friggiggin cold

Twelve degrees outside right now. Twelve! My mom up in Alaska wouldn't think it cold, but twelve is the lowest we've seen for some time, maybe even this entire winter. It is nice not to be training for bike races as in years past, though I admit I've been darn-near as obsessive about other forms of working out lately. The more uncertain things become in life the more I cling to rigid, mapped-out agendas and physical activity. So yeah, lately I've been averaging about seven hours of bikes, two or three lifting sessions at the Y, and a sparse handful of jogs every week. I am staying sane. As far as the "uncertainties" mentioned above, things are going OK. I have had some great conversations with close friends and had the chance to redirect my energy over the last few days. I am feeling much better about the overall situation with work, life...

I'm all about the changing of the seasons, the yin-and-yang necessity of hot/cold wet/dry climate shifts, but this arctic chill makes me yearn for those immaculate 68-degree sunny days in springtime Boise. The winter is far from over and I can deal with that, but I can't wait to hit some camping trips with Lauren once her summer break begins. I just need to find a decent tent between now and then.

Off to work. Things are quite interesting in the lab this week, as most of our upper management are out and about scrounging up investor interest and cash to keep us afloat. Meanwhile all the engineers are keeping busy with random side projects as we've no official direction for the time being. Crazy.

Drunk! Pensive!

Here I am, a victim once again of Cafe Ole's two for one margaritas. I have had such a day, such a day, and I suppose my willingness to down four of those suckers plus one 22 oz. Guiness draught results from my interview today. I am feeling quite the mix of emotions. My interview went pretty good, fantastic in fact, but I can't help feeling like a douche for jumping ship when the ship is sinking at my job.

I do not think I should write too much, as I don't want to disclose more than I would on a normal (sober) occasion. Times are a' changing. Let's try to trust that all esta cambiando por lo bueno.

-Calvin

Progresso

We had Casey, Rachel, Gerry and T over for dinner last night. It's the first full-blown Thanksgiving style meal I have ever made and I dare say it was easy... mostly because I cooked up the turkey the previous evening. It is nice having friends that don't mind re-heating turkey in the microwave as part of a dinner. But yeah, cornbread stuffing, Rachel's homemade cranberry sauce, gravy, brussel sprouts, roasted turkey, french bread, and mashed potatoes. Mighty fine.

So the title of this entry is not about the meals, as Progresso soup was not part of the menu, but rather in regard to progress being made on the job front. After posting my resume on a dozen job search/recruiter websites, the emails and phone calls are starting to trickle in for potential employment options. I'm actually behind, already, on returning a few phone calls to recruiters... my motivation isn't in full-force since most of the openings are somewhere in the dirty dirty south.

Pens

Poised to be a great day, I can feel it. It's about 7AM and I just got to work, so I can't type too long. I have in my hand a pack of brand spankin' new uni-ball vision pens, micro 0.5mm. This is nerdy engineer Calvin's selfish indulgence, comparable to the housewife purchasing a Lancome makeup case or the nephew snagging that Xbox game from Target... thank goodness for cheap thrills.

Pen in hand, I have a phone interview this morning at 10 o'clock. If it goes well, I'll type about it. If it goes poorly, I'll probably still type about it. New pens and potential job opps; good day indeed.

So Mr. Calvin... tell me what you're good at... let's hope it's phone interviews.

You've reached the end of the internet...

So bored. So bored even the Internet can't boast anything to hold my attention. Thus I've turned to this blank pad of digital paper, perhaps I can dredge something entertaining out of my memory banks to make the time pass.

It's been a good weekend. Once I finally let myself relax, I got the recharge I've needed for weeks now. I even slept in until almost nine this morning (I know! friggin' crazy!). The highlight of the weekend was the epic run yesterday with McChunky, we were out and about for about 1 hr 50 minutes before calling it (an exhausted) quits. We did not run that entire time, mind you, but easily 90% of that entire time. Yahoo, it is really great to be running such distances. I picked an interesting winter to quit cycling; the weather here in Boise has been fluctuating radically and it's nice to have other options for fitness. Pretty much every day last week was a soggy, icy mess on the roads and I enjoyed hitting the gym instead of braving the conditions on a bike ride as in years past. Today, however, it is beautiful, and living the life of a cyclist in the off season wouldn't be too difficult. It's pushing mid-40 degree temps and the sun is even shining.

Later: Tuesday morning now. Sitting down at Dawson Taylor surfing the aforementioned Internet until a friend arrives. I'm not seeking entertainment on the web this morning, but am instead busy scouring international job boards for engineering opportunities abroad. I've been trying to find some sort of "engineers without borders" organization, something with a humanitarian twist that would pay the bills meanwhile scratching that itch of travel and adventure. So far my searching is fruitless.

There is, in fact, an actual Engineers Without Borders organization; but compared to Doctors Without Borders it looks like an amateur daycare business. I suspect I'm missing the magical search terms to make Google proffer the perfect website result. "engineer humanitarian", "engineer relief", "engineer aid", hmmm.... Any ideas let me know. Lauren and I have decided to start looking internationally for work and would prefer to augment rather than debase the local culture. For example, there are a significant number of opportunities in South America in the mining and oil industries... unless I ended up in R&D in one of those industries I just don't feel like it's worth the relocation.

But maybe. I don't know, things are tricky in this arena. Regardless, if you have any suggestions let me know. In addition to the international, warm-fuzzy careers I'm also of course looking for anything that would pay the bills when my current job tanks or chases me off. The good news in all of this is I am remarkably positive, energetic, and optimistic... which for mopey, pouty, dooms-day Calvin is a significant accomplishment. Wish me luck (and let me know if you need my resume ;)