Enjoying the end of the summer

So after the snow storm and below freezing temperatures I came across in Montana (see photo), I really came home to appreciate the seasonal temps we are seeing in Minnesota. I can really appreciate a 65 degree day, even if at night it drops down to a chilly 50. The sun makes a huge difference and watching it reflect off Lake Harriett or Calhoun (as pictured) can really trick your mind into thinking that summer is still with us. Soon it will be a true autumn, and the leaves will change and fall, and the temps will do the same, but as for now, I need to really enjoy the gorgeous weather, make use of my time at the lakes and be greatful it's not snowing yet. Who knew it snowed in September?! The earliest, accumulating, snowfall I can recall in Minneapolis was October 31st in 1991. So I should have at least another 7 weeks snow free... hopefully even longer. :)

Out West

I spent 4 of the last 5 days driving. Well sitting, I should say, in a mid size car. It was great to see my brother, but it sure was a long ways away. Next time I think I'll fly. We got to see Mt. Rushmore, which looks just like it does in the pictures,
we went to Deadwood, which is strange and definitely feels like a movie set, and we hiked in the Beartooth Mountains in a snow storm. Seriously. I thought Minnesota got cold early but the mountains in the west have us beat for sure. It was a full on snow storm! Red Lodge, where my bother lives, is nice. Small town feel, but enough open minded people around to keep things interesting. Good food is available and the mountains are beautiful. All in all, it was a great trip. Worth the drive. I still have another day to recover and back to the grind on Wednesday. I start my new gig tomorrow evening, so we'll see how that goes. :)

Palin

Here is my opinion about McCain's pick: Unfortunate. Although, as a woman, I have to be somewhat excited that a woman has made it on the ticket (though it's not the first time for VP), I am not thrilled at all with her political background, or her party. Here are some of my issues: She is a self proclaimed “hockey mom” who got her start in politics ten years ago in her son’s school’s PTA. Then became a city council member of a town of under 7,000 people. That is smaller than Hugo, MN. Then she was the mayor of that small town. Then she somehow became governor (and her title of Miss Wasilla and 2nd place in the Miss Alaska pageant probably aided in the win). So she has been governor of Alaska (population 660,000, which is less than Mpls and St. Paul combined) for only 2 years. But her snow-mobile racing husband who works on an oil rig and did not go to college (not that there’s anything wrong with that… unless you are high up in politics… then I think college would be good) , should be a great fit for the white house too so that helps. ;) And she is super pro-life, which is fine as a personal belief but lame when she has the power to help change laws, and super Christian (which again, fine, unless you let it help you rule a country...separation of church and state...), and anti sex education and pro abstinence-only education, which is just stupid in real world America, (it's been proven to not work any more efficiently than comprehensive sex-ed in reducing pregnancy or stds) I don’t know. I would just HATE for McCain to not be able to fulfill his term in its entirety and be stuck with a "hockey mom" as president. I think she would be in WAY over her head. It’s a joke. She has NO Washington DC experience and comes from one of farthest places from it. So that’s how I feel. She seems like a great mom and a cool person, and I have to be proud of how far she's come from Miss Wasilla and the PTA meetings, but I am not sure she would make me feel comfortable as President, or Vice President for that matter, of the United States.

I really hope people are listening and paying attention to the political race we have in front of us. It will be historical regardless of the winner. I don't care who people vote for, as long as they make educated decisions and exercise their right to vote.

Yes we can.

