Introduction -- You are here.
Introduction -- What Happened
A lot has happened since I last paid any attention to my own web site: I graduated from Dartmouth on time, tried to find employment in my field, almost succeeded, broke up with what I thought was the only love of my life, am still friends with him, pretended to work, started working for real, and ended up teaching technology at a community college in eastern Wyoming, completed a masters degree, and I still site fight and take care of my own team!
What was the nadir of my adult life? Eight months after I graduated from Dartmouth, I went to work as usual in Rochester. The job was good when there was work, but it was boring. There was not enough work. Well meaning older adults had assured me that this happens a lot when you are a new hire. A well meaning senior engineer said there was a meeting. I sat at dented, fake wood, table in an office four stories above the gray, winter streets of a western New York town and listened as the gray haired, tired looking, middle aged engineer delivered the bad news. "This will hurt you, more than it does me..." He began. He was dead wrong. I still remember breaking my lease, loading everything I own into a U-Haul trailer, and heading east to Boston to camp out on the floor of Ithamar's apartment.
My two and a half months of desperation nearly destroyed my relationship with my long-term, now-ex boyfriend. It certainly did damage the relationship. I found my boyfriend's roommates immature. I was a grown person. I had worked in the real world, and would do so again. Yadddah, yaddah, yaddah. I was an unhappy wannabee who fought with her boyfriend and his friends for fun and because it relieved my misery. Fortunately, my old internship boss, saved what there was left of Ithamar and my relationship by inviting me back to Oxford, Mississippi as a quasi-intern. When there was work, he would pay me my share as a consultant. When there was no work, there would be free room and board. I'd also be free to keep up with the field and play on the AutoCad computers, which had always been one of my favorite activities.
What was the funniest moment of my "adult life?" It was a Saturday night and I had been driving most of the day across teh limestone country of Kentucky and the endless green of Tennessee. My goal was Oxford. I had only gotten as far as Ohio the previous day. I pull into a truck stop with a bright yellow Pilot sign over the overpriced, but clean and lovely, convenience store. I have left some space in the back of my hatchback for a reason. I walk to the rear, open the lid and sit down. My laptop is ready to go. It is time to the team for another week's competition. I am purging Spirit Page when I feel eyes on me and hear laughter. I look up and see a plump mother, husky father, and three round faced cherubs, all laughing. My first thought is my sweat shirt is on inside out. It's not. Then I think something is wrong with the car. It can't be, yet it has to be. They are pointing to the roof. I look up. My cross country skis are still firmly attached to the luggage rack with bungee cords.
"Is something wrong?" I finally ask. The father points to the roof of my vehicle. "Those skis are tied down just fine," I respond. I even check. "What's wrong?" I ask. "Where 'you goin' to go skiing?" the mnother finally lets me in on the joke. I want to explain to her that I hope to move back to a temperate climate once again some day and there is no point leaving the skis to the likes of Ithamar's roommates.
"Westchester County....." drawled the matriarch. Apparently she heard of it. Then she laughed. I wanted to laugh too, but I felt homesick for Rochester, glad I was travelling toward work, and there are times when it is just better to cry.
And what was the zenith of my "adult life" so far? My internship bosses in Oxford, Mississippi had finally been assigned me a long term consulting gig in Laramie Wyoming. I was part of a crew. We reached Laramie after a breath-taking ascent and the next morning, I grabbed a convenience store Dr. Pepper in a plastic cup. It tasted great at the time, but as the van swerved around well made state roads, my drink sloshed and my brain rolled and.... "Please pull over.... " I begged. My crew mates and the customer were dead. "Please pull over!" I tried it again louder several heads turned. "You need to pull over now...please!" At long last they listened.
I knew the drill. I've been like this since somewhere in middle school. It's not that big a dead. Just get down on all fours and get it over with. I did not even have anything to throw up except the Dr. Pepper. I did not even get my windbreaker or pants dirty. I stood up feeling proud of myself and then.... I realized, that I, the only female of the crew had just thrown up from nerves in front of not only my colleagues, but the customer. My throat tightened. My face began to burn. I knew I had to insist I was fine. At least there would not be a repeat performance or a day or so.
But I also had to now prove I was not a high strung, "afirrmative action," liability. Well, I'd never lose the first adjective, or the second for that matter, but I could do something about the third. I asked to work the transit for our first measurements and help stake out some challenging terrain. I could see the client smile. "She knows her stuff," he said to one of my colleagues as if we did not share a common language. "Of course she does. Rich wouldn't have sent her otherwise."l;
And yes, I still site fight. All it takes is a home page and believing in yourself. If you want to build a free home page and don't know where, there is always Angelfire or one of the providers at Freewebsopace.net. And you can always email me.
