Amy Lindgren

Do you have favorite words that carry extra power in your life?

When it comes to difficult issues, my favorite word is How. As in, “How am I going to fix this?” and “How can I change this outcome?” This one word opens the door to everything, as far as I’m concerned. If I start with “How,” I’m compelled to move on to find a solution.

For job search, my favorite word is Yes. I believe that job seekers with a “yes” mentality achieve their goals more quickly than those whose set-points lean to “no” or “I don’t think so.”

You don’t need to be a natural optimist to adopt a yes approach to job search. It just takes practice and a little extra vigilance. Here are four situations in which Yes is the answer (or should be).

1. When answering interview questions: In improv comedy, actors train themselves to answer any situation, no matter how improbable, with “Yes, and … ” As in, “Yes, and besides baking cakes with a box on my head, I also build Lego ships that actually sail.”

Silly? That’s the point. But imagine the opposite: “No, I don’t bake cakes.” Thud. In an unfortunate twist, job seekers are sometimes advised to answer with “No, but … ” As in, “No, I don’t know PowerPoint, but I can learn.”

Frankly, that’s another thud. The employer needs a doer, not a learner, at least for the basic parts of the job. A better answer starts with Yes: “Yes, I’ve had exposure to PowerPoint. I saw it in the job posting so I found a refresher class I can take. How would I be using it?”

Now we have a conversation started and the game is afoot. The idea isn’t to lie or inflate. Rather, it’s to answer positively, providing whatever information you can before redirecting with a question of your own. In the end, it may not be enough to win the offer but you’ll definitely come closer. Helpful mantras to practice: “Yes, I can … ” or “Yes, and … ”

2. When pursuing leads: I was talking with someone the other day about checking her college alumni department for networking contacts. Her answer: “No, I don’t think they do that.”

Um, don’t think, or know for a fact? It’s logical to prioritize ideas to avoid tumbling down every rabbit hole. If I’d suggested checking with her hardware store for networking ideas, I would agree the result might not be worth the effort. But it’s important to distinguish between wasted time and lost opportunities.

The mantra here could be “Yes, this might help,” followed by “How would I get the best result?” If answering the How question doesn’t provide a likely path to pursue, the option can be shelved in favor of one that has more potential. And if there isn’t a higher-value option available? It’s back to the first one, just to keep things moving.

3. In imagining a new future: This one might need both a Yes and a few Hows besides. Here’s an example: Suppose you’re wondering about changing careers. This is a question of exploration, so an automatic Yes doesn’t fit. You need information first, and an understanding of the risks and benefits. This is where “How” comes in. How will you find that information?

Now suppose you’ve found an idea that excites you. This is where Yes comes in. If the new career would mean less money, the person who leans to No might say, “Oh, that’s not enough money. It won’t work.” As a career counselor, I’m always going to push back on that. Not because it’s not true but because it closes off an entire path that might otherwise be perfect.

The remedy would be more How questions, including “How would we balance our budget?” or maybe, “How would our lifestyle change to accommodate that?” Or even, “How could I earn more money if I took that path? How soon could I be promoted?”

The beginning mantras for the entire sequence are simple Yes phrases: “Yes, I think there’s something more for me out there” and, “Yes, I think that’s worth exploring.”

4. In just getting out of bed: Sometimes just facing the day is enough of a challenge. Here’s a mantra to try: “Yes. I think this day will be worth getting up for.” And then you do get up, because none of the other yeses will matter otherwise.

Ready to try? Yes, of course you are!

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Amy Lindgren owns a career consulting firm in St. Paul. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com.

Having never driven a Tesla, but having sat in one in order to pretend to a friend that I thought the dominating computer screen was fascinating, I sensed no revulsion or any particular distaste for the car. Everybody dances to a different beat and if you want an electric car, a Tesla, then have at it, even if the front of a Tesla looks like the underbelly of a dolphin.

And the Tesla truck is perhaps the ugliest machine ever manufactured. Some cars are so ugly that they become cool. You’d a pay a pretty penny these days for an Edsel, not in spite of its horse collar grill, but probably because of it. The Tesla truck looks like an industrial toaster or a hastily slapped together prop for a 1952 invasion-from-Mars movie. What were you thinking, Elon?