back at work

I have been sitting on my computer at work for 5 hours now. I got up to grab my lunch out of the fridge a couple hours ago, and I ate here at my desk. I have read every story in my local paper (online) and on CNN.com. I watch the weather here (66 degrees and showers) change on the radar at weather.com (I have no windows so it's like a virtual window). I even look up traffic cameras to see where it is raining and how cloudy it is where. I can tell you about every pet offered on Craigslist and at the local humane society and I feel bad for the ones I see listed for weeks at a time. Reading the CL posts is how I ended up with my dog. If I wasn't allergic to cats, I would probably be the crazy cat lady and take in all the poor cats people can't keep for whatever lame reason. I go to freerice.com and try to use my brain a little while donating rice in the process. (Sounds lame, but when you have nothing better to do, it kills time and makes you smarter.) I research books to read and sometimes I sit here and read them. Today I brought Obama's book, The Audacity of Hope, but I have not picked it up yet. I have been too busy reading about the GOP convention and the riots that have since ensued here. I have an office that I share with four other people, and only one of whom is here today. He and I do not speak much. It's fairly quiet in the room aside from my occasional phone call (personal, God forbid I have a work related phone call come in) and/or his sports talk radio he listens to online. The noise is a welcome distraction and keeps the room from being too eerily quiet.


The students come back to school tomorrow here, and though they do bring more noise to the halls and less parking spots in the morning, they do not end up in our office much so my day to day routine of web surfing (such a lame term), remains the same. Hence the search for work. I have no responsibilities that I am neglecting and I, in fact, try to take on more responsibilities than I need to. I enjoy working, being challenged and a sense of accomplishment. So I do my best to find work. But I can only do so much before my co-workers resent the fact that I am pointing out to everyone in the organization, how much time we have to do so little. As much as I am looking forward to the part time gig I will begin tomorrow, I am also not excited that it will only add to the hours that I am commuting and away from home, and not solve the dilemma of my current position. I work today and tomorrow, and a few hours on Thursday. Then I leave for a long dive west. Sitting in a car may or may not beat sitting here. We'll see. At least I will have company. :) Is it pathetic that I worry about missing my dog while I am out of town? Shadow will be with my parents and their dog, and they love him, but I know I will think about him and worry that he is missing me.... I need to get over that though. I sound like a crazy cat/dog lady already and I am only 26!! :)

Ok so

I made sure everything was official and then asked if it would be possible to work less than the ideal 5 days that they were anticipating I work... they emailed me back and said it would be no problem to give me a group of students who are more self sufficient and will succeed without meeting EVERY day. So that makes me very happy and now I am excited to start this new position. I also have another informational interview at the U of M with the staff who work with the incoming freshman for orientation, welcome/move-in week and all of the activities geared toward helping the transition for freshman and trying to keep them from getting into too much trouble their first year away from home, and helping them stay on task academically... We'll see how that goes.

I had today off... I decided to take 4 day weekends every weekend for the next six weeks. Seriously. I took all Fridays and Mondays off (and even a Tuesday off one week), during the end of August until October. I had a bunch of PTO to use and I had to use it or lose it... so I am using it alright... :)

Yesterday I had an awful experience. I went to dinner with a friend and brought my dog. (I know this spells trouble already to most people) But I bring my dog a lot of places if I am going to be outside. So I sat on the patio and kept my dog out of anyone's way by having him lay behind my chair, up against the fence that enclosed the patio space. This way I figured no one would try to approach him and try to pet him as so often happens. (Sometimes Shadow loves people, and sometimes he is afraid of certain people, so I just did not want to worry about him). None the less, a family walked past us, and left the patio space after finishing their dinner. I was happy they walked by without trying to pet the dog, and I kept eating. However, the kid (he was 3 probably), walked around the other side of the fence and stuck his hand through to reach my dog. My dog jumped up and snapped... like he wanted to bite the kid. The kid pulled his hand back (unbit) and started crying. I don't blame him at all. He was scared to death. The dad of the kids picked him up and looked startled. I had already yanked Shadow under the table and put him in check. I turned to the dad and apologized and I don't think he spoke English well but he understood. He seemed to apologize too. I felt SO bad. I was SO mad at my dog, but there is nothing you can do after the fact. And I have no idea what set him off. He likes kids and people in general, most of the time. But he must have felt cornered or something... It's not ok regardless of what he felt. It scares me to death to think about what might have happened had he actually bit the little boy. People can and will press charges and request for the dog to be put down. Even a little 25lb dog. So I need to figure out how to prevent that from ever happening again... I have spoken to dog trainers today, vet behaviorists, and people from Craigslist who wanted to help by offering advice. I don't know what I will do, but I have to keep people from approaching him like he's a harmless puppy. You would not pet any German Shepard or any Pitbull you meet on the street... but people seem to think that just because my dog is little and cute, he is an angel who will toleralte anything and not get scared or lash out. I wish he was and I wish he didn't. But until that day, (so likely forever), I need to protect him from situations that could be bad, and unfortunately, that means meeting strangers in awkward places like cornered behind a table between a fence and a chair, on a leash. Anyhow... this got way too long and too full of venting...

