Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Crazy cat lady
Monday, December 7, 2009
Butt Cold Birthday Biddy/Get the door, it’s Domino’s
Note to an unnamed chemical company: It would help your recruiting immensely if you put your out of state candidates up in a hotel in downtown Boulder rather than a Best Western in the middle of nowhere. Then again, every single chemist I met was originally from Colorado, so I’m sure they didn’t even think of that.
It’s my 41st birthday. I am sitting in a motel room in Longmont, Colorado, after having finished my interview. It is about 5 degrees Fahrenheit, and about -8 with wind chill. It is snowing and the roads are icy/snowy. My original plan was to drive 15 miles over to Boulder for a really nice dinner and walk around, but it’s too damn cold. I’ve been trying to warm up and motivate myself to get out the door for the last hour, but in the end I just decided to be truly nice to myself and do what I wanted to do at this moment in time, not what I wanted to do in some other, warmer moment. And what I really wanted in this moment was to just order a pizza and then go sit in the hot tub and not think about the fact that some weather forecasters are predicting blizzard like conditions for tonight/tomorrow. I’m waiting for my pizza now. Nonetheless, if I were in Boulder now and didn’t have to drive too much I would get off my lazy ass and go look around.
My interview went fine. I’ll write more in a future post. It’s been a mildly ill-fated trip, though, mainly due to the weather. My flight got in late. I had printed out every damn set of directions except the ones from the airport to the hotel. The hotel is on one of the main highways and normally the rental car agents give you a map and point you in the right direction. Not the Denver Avis, though. They give you a map at the exit and you’re on your way. It’s probably their way of getting people to rent the GPS unit. It was pissing down snow when I got in my car and the route to the freeway wasn’t clearly marked. I got lost and went on a skid-filled sojourn through the neighboring areas. Did I mention that my car is a Chevy Cobalt and that I have no experience driving in snow?!?
I finally got on the highway and had gone about 20 miles when I realized that I was going in the wrong direction. I turned around and encountered massive amounts of traffic. It was 5:45 by the time I got to the exit for my motel. I located it but didn’t check in. Instead, I called my host to let him know I’d be late for dinner, which was 25 more miles north. Then I got back on the highway and drove for another hour. All told, I drove for 3 ½ hours yesterday. Fortunately, I didn’t have to drive to my interview sites today, as was originally planned.
Most of the interview was conducted at the main plant, which consists of a lot of trailers that are used as offices and larger non-insulated buildings where the labs, pilot plant, and scale up facilities are located. There was a lot of walking between the buildings. I really should’ve worn some heavy socks under my knee high dominatrix boots. So part of my problem is that I’ve been getting chilled and then warming up and then getting chilled again all day.
There was a brief respite from the snow today, but it was starting up again when I got back to my hotel. It’s supposed to get heavy after midnight. Hopefully I will be able to get to the airport without trouble. If the roads are ok in the morning I may go over to Boulder before heading to the airport.
The good news about all the weather-related issues is that it distracted me from getting nervous for the interview. I know I talked a bit fast at my talk, because I was combining a 45 minute talk and a 20 minute talk. It went ok and was nice to be able to tell the two stories at the same time. Thanks to the paper that I was working on, all the data was very fresh in my mind so I could quote all sorts of obscure data when prompted, even though it took place 5-6 years ago.
It's time for me to go hit the hot tub now.
It’s my 41st birthday. I am sitting in a motel room in Longmont, Colorado, after having finished my interview. It is about 5 degrees Fahrenheit, and about -8 with wind chill. It is snowing and the roads are icy/snowy. My original plan was to drive 15 miles over to Boulder for a really nice dinner and walk around, but it’s too damn cold. I’ve been trying to warm up and motivate myself to get out the door for the last hour, but in the end I just decided to be truly nice to myself and do what I wanted to do at this moment in time, not what I wanted to do in some other, warmer moment. And what I really wanted in this moment was to just order a pizza and then go sit in the hot tub and not think about the fact that some weather forecasters are predicting blizzard like conditions for tonight/tomorrow. I’m waiting for my pizza now. Nonetheless, if I were in Boulder now and didn’t have to drive too much I would get off my lazy ass and go look around.
My interview went fine. I’ll write more in a future post. It’s been a mildly ill-fated trip, though, mainly due to the weather. My flight got in late. I had printed out every damn set of directions except the ones from the airport to the hotel. The hotel is on one of the main highways and normally the rental car agents give you a map and point you in the right direction. Not the Denver Avis, though. They give you a map at the exit and you’re on your way. It’s probably their way of getting people to rent the GPS unit. It was pissing down snow when I got in my car and the route to the freeway wasn’t clearly marked. I got lost and went on a skid-filled sojourn through the neighboring areas. Did I mention that my car is a Chevy Cobalt and that I have no experience driving in snow?!?
I finally got on the highway and had gone about 20 miles when I realized that I was going in the wrong direction. I turned around and encountered massive amounts of traffic. It was 5:45 by the time I got to the exit for my motel. I located it but didn’t check in. Instead, I called my host to let him know I’d be late for dinner, which was 25 more miles north. Then I got back on the highway and drove for another hour. All told, I drove for 3 ½ hours yesterday. Fortunately, I didn’t have to drive to my interview sites today, as was originally planned.
Most of the interview was conducted at the main plant, which consists of a lot of trailers that are used as offices and larger non-insulated buildings where the labs, pilot plant, and scale up facilities are located. There was a lot of walking between the buildings. I really should’ve worn some heavy socks under my knee high dominatrix boots. So part of my problem is that I’ve been getting chilled and then warming up and then getting chilled again all day.
