The next step

The phone interview seemed to go well, and it's clear that I fit the description of the person for whom they are looking. It seems likely that I will be invited to the campus to give a talk about my research and have several interviews with members of the search committee. While there, I will also have a chance to ask hard-hitting questions of my own, evaluate the lab and office space, request startup funds to get my lab running (which are standard and these days get up to $250,000+), and survey their crops of grad students.

Timing is a bit of a problem, since they are looking for someone to start in the Fall term (late August!), which is inconvenient for many reasons... Anyway, we have decided to not worry about it and just go with it for now to see what pans out. One good thing is that the search committee realizes that they are asking a lot of someone to start in a couple of months, so there should be some flexibility on their part.

Interview with the Tower

Folks, the ivory tower is not just an obscure "progressive metal" band (thank you, Google, for enlightening me and providing the cover of their 1998 album, seen at left). It's also a pejorative term for the academic way of life. I hope to one day be in the tower for good.

Today (in a few minutes) will be my closest brush so far with securing a tenure-track job in academia. A medium-sized University in the Midwest is looking to hire someone like me, and the chair of the search committee will be calling this morning to conduct a phone interview with me. I anticipate that this could lead to an invitation for a more formal interview on campus, but that's getting ahead.

So, I'm sitting here, waiting, not drinking too much caffeine, putting off some things that I would like to get done today (including a long drive to pick up the poster that I had printed for tomorrow's local conference), getting ready to take notes, composing my questions for the chair, and wondering how things will turn out. I'm pretty sure that I will eventually find a position, but precisely how is one of those things which is incalculable. I will simply have to wait and see. A phone interview, though, is a good start.

Goings on

Last week K had to fly to Kentucky for work, so I drove down and met her at my sister's house in Lexington. K had never been there and it had been 3 years since my last visit. We had a really nice time, despite the fact that the weather kept us holed up in the house most of the day on Saturday. We did get a chance to drive around a look at the UK hospital facilities, just in case I want to apply there some day. They seem to have a really nice setup. It was very nice to see her and my bro-in-law Russ and nephew Josh (who is now saying he wants to be a scientist "like Uncle Joe," which is somewhat humorous because his father is also a scientist, just not a natural scientist). Josh and I spent some quality time gazing at microscope slides and playing Chronicles of Narnia on PS2 while trying to not let their big dogs eat my little dog, and we all watched the Kentucky Derby together, complete with mint juleps (above).

K and I got up and left KY very early yesterday for our long drive (around 5:30am their time, which is 4:30am in Chicago) so that we could make it back in time to use our tickets for the early afternoon Cubs game yesterday. What a great game! Well, it was mediocre until the bottom of the 9th, but it was great from there on out. Anyway, my sister gave us quite a few things that were left over from her baby (now a 7yo) to bring home with us to use, like a family heirloom bassinet and child's rocking chair, both of which need a new coat of paint and some minor structural love. In addition, they gave us some nice things that will definitely come in handy (bibs, diapering-accessories, etc.).

It has been a busy past week here in the lab as I get ready to submit my abstract for our society's annual meeting (in San Diego this year). I also have a poster to make/print before this Friday for a local conference, so I am collating and analyzing my data to determine what I know and what I know I don't know. So that's fun. It's all good work toward my next 1st author paper, which wants to go out soon, too. Busy is good.

Track Marks

Yesterday I tried something that I've always been afraid of but intrigued by. Other people do it all the time and survive, so how could it hurt to just take a little taste? Many of them are hooked on the sweet sweet drug that is: jogging. Yesterday evening I jogged/ran for the first time since my high school gym class. It was too nice to work out inside last night on the elliptical, so I just had to go outside and indulge my curiosity. I do the usual 30 minutes on the elliptical at least twice a week, but running on the track at one of the Universities by my house last night was way more challenging and more entertaining, though I can watch Cops in the gym while I work out. Anyway, I made it much farther than I thought I might before I had to shift over to a walk: just over 2 miles. I walked about another 1/2 mile to cool down. I am sore today, but I think I may try it again tonight, just to see if I can hack it. One of my buddies from work may join me, as he lives only a few blocks away, too. I usually only run when there is a point (like soccer or football or whatever team sport I am playing at the time), or when chased, but that may change.

It's nice to be forming these healthy individual sport habits. I hope that I can make this one stick. It's easy for me to get motivated to get out of the house and work out in the Spring/Summer, but once the gloom of winter rolls around, I get all broody and stay in the basement until it's time to play Vball or softball with my team of friends. I hope that next Fall/Winter will be different and that I can stay motivated to use the elliptical more often (maybe three times a week). For now, though, I'll enjoy exercising in the sunshine.