Timing is everything
and my life needs more practice with it.
Timing and the Lawn
First, it only ever rains here when I'm going to mow the lawn. On the other hand, today's light drizzle means I don't have to mow, so I've gained a few more hours of productivity that way.
Timing and the Job...
Second, I found out this morning I'm being considered for what I would consider to be a DREAM job. The US Navy Environmental Health Command in Portsmouth, VA needs to hire three epidemiologist and haven't been able to find them. They got my resume from the Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education (ORISE) Fellowship Program. If only they had called me a month ago. This particular job would include working on global avian influenza surveillance for the US Navy and US Marine Corps. Plus doing routine data analysis in response to queries. Things like "what sorts of injuries are we seeing in troops returning from Iraq?", "Are the levels of antimicrobial resistance changing at military hospitals?", etc.
If only I didn't have a contract on a house and hadn't already accepted a job somewhere else.... But, then again, the ORISE jobs do not come with health benefits and wouldn't pay as well as the job I now have, which might be tricky living in the Portsmouth/Norfolk/Virginia Beach, VA area. Maybe after I get 2-3 years experience doing this job, I could get a full-time permanent job with the Environmental Health Command. The ORISE gigs are only 1-2 years long, but it's my understanding that they lead to permanent hiring at least some of the time. It would have, at least, gotten me into the system and given me the opportunity to build oodles of professional contacts. Never mind the possibilities of travel. Of course, my brain would have seized on the first or second day of watching the ships and planes everywhere.
So I'll call Asha back on Monday and tell her that I have to decline the position, but that in a couple of years things may change as I am definitely interested in a position working with military preventive medicine.
Time is trickling on and I'm NOT DOING ANYTHING PRODUCTIVE!
Probably ought to go take a shower and get back to packing and paperwork now. I have about half of my books in boxes and have run out of book boxes. We won't even talk about the knitting magazines I haven't packed yet. (ugh!) I'm still tired and nauseous from the gallons of goo draining from my head. A dry cough kept waking me up last night. The post-nasal drainage seems to be slowing down a wee bit, but the head congestion isn't going away.
New Furnace!
Now that I'm moving, my landlord will be installing a new forced-air heating system. Right now there is an ancient gravity-feed heater. The hot air gently wafts up the vents, working off the principle of convection. It works pretty well, actually. Except for the two times the burner went out over the winter (bad thermocouple we think or maybe it just wanted a break). The old system will be torn out soon, so I need to get my basement boxes squared away and possibly covered with visqueen to keep the dust/soot/grime/miscellaneous bad powdery stuff off of them.
Timing and the Lawn
First, it only ever rains here when I'm going to mow the lawn. On the other hand, today's light drizzle means I don't have to mow, so I've gained a few more hours of productivity that way.
Timing and the Job...
Second, I found out this morning I'm being considered for what I would consider to be a DREAM job. The US Navy Environmental Health Command in Portsmouth, VA needs to hire three epidemiologist and haven't been able to find them. They got my resume from the Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education (ORISE) Fellowship Program. If only they had called me a month ago. This particular job would include working on global avian influenza surveillance for the US Navy and US Marine Corps. Plus doing routine data analysis in response to queries. Things like "what sorts of injuries are we seeing in troops returning from Iraq?", "Are the levels of antimicrobial resistance changing at military hospitals?", etc.
If only I didn't have a contract on a house and hadn't already accepted a job somewhere else.... But, then again, the ORISE jobs do not come with health benefits and wouldn't pay as well as the job I now have, which might be tricky living in the Portsmouth/Norfolk/Virginia Beach, VA area. Maybe after I get 2-3 years experience doing this job, I could get a full-time permanent job with the Environmental Health Command. The ORISE gigs are only 1-2 years long, but it's my understanding that they lead to permanent hiring at least some of the time. It would have, at least, gotten me into the system and given me the opportunity to build oodles of professional contacts. Never mind the possibilities of travel. Of course, my brain would have seized on the first or second day of watching the ships and planes everywhere.
So I'll call Asha back on Monday and tell her that I have to decline the position, but that in a couple of years things may change as I am definitely interested in a position working with military preventive medicine.
Time is trickling on and I'm NOT DOING ANYTHING PRODUCTIVE!
Probably ought to go take a shower and get back to packing and paperwork now. I have about half of my books in boxes and have run out of book boxes. We won't even talk about the knitting magazines I haven't packed yet. (ugh!) I'm still tired and nauseous from the gallons of goo draining from my head. A dry cough kept waking me up last night. The post-nasal drainage seems to be slowing down a wee bit, but the head congestion isn't going away.
New Furnace!
Now that I'm moving, my landlord will be installing a new forced-air heating system. Right now there is an ancient gravity-feed heater. The hot air gently wafts up the vents, working off the principle of convection. It works pretty well, actually. Except for the two times the burner went out over the winter (bad thermocouple we think or maybe it just wanted a break). The old system will be torn out soon, so I need to get my basement boxes squared away and possibly covered with visqueen to keep the dust/soot/grime/miscellaneous bad powdery stuff off of them.
Comments