two omens
It was eight years ago today that I was headed to London, Ontario for the first time ever, for my interview for my job here. It was a very bad time generally; the last full time job I had was a disaster that I had to quit, I was in debt and had to borrow money to buy the train ticket to get to London. I had been through series of ups and downs with interviews for good jobs that always went well but were always offered to someone else. It was a gloomy, lonely, somewhat desperate time in my life.
As the train sped by snowy fields and little towns, I studied up on every article and book I could find on the research topics for this place. The all-day interview, which was held the next day, was one of the most intimidating in my life, as I sat across from a panel of dour looking professors and the technical manager, but I held my own, managed to impress them, and the rest is history.
Even though I'm usually very skeptical about anything supernatural, there are two unusual things that stand out in my mind associated with the interview and my eventual hiring. As the train pulled into London and I was getting my suitcase, right across from me I spotted one of the most androgynous looking people, both in appearance and dress, I've ever seen. I remembered about how the Romans considered unusual people or animals as being portentous, and I wondered if this person was a sign that the results of the interview were undecided, and it was in my hands, and that encouraged me.
Then a week or so later, on Dec 26th, I went for a walk in the evening to see some of the Christmas lights on houses. I was feeling gloomy, not having heard anything back and assuming that I'd have to keep up the job hunt. Along a dark stretch of the road between houses, I heard a faint rustling and an "who...whooo..." sound. I turned on my flashlight to see a pair of large eyes staring at me. It was a Great Horned Owl, standing on a fence, only a few feet away. It stood there observing me, calmly, perfectly still, and then turned and silently flew off. I wondered if this too was an omen, the way that owls are supposedly associated with wisdom and luck.
When I got home a few minutes later, there, on my inbox, was the job offer.
My skeptical mind tends to think things like these are co-incidences, and interpreted after the fact, but overall, I'm still not entirely sure.
As the train sped by snowy fields and little towns, I studied up on every article and book I could find on the research topics for this place. The all-day interview, which was held the next day, was one of the most intimidating in my life, as I sat across from a panel of dour looking professors and the technical manager, but I held my own, managed to impress them, and the rest is history.
Even though I'm usually very skeptical about anything supernatural, there are two unusual things that stand out in my mind associated with the interview and my eventual hiring. As the train pulled into London and I was getting my suitcase, right across from me I spotted one of the most androgynous looking people, both in appearance and dress, I've ever seen. I remembered about how the Romans considered unusual people or animals as being portentous, and I wondered if this person was a sign that the results of the interview were undecided, and it was in my hands, and that encouraged me.
Then a week or so later, on Dec 26th, I went for a walk in the evening to see some of the Christmas lights on houses. I was feeling gloomy, not having heard anything back and assuming that I'd have to keep up the job hunt. Along a dark stretch of the road between houses, I heard a faint rustling and an "who...whooo..." sound. I turned on my flashlight to see a pair of large eyes staring at me. It was a Great Horned Owl, standing on a fence, only a few feet away. It stood there observing me, calmly, perfectly still, and then turned and silently flew off. I wondered if this too was an omen, the way that owls are supposedly associated with wisdom and luck.
When I got home a few minutes later, there, on my inbox, was the job offer.
My skeptical mind tends to think things like these are co-incidences, and interpreted after the fact, but overall, I'm still not entirely sure.