kaylarudbek

Job hunting early days

2026-01-30T03:22:43Z

So far, two rejections out of about 10+ resumes out. Apparently across all fields there’s something like a .03% response rate (not sure if that’s positive response only).

I’m running back-of-envelope calculations in my head; assuming there are 60,000 people worldwide who have a certain qualification that I hold, and 10% of us looking to change jobs right now, that’s 6,000 people I’m competing with. Fewer than that actually as there are technical qualifications as well (biotech versus electrical engineering/computer science) so assume that the biotech won’t be filled by the computer people and vice versa. So about 3,000 competitors max for a given job that requires this certain qualification. So 3000/40 weeks means I should be sending out 75?!? applications per week if I want a new job by the end of the year. (cut this down by a factor of 10, state unemployment generally requires 3 applications per week and since I am still working I can afford to be picky).

I would prefer to do something that’s a bit different from what I currently do (I would love to try large-scale patent analysis aka patent landscaping, or patent litigation) although with my current age and experience, I’m not sure if I can find a job doing that.

I think that my dream job would be teaching intellectual property law to non-lawyers but that’s a very tough gig to get into.

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Testing whether it’s easier to find a job when you have a job

2026-01-16T03:34:26Z

So I didn’t get the position that I had applied for and I will be working with the person who did get the job. My annoyances are:
1) not notified that I didn’t get the job (I’m a contractor although the contract is long-term, I haven’t received any complaints so far)
2) person hired has less legal experience than me (at least going by attorney bar number which is an indicator of experience level; if they had hired someone with more legal experience I would be less annoyed; at least person hired has a different technical background which is probably a good match for the job, but I am still concerned that they don’t have enough experience)
3) serious questions about technical decisions being made at high levels
4) serious doubts about the morality and loyalty of the high levels
5) sick and tired of wondering “who goes Nazi” about my coworkers

So I started putting my resume out on LinkedIn and doing the “easy apply” route tonight. Wish me luck and a better match for my skills, experience, and technical background.

I should also start learning Mandarin, Japanese, and/or Korean as these are going to be the languages of STEM for the 21st century.

I had a dream a few weeks ago about applying for Ph.D programs in chemistry, and saying flat out during the interview when they asked why I was going back at my age, “the only reason I am applying is to get my ticket punched so that I can apply for different legal jobs than I currently can” (patent law specifically will call out the technical background desired in the job description e.g. electrical engineering or biochemistry background). I woke up before I got a response from the professor interviewing me so I don’t know if that was persuasive or not.

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Looking for Sherlock Holmes fanfic where Moriarty is on the side of Irish independence from the Brit

2026-01-09T04:56:56Z

As I said above, there’s got to be fanfic or AUs out there where Moriarty is running his criminal empire to further the cause of Irish independence….

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Looking for recommendations: sunrise alarm clock

2025-11-09T06:42:38Z

Anyone have any recommendations for a sunrise alarm clock that I don’t need to read the manual for every time I want to turn the alarm off or snooze it? I dislike my current one so much that I’m going to donate it to Goodwill or GreenDrop. I don’t want anything that needs an app or subscription to keep it running, either, or anything that is connected to the internet.

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Planning bike trip to Santiago de Compostela

2025-09-29T04:43:05Z

So Mr. Rudbek bought plane tickets to Madrid so we can see the solar eclipse in 2026, and the eclipse path crosses the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (ETA it crosses the Camino Frances in Spain, not the Via Francigena which is the pilgrimage route to Rome). We were watching videos tonight of two of the different routes: the one in Northern Spain which crosses the eclipse path, and the much flatter route from Porto, Portugal. Both routes seem like they have much rougher tracks/path conditions in parts than the C&O canal towpath which we have ridden several times.

The train service in Spain and Portugal appears to be very good, so we will definitely be able to get a train back from Compostela to Madrid. And Mr. Rudbek has already made one hotel reservation for the eclipse night in Northern Spain, so now we just have to figure out where we would start the bike ride from. In order to get a pilgrim’s certificate, we would have to officially bike 200 km, which is either Porto to Compostela or maybe Leon to Compostela I need to look at the maps more. And yeah, it’s a bit odd to be planning to ride a famous pilgrimage route when I haven’t been to Mass since before the pandemic.

And yes, there’s yarn (Ravelry isn’t great for locating the yarn stores in Spain, but according to Google Maps there are a fair amount of stores that sell yarn and others fiber crafting supplies..And there is a yarn store in Compostela that is in Ravelry, along with four others potentially on the route).

