I Know By Experience » PersonalI Know By Experience

And We’re Back…

Jonathan Firestone — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:46:58 +0000

I’ve recovered my posts, now I just have to re-format the posts, and re-tag the images. Whew. Hang tight folks.

Sasha

Jonathan Firestone — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:43:07 +0000

Sasha Firestone, passed on today, at the ripe old age of 14. Rescued through the Humane Society, you came into our lives and warmed our hearts. We remember that You were gentle to the point that someone could put their hand into your mouth and you’d never bite. You loved to chase the squirrels and poop in the ivy. You never chased the cat, and even slept next to each other now and then. When Kelly the Sheltie showed up, you found a friend to play with in the backyard, even when you didn’t speak the same language (there’s a theory out that she speaks French or something, we’re still not sure)… And we remember a critical point in your life when you were bitten by a snake in our backyard, and in such pain, with your fur falling out. Several surgeries began and you were one of the toughest dogs anyone at the clinic had ever seen. Veterinarians were writing papers about you. The odds were against you, and they gave you a purple heart for your effort, and we came to see you nearly every day to help you through it. You even ended up with a pig’s GI tract for a reconstructed backside. Amazing. Nobody understood how you survived. More papers were written when it was discovered you retained a full range of motion. More amazing. Just like before the bite you loved to tear around the backyard in big circles, even with the hood on. (And by the way, we really have to thank Pender Veternary Clinic in Chantilly for pulling out all the stops for us. You gave Sasha her life back, and quite a few more great years with us.) Your Mommy said today one thing she’ll really miss is the ridiculous seam running down your side where the doctors had to patch you up, messing up that beautiful brown streak through your black fur. Years later, we had to put the hood on again when you worried over some of the scar tissue. Even a year ago, your vet marveled that you still had full range of motion. And we still had no idea anything was wrong until less than two weeks ago when things just started giving out. In the end, you were still brave, wanting to make your Mom and Dad proud and reassure Abby and Caroline that everything would be all right. And it was, and it is. We’ll be okay. We’ve had to explain to Abby how you’ve got to go to heaven to be with Squeekers, and that you’ll be able to run around again up there, and that’s real important to all of us that you be able to do that again. She sort of understands, and but she wants you to stay. All the same she knows you have to go. You’ve had a good life, and we’ll miss you much. Sweet puppy, we’ll make sure Kelly the Sheltie’s looked after, she’s going to miss you too. R.I.P. Sasha Firestone, you will be missed. To the bravest purple heart dog ever loved by all, I hope you have a great time tearing around the backyard up there in heaven. Say “Hi” to Squeekers for us, and we’ll catch up later kid. Cheers. We love you. G’night Sasha-bear.

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Osnapz Chewy Goodness

Jonathan Firestone — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:23:32 +0000

I love getting things in my email that just make me smile, don’t you? Well for being just a regular social media geek, spending some time on Twitter, I’ve earned a ton of badges through the Osnapz site. Through a connection to Foursquare, you could earn badges for Osnapz by patching in your information and the badges you’ve earned there will connect up to your list of badges. Check out my latest badge:

1,000 Tweets

What’s impressive about this fun little service is the addicting way they get you to pursue more badges. They tell you what’s next and what you have to do in order to get there. Very cool. I’m expecting to see other social media activity badges. Wow, I just realized they’ve turned me back into a Boy Scout, earning achievement badges. Outstanding! As I mentioned, a similar badge system is in use at Foursquare.com, which encourages you to earn badges by earning points and competing with your friends to visit places (usually restaurants, but buildings are just fine) and you earn extra points for tasks and to-dos that get completed along the way that users generate. Foursquare is attempting to sweeten the deal by asking users for suggestions regarding new place-related badges with tasks for completion. You’re welcome to suggest alternate ideas and methods of acquisition. I ended up submitting my own idea for a series of badges geared toward people who love buffalo wings. I identified some restaurant chains they could track, and you could earn badges for progressive visits or the quantity of wings you could eat. i.e. “Wing Commander” badge if you reach 300 visits to restaurants that serve up wings of all kinds. At any rate, I’m impressed. Not only do they take us back to our youth (having just realized the connection as I write this) but it’s a fun way to share net-based, and real world accomplishments. I look forward to seeing how this service expands over the next year.

