Category: Personal Reflections

Lessons learned about life; pearls of wisdom I’ve gleaned through pain, failure and honest reflection

Ah, Modern Life!

Carl Setzer

Here’s a new Twenty First Century challenge I ran into today.

I need to mail a check. Nothing dramatic here. I know exactly where the check book is, address, etc. However, it took several minutes to:

a) find my envelopes

b) find a stamp (I think it’s the last one in the house, btw)

c) I never did find the return address labels that I’m sure I have

What strikes me with all this: at one place mailing stuff was so commonplace that I not only knew where these things were, I had used them recently. I realized today that I have mailed anything in months.

Subtle changes, these things. But substantive, nonetheless.

Braeden Update: June 23, 2019

Carl Setzer
Well, this week was pretty quiet. No doctor or other appointments, so no news on that front. He joined us for taekwondo testing on Friday and Saturday, though as support. He’s not in a place to judge the testing at this point.
 
Next week will bring some more, new information. We meet with neurologists on Thursday following an MRI. The results will be discussed pretty much immediately after the scan. Braeden is less than excited about the MRI, but we’ll have some pharmaceutical help to get through it.
 
He’s looking forward to summer starting (last day of school is Wednesday). It’ll be nice to have friends available to hang out and minimize the boredom that comes with healing from a TBI.
 
Thanks for your continued support and prayers. It means the world to us.

A Job Search Update

Carl Setzer

Last week I wrote about my transition from my current job to my next thing (see Transitions and Next Steps). The process of exploring what’s out there, what I’ve done, what I’m good at and a number of other things has refined my focus. Instead of “communications”, my focus will be on business administration (things like Executive Assistant, Business Administrator, Office Manager, Administrative Assistant roles). I do love this kind of work. And one of the things I did a few days ago was pull out a career assessment that Keller Williams runs on all their staff. And those administrative roles are ones I got 100% alignment with. Most of my career was focused on this kind of work. Mainly because I’m good at it, and like being good at it.

My focus right now is finding a role that I love. I want more than just to like my work, definitely more than tolerate it. No, I want to love it. As I know what work I’m good at and want to do, this next step is to figure out where. There are solid elements of the where. I want to work in a positive environment. No passive-aggressive dysfunction, thanks. Nor rage. Nor convoluted and confused leadership. I’m terrible at confrontation, and have no interest in putting up with unpleasantries for the sake of a paycheck.

I also want to work in a aesthetically pleasing space. Sunlight! It may seem shallow, but it’s important to me. It shows a deep commitment to staff, for starters. Anyway, I don’t need to be right next to a window, but lots of natural light. I’ve worked in many spaces like that over the years. Starbucks, Microsoft to start with. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen from my meetings at the Snohomish County Admin Building.

My focus currently includes many local powerhouses:

  • Boeing
  • Starbucks
  • Microsoft
  • Premera

I’m also considering local government, Snohomish County, Cities of Lynnwood, Edmonds, Everett, Mountlake Terrace.

Anyway, that’s where things stand. If you have any advice or counsel, please leave a comment below.

Thanks!

Transitions and Next Steps 

Carl Setzer1 Comment

Currently, I’m on a six-week plan to change roles. Permitting and feasibility process (what I’ve done for the past 2.5 years) is not what I want for the rest of my life. And it’s time to do what I love. Mike, the owner of Eagle Country and I worked out the 6 week plan, giving the company time for a transition and me a window to shift. I find this a glorious win-win and am deeply grateful.

​I’m working on transitioning from construction to, ideally, communications. Writing is my first love, and I’ve appreciated every opportunity to do so. I’m also love photography and video. And connecting people delights me.

I define “communications” as this overarching concept encompassing everything from marketing to PR to public affairs to internal comms. I love writing everything from newsletters to creating flyers to PowerPoint presentations.

I have a plan in place. This week I’ll  get my resume out in front of key people, update LinkedIn, my website, Indeed and any other useful websites. And I completed most of all that yesterday. So I’m feeling pretty awesome right now. I need to research what other websites to utilize, if any. Also, I need to work on expanding my list of focus companies.

Boeing is first. As a boy, I fell in love with “space” and aircraft. Growing up in Navy based family gave me visibility to all kinds of aircraft. And at one point I could name off all the different military and civilian aircraft: A6, Tomcat, 707, 747….and on and on. I still get excited watching spacecraft footage.

As a professional, the scale of Boeing and their unique challenges fascinate me. As a truly global company I expect the myriad languages, cultures and time zones to make for interesting and fun challenges. That’s true with both internal and external communication. And I see many opportunities within the current OR challenges the company faces. Challenge presented opportunity.

Other local companies intrigue me, too. Whether Premera here in South Snohomish county, to places I’ve worked before (Microsoft, Starbucks). My goal now is to find work I love. And I’m in my way.

Any advice? Especially web tools and such would be great. Please leave a comment and let me know. Cheers! 

Update On My Son’s Progress 6/17/19

Carl Setzer
Well, another week has passed and we’re moving forward. Braeden had 2 separate appointments at Children’s Hospital of Seattle giving us some much needed info and direction.
 
Monday he met with a Speech Language Pathologist. We found out he still has some issues with memory and word retrieval. For that, come July, he will start weekly sessions in a group of teens called Return To Learn. They focus on developing executive functioning skills (such as tools for remembering things that need to get done, as well as increasing cognitive stamina). That’s a 12 week program, after which he should be back in full form.
 
