The Best Thing I Haven’t Eaten Yet: You can go home again: Adjusting to life in my hometown

Following is my weekly column that appears in The Devils Lake Journal http://www.devilslakejournal.com/homepage where I work as a writer/ad sales rep.

May 3, 2012: There’s a Food Network Show called “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” in which Food Network chefs share some of their all time favorite dishes, usually from restaurants throughout the U.S.

I love the Food Network shows, because I like to cook, and of course, eat. Who doesn’t? Actually I have a friend whose husband doesn’t care much for it. He says he kind of views it as a chore, and that he could take it or leave it. Huh? I think he must have some kind of eating disorder or mental health issue. Needless to say the man is a stick and probably has never had to worry a day in his life about his weight being an issue.

However, since I am a foodie, I’ll no doubt write at least a few columns related to food. First let’s talk about restaurants. When I was growing up in Devils Lake, I worked at several local establishments, including the Dairy Queen and Hardees (where as a teenager I remember being mortified when the employees had to wear Micky Mouse ear hats as part of a special promotion!) However, I began my DL restaurant career around the age of 14, working at the now defunct Barrel drive-in restaurant along with a bunch of my gal pals. For those of you who weren’t familiar with it, the building was shaped lake a Barrel, and if I remember right, was white with wide root beer colored stripes. Some of my favorite Barrel dishes included the pizza burgers and the ice cream.

Back to the present. Needless to say in any small town the size of Devils Lake, restaurant choices are more limited than a large city. Since I was either unemployed or underemployed the last couple of years I lived in Denver, I didn’t dine out much, unless it was somebody else’s treat. If I did, it was generally to order from the $1 menu at McDonalds or some other fast food joint. That being said, I do miss the wide range of choices available in a larger city or at least the idea or option of more choices.

One of my favorite local restaurants in Denver is Tokyo Joe’s, a local quick service chain restaurant that serves Asian-style food. I love their out-of-this- world tasty Spicy-aki sauce. Denver also has lots of excellent local Mexican restaurants. In Washington D.C., the large ethnic population equated into a wide variety of restaurant choices with cuisine from all over the world. I remember a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant whose name escapes me now. And there used to be a little hole-in-the-wall place just a few blocks from the White House that made a mean Spinach calzone. And quite frankly that’s what I really enjoy – the local joints where the food is homemade, such as those profiled on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”

So now that I am gainfully employed again and can afford to dine out occasionally, I’d love to hear from all of you about your favorite local restaurants and menu items, so I can add them to my “Best Thing I Ever Ate” in DL list! 

You Can Go Home Again: Word Nerd Returns to Her Roots

Greetings Blog Reading Peeps! Following is the text from my first weekly column that appeared today in the Devils Lake Journal, as part of my new job as reporter/ad sales rep.

Driving Miss Lisa
You Can Go Home Again: Adjusting to Life in My Hometown

“You Can’t Go Home Again” is the name of a novel written by author Thomas Wolfe in 1940. It also became a phrase meaning that once you left your small hometown for a large city, you couldn’t return and adapt to life in your town again, and that such a return might mean you were a failure.

I beg to differ. I left Devils Lake many years ago, first to attend UND, followed by a move to Denver CO, followed by a move to Washington DC and then back to Colorado. I returned to Devils Lake about a mongh ago and – following a phone interview while still in Colorado and an in-person interview upon my arrival – I was hired by the Devils Lake Journal within a week! So there is one success right off the bat! As for adapting to life in a small town after so many years living Life in the Big City, I admit it is requiring some acclimation! One of my best high school gal pals, who still lives here in DL, has said several times since my return – you’re going to go through culture shock. Well, shock might be too strong of a word – maybe culture adjustment. I am, however, quite surprised by one thing that’s requiring some adjustment.

