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25315. arkymalarky - 5/25/2009 5:47:06 PM Hey Judith!
We didn't get that kind of rain, but a soaking day-long one. The ground is already saturated from the past rains and mosquitoes are awful. We're hoping the girls may get to see an alligator because we heard on the news that all the rains have them in more places. Oh, and they caught a bear in a tree on Henderson's campus the other day! 25316. judithathome - 5/25/2009 7:16:08 PM Oh wow...that's amazing! I wonder if he used the bridge! ha! 25317. alistairconnor - 5/26/2009 5:09:41 PM Hot as hell over here, I decided we would go big on tomatoes. Haven't had a serious vegetable garden in a couple of years, for psychological reasons, and we're going for broke... clearing the weeds, planting and watering. Also capsicums, aubergines and melons. Nothing may come of it, for example if I'm not home often enough to water everything...
I'm thinking we'll have a heatwave something like 2003. 25318. arkymalarky - 5/26/2009 5:13:12 PM No gardens here yet, which is amazing, but it's been too wet to plant. 25319. arkymalarky - 5/27/2009 2:37:09 AM Hey, Judith, meant to tell you on the phone earlier that our latest Korean student is helping me take Mojo and Hobo to the vet this week. Wish us luck! 25320. iiibbb - 5/27/2009 4:31:40 AM So bizarre story... I actually know Sonia Sotomayor. She's a friend of my mother in law. I've had dinner with her twice. 25321. arkymalarky - 5/27/2009 5:55:13 AM How cool is that! Think she's a good pick? 25322. iiibbb - 5/27/2009 2:31:00 PM I've been to her apartment in NY too... I forgot about that.
I think she's good enough. Obviously pro-choice. I'm not sure where she stands on gun control. If she's much like my mother in law she's fine. All the judges I've met have been smart likable people.
From my exposure to the handful I've met (conservative and liberal), I've generally come to believe that the idea of an "activist" judge is fairly rare at that level. They certainly have their ideologies, but it's not executed the same way as it is in congress. The judges I have met are pretty careful thinkers, and most are at least open to ideas counter to their own views if it's a well-conceived argument... you might not change their minds, but they generally won't dismiss outright and more importantly they won't belittle their opponent... they find arguments interesting. It is a geek fest really. Based on the ones I have met at least.
Ironically, the Supreme court may be the last word, but they only hear a fraction of the cases the circuit appeals courts do. In a way she'll be losing some power. 25323. judithathome - 5/27/2009 2:58:34 PM I think the power she'll be gaining is more than enough compensation! 25324. vonKreedon - 5/27/2009 4:07:04 PM I trust ya'll will pardon a brief proud papa moment here; our son is competing this weekend in the Washington State 3A High School tennis championship. He's a sophomore and won his league championship, the first ever to do so from his HS, and came in third in the district championship. I'm taking Friday off so he and I can drive down to Vancouver on Thursday night. 25325. anomie - 5/27/2009 4:32:00 PM Congrats to Master vonKreedon and his proud papa. Quite a showing. (I flew through Vancouver last week and wished I had more time to see the area. It looked like a great little city) 25326. arkymalarky - 5/27/2009 4:45:32 PM How fun! Congrats and good luck! 25327. robertjayb - 5/27/2009 11:34:55 PM 
25328. judithathome - 5/28/2009 7:01:09 PM Robert, you might appreciate this with no explanation...I saw a "street person" ambling down the road when I went to the carwash this morning. He had on a tee shirt that said:
My Son Is A Student at T. D. C.
For those not Texas residents, TDC is Texas Department of Corrections. ;-) 25329. arkymalarky - 5/29/2009 12:58:40 AM Haha! Reminds me of one of my students who graduated years ago who used to say he was going to go to TCU: Tyson Chicken University. 25330. iiibbb - 5/29/2009 3:41:18 AM Still haven't sold the house yet. I am uncomfortable. This whole thing has been a saga. Our house should sell. We've had multiple, multiple walk throughs. The latest hangup... the lot next to ours had a foundation poured April-08. The house still isn't finished. The guy ran out of money. So the guy who was looking seriously at our house is still mulling it over because he's worried about the house next door. I spent the Friday before Mothers Day calling the homeonwers association, the current owner, the guy who built our house who wants to develop the next lot but is also worried about the unfinished house and wants to buy it to finish it but the guy who owns it can't be reached. This is all voodoo. The house is great. New... all hardwood floors... walking distance to campus... custom cabinets... huge rooms... tall ceilings. It's heads and shoulders above other houses in its price range. It doesn't make sense.
I'm in limbo because I've still got my residency there because the insurance company will get upset if the house is "vacant"... which will make the mortgage company upset...
The ray of sunshine was a job that was open at the local EPA lab for a research ecologist. They want a water quality person... I'm a pretty good fit by my estimation...
So I apply, but my application is rejected because according to the HR person who prefilters applications says I don't meet the minimum education standard which states that the applicant must hold a degree in biology or related science with 30 hours in applied biological sciences. These hours must include 9 hours of ecology and 12 hours of physical sciences and math.
I have 2 degrees in forestry and one in soil science... how is this possible? Well... according to the HR lady, Forestry is not an "applied biological science". In one fell swoop she has rendered all of my advanced education into a vocational degree. She won't take "silviculture" as a "ecology" course even though by most technical definitions it's "applied ecology". I sent her sylabuses from across the country... but she said that they needed to be from my school. I offered to send her letters from my professors describing the applied biolgical and ecological nature of my coursework, but she literally said she wasn't concerned with the academic definition of these terms. 25331. iiibbb - 5/29/2009 3:41:23 AM
Mind you... my wife, who holds stats degrees, is a Research Ecologist, and her HR person took all sorts of class my nimrod won't. Theoretically, it's up for appeal, but I bet it was circle filed.
The only silver lining is that the EPA lab has a history with this HR group and after seeing the list that they sent up, and having a peak at my transcripts, they decided not to fill it at all (fill it at a later date under multiple job titles)... so I will at least get another shot at it. Also they have post-docs which aren't scrutinized as much, so if I can get one of those I could get my foot in the door that way.
But this is all under the heading of absolutely nothing in my past 2 years being easy. It has been a morass.
uhg. 25332. iiibbb - 5/29/2009 3:44:21 AM I just want to cut the MS string... please... I can wait on the job thing. I've got a sailboat to fix up. I've got papers to work on pro bono.
What do I need to do to catch a break?
I'm trying not to complain... it could be worse, but holy mackerel... what am I being tested for? 25333. iiibbb - 5/29/2009 3:45:28 AM It's my 3rd anniversary today. That's a good thing... 25334. arkymalarky - 5/29/2009 4:17:04 AM Just imagine how all the people who are not leaving MS feel!
Congrats on the anniversary! Can't believe it's been 3 years!
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