Then on Friday we went to Children’s TBI Clinic (Traumatic Brain Injury). The doctor commented that Braeden is doing remarkably well given his injury. But we still have healing to accomplish. Braeden was hoping for clearance to drive again, but she told him “no”. But we now have information about the return to driving process. She gave us information about driving rehabilitation services. Once she gives us the go ahead, we will contact them to evaluate Braeden’s fitness to drive. As you can imagine, he really misses the level of independence driving provides.
 
The clinician also told us that Braeden has to keep both feet on the ground for about 3 months – until the skull fracture heals. This means some of the items that are cleared for activities when concussion sufferers “feel up to it” are off the list. Which provides him some more frustrations.
 
School ends next Wednesday. We are trying to encourage Braeden to attend at least 1 class each day, but the issues with memory, word retrieval and focus do make school hard and unpleasant. With things like finals, it’s even more challenging. But there is end of year fun that might make school more appealing and less exhausting.
 
We want to extend a big thank you for your prayers and warm wishes, and all the support we’ve received.

More Life Changes Coming 

Carl Setzer

I have some major changes in my career coming up. I’ll write more about this shortly. Endings, beginnings and transitions. Fear and excitement. Opportunities…

I’m in the process of reviewing, and refining, my goals and objectives. I need to pull together a vision. 

Advice and counsel will be requested and encouraged. As one of my mentors outs it: no one succeeds alone. And I’m not alone. 

Braeden Update: June 10, 2019

Carl Setzer
He’s is healing, no longer has headaches, was able to participate in his choir concert this past weekend (which was very important to him), and attended his youth group. We’ve gone out a couple times with friends, gone to a few graduation celebrations of friends, though his endurance for those is much lower than before the accident. In many ways, he looks and acts like the accident never happened.
 
On the down side: school is exhausting. He’s been able to go for a few hours a couple of days a week. He still struggles with dizziness and balance at times. Long walks are very hard. His biggest challenge right now, though, is dealing with all the limitations. Another challenge is focus. There have been several times where he’s been given some direction, which vanishes from his memory as soon as it’s done. Oddly, he remembers getting the direction, but the details escape. Part of healing the brain is mandated boredom, otherwise known as limited computer time. As a modern teen, the screen time limitations are driving him crazy. That will become easier in a few weeks once school ends and his friends are available to hang-out…curing the boredom. To add to that, taekwondo and driving are off limits until we’re given doctor’s clearance. We are deeply grateful to his grandparents who have stepped up so Sheri and I can return to work, and he doesn’t go crazy.
 
The next few weeks bring a bunch of evaluations with various specialists at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital: neurologist, speech and language specialists, and traumatic brain injury specialists. By the end of the month we expect to have a solid idea of our recovery plan and those details. Just in time for summer vacation.
 
We want to thank you for all the prayers, the kind words, visits from friends the gifts of meals. These mean the world to us and have this challenging time much easier to bear.

6/2 Braeden Update: Memorial Day Week From Hell

Carl Setzer

We’ve been home four days now. B makes progress every day. He has been out of the house several times this weekend, but still tired easily. Mom & Dad are trying to help him keep things in perspective. This will be a long road and we don’t want him to push too hard, too fast. He’s bored, but that’s what his brain needs to heal.

Tomorrow we meet with his pediatrician. Hopefully we can get some questions answered to help B understand what the process is.

Our discharge paperwork says can can begin returning to school this week. He really wants to go back. Research shows that teens heal better from concussions with social interactions. We will start slowly – 1 or 2 classes – with minimal academic requirements. We will increase time/cognitive demands as B can handle it.

I guess I can retired the “Memorial Day From Hell” subject line, as we’re both past “Memorial Day” and “Hell”. For which I’m rather thankful.

Update on The Memorial Day From Hell (Memorial Day Week)

Carl Setzer
Braeden Update:
 
Well, we have one full day back at home. Plenty of ups and downs. The biggest up: a significant increase in appetite. Loss of appetite is one of the major challenges of concussions. Nowhere near what a teen boy needs to be eating, but so very much more than he could eat yesterday. Also, it’s so much quieter than the ICU. It’s also nice to have the ability to close the blinds as he is light and sound sensitive right now. Dizziness and nausea are slowly retreating, too. And he was awake far more of today than any other day this week.
 
On the downs: he’s still in a fair amount of pain. Plus a few other aches and pains have materialized. Still have nothing on his head, though. Light and sound bother him a lot (nice that our little house is in a rather quiet neighborhood…though I was pretty angry with the garbage trucks this morning). That was blessedly short.
 
It is SO nice to be home. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until last night. A friend brought by a Papa Murphy pizza. Not feeling hungry, but realizing I should eat, we heated it up, and I grabbed a slice. Then ate three more! Far more hungry than I thought. And I slept until around 10:30 am, which made me realize how little I slept at Harborview.
 
Sheri returned to school today. She made it through, but is now thoroughly exhausted. Along with her classes, she attended part of the track end-of-season party. Several students asked if she was going to be there after missing their final meet on Tuesday.
 
We have felt all of your prayers and positive thoughts. Please keep them coming. This will be a long journey with many ups and downs.