Peruvian Nights and Jamaican Days

WERK

Just have a minute, then I have to run and get the rock in my finger examined by a health professional at the University health center...I hope they just cut the damn thing out. Except that I'm afraid I might have some kind of fracture or something, because it hurts when I lift heavy stuff with that hand.

So.....the job thing...

Briefly, it went from being a job where I didn't care whether ever called me back, to "man..guess I'm working there."

First of all, and most importantly, it turns out they are moving (or "have moved") their office from downtown KC to a smallish town between KC and Lawrence. So..Suddenly I'm more interested (no commuting an hour in horrid KC traffic). Also, when I talked to the dude, he mentioned they were starting a native plants nursery there, as well. I mentioned that my wife will be getting her MS in Botany, within the next month, and he said, "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllll! HHHHHmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! We'd like to talk to her, TOO!" So not 100% sure yet, but looks as though they might fly us both down there for an interview around March 22nd. Plus, I found out more about the company. Pretty interesting stuff, and wouldn't make me feel like I was wasting my life sitting in a cubicle, just to make some dude richer (like the job I had in Maryville). Essentially, what the company specializes in is green alternatives to engineered infrastructure. Well, it's more than that, but that's one component. So the part I would be working on is analyzing, planning, designing (I'm not sure what all) a stormwater management system in Kansas City that uses things like wetlands, lakes, ponds, parks, etc., to manage stormwater, rather that just building a big ol' bunch of concrete culverts and diverting it immediately. There are other things - restoration planning, open space planning, watershed planning, affordable housing analysis. Essentially though, it's all stuff that would make me feel like I was doing something positive with my life. One thing that reassures me is that it's a relatively small company <50 people, I think, but the professional staff contains almost all ecologists, and only one engineer.

And, the whole time, this guy was talking about how excited he was to meet with me, and was wanting to hear about my research and things. It doesn't even sound like they're interviewing anyone else. Surely they must be, though, right? When he said they were really excited about my background, and wanted to fly me for an interview, I was thinking, "he must have picked up the wrong resume or something...does he think I'm someone I'm not?"

In other news, my thesis defense date is March 28, 9 am, and my draft will go to my committee members March 22. Jeepers.

-m