It’s fun to be planning and looking forward to a big bike trip again! Anyone else here who has already done the route, by bike or foot?

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For reference- boycott list for fiber crafts

2025-09-27T19:35:27Z

From Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/craftsnark/comments/1nee9tz/mega_thread_for_the_do_not_buy_list/

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From Substack and Bluesky

2025-08-21T02:10:49Z

https://rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/bhattacharya-is-the-new-lysenko?r=at8ic&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true

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Startitis and frustration on a Friday night

2025-08-09T02:45:24Z

I want to start knitting All the Things, including:

1) https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/aurora-cabin-shawl
2) https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/shawlography
3)
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/boardwalk-mosaic-shawl (I bought the exact yarn in the exact colors for this one, need to go find some size 3 and 4 needles and what’s frustrating me is that I want to use the same brand/cross section of needle as some of my new are square cross section, some are round, and I want to stay consistent within the project)
4) https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/geogradient-shawl without the fringe on the edge (I hate fringe and anything reminiscent of the late 1960s and the 1970s in clothing styles or home decor, except maybe Gunne Sax or Jessica McClintock. I lived through it as a kid and I have no desire to repeat the ugly experience. Too many of the designers were on hard drugs and making very bad decisions, and probably raging narcissists to boot.. Space Age retro is fine, 1980s neon is ok depending on the color scheme).

My current “easy” project is frustrating because the yarn is a single ply with a bit of thick/thin texture and it keeps on breaking at the thin places Two breaks so far, two different knitting patterns tried, and I may just give up and use it for weaving instead of knitting So I may go back to working on the cotton sweater to have an easy project and then try to make some progress on the Paradise Point shawl which needs to have Knit Companion going with horizontal and vertical sliding highlights in order to figure out where I am in the pattern.

I should go take my weekly medication shot and then go to bed. I had to stop it for a colonoscopy earlier this summer, and as it builds back up in my body again post procedure, I noticed my spending habits changed again, and I keep on questioning myself now, “do you really need that?” and “what are you hungry for? Or are you thirsty, or need electrolytes?” I find myself wanting to take time and purge out my house of all the things that I don’t really need anymore.

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Shawlography plans revision

2025-08-05T01:39:04Z

So if Knit Picks is literally buggy right now (as in, carpet beetle infestation in their warehouse buggy) then I think I might try Cascade Heritage instead (I have camel, black, dark green, burgundy or wine, light blue or navy, white, and I suppose I could crack into the red skeins too…) and plenty of shopping options if don’t like what I have in stash. I was originally planning on using those for socks with more elaborate patterns, but sometimes the fun is in changing my mind..

ETA shopping options include this place in Florida that might have some Rowan Summerlite in stock too… https://www.sheepthrillsknitting.com/shop/YARNS-BY-MANUFACTURER/Cascade-Yarns-Inc/p/Heritage-Sock-Yarn-Cascade-x28768731.htm

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Shawlography plans

2025-08-04T02:59:58Z

More plotting today at brunch with M and I’m still not sure what color combo to use.

The 80s Called option would be black/white/charcoal gray (Ash)/ light blue (electric blue)/hot pink (Pucker) in Knit Picks Stroll (I have enough gray, would have to order one more of black and white and hot pink, might have to order two more of the light blue) https://www.knitpicks.com/electric-blue/p/26406 and https://www.knitpicks.com/ash/p/23696 and https://www.knitpicks.com/pucker/p/26401 with black and white

The five elements (classic European) option would be white/red/blue/green/yellow so Knit Picks Stroll white, poppy or strawberry, serene (or maybe the electric blue), grass, and treasure https://www.knitpicks.com/serene/p/N3830
https://www.knitpicks.com/grass/p/29771 https://www.knitpicks.com/treasure/p/28182

https://www.knitpicks.com/poppy/p/29770
https://www.knitpicks.com/strawberry/p/28179

I would need to order 1 white, at least one yellow, then 2 skeins each of the other colors.

The five elements (classic Chinese) option would be white/red/yellow/black/green so swapping out the blue for the black.

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Knitting decisions/plotting/planning

2025-08-03T04:47:44Z

So I want to make this shawl https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/shawlography

and it calls for five different colors of yarn. I’m playing around with some different ideas:
1) five colors = Aristotle’s five classic elements (earth, water, air, fire, aether) which would be green, blue, yellow, red, and?? for the quintessence/aether (maybe white or grey)
2) five colors = Classical Chinese five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, water https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxing_(Chinese_philosophy) so green/blue, red, white, yellow, black

3) black/white/gray and then two very bright colors (maybe 1980s fuchsia and neon blue).

