girl is thinking, well yeah.
I learned my lesson – you cannot ignore your tools and expect them to work for you.
The same goes for your resume.
Even if you have a wonderful, fulfilling job you need to make sure you resume is polished up and ready for use at any moment. The weather can change at a moment’s notice and so can your situation. Layoffs, downsizing, bankruptcies or closings – you just never know.
And when that moment of panic strikes when you realize you are going to have to put your resume back out there intensifies when you realize not only does your resume look like the one you used right out of school, but you haven’t updated it in years.
Now you have to recreate several years worth of career history, value, skill sets, knowledge – all while trying to deal with the recent loss of your job. It is about as much fun as trying to start a lawnmower with a sinus infection in 30 degree weather.
Ok, it is worse.
If you are still working take some time throughout the day to write down what you are doing, start making a list of responsibilities, skills, accomplishments and adding them into your resume. You may not have the final product complete in a week but at least you will be in a much better frame of mind to be able to describe the value that you bring at this moment.
So my project this week is to get a new sparkplug, make peace with the lawnmower, scrub it down, tighten all the screws, spray on some WD-40 and wipe it clean from handle to wheels. Maybe feeling pretty will encourage it to purr like a kitten. Well, maybe only in my mind, but hey, I think we can reach a level of understanding here.
Pull out your old resume before the weather turns or the grass gets too high and start giving it a little polish and shine. It is better to be prepared than throwing out your shoulder and cursing at an inanimate object and still have a crappy looking lawn just because you didn’t pay attention to it.
Lisa K. McDonald, CPRW