Internet Archive

15^th October 2016

Dear Internet Archive,

I take something of an interest in your posting for a book digitizer. I’ll grant you my work in security is out of left field for what you’re looking for, but a Security Officer is professionally patient. I can lift more than 100 pounds and have had a great deal of experience with scanners and digital photography.  I currently use a Canon 60D.

I do have a degree in Psychology and I understand the need to keep my research materials clean and understandable. I have worked jobs were my actions save lives and I imagine that the books aren’t going to come in under the influence of drugs or do anything nasty. Compared to what I do this is an easy job.

You have a safe day,

Richard Leland Neal

Hard Duty

19^th October 2016

My Dear friends at (Company) Security,

I’m a Security Officer with eighteen years of experience who has seen some of the hardest duty an unarmed person can have in the field. I learned that my big problem is that I express myself in a professional way, and that professionalism is not conducive to success with the companies I worked with.

With my last company I arrived on post to find guards out of uniform and sleeping in their car.  When I reported this I was told “Mind your own business”. Likewise, at the company before that I reported a fire door blocked and they said that it wasn’t an issue because the “Fire Marshal hadn’t been by”.

I take my job seriously as a Security Officer but I’ve worked at companies that feel that any guard is a good guard, but that means that the man who does his job well makes others look bad.

I’m a professional Security Officer and I need to work for a professional company.

I’m hoping this is one,

Richard Leland Neal

Bad Offer

24^th January 2016

My Dear Sister Margaret,

I spoke to you of the events of the hearing where I fought for my unemployment, and I still await the results. I got another call that day and one of the darkest I have received so far.  I received a job offer to work in skid row as a security officer: Less pay, more danger, but promise of overtime. I could tell this fellow thought it was an easy sell. He figured that I needed the job which is anything but true, but if I was losing my unemployment, if I knew I was I mean, I’d have taken the job. That’s the kind of work I get called for, the pay is a joke, and the conditions are bad. That’s the life of a man with my experience.

To add insult, I never did hear back from Raf on that script. You’d think after how I proved myself to that fellow he would be honest. I tell you, there was an altercation out front one night. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew Raf was out there and so I went out to watch his back. When you’re ready to bleed for a fellow it should mean something.

I always figured that if the script was good enough he knew someone who would want to produce it and if it wasn’t I needed to know. Now my option is to put money into the script to try and find a producer. That’s the thing about writing, you need friends or you need money. Friends always come up short so I got to try money. That’s why taking any job becomes a thing. 

In other news, I still don’t have my car back. They said it would be another week but that they would have to cover the rental fee. At least that’s something.

The only honestly good thing I have for you is that a friend, Dan, was happy to know of my bringing you recyclables and thinks he may have some toiletries for the homeless.  Dan told me that the woman he lives with, I’m not sure his relation to her, is a nurse and takes these things as they are given to her at her work. He winds up with a stalk pile and so on.

Here is to the light at the end of the tunnel,

Richard Leland Neal 

I've Seen it All

28th October 2016

My dear friends,  

I am a Security Officer with eighteen years of experience working in all kinds of environments from industrial with big rig trucks to guarding stores and strip malls. I make it a point to be a professional at all times and treat every person as though they are a potential customer.

There are few tasks in security that would be unfamiliar to a man with my experience and I’m sure that I can acclimate to any position you have open.

Best,

Richard Leland Neal

Interesting Experience - 1998 Yearbook Signature

An Arch to Build Upon - Henry Adams

Fail Cash in - Elbert Hubbard

Genuinely Forgive - O. A. Battista

Bald Man's Comb - Irish Proverb

 

People Who are Willing - Richard Parker

Experience in a Play

This file is dated 23^rd October 2004 and is an essay I wrote in college regarding my experience as an actor in the play ‘Dracula’. To be honest I have almost no memory of writing this, but the events I speak of are clear in my mind. I should have been complaining about the director not doing enough to address actors lighting things on fire and threatening other cast members, but that’s another story.

Experience Paper

I must say that this production was no different than most productions that I have been in. I was well loved by most of the cast, well hated by some, and left a definite mark on the production. However, there are some things that did strike me as needing improvement.

         

The first of which is props. They were not provided in a timely fashion which is what prompted me to provide some of them. The package and the knife were the most significant as they were functional props that required handling that affected character development. I felt that the scene with the package was slightly awkward and this may have been ironed out if we had longer to work with it. This is also true for the flask. I had some difficulties with it in the first act and needed more working time to get used to it. I feel I had trouble with the examination as well but that is my fault. I was under the impression that I was to have more tools during that part of the play.

Another of my concerns was the deadline for ticket sales. I would have liked an explanation for that. I put out twenty five hundred coupons for this play and personally escorted people to the ticket window knowing that I could not get credit for them. Is there no way to encourage people to by tickets sooner? Will the department okay coupons that will expire on the deadline and be useless before the play opens?

It took more than a week to get the fliers I had okayed and I had to be very lean with them. In the future, I will have to use the back if I am to place this information on them and that will double the printing time. It will however give me room for parking directions.

Another difficulty I had with this play was navigating between the dialect coach and the director. At times they did not agree, and it was hard to keep it all straight. I have no suggestion on how to remedy this, it seems to be a fact of theatre but that is the difficulty that I had.

One of the other aspects that seem to be unfixable is volume. I had to try and speak at the level of my fellow actors to avoid feedback from sound adjustments and the American College Theater Festival representative noticed this to be a problem of the show. My only advice on this subject would be to perform more effective warm-ups. I used Sphinx and knee-bend monologues for this and I found that it forces the body to project as well as exercising concentration skills. It works well for me but I have always been louder then the average actor.

That is what I have to say about my experience with ‘Dracula’. I regret that I could not be more helpful but I was given no criteria for this assignment and can’t really say that I know how to go about explaining my experiences. 

Two Cover Letters

Here are two cover letters I recently sent out. The truth is that in both letters I try to make my experience relevant to the job I apply for and make myself look like the one they want.

I have never been any good at that.

2^nd August 2011

Dear (hiring contact),

I grant that my experience looks irrelevant to the job at hand, but good time management, an attention to detail, and strong communication skills are staples of both occupations.

Over the passed eleven years, I have spent my time being adaptable and dependable. I spent the first half of this year finishing my degree in Psychology, and I have a good understanding of what questions to ask and how to resolve conflicts.

Thank you for your time,


Richard Leland Neal

2^nd August 2011

Dear (Health Group),

I may appear to be an odd choice for a Director of Risk Management, but this was an onsite duty for me during my eleven years as a Security Officer. I must admit that the majority of the injuries I responded to were due to a failure to adhere to safety protocol.

My education in Psychology and my experiences with the mentally ill offer themselves to this labor. In addition, I have instructed hundreds of people in safety procedures. I know what works and what does not. I have a great deal of experience implementing safety procedures and analyzing the reasons for at work injuries.

I have the advantage of firsthand experience, and the most direct knowledge of how important this work is to a safe work place.  

Thank you for your time,


Richard Leland Neal

Reward Without Work - A. P. Gouthey