4) monochromatic (e.g. 5 shades of blue)

5) pull my color cards from Stunning String’s mystery knit alongs because those 5-6 color choices per card have the same theme and are more likely to work together

Knit Picks Stroll will be cheaper and I have some in my stash already
Although I do also have plenty of yarn from Stunning String Studio that would also work

(ETA: in the cold light of morning, 500 grams of light fingering weight yarn is going to make a ginormous sized shawl, practically a blanket It’s still a beautiful pattern though, so I’m playing around with combinations of KP Stroll)

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Summer crafting plans for the heat wave

2025-06-21T00:39:55Z

With a massive heat wave coming next week, trying to decide if:

1) should I warp my loom and get some weaving practice in with cotton yarn?
2) should I get out the cross stitch projects and work on those?
3) should I go find my summer sweater knitting project on the needles?
4) should I start some new projects (cotton knitting, embroidery)?

To be started:
various projects from https://cozybluehandmade.com/

or https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/boardwalk-mosaic-shawl

oodles of patterns in my Ravelry queue

in progress:

https://www.ravelry.com/projects/search#by=kaylarudbek&view=thumbs&sort=completed&status=in-progress%7Chibernating

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Books to read for Juneteenth

2025-06-20T02:03:34Z

https://balloon-juice.com/2025/06/19/simon-rosenberg-sees-emerging-opportunity-and-i-make-some-lists/#comment-9639088

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Mapping

2025-06-06T01:28:31Z

https://theimpactproject.org/the-impact-map/

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Link of interest

2025-06-04T22:20:58Z

https://open.substack.com/pub/longmemo/p/leopards-eat-floridas-face?r=2a18wh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

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PSA: US REAL ID

2025-05-21T14:30:17Z

If you have a passport in your married name, apparently you don’t need a certified copy of your marriage certificate (at least this is what the Virginia DMV rep told me on the phone). I will try to get my REAL ID with passport and other documents and see if it works.

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An excellent Bluesky thread re Pope Leo

2025-05-10T16:05:03Z

https://bsky.app/profile/rahaeli.bsky.social/post/3loqsfhswjk2r

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Articles of interest

2025-05-08T02:44:04Z

https://www.salon.com/2025/05/07/two-dolls-for-christmas-suggestion-swipes-sexism-to-sell-tariffs/

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/04/ai-secretly-helped-write-california-bar-exam-sparking-uproar/

https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/05/we-have-reached-the-severed-fingers-and-abductions-stage-of-the-crypto-revolution/

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The Oatmeal making me laugh

2025-04-18T03:01:09Z

https://theoatmeal.com/comics/wombats

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Themed playlists

2025-04-08T01:25:45Z

Saving this one, and then I need to go pull some of my themed ones from law school and also my Apocalypse/WW3 playlist. War and Death were easy to find music for, but Famine and Pestilence were much harder (Fields of Athenry for the Famine, I should probably buy a recording of Skibbereen and add that as well)

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Biking to run errands

2025-02-24T00:36:07Z

Picked up a new shower head with hose at Ace Hardware, Barnes and Noble (renewing membership, buying The Knitter and Piecework magazines plus two other magazine-sized items) then to Trader Joe’s to get frozen food for lunch because I have to work onsite now and Trader Joe’s is cheaper than the onsite cafeteria/food court/convenience store/etc.

Tout le monde also being out today and at Trader Joe’s too.

I’m currently drinking my second mug of tea after getting home and I’m beginning to warm up now.

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Script for Calling my congressional representatives

2025-02-15T03:58:41Z

https://balloon-juice.com/2025/02/14/smells-a-little-sweaty/#comment-9527785

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Angry Staff Officer’s latest blog post

2025-02-13T05:35:15Z

https://angrystaffofficer.com/2025/02/12/diversity-the-u-s-militarys-not-so-secret-weapon/

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Links re USAID etc

2025-02-09T21:53:42Z

‘What Elon Musk Said Is a Bold-Faced Lie’ - POLITICO

White Nationalist Forces Consolidate Power Alongside Musk’s Junta

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/02/opm-fork-musk-trump-federal-personnel-management-employee.html

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Running the math on USPTO going back to the office

2025-02-09T02:41:12Z

https://www.reddit.com/r/patentexaminer/comments/1id845l/running_the_math_on_examiner_rto/

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