Babbles of a Procrastinating Grad Student

I got a job offer today!  It's for the job I was talking about before.  I'm stoked...now, but I've been freaking out and conflicted since yesterday.

My M.Sc. supervisor and a former prof were in town for meetings with an environmental consulting company, and arranged for me to meet one of the people there.  I went down for a 'chat' and had a 2.5 hour interview.  The company, my god, I think that it'd be perfect as a consulting company.  They do the kind of work that I thought I'd be doing, but learned that most places don't.  They were excited by my thesis research because they use a lot of the (non-standard) methods I used and they emphasize passive and in-situ remediation methods, which I'm passionate about.  They seem really eager to hire me too...but they won't even know if they have the budget until January, and admitted that they take a long time to hire.

I don't have the time for that.  My EI ran out last month, and I'm running on financial fumes right now.  I wasn't even sure how I'd pay for Jan rent.

And then there's all the reasons I didn't want to take a consulting company that's only now starting to come back to me (everything got blown away by the awesomeness of the work).  There's the fact that I want to be able to leave my work at work (although I should say that I'm fine with some overlap), that I think 2 week rotational shifts would be great for my lifestyle right now (allow me to get home to visit family on my time out, have guilt-free sewing days, and not to mention allowing D and I time apart to work on our communication skills, etc), and the exercise that will come with the underground portion of the job, instead of a lot of sitting at a computer.

So I'm taking the mine job, but I'm going to keep in touch with the consulting company.  Because who knows, I may hate it at the mine, or they may not think I'm a good fit, and after a couple months, the consulting place will know if they can/want to hire me, and I'll know more about what I want to do.

SO YAY!  I FINALLY GOT A JOB OFFER FOR A GOOD JOB!  :D

Still no word about the job.  They were checking my references on Friday though, so I'm choosing not to panic.  The self-doubt is starting to creep back in, but I'm beating it down with excessive knitting.

Speaking off, I am working my butt off trying to get all of my Christmas gifts done.  I have to have everything mailed out by next week if I want them to get home in time.  I'm thinking I might just have to put it off a bit longer and then pay for express shipping, but we'll see.  I've trimmed down my list to immediate family and closest friends only this year, so the work-load has lightened considerably, but I still have a ways to go.

Oh, in case I haven't mentioned it, I'm staying in the Yukon for Christmas.  This will be my first time away from family for the holidays, and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to handle this.  Not sure how my Mom's going to either, because even my brother is stuck working and won't be home for Christmas morning.  I feel really really bad.

Hense why I'm trying to make something special for everyone.  Cross your fingers for me, that I get it all done!  Because I have two toques, a mate to the mitt I just finished today, and possibly another cowl because I can't for the life of me find the one I finished up ages ago.  :P

(Still need to find a knitting icon)

So, the job interview today.  It went really well!  I actually walked out of there knowing that I got the job!  That's a little arrogent, I know, but I have a really good feeling about this.  And it's exactly what I want.  They know my extensive background, including the M.Sc. degree in environmental geochemistry, and they want to incorporate that in as well as the geology work.  OMG I WANT THIS JOB!

*ahem*

We'll see.  I should hear back from them in the next few days, so I'm sure I'll flail all over the internet if I get it, and whine all over it if I don't.  :D

(Appropriate icon is appropriate)

Went to a Halloween party on Saturday night with D's hockey team, and oh cripes I was pretty gone.  Had less than 4 beers, but I was addicted to the jello brains, and I suspect there was a lot of alcohol in it.  Could've also been the shots one of the big guys kept handing around.

So obviously I spent all of yesterday on the couch hungover.  It was great. 

(Not really)

Anyways, I had to go pick up my car since there was no way either one of us was driving and the party was only about a 20 minute walk from my place.  I refused to go yesterday, but I had to today since Quiet Roommate was flying back today on the 12:00 Vancouver flight and I'd promised to pick her up.

It is gorgous outside!  Mild temps, and we've had 3-4 inches of snow since Saturday night!  Everything is drapped in a blanket of snow.  I enjoyed watching a couple magpies playing in a snow covered tree until the fuckers dumped a bunch of snow on my head.  I've always hated magpies, it was nice of them to show that they're just as much the assholes that their Manitoba cousins are.

Still, it was a pretty walk, I'm glad I did it today.

Of course, then Quiet Roommate wasn't on the 12:00 flight.  I've texted her a few times, but I haven't heard anything from her.  Not sure what happened, but now she can take a cab home.

Had soccer tonight at 8:15, and for a couple minutes there, I thought we weren't going to have enough to first field a team, and then field a team with no subs.  But then our team trickled in and we were good.  I'm so loving this league!  I've learned tonight that I'm getting pretty good at defense, and people keep telling me that I'm always in the right spot.  YAY!  Strangely, watching D play hockey helps a lot, because I'm starting to spot holes and where people need to be.  I'm pants at accepting passes and I can't kick and aim to save my life (or the game), but I'm good at getting in front of the ball and in the way of other players.  And I'm getting good at goal.  I have my team to thank for that!  They're into the game, but a bit more chill about it than other teams, and willing to teach newbies as we go.

