E. A. Blair: October 2008 Archives
The 2008 World Series is a pretty big deal in these parts for obvious reasons. You would think that nationally it would be a pretty big deal too. On one hand you have a team from Tampa that has been the doormat of MLB ever since it came into the league. A team that took down the defending champs from Boston in a Game 7 and that now boasts a bevy of young stars and a coach widely considered to be a renegade in the land of standard operating procedures. On the other hand you have a team from Philadelphia that is the losingest franchise in all of sports history. A city with 4 major sports, but that has not won a title in 25 years. 100 consecutive seasons without a championship. A team with the previous two MVP's and a chance for a third straight this season. A city, Philadelphia, with a fan base that is considered one of the tops in the nation, albeit a bit crazy at times, facing a recent tormentor of a city in Tampa who in recent years took the title in football and hockey while beating Philly along the way. All the while with a fan base of their own who appear fair-weathered to say the least.
The Internet really is a beautiful thing. It truly is one stop shopping. No, not that kind of shopping, but one stop shopping in the sense that any little thing that catches your eye or interest can be investigated. From particle colliders studying the smallest scales of science we've only begun to discover to cameras with the ability to photograph the far off in outer space and bring it into the palm of your hand like never before, and everything imaginable in between. It truly is the first fully comprehensive encyclopedic record of all that constitutes knowledgeable life as we know it, perhaps even that which is as yet unknown, try to wrap your mind around that. I know, your mind has just been blown, take a minute, I'll wait. In all seriousness though, it really is approaching "everything proportions".
More and more these days when it comes to politics, if candidates repeat themselves enough, statements without any solid foundation will somehow become truths. Has it always been this way? I'm not really sure.
Ok, everyone put on your imagination hats and bear with me for a moment. You'll see where this is going. Ok? Ok. Imagine you are in the middle of a job interview. You are sitting across from a well meaning HR representative and he or she is asking you questions that are only vaguely related to the job you are applying for. The typical situational questions that are used to determine your ability to plan and problem solve, to deal with others, handle a stressful situation etc. (One wonders though, if these questions are perhaps designed to simply weed out those who fail to prepare for the interview in the first place. But that's neither here nor there.) On the topic of planning and problem solving you will no doubt reply with an answer that highlights the fact that you must investigate as much information as possible and utilize as many resources as time permits before jumping to any hard and fast conclusion as to how you would approach said fictitious situation. The interviewer, in most cases, is not looking for the actual answer to the stated problem as much as they are interested in listening to your approach and methodology.
