Hey all, unless you’ve been following the blog, you’re probably wondering about the status of new One Week Job episodes. It looks like I should be getting my laptop back on Tuesday, so until then I’ve put together a brief update of our Film Festival reportage from Roots - view it in the player on our hompage. Enjoy!

Sleep. Sleep is good. Unfortunately, we didn’t get much sleep last night (or at least I didn’t) as we’re currently staying at a friends’ place in Toronto on the edge of Chinatown.

Don’t get me wrong: it’s an incredible apartment right above a Scotiabank, with high ceilings and wide spaces. It’s just conveniently down below are the streetcars that screech by and shake the building every 10 minutes. (I’m sure we’ll get used to it after a while).

Anyway, Sean and I woke up early this morning and made our way to Roots’ head office. We stepped inside the doors and were immediately greeted with the company’s founding philosophy pasted on the wall.

The company was started in 1973 by founders Don Green and Michael Budman, and has grown to become one of Canada’s most recognizable clothing brands.

During our tour of the office, it was clear the place had a great vibe. Everyone seemed pretty happy to be working, and it quickly became apparent that many employees had been there for at least 5 years or more (some pushing 20!)

Afterwards we headed out to their leather factory, where they produce their leather merchandise: bags, jackets, shoes, you name it. We had never been in a leather factory before, so we weren’t sure quite what to expect. Turns out - it’s a really cool environment. The place is wide open, fully air-conditioned, and buzzed with workers cutting, stitching and creating.

Another fact about Roots we didn’t know: many of their goods are still hand-made in Canada. Not all of them, but still, that’s pretty darn good —

Roots still directly employs nearly 2,000 people in Canada, including 200 at our leather goods factory in Toronto. All Roots products are designed in Toronto by Canadian designers. Indirectly, through our work with various suppliers, we help contribute to the employment of thousands more people in Canada.

After our tour of the factory, we had the chance to sit down with Director of Communcations Robert Sarner, who talked with us about the importance of communcation - between a company and its employees, as much as with the public. In fact, he values communication so highly, he recommends you talk to him directly if you have a beef, compliment, or question about Roots.

Sean and I finished off the day with a visit to the Roots flagship store on Bloor St, where we learned what we’d be doing for the weekend: talking with celebrities.

Well, maybe not quite, but looks like we do get to promote the Flick Off campaign, which means capturing clips of what others are doing to reduce their carbon emissions - and this includes celebrities in town for the Toronto Film Fest.

We’ll be there most of Friday, so if you’re in town, come visit us! Sean will also be blogging on the Roots Film Festival blog here.

Hey everyone, just a quick note to ask for your help in promoting One Week Job. We’re currently (as in this second) gathering Digg votes for our article today on CNET. So if you’ve got a moment, it would be a big help if you went and dugg the article:

http://digg.com/world_news/Job_wanted_for_one_week_only/

Thanks for your help!
- Sean

Ian was able to call ASUS today and it looks like the computer is going to have to be sent away to get a new hard drive. They have told us that we should get the computer back by next week which would be great as we will be coming back through Montreal then.

In the meantime, Ian tried to install the program he uses for editing on my computer, though that didn’t work either and almost crashed my computer in the process so that was the end of that.

As I am sure you have realized by now, there will be no new episode tomorrow and Ian will not be able to start working on it again until next week when he gets his computer back. We are hoping to have the episode from my week as a Veterinary Assistant up by the end of next week.

Until then, we will still continue to blog and post photos to the Road Journal section.

-Sean

It seems the worst has happened. Last night, while working on the upcoming episode of One Week Job, my laptop crashed. No word of warning.

For a fraction of a second I saw the “blue screen of death” and then all went black. The computer restarted but didn’t get very far. The harddrive suddenly started emitting a terrible scratching noise, like a skipping record player.

It could only mean one thing…complete hard drive failure.

The laptop, a brand new ASUS G1S, had been great up until that point. No idea why the hard drive decided to pack it in. All three of us have spent last night and the entire morning trying to salvage the data - which includes 1/3 of the completed episode from the animal hospital.

No word on whether we’ll recover the data. Thankfully, all the previous episodes I backed up on an external hard drive. The current setback is more one of time, rather than catastrophic consequence.

Today is also a holiday so we can’t call ASUS tech support, or ship the laptop off for repair.

Anyone out there in internet land have a spare laptop kicking around they don’t need? Just thought I’d ask…

This week will be somewhat different from most. Typically my jobs are Monday - Friday, though this week I am working with Roots Canada and helping out at the Toronto International Film Festival which starts on Thursday, Sept. 6th. And so I will be working from Thursday - Monday.

Roots is a sponsor at this years film festival, responsible for providing clothing and there was also mention of handling the area for the celebrities who are attending the event. They will be using the footage that Ian shoots over the weekend for their website so perhaps we will get into some cool situations.

My tasks will include covering events, writing for the Roots blog, taking photos and video for Roots.com and providing general assists to the PR Director, Director Ecommerce, Digital Marketing & New Media, and Director of Communications.

Should make for an awesome week!

-Sean

We can all learn something from Sean’s journey.

I met Sean way back in week 6 which for some odd reason it seems like some distant, past experience. His belief that the path from A to B is not always a straight line prompted him to create One Week Job. He now uses this as his vehicle to further his own self exploration and self discovery related to career decisions not for the rest of his life but for the next phase of his life.

Talk about a multitude of changes!! Life is a state of continuous changes and no doubt One Week Job is all about changes, some within Sean’s control and I’m sure, many not within his control. Through it all, I continue to be impressed with Sean’s ability to not only stay positive but to keep it simple.

I often ask myself the following questions: Is there is one particular skill that Sean continues to apply over and over again? And what is the name of this skill that best exemplifies how he successfully manages his one week job experience? The answer that continues to remain constant in my thinking is something that I call Transitional Skills. Yes, we can all learn something from Sean’s journey but specifically how we react to new situations, how we make the necessary adjustments to new situations, and best prepare for those unexpected changes….Transitional Skills.

I believe that the secret to life is living it one day at a time and never letting go of hope. I also believe that making the most of every day is very much dependant on my capacity to manage life’s continuous changes while accessing the strength and courage of my own transitional skills.

How are you managing your life’s journey from path A to B? Are you taking charge of change? Are you making the most of your every day by accessing the strength and courage of your own transitional skills? And if not, do you have a plan to do something about it? We look forward to your comments and perspectives. Share your story with us.

~Robert Manolson

Robert is a Certified Career Development Professional based in Edmonton, Alberta and has over 25 years experience as a skilled speaker and persuasive presenter. Creator & Master Facilitator of Powerful Play Experiences, he facilitates organizations and groups in workplace fun & wellness workshops with highly engaging, innovative “Powerful Play Experiences.”