There is no accounting for taste and the vehicle’s novelty cannot be denied. Besides, the way we’re going, cars will end up looking like hot dog buns and the Tesla truck will someday be as revered as a Ferrari.

A fellow doesn’t mean to pile on – Teslas have been getting keyed – but we have learned some lessons. Apparently, many of you who bought Teslas really, deep down, didn’t care about saving the Earth. You cared about making a statement that you cared about saving the Earth. Otherwise, so many of you wouldn’t now be plastering your cars with stickers that say, “Don’t blame me, I bought mine before Musk got to Washington.”

But then Musk joined President Donald Trump and because the two of them are ideologically evil, it is now acceptable to insist that you find Musk dastardly, even though when you bought the car, you thought Musk was ideologically a genius. I guess the stickers promote a wish to have the cake and eat it, too.

What changed? Well, Trump.

Our governor hasn’t helped. It would be a stretch to say that Tim Walz incited the destruction of property, but a couple of weeks back, on that whatever that tour of his is, he took great glee in Tesla’s falling stock price. It is now believed that the governor didn’t realize that his own State Board of Investment had 1.6 million shares of Tesla stock in its retirement fund or that Tesla owns a manufacturing plant in Brooklyn Park.

In a riotous display of first-world angst, Teslas have been shot at, keyed and kicked. Tesla dealerships have been vandalized.

And locally we have the astonishing case of Dylan Bryan Adams, a financial analyst in the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Adams was arrested recently in Minneapolis for allegedly keying at least six Tesla cars to the tune of more than $20,000 in damages. Allegedly seems redundant. Teslas are virtually rolling film studios. The cars filmed Adams in the act.

It is unlikely Adams will be fired or even have a note placed in his file. He’s been with the state since 2018 and nobody in the Walz administration has ever suffered any consequences for their incompetent handling of a $250 million food fraud. $20,000 is peanuts.

In fact, Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County attorney, has decided not to press felony charges against Adams. Instead, Adams was offered “diversion,” meaning restitution and some community service work. It almost sounds like Moriarty said, “Oh, what the hell, he was only keying Teslas.”

It’d hard to know if Moriarty’s charity to Adams reflected her politics. You have to wonder if she thought about it at all.

My question will go unanswered. Adams was out walking his dog when he struck. Why wasn’t he at work?

Joe Soucheray can be reached at jsoucheray@pioneerpress.com. Soucheray’s “Garage Logic” podcast can be heard at garagelogic.com.

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By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press

ROME (AP) — President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met briefly Saturday before the funeral for Pope Francis as the American leader steps up the pressure to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Zelenskyy’s office had said teams were making arrangements for the leaders to talk again Saturday, but Trump went directly to the Rome airport after the funeral and boarded Air Force One for the 10-hour flight back to the United States, which seemed to rule out a second in-person conversation.

The White House said their discussion was “very productive” and that more details would be released later. The meeting lasted about 15 minutes inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican just before they took their seats for the outdoor funeral service.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and President Donald Trump, talk as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025.(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Zelenskyy said “good meeting” on social media after the funeral.

“We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out,” he wrote. “Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results. Thank you.”

The meeting took place hours after Trump said on social media, after he arrived in Italy late Friday, that Russia and Ukraine should meet for “very high level talks” on ending the three-year war sparked by Russia’s invasion.

Trump has pressed both sides to agree to a ceasefire. His special envoy, Steve Witkoff, had met earlier Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and Trump said both sides were “very close to a deal.”

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and President Donald Trump, talk as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025.(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Putin did not attend Francis’ funeral. He faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, which has accused him of war crimes stemming from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, in a statement Friday night, Zelenskyy said “very significant meetings may take place” in coming days, and that an unconditional ceasefire was needed.

“Real pressure on Russia is needed so that they accept either the American proposal to cease fire and move towards peace, or our proposal — whichever one can truly work and ensure a reliable, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire, and then — a dignified peace and security guarantees,” he said.

“Diplomacy must succeed. And we are doing everything to make diplomacy truly meaningful and finally effective.”

There was no immediate word on whether Trump and Zelenskyy spoke again after they paid their respects to the pope, who had repeatedly pressed for an end to the conflict.