For example, you would think driving in a small town compared to a big city would be a piece of cake. Instead, it’s presenting some unexpected challenges. For one thing, I’m finding navigating residential streets dotted with numerous stop and yield signs a bit tricky. When going about my day in Denver, I primarily relied on traffic lights indicating when I should stop and go. Wait times at lights were often a couple of minutes, and during rush hour it might take one or two rounds of the red, yellow, green cycle before being able to proceed. This meant I could daydream about winning the lottery, touch up my makeup, yack on the phone – you get the idea – until the green light told me it was ok to proceed. Now I have to be the sole decision maker at the numerous stop signs I encounter in my daily DL driving route – many of which aren’t four-way stops. So no lollygagging – I need to be alert, gauge oncoming car speeds, ready to forge ahead at precisely the right time! I find myself rapidly cranking my head back and forth so many times, I think I may have suffered a minor case of whiplash! And my stop sign phobia was only compounded when there was a three-car accident at one of the previously mentioned stop sign intersections my first week in DL!

Being a notoriously non-morning person, I find this navigation particularly challenging in the morning – even though my commute only consists of a few blocks. Also adding to my driving challenges is that in a small town like Devils Lake street parking is more prevalent than in large cities, obstructing my oncoming traffic view and making the “should I stay or should I go now” decision even more difficult! Speaking of parking, DL streets often often require parallel parking – something I very seldom encountered in Big City Life. I do believe as a teen-ager I may have flunked my first driver’s license test here in DL because of inadequate parallel parking, and I don’t think I’ve made much improvement since!

Now all that being said, when you see me behind the wheel of my Barney the Purple Honda with its CO plates, you might want to cut me a wide berth, or you could just give me a friendly welcome back to DL wave!

(To receive an email when I write a new post, subscribe to my blog my clicking on the link in the upper right corner. Thanks for reading!)

Lisa, Gainfully Employed and Paid Writer!

My First Word Nerd (Paid) Story@

Check out my first article at my new writing/ad sales job!

http://www.devilslakejournal.com/topstories/x493665300/Home-Sweet-Home-tough-to-find-in-tight-Devils-Lake-rental-market

 

 

Hallelujah: Job Hunting Word Nerd Lands a Word Job!

April 2, 2011: 1,095 days. Three years. I don’t know that I’ve every specifically mentioned how long it’s been since I was laid off from my last full-time PR job, primarily because I was embarrassed! Extremely embarrassed to tell the truth.  I’ll have to do some checking, but I’m pretty sure that it was precisely three years ago today that I got my walking papers in Wisconsin. I’ve written many times about the stress and many negative emotions and all the other unpleasant things that go along with long-term unemployment. It’s not a pretty picture.

That being said – I am extremely ecstatic to report that those days are behind me! I just today was offered a job at my home town newspaper in Devils Lake, North Dakota http://www.devilslakejournal.com/ ! I don’t know my precise title yet, but it will be something like Reporter/Ad Sales/Social Media Assistant. Following my meeting at the newspaper office where the publisher offered me the job, I began my walk back home and was flooded with so many emotions – elation, extreme happiness, gratitude and probably the strongest emotion of all: overwhelming relief! I was actually positively, absolutely giddy as I hurried home to share the fantastic news with my parents that I felt like doing cartwheels or skipping all the way home!

Now particularly for my new readers, lest you think I’ve been resting on my laurels for these last few years, I have been a busy girl. When I was first laid off in Wisconsin, I took a little sabbatical to enjoy spending time with my brother and his family. Upon returning to Denver, I had odd jobs here and there, including “ham hawking” http://jobhuntingwordnerd.wordpress.com/2011/12/ and dip schlepping http://jobhuntingwordnerd.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/just-do-it/. I also did an occasional freelance writing project. And anyone whose been involved long-term job hunting knows that spending time looking for a job, when done properly, IS a full-time job. I also coordinated and hosted a weekly job networking job through my church and educated myself to become a social media expert and, of course, started writing this blog!

However, now that I have found gainful employment I will have to find something new to blog about. I’m thinking something along the lines of You Can Come Home Again: Word Nerd Returns to Her Roots.

Lisa – Talented, Professional and At Last Employed Human Being!

