1 in 26 chance/potato salad/parking lot greeter

One in 26 chance:
Often people measure the cost of education in the amount of time and money they have to pay to a vocational school or university. Usually it is the young and foolish that choose to get no certification at all. Here is another way to measure the cost of not having some form of certification saying that you have a specialized skill. We have 127 administrative positions that have opened up. There have been about 3400 applications. That means 1 in 26 may get a job from us. If you are that person that does not have certification, a more horrible way to think of it is that you may be one of the over 3200 people will not get jobs. In my department an admin support position opened up, we had 400 applicants for it. When I apply for a job there are usually 8 or less qualified people who apply. When I fly in for the interview it is usually 4 or less left. I used to think 1 in 8 were not great odds. My interview with Big Brothers and Big Sisters for another mentoring program is next week. I plan to work this into the conversation with the mentee someday.

Potato salad:
I had this misconception that potato salad and macaroni salad and those types of “staples” that always show up with meals were good for you. Surely they would have to be because they were complex carbohydrates that every kid is supposed to have. I look at a lot of labels these days to bless them before they go out to the public. It turns out those items often have a lot more fat than ice cream. Ice cream tastes a lot better, please pass another serving of ice cream it’s healthy compared to the other stuff I have been eating.

Parking lot greeter:
For months I have been walking by a parking lot where there would be a guy in the parking lot many of the mornings. We would greet each other in the morning as I passed. I figured he was there to help manage the parking lot during the high traffic time and just kept on walking to work. Recently signs have been posted saying not to hand the parking fees to anyone and to insert the money into the box or else the car would be towed. At the same time, the friendly greeter has no longer been seen.