Went out for lunch with a friend today. Took the dog for a walk (as I do daily for an hour), then walked again with my dad... we walked to my grandma's best friend's house (stay with me). My grandma passed away last October, and her best friend who is 90 years old, lives 6 blocks away. My dad grew up with her like an aunt and she is a vibrant, full of life, still living alone, driving, walking a mile a day and missing my grandma like crazy, old lady. (She also loves McCain... go figure). We walked Shadow over there (Shadow by the way, was named after my grandma, who everyone knew as Shadow. I got him the week she passed away and she told me from her hospital bed to name the dog after her after I told her how he follows me everywhere like a shadow... tmi I know). So that was nice. I dog sat my parent's dog Lucy tonight and made Chinese for dinner... fried rice, cream cheese wontons and egg rolls... then watched What Happens in Vegas.. (dumb, as expected, but made me laugh a couple times). I also bought vanilla ice cream from Dairy Queen, and blended it with malt powder and a Butterfinger for a sinful and calorie full treat. Yum.

Ok, this is super long. And I had a dull day... what the?

Now what

So I got the job... part-time (no tuition/free schooling benefits)... Not sure how I feel. On one hand, it will be a great asset on my resume, and a great view inside the world that I hope to work in someday, but on the other hand, I have a full time job, with full time hours and this would be another 10-15 hours tacked on at the end of the day (2-3 hours a day, 4-5 days a week), and my poor dog will be all alone for those hours, plus the commuting time. AND, in the winter, when it gets dark at like 3:30pm, how will I even walk my dog!? Ugh. Now I am torn. This seems like a much bigger commitment than they led on, and with this position being in its rookie year, there are a lot of unknowns... The pay is not stellar, so I would be doing it for the experience... Is it really worth it? I mean with gas prices alone, and driving in rush hour 4 times a day (to and from my full time job 6am-2:30pm, and then two and from my evening job 4pm-6pm), it's almost more of a hassle than a great opportunity.... 5 days a week!? That seems like a lot of driving. Ugh. Now what?

Another interview

So I met with the Director of student athlete tutoring and mentoring, and we spoke for quite a while today. After I learned of the current needs of the organization, and he learned of my background and interests, he called the Director of student Athlete welfare to come in and speak with me. I must say, these informational interviews have been like a window into this world. The people I have met with have been so nice and helpful, and they owe me nothing... I really hope something works out down the line for me. I would love to work at the U of M and I would love to work with the students. I have lined up an official interview for the part time mentor position, for tomorrow... followed by a meet and greet with the athletic staff and other applicants. We'll see what that brings. I am more interested in a position they spoke about today that is more of a "learning specialist", academic counselor, to the football team. That position requires more 'documented' familiarity with the NCAA rules, regulations and eligibility requirements as well as a better knowledge of the Big Ten rules and such. I figure the mentoring job might be a foot in the door for more full time opportunities like that, down the road... One day at a time.

On another note, my best friend from childhood, Adam, plays ball overseas and spends the summers here. He left yesterday to go back to Europe, and I did not get to see him to say good bye... lame. He was busy, as usual, and his girlfriend is likely way more sad and missing him far more than I can imagine... so I have no room to complain. I guess his and my friendship does not change much despite the miles between us. Calls here and there, emails a little more frequent.


Just finished watching Hillary at the DNC. Glad she was so supportive of Obama and uniting of the party. She's a good sport. The RNC will be held here next weekend... I hear it could get a little crazy with protests. I have friends who are cops and they are prepared for the worst.

Anyhow, off to see what else isn't on TV, and head to bed...

More later