Arrrr...Iron Mary Flint be my Swash-Bucklin' Pirate Name!

My pirate name is:

Iron Mary Flint

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

You know that scene from Alice in Wonderland?

You know, with the door mouse, the March hare, and the mad hatter? That's right, Alice was celebrating her un-birthday at that crazy tea party, but I got to celebrate my 32nd birthday in style at the Courtyard Cafe and Tea Room in Fallbrook, CA. It was smashing good fun, too - each of us had a pot of tea (ginger peach for me, thanks), fresh-baked scones with Devonshire cream and jam (not clotted cream, thank goodness), and an assortment of finger sandwiches, quiche, salad, and fruit. And for dessert: lemon cheesecake - a triumph! It was all very good, and the tea room was really cute - a little bit country cottage, a little bit rock and roll (well, much more contry cottage than rock and roll, but I thought I'd throw that in for fun). Nik and Jackie were kind enough to arrange the entire event; I'd never had a full tea service before, and at thirty-two years of age, I'd say it was about time!

I'll let you figure out which of us were Alice, the March hare, the door mouse, and the mad hatter. Hee hee hee! :)

Another chapter ends...and I've listened to my last recorded phone call!

Friday was my last day as a temp at CLC. Which was sad, because I grew to really like everyone that I worked with. But it is also good, because I have a new job to start, and new adventures on my horizon. It was a nice send-off though; they decorated my cube for my birthday, got a "Happy Birthday and Good Luck" cake, and even bought me some essential letterboxing supplies. Out of all the temp jobs I've ever worked, this one was definitely the most fun - not because of the work but because the people were so awesome. I will miss them, and hopefully I'll be able to keep in touch with at least a couple of the friends I made there.

Here's a picture of everyone, each with their own personalized rubber ducky. From left-to-right, we have Alyssa, Matt, Tricia, Tom, Peter, and Russ in the back row; and Erica, Joan, Marci, and Raquel in the front row. Sadly, Marnie was out sick on Friday but that's her pink duck I'm holding.


Click here to get down and funky with a farewell dance for Marci!

Happy Birthday to me!

Yes, today is my birthday, but I'll tell you that the last few days have all been good. This post will concern the events of Thursday, which was the day...

...insert drumroll here, please...

...that will be marked as...

...the day when...

...are you ready yet?...

...the U.S. government decided I was worthy of being put on their payroll!!! Woo hoo!!!!!!

Yes, I have finally been offered my first real job, as a Fish and Wildlife Biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service based right here in Carlsbad, CA. I interviewed with them about a week ago and they called me Thursday to offer me the position, and you can bet I snatched that right up. I'm happy to report that I will have a comfortable salary, complete with the satisfaction of knowing that I'm doing something that will utilize my education AND allow me to contribute to a good cause. In a nutshell, my position will be mostly regulatory - I'll be reviewing development proposals and making sure that they are in compliance with the Endangered Species Act. I start my job on March 20, which gives me some free time to do a small consulting project and then kick back for a couple of weeks (and serve jury duty, but that will be another blog entry). I'm going to probably start apartment hunting during that time, and maybe even go to Mexico (or at least somewhere) for a little fun. Sound good? I'm pretty excited about the whole thing!

Anyway, I have some pictures to post but that will have to happen tomorrow (at the earliest). I'm off to play with my Sims, who have been neglected for the past few months. Cheers!

Fine. I didn't want that job anyway!

Like, whatever! I didn't get the Educator Guide position at the Wild Animal Park, but I was going to turn it down anyway. I think the main issue I had was that first, the hours were REALLY variable - between 4 and 20 per week, with no set scheduling, which would make it hard to plan other work. Additionally, the job announcement wasn't really accurate - I wouldn't be handling animals, giving animal presentations, or VIP tours. The main duty was helping out with programs for REALLY little kids - as young as 2 - and I'm sorry, but I'm not a babysitter. So there. I think I probably didn't get the position because I don't have experience working with such little kids, nor do I want to have that experience. So it's for the best.

In other exciting events, all of you out there should TOTALLY CALL MY CELL PHONE!!! I've got custom rings programmed for all you guys, so when you call, instead of boring ringing you (yes, YOU, not me) will hear other fun things. So you should call me and find out what ring I set up for you! Hee hee hee!

Seriously though, I want a job.

So today I had an interview with the US Fish and Wildlife Service for a biologist position I applied to about four months ago. It was nice though - only 20 minutes away in Carlsbad, and I didn't even have to take a freeway to get there. I think the interview went really well - no real stumpers, and the people interviewing me seemed nice enough. The position is more regulatory in nature, dealing with development proposals and evaluating what the impacts might be on endangered species.

Did you know that San Diego county has the most endangered and threatened species out of all the other counties in the United States?

So the job is definitely conservation-oriented, and based on what people told me, it's a real opportunity to actually affect things and help protect endangered species. Pretty cool, I think. They said it would be a few weeks until I hear anything, and not to get discouraged. I'll call in a couple of weeks for some (hopefully) good news!

Tomorrow is my interview at the Wild Animal Park for the Educator Guide position - part time, but very fun. I guess I'll have to choose between whatever opportunities are presented to me - hopefully there will be a few options!

Make that a torrential downpour...

P.S. - The Wild Animal Park called today for an interview for the Educator Guide position. And, I've also applied for the Education Specialist opening they have at the park / CRES facility. I think that job will be my preference, but we'll see what happens. Woo hoo!!!

When it rains, it pours...

You're probably all wondering, with baited breath, what's going on with the job situation. Well, first off, I'm probably going to tell the wildlife museum to bite me, because I don't think the salary will be anywhere near what I'd need to pack up and move to the Bay Area; and after talking with them, it seems like the position would really be mostly administrative, managing about a hundred volunteers.

BUT...

Today I received a call from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who would like to interview me for a Fish and Wildlife Biologist position in San Diego. So the interview is next week. I'm not terribly excited by this prospect, but who knows - it might be interesting. I'll keep an open mind about that one.

AND...

My friend Mark contacted me about doing some consulting work for him - he'll give me projects as they come up, which is great because it pays really well and I would definitely be using my education. So my first project will be compiling and synthesizing water temperature standards for western states (or something like that).

And my application is still out there for an Educator Guide position at the Wild Animal Park, which I would LOVE to do. It would be great experience for the direction I want go, and combined with the consulting work, I could make some decent money.

But we'll see. Are your fingers STILL crossed? Good! :)

Superbowl Sunday

Hottub + Green Apple Smirnoff Ice Malt Beverage + Smutty Friends = . . .

oh wait, my family reads this. Change that too:

1 lb Velveeta + 1 can chile + 1 medium onion + 1 small can chopped peppers = Trouble

Letterboxing in February?

It's true! I drove a few of my friends/coworkers out to Volcan Wilderness Preserve on Saturday where we snagged a bunch of nicely-placed letterboxes. We weren't able to get all five of the boxes in the Grumpy Grandeur series because the trail leading to the mountain summit was closed for the winter rattlesnake hoe-down. But we did get three boxes, and it was a beautiful day. I also checked on the two boxes that I'd placed in the same area - they were doing pretty well with several visitors, although the actual container holding the first stamp was gone. Strangely, the stamp itself was just sitting right in its hiding spot. Weird!

After boxing Volcan, we found a couple more letterboxes - one near Dudley's Baker and another near the Wild Animal Park. It was a great day, a mellow drive, and I'm glad I finally got out. It had been too long since I'd gone letterboxing!

Here we are - from left-to-right, Matt, Beck, me, Tricia, and Alyssa.