And here I thought I was original

It looks like I'm not the only 50 year old intern around. WOW, the website started by Joni Evans, Leslie Stahl, et al, is hiring interns to retool them.

You can find the story in the LA Times here

Taking the SAT challenge

My son is preparing for the SATs (pretty diligently, I'm pleased to see). As he was asking my husband and me (I know grammatically it's not my husband and I..or at least so I've told my son as he slogs through the grammar sections)...anyway, I digress. My son suggested that we should try the SATs again--after all, it's only been about 30 years!)

So, I tried. I set the timer. I had my number 2 pencil. Then, Linksys called from India to see how my network router was working (go figure, they refused to talk to me because my router was out of warranty but they called back to see how I was doing). Then, my husband, who is sitting next to me perusing youtube for inexplicable reasons, decides to start playing videos REALLY LOUDLY.
"You're trying to sabotage my test," I said. "Please, just SHUT UP so I can concentrate!" I take these tests very seriously.

I did ok on the verbal (oh, it's got some other name now, like critical reading). But the passages were abstruse and the questions oblique and I think I need a nap.

Listening as Fast as I can

So I haven't blogged in awhile; I'm a bit shy about blogging, because I always wonder who really wants to hear what I'm thinking. But also, because I am 99% sure that this first internship isn't for me and I am wondering how to extricate myself from it.

The initial problems were that there was no office to speak of--an empty classroom with florescent lighting and no accessible bathroom. The 1 1/2 hour commute didn't quite seem worth it. And then there's the question of what I do. I should be able to help with press stuff, but I have discovered that I am incapable of writing a press release because I've been too long on the other side of them.

And then there's the heart of the matter--there is a steep learning curve with all this technology stuff. I go to meetings, seminars and I have to focus really hard to make sure I can follow. Trying to write down every term I don't know (and there are many) so I can go home and see if I can figure out what everyone is talking about

Poster child

Writing this blog is not really a natural thing for me in the sense that I'm a bit uncomfortable writing about myself..my 17 is horrified by these postings, partly bec it seems promotional (he's right), partly because he thinks that anyone over, say, 30 shouldn't know about blogs (he's kind of wrong) and mostly because he's worried I will talk about him (well,ok, I might, but I won't mention him by name). My sage 20 year old daughter is just amused by this process...

And, while I don't want to get too sincere or sanctimonious about this process, caroline kennedy could well be the poster child for starting up a career after 50. Lisa Belkin wrote a great piece for the Times magazine section. Here's the link

Day 2 on the job

So...today wasn't filled with nearly as many putative catastrophes.

The dog behaved, the basement ceiling remained in one piece and I didn't get any makeup in my eye, mouth or other orifice. And I had only one sartorial mishap when, in trying to juggle hose (I'm old school on the hose issue, especially when the temperature goes below 50) and the phone, I naturally poked a hole. And the hole begat a long, winding run. But I guessed correctly that my skirts was just long enough to cover.

As for what I did that day? I went to a venture capital panel on mobile technology. Now, I do have a blackberry and I've had one for more than a year. I do like having it and I probably use it more than I should but it does come in handy. And I like technology, generally; I'm the IT specialist in the house and Michael says I run a 24 hour hotline for computer and other emergencies. 

But the panel was replete with jargon and concepts that were completely foreign to me. What is an RPU? Do I care? Does anyone outside of this room care? Aren't there already enough apps for an IPhone? And why on earth would I want to use my phone as a credit card. Fortunately, I was able to keep quiet. I just kept trying to remember all the terms--without writing them down so as not to look too out of the loop--so that I could google everything once I got home (how reliable is wikipedia?)

This re-entry thing is tough slogging

Day 1

You just couldn't make this stuff up.

I have an internship. In the venture capital world. One day a week, which is good as a start.

I know I need to reorganize my life, even to get out one day a week. So, I get up at 6:30. Walk the dog. Take husband to the train. Get son up for school. Jump in shower. Wake son up again. Eat a quick breakfast. Wake son up again (it works this time). Pack his lunch. Put out drycleaning. Lure dog into kitchen so he can remain until dogwalker arrives midday.

Dry hair rapidly, attempt makeup. Huge glob of makeup lands in eye. Replace contact lens with new contact lens. Realize shirt is inside out. Change shirt. Put on coat, scarf, gloves, etc because of course it is the coldest day of the year.

Rush to train. Hundreds of people on the platform, not a good sign. Turns out that not only is my train late, but the train before it is late. Jump on first train. Stand all the way to grand central.

Get out. Buy water, second newspaper because I think I have 40 minutes to get to Wall Street. Go to subway platform. Miss first train. Wait 15 minutes for second train. Stand AGAIN all the way to Wall Street.

Get to office. Meet new boss. He says, "did you bring a laptop? I forgot to tell you to bring one." Needless to say, what do I know about bringing a laptop? I didn't

So we stay, chat a bit, I use my blackberry for notes on things I do not fully understand and then head back home.

Attempt to get soup. They're out of anything palatable. Which is a good thing because when I walk in the kitchen, I see that the dog has something terribly wrong. Perhaps it has to do with his escaping for 2 hours Saturday night, winding up at a party blocks away where they were roasting a pig. Not sure. Spend 30 minutes cleaning up. Head to basement to get final supplies to clean rest of floor.

Ceiling in the basement has fallen in. A whole chunk. over the washing machine. Debris (probably asbestos, but too late, I've already breathed) everywhere. Water too. Plumber not calling me back.

What a day.

The first round

I started--very gingerly--to talk to people that I've known. A lawyer I've interviewed, a recruiter, someone in advertising. They all thought it was funny--the 50 year old intern--but then said that it wasn't a bad idea.

The lawyer I know set up an afternoon of interviews. I didn't really want to go to a law firm--I had worked at one for several years early on--but thought I would go because I was, after all, so much wiser. The offices were nice--great views, location--and the lawyers, of all ages, uniformly smart, interesting and personable. Still, I was neither sure that I wanted to be there and I could tell they weren't so sure of this whole thing.

And while I was sitting in a conference room, my thoughts wandered to my 16 year old, with his freshly minted (or is it printed) license, who had taken the car to school for the first time. Would he get home? Would he do all that homework in those ridiculously demanding junior year classes? Maybe I wasn't ready for this.

I was relieved, quite honestly, when the office manager said there was no space for me til January. It let me off the hook for awhile. And maybe I could come to terms with the slight case of depression I felt at working at a firm again