There was a brief respite from the snow today, but it was starting up again when I got back to my hotel. It’s supposed to get heavy after midnight. Hopefully I will be able to get to the airport without trouble. If the roads are ok in the morning I may go over to Boulder before heading to the airport.
The good news about all the weather-related issues is that it distracted me from getting nervous for the interview. I know I talked a bit fast at my talk, because I was combining a 45 minute talk and a 20 minute talk. It went ok and was nice to be able to tell the two stories at the same time. Thanks to the paper that I was working on, all the data was very fresh in my mind so I could quote all sorts of obscure data when prompted, even though it took place 5-6 years ago.
It's time for me to go hit the hot tub now.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Interview Suit
I pulled out my old interview suit yesterday and tried it on/squeezed myself into it. It's a size 14 dark green suit from Ann Taylor. I still think it's the prettiest suit ever, even though it has those 90's power look shoulder pads. I still look good in it, I just can't move. I bought it almost exactly 14 years ago, when my first faculty interview was scheduled. Sheila came with me and helped me pick it out. I haven't worn it since 1997, but I keep it since I like it so much.
It didn't really fit, even though I am the same weight as I was when I bought it. I'm not surprised - my weight has shifted around and more of it has ended up on my waist and torso. To be honest, the skirt was a bit tight when I bought it - at the time Ann Taylor only went up to size 14, and there's been size inflation since then, so this is more like a 12, or possibly even a large 10 in the waist. Nonetheless, it's definitely tighter now. I blame perimenopause, soccer, swimming, and genetics.
Most women have one or more types of clothing that they just hate to shop for because it's hard to find things that fit properly. For me, that item is suits. Weight goes up 5 lbs, it doesn't fit. Weight goes down 5 lbs, it doesn't fit. Add or remove a type of exercise - same result. Go on or off the pill - same results. Big shoulders = bad. Big ribcage and fat/muscle around ribs = bad. Long torso + short arms = bad. Contrast this to men who can still squeeze themselves into suits they bought 30 lbs ago. They get free tailoring too. Not fair. Sadly, they do not make "athletic fit" suits for women like they do for men. If I'm ever in a position where I have to wear suits frequently, I'm getting one custom made, and just to be safe, I am getting it made out of something stretchy.
For my interview nest week, I'll probably wear last year's interview blazer and a pair of slacks. It's a bit too loose in the torso and tight in the shoulders. Grr! Net weight difference = -2 lbs, net workout difference = +swimming, - soccer, net hormone difference = no birth control pill this time.
It didn't really fit, even though I am the same weight as I was when I bought it. I'm not surprised - my weight has shifted around and more of it has ended up on my waist and torso. To be honest, the skirt was a bit tight when I bought it - at the time Ann Taylor only went up to size 14, and there's been size inflation since then, so this is more like a 12, or possibly even a large 10 in the waist. Nonetheless, it's definitely tighter now. I blame perimenopause, soccer, swimming, and genetics.
Most women have one or more types of clothing that they just hate to shop for because it's hard to find things that fit properly. For me, that item is suits. Weight goes up 5 lbs, it doesn't fit. Weight goes down 5 lbs, it doesn't fit. Add or remove a type of exercise - same result. Go on or off the pill - same results. Big shoulders = bad. Big ribcage and fat/muscle around ribs = bad. Long torso + short arms = bad. Contrast this to men who can still squeeze themselves into suits they bought 30 lbs ago. They get free tailoring too. Not fair. Sadly, they do not make "athletic fit" suits for women like they do for men. If I'm ever in a position where I have to wear suits frequently, I'm getting one custom made, and just to be safe, I am getting it made out of something stretchy.
For my interview nest week, I'll probably wear last year's interview blazer and a pair of slacks. It's a bit too loose in the torso and tight in the shoulders. Grr! Net weight difference = -2 lbs, net workout difference = +swimming, - soccer, net hormone difference = no birth control pill this time.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Moping
I didn't keep myself busy enough this weekend. I thought that I needed a lazy weekend. Bad idea. I was pretty sad today. It's a simple equation - my job and my relationship with T were very important to me. Now one of those things is done and the other one is in jeopardy. No wonder I'm a stress case. I have no influence over the job situation, other than to look for jobs, and I don't even know what's going to happen. Making matters worse, it's harder to distract myself from the T situation by working long hours, and I'm severely limiting the amount of retail therapy I do. So I work out, blog and play Bejeweled Blitz way too much. Usually it helps. It's not an ideal solution, though.
Before the layoff announcement hit, I was starting to get motivated to do online dating again. All that motivation went away once I started looking for jobs. The two activities are too similar and all my motivation got funneled into the job stuff. Judy's going to take some cute pictures of me in a few weeks, so once I have those and know what's up with work, I'll post a profile to match.com and maybe some of the other sites. In the meantime, I could always get the naked handyman* to come and help me with my house projects..uh, no.
*the naked handyman advertises on Craigslist. He wants to work in the nude while women watch. It's sort of like the dude in Boston who used to want to do housework in the nude. Sadly,I did not have much house cleaning to do back so I used to joke around about having him come and clean my glassware in the lab.
Before the layoff announcement hit, I was starting to get motivated to do online dating again. All that motivation went away once I started looking for jobs. The two activities are too similar and all my motivation got funneled into the job stuff. Judy's going to take some cute pictures of me in a few weeks, so once I have those and know what's up with work, I'll post a profile to match.com and maybe some of the other sites. In the meantime, I could always get the naked handyman* to come and help me with my house projects..uh, no.
*the naked handyman advertises on Craigslist. He wants to work in the nude while women watch. It's sort of like the dude in Boston who used to want to do housework in the nude. Sadly,I did not have much house cleaning to do back so I used to joke around about having him come and clean my glassware in the lab.
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