Back to the Prairie: Job Hunting Word Nerd Heads North

March 28, 2012: For you long time word nerd followers, you will remember I first started writing my blog late last spring to chronicle several road trips to my home state of North Dakota in search of employment. Although those journeys did not result in job offers, they did result in multiple interviews, something that has proven hard to come by for career positions in my current home state of Colorado.

So after vacating my apartment and difficulty in finding any couches to surf due to anti-Kit Kat Jenni sentiments, along with other circumstances, I decided to head back north to the Prairie.

I depart Saturday morning and opt to mix things up and take a different route than previous North Dakota-bound trips, which generally began with a trek through desolate Wyoming. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a road trip, so in spite of my downtrodden circumstances it’s good to be road tripping again. It’s interesting to note how some states and towns tout their status or claim to fame on their welcome signs. For example, the “Welcome to Nebraska” sign says simply “The Good Life.” Now I’m sure there is good life to be had in every U.S. state. However, keeping in mind that I’ve been on the receiving end of my fair share of grief about North Dakota, Nebraska and good life don’t seem like compatible bedfellows. However, when I pass through Gering, Nebraska, a large sign says it is the home of Miss America 2011, so I guess if your idea of a good life is beautiful girls then maybe that’s the state for you! Sometimes towns like to advertise their local high school sports team. A sign in one small town I drive by says it’s the home of the something something high school Alligators, although I’m sure there has never been an alligator sighting anywhere in the depths of a Nebraska river or lake!

My home town of Devils Lake’s high school nickname was the Satans when I was in school. I’m sure there was some objection to the name by some Christian residents or local churches, but I don’t recall anyone raising a really big stink about it back in the day. However, a few decades later somebody did, and the team name was changed to the wimpy name of the Firebirds. I mean c’mon - who are you going to view as more fierce competitor – the Satans or the Firebirds?! A stink also has been raised in recent years about my college alma mater the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux, which is still being sorted out.

Anyway, I digress. After a day’s worth of driving I stop in Rapid City, South Dakota, to spend the night with a DL Satan (nickname remember) classmate. As previously mentioned, I for the life of me could not find a place to stay in Colorado for me and Kit Kat Jenni, and I have grown weary of asking if she can stay and being shot down each time. So when I roll up in front Lisa and her family’s house (where her daughter, who I have never met before, is on the porch and is the spitting image of Lisa), I resign myself to the fact that Jenni will have to sleep in the car. Lisa’s hubby, no doubt viewing the inside of my packed-to-the-gills car, asks if he can help with anything, I inform him that I don’t think I told Lisa that I had my cat with me, but that she can sleep in the car. And, to my delight, he says “oh no she’ll be fine, she can sleep in your room with you!” I am positively thrilled that finally, FINALLY I can stay with somebody who doesn’t care about the cat! About time.

Of course there is one little sticking point. The Kautzman family has a rambunctious little beagle named Hunter, who I’m told is often teased and taunted by the neighbor cats as they freely roam the neighborhood while he is confined on his long yard leash.

Note the evil cat chasing glint in Hunter's eyes!

I get Jenni safely past Hunter into our room for the night. Lisa has prepared a delicious meal and following dinner we sit down to chat with Lisa’s hubby and kids and friends. I periodically check on Jenni to ensure she hasn’t gone on some kind of destructive rampage following a long day confined in the car. On one such Kit Kat check, wily Hunter weasels his way past my foot and into the room. Every hair on Jenni stands on end, and she arches her back and gives Hunter a ferocious hiss. Hunter bolts backward and looks surprised, clearly terrified by this encounter. Jenni is one feisty little Kit Kat, not easily intimidated by man nor beast, and clearly has the upper hand in spite of her small size!

Another pretty prairie country church.

