In one case, I drove 5 hours, one way, at my own expense, to meet with a prospective employer. Once there, I left thinking the interview went very well, and was told that I would definitely hear back by such and such date. I didn’t. When I sent a follow up email to try to find out where I stood in the process, I got no response.

What is very frustrating is that this is typical of my job search experience. There is a lot of competition, I know. Employers are interviewing lots of candidates, and can be very selective about who they hire. I get it. What I don’t get is why it is apparently so hard for employers to conduct follow up calls or send emails, or return calls or emails. Did I mention it is frustrating?

So, with all that going on, I’m thinking maybe it’s time for a change. I love loss prevention. It’s my passion, but I also like to eat, and my energy and focus has been on getting back into an industry that has been hit very hard by the economic crisis, apparently. I have had a lot of interested employers who have put me through screening processes and interview processes right up to where I’m just waiting for an offer or a “No Thank You”. In every case, I get neither.

At the same time, my wife has been working on building her photography business. I built her website, and learned a lot along the way. However, I don’t think I’m ready to jump into web design just yet. So, I have a dilemma; I have to re-evaluate my skill sets and decide what career best suits me if loss prevention is no longer on the table. The problem is that it is hard for me to picture myself doing anything but LP, so this is going to be a difficult task for me, at best…

Then, I found Mint, and after a VERY easy install and setup, finding a huge wealth of support and info from the Mint Community, and all the tools for both personal computing and small business that I could want or need, I was sold. After a little time learning the ropes, I had Compiz Fusion up and it was awesome.

I’ve spent the better part of a month testing, working with, playing with, and generally just trying to learn all I can about Mint. I have to say I’m impressed. As a non-expert, basic computer user, I found Mint to provide everything I needed in an operating system and then some. I have had no issues of any significance; no crashes, no lag, no problems at all.

Installing software is also a breeze using the built in software manger, the package manger, and apt. It took me about 15 minutes to read the forums and find out how to install software and personalize my OS for me.

The total cost to me for this fantastic new operating system? $0.00. That’s right, it costs you nothing to download, install and use on your PC. You can even set it up to dual boot so you can keep windows on your machine and run Mint at the same time. I’m no expert by any means, but I know that I like what I’ve found in Linux Mint.

So, after checking to make sure that my cache was in good shape and well stocked, I opened the BlackStar app on my blackberry. Within a couple of seconds, it located several satellites, and had my location locked in. Now, I simply opened the menu and scrolled down to “Geocaching.com Closest Caches”.  I was immediately directed to the geocaching.com site, where I was greeted with a list of nearby geocaches. Amazing!!

The nearest one to my current location was closer to town. I clicked on Download LOC Waypoint File and saved the .LOC file to my media card.

I then go back to the Blackstar app and pull up the menu again. This time, I click “New Waypoint”, then open the menu and click “Import GPX/LOC File” Then I just navigate to where I saved the .LOC file from Geocaching.com and the file is added. I follow the direction and open menu and select “Close” to be taken to a list of saved waypoints. I highlight the new waypoint and click “Set As Destination”.

And, I’m on my way. I drive to the general area of the cache, which happened to be a local park. Once there, I get out and begin to search, using the BlackStar app to guide me. It worked flawlessly. It was very accurate, and took me straight to my target. After a few minutes of searching, I located my geocache and was on my way.

BlackStar also integrates with Google Maps and Blackberry Maps, has the ability to save waypoints and tracks, and tons of other features, all for free. If you love to geocache, or if you’ve never been geocaching but want to try; and you have a blackberry, this is the app for you. It is easy to learn, has tons of support, including a forum, and it’s free.

This is truly paperless geocaching. You need only take your blackberry and a pen/pencil to sign the log. Have fun!!