You see some strange stuff on the job-hunting trail.

For instance, in my opinion, only a crazy person would respond to an ad that not only wants you to work from your "home office" (we want to hire you but we don't want to see your face around here) but also promises at least 60% travel (we want to hire you but if we do, you have to promise to go away).

I got a call the other evening from a company delighted to offer me the chance to train in their "management" program. A very few questions sufficed to reveal that what they were really doing was trolling the job sites in an attempt to hire, you guessed it, sales people. I was polite, but I declined the honor. The caller seemed surprised.

There are a large number of companies who think the best way to hire an employee is to post an ad (we're talking craigslist.org here) where the subject line makes no mention of the position being offered. That strategy isn't that hard to understand. It can make you click on an ad you might not otherwise have noticed. But will the company live up to the fun and creative image it's creating?

Cross-posting your job opportunity to six categories it doesn't begin to fit into? Is not a way to improve the number of responses you receive.

It always surprises me to see "car wash attendant" located under the "customer service" category.

There's one company that, to the best of my recollection, has been advertising half a dozen positions every day for the past few months. Makes you wonder.

This morning I received an email in response to an ad I answered. At least, I think I can remember what ad it was. (I can't possibly print all of those ads, but it's frustrating to try and figure out, two weeks later, what ad I responded to that correlates with the company that's calling me. So many of the job sites take down ads after a week.)

Anyhow. Again, a lack of organization on their part. They mentioned an attached "employment packet" I was to review so I could decide whether or not to move ahead with my application, but nothing was attached. The return email was set to "no-reply" so I couldn't write back to the guy and tell him he forgot the packet. I went to their website (as directed) to fill out yet another form and thankfully that one gave me the option of including a comment, so I could request the packet.

But? The company is located in Texas with no sign that they have any offices anywhere else, so I'm not sure why they're trolling for help in Denver?

I guess I'll find out.

In other news, we went to the Denver Holiday Food and Gift Festival yesterday. As we do every year. This year was notable for two reasons.

#1 - The two vendors the R.C. and I were each individually most interested in seeing weren't there.

#2 - We didn't really realize until we were walking the aisles how much of the fun of attending the festival was tied up in looking for fun, useful, and creative gifts for Mom. Without that....

Still, we did have fun.

It's just--I notice Mom's absence. When some little thing happens that would have been just the sort of thing I used to call her and laugh about with her. When I'm not sure how she adjusted the standard pumpkin pie recipe to produce that uniquely delicious pie she used to make every Thanksgiving and then I realize I can no longer call and ask her. When I see something that would make a perfect birthday present. When I'm cleaning out my room and I find the hoard of "just right" Mother's Day cards I have stashed away.

I'm just saying.

Anyhow.

Later that same day, I met a couple of friends (Meg and Ruth) for coffee at one of the cool, little coffeehouses that Ruth always seems to know about. This one was St Marks. I love a funky, little coffeehouse, don't you? And this one was pretty cool.

When Meg and I demanded to know why we'd never been told about the place before, Ruth excused herself on the excuse that the place could be "very trendy." Turns out that what she meant was there were a lot of people sitting at tables, working on their laptops and plugged in to their ipods. Because, you know, you never see that anywhere else. (Ruth is not a Luddite, but she's arguable the least technology-loving of all of my friends.)

Today's plans include (finally) getting those last four boxes back to storage, hauling out a couple of loads of trash and then either driving a carload of stuff to Goodwill or abandoning responsible behavior and taking myself off to the bookstore to spend my birthday gift certificate.

I'm pretty sure I know how that choice is going to turn out.

And that's about it for now.