The National Park Service is seeking applicants for a job that puts a new spin on the phrase “remote work.”

The agency is looking for people or groups interested in managing the 10-room Kettle Falls Hotel in northern Minnesota, a historic hotel along a wild stretch of the Canadian border, accessible only by boat or float plane.

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The Kettle Falls Hotel was built in 1910 to accommodate fishermen, lumberjacks and construction workers who built a nearby dam. It’s the only lodging facility located within Voyageurs National Park.

The historic site also includes camper cabins and villas, marinas, a portage between Rainy and Namakan lakes, and a restaurant and bar, locally famous for a dramatically tilted floor caused by the settling of the building’s foundation over the years.

The floor is “affectionately called the ‘Tiltin’ Hilton,’” said Christina Hausman Rhode, executive director of Voyageurs Conservancy, the nonprofit that advocates and fundraises for the park. “They say, ‘When the floor is looking level, you know you’ve had enough to drink.’”

The Park Service bought the historic site in 1978, shortly after Voyageurs National Park was created.

The Vermilion River winds underneath the wing of Voyageurs National Park’s floatplane just outside the park, near Crane Lake. The National Park Service is seeking applicants for people or groups interested in managing the 10-room Kettle Falls Hotel, a historic hotel along a wild stretch of the Canadian border, accessible only by boat or float plane. Built in 1910 to accommodate fishermen, lumberjacks and construction workers as the built a nearby dam, it’s the only lodging facility located within Voyageurs National Park. (Evan Frost / MPR News)

It’s located on the roadless Kabetogama Peninsula, on the eastern tip where Rainy Lake and Namakan Lake meet. The closest boat launch is 14 miles away at the Ash River Visitor Center.

The site is a historic crossroads. Ojibwe people have fished the waters for centuries. They were followed by fur traders, commercial anglers, lumberjacks who ferried millions of board feet of timber over Kettle Falls between 1899 and 1929, even bootleggers who distilled liquor in the area during Prohibition.

Voyageurs National Park Superintendent Bob DeGross said the current concessionaire, Rick Oveson, has run the site for the past 23 years.

Oveson’s contract expired at the end of 2022. The Park Service put out a call for a new operator. But there weren’t any takers. So the agency extended the contract until the end of 2026.

“If we don’t get any interested business operators in the contract, that means that the building would be closed down,” said DeGross. “There’s nothing worse than having a historic structure not being used, because it deteriorates.”

It’s also the most popular visitor destination in the park. About three-quarters of all park visitors travel to the site, said DeGross. Boaters visit for a walleye sandwich and a beer, or to hike the trails.

The concessionaire also provides important spots for boaters to fuel up and portage boats between Rainy and Namakan lakes.

“It is an essential service that we definitely want to see continued into the future,” said DeGross.

The current concessionaire reported $875,000 in revenues in 2023 from lodging, bar and restaurant and other operations.

Annual park visitation has ranged between 199,000 and 263,000 over the past decade, although it dipped to a 10-year low in 2024.

A lone motorboat cruises through island channels in Voyageurs National Park. The National Park Service is seeking applicants for people or groups interested in managing the 10-room Kettle Falls Hotel, a historic hotel along a wild stretch of the Canadian border, accessible only by boat or float plane. Built in 1910 to accommodate fishermen, lumberjacks and construction workers as the built a nearby dam, it’s the only lodging facility located within Voyageurs National Park. (Evan Frost / MPR News)

But DeGross and others see untapped potential. The Park Service is currently completing four camper cabins to add options for overnight visitors.

“You’d have to be adventurous and creative, and it’s definitely remote,” said Hausman Rhode. “It’s not currently open in the winter. But there is a lot of opportunity there as well.”

The Park Service is asking for interested individuals, educational institutions, nonprofit groups, businesses and other entities to indicate their interest by April 30. A site visit is planned for May 21. Find more information at https://www.nps.gov/voya/getinvolved/dobusinesswithus.htm.

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“We really want to introduce operators to the potential of the service and get ideas from them on how they feel the service might be tweaked to make it more of an interesting business opportunity,” said DeGross.

Then there will be an official call for proposals from interested operators toward the end of the year. The Park Service is looking to sign a lease ranging from 10 to 60 years.