Of The Best Laid Plans

I know, I haven't posted anything in awhile. So I will give you a quick update on my life. I was supposed to fly down to Alabama for an interview yesterday. But Sinister hurricane Katrina wrecked that plan. Im going to be flying down this Friday, and Im hoping it stays, but its the beginning of Labor Day Weekend, so I don't know if its going to work. I only had a few hours to reschedule my plans, and wasn't thinking when I picked Friday. Id like Friday, but it might not happen.

With Love, Carrie

Today I found...

Today, I went up to the Twin Cities to eat at Red Lobster with my Mom. It was yummy, and I got crab legs and shrimp scampi, and lobster in one of those specials. My mom happened to have a fifty dollar gift card to Red Lobster, so it was all good, except when at the end of the meal, it was soon discovered that the fifty dollar gift card had no value on it, due to it being 3 years old. It was kind of funny and no harm done, so we paid and left. We then went to Savers. I've never been there, but soon discovered that it is basically like a Good Will or Salvation Army.

I then left my Mom and went to Half Price Books, There I discovered three Terry Pratchett books to add to my collection! It was quite a find. Usually, you don't find these books in bookstores because they are very popular. Now, I could just go and buy them in a new bookstore, but I've got rules about these things. There are about 30 books in the series, and my goal is to get them all. My rules are: 1) that I can't go searching for a specific title. 2)I have to buy them in a used bookstore, unless I go to a Barnes and Nobles looking for a new book to read, and can't find any that looks promising, then I would buy a Terry Pratchett Book. This has happened about three times. I can't buy any of these book online, because it would violate rule one. So, when I find a book that I don't have, I get really excited, and today, I found three! How exciting. It brings my collection to about 15.

I then went to the Petco store around the corner. They had kitties. So cute. Id like to get another cat, a female tabby about five years old, who is slightly crabby, or who doesn't need a lot of attention. She should also get along with other cats. There's lots of cats that fit this description, and hopefully, in a couple of months I will be able to. Right now too much is in the air, and I might be moving to Alabama. But there was a cat that fit this description at the Petco store.

What else... The drive home was nice, except for the two Harley motorcycles driving down the road, trying to outdo each other with how load they can be. This was annoying because they were loud, my window was down, and I couldn't get behind them or in front of them because of traffic. Now I,m home, drinking yummy lemonade, reading books. It'll be a good afternoon.

Love Carrie

I have a bunch of National Geographic pictures so I thought that I would post one or two occasionally. Enjoy!

My Life in a Nutshell of Confusion

There is a famous it quote that goes something like "It is better to have loved and lost, than to never have love" or something like that. I have been giving a lot of thought to relationships lately. A friend once told me that it seemed pointless to be in one, because inevitably, someone's heart gets broken, but I would rather have a few years of happiness, and the heartbreak, rather than be alone. The problem with todays society, is that everyone is alone, so when somebody finds a person, it becomes extremely difficult to break up when things have become bad. I don't think it was ever easy at anytime of human existence, but having a close network of friends and family makes it easier to go on.

On another note, Bay Minette Alabama might not be a bad place to live, for a little bit. I think I would miss the snow, and ice. It would be really good for my career, after working for a year or two there, I should be able to get any job in the field of GIS and Ecology. The biggest problem with moving there, is that I want to move to a place where I know I'm going to stay for a few years. I would like to settle, own a house, get a dog, grow a garden, and maybe find a someone to share my life with. When I know that I will only live in a place for a year or two, I don't want to get attached. It takes me a couple of years to actual start feeling like part of community, and thats what I want out of the world.

I didn't hear from the Duluth people, but the Lynn County Oregon people called, and I have an interview set up for August 23rd.

Maybe Alabama?

I had the interview. It went ok. They called back about an hour later (I wasn't home) to ask me how serious I wanted the job. They needed to know, because they want to fly me there for a more formal interview, and they need approval from the County Board. They must have really like me to want me to come down.

Hmm a lost Job Description

I can't find a job description for that job that's really in Alabama, not Nebraska as previously stated. All I know about it is that GIS is important, so is Wetland Ecology, and Wetland Regulations, both state, and national. I did save my letter, so I know who I talked to, and what I wrote in it, so Ill just have to wing it for the interview.

Now, do I really want to move to Alabama, no. But Butler County is on the tip of it, on the ocean. According to the Wikipedia thing, average income is like 35000 dollars, and its poverty rate is 7.9, which isn't that bad. The environmental personnel comes mostly from Alabama, but there seems to be some who have worked in New York, and a few other places, so that's exciting. So, if I get offered a position, I might actually take it.

As for Linn County, Oregon, I put in an application, and the nice person I sent it to sent me an email confirming that my application was received. That was nice. Now I'm not obsessing about if it was received or not. I called the Duluth lady from the Arrowhead region commission organization which deals with the Duluth and Superior, and she was out and will be back in on Monday. So I left a message, and hopefully she pulls out my application to look at it and call me back. The Duluth Job is the one I really want.

Right now, the things that are holding me back are my lack of skills in communication, such as giving a presentation to stakeholders, and generally explaining things to people who are paying the bill. Its really frustrating because I Know that I can do a good job with this aspect of it, but because I have a hard time in interviews because I don't think fast, I don't get jobs.

On another Note, I think I made the horrible bitchy lady cry at work. She came over, and asked did I move this permit for house when I split to parcels. I said no. I then asked what the new numbers were and she's like there right here. And I'm like no, those are the old parcel, and we went back and forth like that for a bit. And then she asked how would I like to see these permits, and I almost said, "I don't care, do whatever, because I don't plan on staying much longer". I didn't. Its a good thing. Then I went to lunch. Then I came back from lunch, and I saw her wipe a tear away. I kind of apologized, because I was mean and felt a little bad about it (not much, just enough to know I did wrong), and I explained that I wanted the Parcel ID numbers of the split parcels, not the new Geocoded numbers (which we just converted to two weeks ago). So it was a lack of communication. I don't feel guilty about it. She pretty stupid, and I don't enjoy working with her.

With Love Carrie

Another Interview in .... Nebraska!

Yippee! Another interview I believe its for a position in Nebraska, for Friday. The guy had a thick accent, and Im betting hes thinking the same thing of me. Now, do I want to work in Nebraska? or was Tennesee... No not really, but being a wetland specialist... itll be worth it, for a little bit anyway.

Carrie