Back to "normal"

The day after I arrived back in Iowa after six weeks on my bike, I set off again for a short vacation in the Black Hills with my parents and niece, Elizabeth. This time the trip was on four wheels and I didn't wear orange once. Our trip across South Dakota included stops at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, the Badlands, and Wall Drug. We set out from our cabin outside of Hill City to visit Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park (yes, we did see a big herd of buffalo), and Jewel Cave. We also played a round of mini golf in Rapid City (won by Papa) where Okoboji was featured on the signpost along with such places as Paris and New York. We were introduced to all the presidents through the life size bronze statues in downtown Rapid City. Our last afternoon was spent on an old steam powered train that goes between Hill City and Keystone. The train goes up hills about as slow as I do on my bike. The hours in the car passed more quickly by introducing Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi, and the rest of the cast of characters from the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency to Elizabeth by reading the latest book in the series. She must have enjoyed them since she came home from the library with the first book in the series.

   

During this past week, I've been getting back into a somewhat normal routine and eating schedule as my focus shifted from riding my bike to the next two objectives: passing the OT licensing exam and finding a job. To begin studying, I ordered what Google said was the best book for preparing for the exam. To prepare for a job interview on Wednesday I went through the list of the top 50 interview questions (according to Google) and got a hair cut. I felt better after the hair cut and at least thinking about some of the questions made it seem that I was doing something to prepare. 

The actual interview went well. I was able to come up with some type of answer for all their questions and I had some questions for them as well. Part way through I realized they were trying to sell the position to me as much as I was trying to sell myself to them. In the end, I'm to contact them if I haven't heard from them in two weeks. When I arrived back home, the exam prep book had arrived. My hope of taking the exam by the end of August went out the window. Instead I set a more reasonable pace of one chapter (out of 14) per day, plus some time for the three practice exams included with the book. I'm scheduled to take it on Sept 16. After my first few days of sitting at a desk again, I'm thankful that most of what I'm studying is familiar and I'm very glad that the questions are multiple choice rather than essay. An added bonus, there's been time for a couple of bike rides. They have been short, which is fine with me in this humidity.