The Web Presence of Brady Alleman

Chris and I went on a weekend expedition to northwest PA this past weekend.  The first stop was Parker Dam State Park on the way north.  Nothing spectacular here, but it is a nice state park about halfway on the trip.  Next was the Kinzua Dam at the end of the Allegheny Reservoir – A very impressive structure, with water thundering through the gates.  We then walked around the Seneca Pumped Storage Reservoir that is located on the mountain above the dam.  We didn’t notice any change in water levels while there, but the huge concrete bowl is pretty cool.

We camped at Chapman State Park, but didn’t really explore there at all.  It was a somewhat central location to branch out from, and had a nice modern campground.

Much of Saturday was spent at Oil Creek State Park and the surrounding area.  We toured a few of the sites there, but it seems that biking would be the best way to explore here.  There is a paved bike trail that follows the Oil Creek.  There are slight remains of the several oil boom towns in the area and many oil wells scattered throughout the park, and a few still seem to be active.  You can sometimes tell there is a nearby well by the smell.  Later we went to the Tionesta Dam and its lake, then hiked to some overlooks back around Kinzua Dam, and drove up into New York, circling the Allegheny Reservoir. Probably should have looked for a tax-free gas station in the Seneca Nation, but didn’t read about that until afterwards.  Did get to see the United Refinery in Warren, PA while driving by.  Pretty impressive looking plumbing!

I could easily spend a week or more exploring that area, but we did OK with the time we had.  Might have to plan something in that area again.

Just some random thoughts I’m posting instead of trying to sleep, or do anything else useful.  These probably aren’t anything new, but I at least think I’ve thought of them independently.

“I’m bad at self-deprecation.”  I actually thought that to myself for awhile before realizing there were some logical issues with that.  Maybe it’s just that I’m bad at non-self-self-deprecation, or external-self-deprecation, or however you might term it.  Drat – by posting that here, it’s also got logical problems.  Regardless, I should try to take myself a bit less seriously… unless I just did.

Consider the interview question “What are your weaknesses?”  Too bad I didn’t think of something like a deadpan “I have difficulty taking silly interview questions seriously.”  Not that it’s a bad interview question from the interviewer’s perspective, but as an interviewee, what are you supposed to say to that?  An uncensored catalog of your self-perceived weaknesses (even if limited in scope to work-related stuff)  seems an ill-advised thing to launch into – and stumbling around the question seems kind of disingenuous itself.  Would anyone not trip on that question?  Tripping on it didn’t cause me anything more than mental grief, luckily.  Personally, I think that if an interview is to consist of a written script of questions, it would be worthwhile to give the interviewee an advance copy.  I’ve found conversational interviews to be far more comfortable, at least as the interviewee.  They’re probably more insightful, but less comparable between candidates for the interviewer, I would guess.

After almost 8 years of working at Ship in one capacity or another, I’m moving on.  My last day will be 8/19.  I’ve taken a position with Tapestry Technologies and start there on 8/24.  I still might be a student at Ship in the future, though.

The process of leaving Ship has made me more aware of how much of my self-concept is currently tied to my job.  I really need to make a more concerted effort to change that.