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Holidays 2009

Jonathan Firestone — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:02:09 +0000

Posted via web from consider your source

At home with my kids.

Jonathan Firestone — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:24:25 +0000

Posted via web from consider your source

Linkedin really does work

Jonathan Firestone — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:07:33 +0000

My last job ended at December 31, 2008. I’m now unemployed, but I doubt it’ll be that way for long, even in this economy. I’m here to tell you that Linkedin really does work. It’s worth investing your time in. Really. Here’s my story (As i first posted this to a Linkedin group, Web 2.0 Jobs): At the time I had finished a position working on a project for the Department of Homeland Security/Cargo & Border Patrol. I felt like I really needed to energize my search. I had found positions by networking on occasion, but mostly through recruiters. Someone I know always seems to call me with something going on. I’ll interview and get the position if I wanted it. This time around I needed to be working — quite quickly. I wasn’t sure if I could be picky. So I took a closer look at Linkedin. I read the ubiquitous Guy Kawasaki article. I followed some of his advice, but it came down to simply asking people I knew, and previously worked with to become a first-order contact, even if I hadn’t known them for very long. I had maybe a little over 100 contacts, and I wasn’t working very hard at it. I felt that Linkedin’s rules were a little restrictive (I still do on occasion but they’ve fixed a few things by having groups and associations to work with) but I decided to take a risk and reach out to pretty much everyone I had any relation to from my personal mail account. People I had spoken with on various topics of interest, people I worked with in as many jobs as I could think of… I asked for recommendations, I asked for anything that could fill out and enhance my reach, my resume and my focus on the next job that I wanted. In my first round of reaching out, I picked up maybe 250 contacts. That was in a little over 15 days of time. I hadn’t realized I knew that many people, but yet I was actually dealing with that many on a fairly regular basis. I wanted to get more, but I didn’t want to be a LION (Linked-In Open Networker, meaning you expose your email address and anyone wanting a connection pings you for one) — and I still don’t, because A) I don’t want to deal with that kind of a flood on a regular basis, and B) I do like to keep a fairly personal, friendly approach to a lot of my contacts. I like to get to know them, and figure out how we can help each other, or at the very least share a little friendship or knowledge. I ask first (as many LIONS have been doing) when someone I don’t know approaches me how he or she think we can help each other if I happen to get the standard “I’d like to add you…” and nothing else. Still, I was persistent and got to 500+ contacts fairly quickly after that. Maybe it took another 15 or so days total to reach my current levels. But with that said none of those basic strategies have gotten me the job. What got me the job was actually just being sociable. I was reading some of the Q&A’s and I ran into some people with similar thoughts on certain subjects and we made each other think. One particular person remembered me from a question I answered and the next thing I knew, a few months later I get a call from the guy (who I had had a previous fleeting phone conversation with where he had wanted to know what kind of work I wanted to do and what I was interested in.), and he tells me about a project he doesn’t have time for, and would I be willing to consider (among the job offers I was acquiring at the time) a consulting project that could be relatively lucrative? So began a relationship that began as what was to be a consulting job – and before the initial interviews were over I was already being considered for a full time position. I signed on at full time, not a consultant. So bottom line is that this social experiment called Linkedin does work – and really you just have to participate, be yourself and be persistent. Let people know when you need help and/or just communicate. I have been helped considerably by having a lot of recommendations, being active in discussions where I felt I could be of assistance, and network, network, network. I tell everyone I meet that I’m on linkedin and would they mind if I connected with them. It works. Especially now that people want and need safety nets in this economy.

Hello Everyone

Jonathan Firestone — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 06:01:46 +0000

I’m just starting up a completely new version of my blog here. I plan to be posting content that refers to my resume and experience and go outward from there along with posts about the new light in my life, my daughter. I’m sure my lovely wife might show up here too, but for now I’ll stick to the basics. Cheers.