Interview Adventures

So the other day I had an interview in the morning. No big deal - 9 am isn't that early! I got up a little earlier than usual and was getting ready, had a few extra minutes before I was planning on leaving (eg, 30 min) and decided to print the directions. I open the email up and scan it, noticing that it says to arrive by 8:15 am. I look at the clock on my computer: 7:30. AGH!

I made it from downtown LA to El Segundo by 8:13 am. In rush hour traffic. It's probably some of the worst, "typical-LA" driving that I have ever done and it's something that I feel guilty about. But I made the inteview and I thought that it went well, so c'est la vie.

The guy asked me if I had any other interviews coming up; I told him that I sincerely hoped that this was my last week of interviews. It's strange: my plan at the start of the semester was to look for jobs for about a month, have a few offers by Thanksgiving, and make a decision by Dec. 1. At this point I was assuming that something would come from JPL and as long as Matt was staying in LA I would just take that and continue along my merry way. I suppose we all know what they say about the best-laid plans...

I have my third interview with a company tomorrow morning at 10 am (yes, I checked the time!) - wish me luck!

Weekender

So tonight was the Weekender, the annual trek of USC folks up to Northern California to watch our Trojans take on either the Stanford Trees or the California Bears (Side note: who gave them the right to go by the nickname California? Like they're the only university in the state? I think there are hundreds of other colleges and universities that would like nothing more than for Berkeley to start being called Berkeley. Because really, that's their name.)

We've now successfully trounced Cal every year I've been at USC, save for the pretty awesome game my first year in which we lost in triple overtime. That was a crazy good game. Like the LSU-Kentucky game this year, but way more stressful because my team was playing.

It was pouring down rain in Berkeley tonight though. And I know that there are going to be several of my friends who come home tomorrow and develop colds. Because they spent all day wandering about San Francisco in the rain and then several hours sitting in the rain during the game. Having been fighting off what appears to be a nasty sinus infection for the last week myself...I'd like to stay as far away from the sickies as possible. So I'm going to travel across the country!

Haha...not really. I'm travelling for more interviews. I have to say, when I finally do sign an offer, my first purchase is going to be a half-day spa treatment for myself. Because really...after all of this, I deserve a massage. That is, of course, assuming that Matt doesn't have me on the way to the travel agent's office before the ink is dry.

Nashville Nonsense

In yet another attempt to avoid doing homework or study (why don't I just go to bed, you ask? too easy), I have a few observations from my recent trip to Nashville, TN.

There are live bands there. Really, there was a live band in every bar down the street (we walked past) and it was around 3pm! So very different from LA, and very much more enjoyable.

All downtowns look pretty much the same. At least at these conferences...or maybe I just think Kansas City and Nashville look similar. Cold, gray, concrete, and somewhat deserted.

How many interviews can a person squeeze into their day? I'm not sure what the record is, but I'm pretty sure I was trying to reach it...6 interviews last Thursday. I about died when I got back to our hotel room that night, but went and had 4 on Friday. Too bad most of the jobs they were hiring for are no where near Matt.

Bedtime.