That was spelled out clearly to me tonight, because I stuck around and subbed in the next game since one of the teams was short players.  They are definitely more intense and less helpful.

And oh goodness am I in pain now.  Doesn't help I was running late and didn't stretch enough.  Tomorrow is going to be interesting.

Today was a much, much better day.  Right after writing that post yesterday, D convinced me to come over, despite my threats to cry on him.  Good man, D.  Anyways, he put on one of my favourite shows (Top Gear UK) and cuddled with me for a while before going to bed.  Cuddled some more this morning.  Put on a movie I wanted to see (The Hulk) and left me to knit on the couch while he worked on a project in the basement. 

We may not communicate well verbally all the time, but we're good at more quiet forms of communication, and I can't forget that.

I came home this afternoon to wash up my soccer gear before our game this evening, and thoroughly enjoyed a pot of tea.  The game was great and a lot of fun.  I was cramping up like crazy from running, but I was running a lot more than when we started, and I'm pleased about that.  I'm also less afraid of the ball, and my team is getting good at passing the ball around and talking to each other on the field.  I'm super glad that D recommended this league, because I love it.

D was playing hockey right after my game in the rink next to the soccer pitch in the Games Centre, so I went over to watch.  Not such a good plan, considering that I was sweaty and gross, and sitting in a cold rink gave me a chill, but as usual it was fun to watch.  Except that poor D's team got their asses handed to them, and got a bunch of time-outs for mouthing off to the Refs after play.  Still was fun to watch!

My stressors aren't gone, but the crash seems to have passed for now, and I have a couple ideas for solutions to the things stessing me out.  As has always been my stress moto, things will get better soon, just have to ride out the rough time until it passes.

Headed out soon for a knitting meet-up with a couple knitters.  Can't wait to sit and snack and stitch with like-minded peoples!  It's the thing I really like about knitting over sewing, that it can be a more social activity.  Guess I should work out what project I'm going to bring with me.  I'm nearly done a pair of fingerless gloves, but I also need to pull back a toque I got two inches into before realizing I'd completely buggered the pattern.  Maybe I'll bring both.  :)

Got to go get ready though. Have a nice Friday all!

(I need a knitting icon.  And an I'm-being-social icon.)

Just dropped my roommate, B, off at the airport, and I just heard the plane take off and circle back south.  Ah the joys of living in a small city with an airport on a plateau above town.  Like the Edinburgh castle, but louder.

(Check out the cool geologic evolution of the plateau that the Edinburgh castle sits on. Hint: It's part of a volcano. Cool, eh?)

It's going to be super quiet around here with B gone.  She's off to visit her Dad down east for a month, so it'll just be me and the Quiet Roommate.  Although I'm planning on setting up my sewing machine on B's desk, so it'll be nice to have a pseudo-dedicated sewing space for a while.  :D

BTW, it's 8:10 am and it's still pitch black outside (although a bit of deep blue on the horizon), and -16 C (3 F) this morning.  I'm pleased to announce that my car actually started this morning!  \o/

Also, it might be time to turn on the baseboard heater in my bedroom...

Went to my first soccer game last night!  Well, drop-in soccer; the games don't start until Sunday.  I had a blast at it, but was huffin' and puffin' embarrassingly quickly.  Oh well.  The point to joining up with this non-competative league was to get some fun exercise and meet people, and I think that's exactly what I'm going to get!

The sports centre is really nice.  It has everything, and the monthly fees aren't too bad considering how modern the facilities are.  I'm going to look into getting a pass there.  Between soccer and going to see D's hockey games (he's a goalie), I don't think I'll have much trouble motivating myself to go.  Which is always my problem.  :)

So I kind of got stood up for my meeting with the guy from Faro. He was supposed to email me last week to let me know when we could meet up when he flew into town yesterday, but didn't.  I'm not going to stress out since I understand that things come up, but it has left a bad taste in my mouth.

And then I got an email late yesterday from the place I applied to on Friday, asking me to expand on my resume by answering a bunch of questions.  :D  Although there's things like "why are you looking for employment right now?" and I need to find a more creative answer than "I need money to pay for my astronomical student debt".  Or possibly not.  

I'm not counting the Faro job out right now, because I'd love to work on that project, but I need to be realistic.  That job would require a 4 hour commute and life in two separate towns, never mind scary roads, gas cost, and wear and tear on my car.  The other job is in town, and is entry level so providing me with the excellent experience that I need.

Oh, and a position opened up at one of the fly-in mines in the territory, and I think I'll send them off a resume, just in case.

We'll see what happens.  I'm just amazed by what's happening, since I had just about given up finding anythign relevant until the spring.  :D