I hit the road early in the am in hopes of getting to my parent’s house in time to watch the aforementioned Sioux hockey team play their arch rival the Minnesota Gophers. The winner of this match will go on to The Frozen Four, the college hockey equivalent of the basketball Final Four tournament. Interestingly, The Frozen Four, usually held in some northern clime, will be held in Tampa, Florida, this year. I roll into my parent’s house in time for the third period with the Gophers ahead 4 to 1. Pops, aka Fast Eddie, says he has kind of given up hope of UND winning the game and is grumbling about the arch rival Gophers, calling them the Bucktooths or some silly thing.

So that’s it so far blog reading Peeps. Still broke but no longer homeless. And BOTH Kit Kat Jenni and I have a roof over our head! Thank you Mom and Dad!

If you have a job for me – writing, PR, social media, marketing communications, etc. - please keep me in mind. Kat Jenni and I would consider most any locale!

If you like my blog and would like to subscribe to it, click on the link on the right hand corner.

Lisa, Multi-Talented/Faceted Job Seeker!

Riding In a Car with Cat and Other Stuff: Another Job Hunting Word Nerd Adventure

Friday, March 20, 2012: If you like or even mildly enjoy moving, you are part sadist, because it truly is one of the most miserable experiences from beginning to end. I have some friends and family who lived in the same house for many years – some 20 plus years or more. They are the lucky ones, these long-term abode dwellers whose memory of moving is a far-off distant experience, most likely when they moved out of their parent’s home or college dorm room and didn’t have so darn so much “stuff.” Since I graduated from college many moons ago, I’ve moved about 14 times – yikes! – including three times in the last 10 or so years,  getting rids of lots of “stuff” with each move.

So I thought moving my “stuff” out of my two-bedroom apartment into storage after getting rid of yet even more “stuff” would be a piece of cake. I was wrong. Dead wrong.  Now I don’t need to get into the details about why moving is such a royal PITA, because I quite frankly would like to put it behind me. However, I will share a few things that happened with this move that made it extra not fun.

First, usually when you move, at least in my experience, it’s because you just got a new job you’re thrilled about or maybe you bought a new house. However, this time I had to move because I couldn’t afford the place any more and had no idea where I would be moving TO! So that makes all the fun that moving isn’t even more of a drag. I tried to sell some “stuff” to further de-stuff my stuff, but found it’s almost impossible to sell some things on Craig’s List without practically giving it away, such as a washer and dryer, a desk, etc.

Then a couple of days before moving, my cat Jenni started acting funky. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that my kitty Cinderella died a few months back. The night before Cinder passed away I remember thinking that if she didn’t seem better in the morning I would take her to the vet. It turns out I didn’t get that chance because Cinder girl passed away during the night. So when Jenni didn’t seem right, I wasn’t about to take any chances, and we made a mad dash to the Animal ER in the middle of the night, only to have to return to the vet a day later. It turns out it was some urinary tract issue that could have been brought on by the stress of moving. The vet doc gave her a couple shots, including one that would help keep her calm. I half jokingly asked if I could have one of those shots too please. I’m happy to report about a week later that Kit Kat Jenni seems just fine. Me – not so much.

So Jenni and I have been couch surfing with limited couch space available due to lots of people being allergic to cats or having other pets – yadda yadda yadda. I think some of my friends are worried I’ll sleep in my car, and as I’ve said to several of them – I wouldn’t tell you if I did.

Check out Jenni - she looks quite comfy!

But not too worry, so far we’re good, but then again you might want to re-read the previous paragraph

Lisa, Talented and Professional Job Seeker

Ride Like an Egyptian: Job Traveling Tales from Memory Lane

Time to mix things up. I’m periodically going to travel down memory lane to seemingly happier times. or at least back to times when I was gainfully employed and at (what I hope wasn’t) the peak of my career.

I lived in worked in the Washington D.C. area for eight years. During five of those years, I worked for a D.C. based international market development organization – who I will call the “Wheaties.” I served as the Communications Director and organized several international trips for trade media and board members to visit our international offices and see first hand our worldwide marketing activities. On one such trip we traveled to Portugal, Morocco and Egypt. In addition to myself, our entourage included the “Wheatie” president, a native Texan with a penchance for good bourbon, a couple of board members (including a fellow North Dakota native) and two reporters, including RJ, another Nodak and a writer for a North Dakota trade publication.

The Nile River. Cairo, Egypt.

I had never visited any of these countries before, and I might add, might possibly never visit again. So needless to say each country visited was memorable in its own right. However, for this post, I’m going to focus on Egypt. Anyone who travels on business knows it is a different animal than traveling as a tourist. For example, if you are in a business meeting in a hotel, for the most part meeting rooms around the world look pretty much the same. Of course, in this case when you walk out the door of a hotel in Cairo, Egypt, the landscape is a little different from that in say Nashville, Tennessee, or Dallas, Texas! Cairo is a crowded, noisy city with people utilizing all kinds of transportation - cars, motorbikes, bicycles and even an occasional donkey and cart! I remember seeing an Egyptian woman chopping a chicken’s head off on the side of the road. Speaking of roads, there seems to be no rules of the road, at least not similar to those in the U.S. Drivers indicate their intentions such as turning etc., by madly honking their car horns, only adding to the noisy chaos!

During this trip, we did have an opportunity to do a little sight-seeing and shopping in each country. We squeezed this touristy stops in between business meetings. Generally our country host would stop at a market our tourist attraction, bend their head down and look at their watch and say “All right 30 minutes to view the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx.” I kid you not when I say that! We would then gleefully jump out of our van like excited school children on a field trip and scurry over to whatever attraction we were speed visiting!

At the Great Pyramid we were accosted by young boys eagerly trying to sell us trinkets. We ignored them and stepped inside to the small opening to the huge pyramid, from which you could climb up through narrow passage ways and look inside the tomb chambers, which of course are now empty. I hesitated when I looked up the narrow, rickety ladder stairway that led to the first chamber. I’m more than just a little claustrophobic, but I thought “Miss Lisa, the chances of you being able to crawl around inside the Great Pyramid again are pretty slim so get your scared butt up the ladder!” If I remember right Nodak RJ looked queasily at the narrow stairway and opted out, and our Lone Star State Prez and I climbed up. We took a look around, there really wasn’t much to see, and climbed down, already have expended 10 minutes of our 30-minute Egyptian landmark tour!

Ride like an Egyptian!

After we finished our tour of the Pyramid and The Sphinx and other sites, we were greeted by our country host with a row of very large camels. Our host had a sly smile on his face, no doubt because this was not part of the planned itinerary. The board member Wheaties and the two reporters climbed up on the camels, and just as I was getting ready to wave them goodbye, an Egyptian guide approached with two more camels for the Prez and me. No way I said I firmly, shaking my head – not me! But I was cajoled into it by our country host. The giant camel had to kneel for me to climb on. Although I did some horse back riding as a teenager, this animal was HUGE! I clutched the saddle horn for dear life, thinking I would surely crack my head wide open if I fell of this gargantuan beast! An Egyptian guide led the camel by the reins. ”You want to trot” he asked me. No, no, no” I said firmly but nervously, envisioning the camel breaking from a trot into run and madly galloping across the Egyptian desert!

After surviving the camel ride, we continued our business meetings. We visited a government laboratory and were served some lukewarm guava juice. It was very warm in the laboratory and I remember feeling a little queasy. The next morning I woke up sicker than a dog, throwing up and feeling quite badly. So bad in fact that our Texan Prez and I decided to call the house doctor. He strode into the room with authority - a tall middle-aged man with slicked back jet black hair and large, black, horn-rimmed glasses that looked like something out of the 50s. He asked a few questions and when I mentioned the guava juice and possible food poisoning, he looked startled and said very loudly and sternly, shaking his head and waving a finger “No, no, no for food poisoning at least five of you must get sick and two of you must die!” Huh?! My boss and I shared an uneasy look and quickly tried to hustle the crazy Egyptian doc out of the room.

I am fortunate that I have had several jobs involving domestic and international traveling, so there are many other memorable moments from this trip and others that I hope to share with you in the future!

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Lisa, Talented and Professional and Travel Loving Job Seeker!