My phone interview. 2 of 2

Wow. I have never had things get so crazy on me so quickly before.

Today I had that phone interview from the University of Arizona. I was supposed to get the call at 10:00 Arizona time. So, I drove to a good location on the island and waited for the call at 9:00 our time. Oops. After waiting about ten minutes I realized my mistake and went back to work.

When 11:00 rolled around I finally got to the interview. There are three states I might get to work in: Arizona, Alabama, and South Carolina. Chris asked if I wanted to stay in Alabama. I told him I would like to see Arizona. However, I might have squashed my chances of getting out there.

He told me what sites I would be working on if I were to stay in Alabama: Grand Bay and Weeks Bay. Well we have projects going on there, and I said that. Of course, considering that I already know the area and I am already here, surely he would put me here. To top it off, I already know the guy I would be working with out here. So, I can't imagine he would even consider sending me out to Arizona. Maybe that is a good thing, but I have wanted to go out there for a long time.

Chris said I would be living in a bunkhouse doing marsh bird surveys from mid March through late June at the earliest. We would be up before the sun and out for about four hours, then back home for the afternoon. Then we would conduct night surveys. I would have two sites, so each week I would flip flop between the two.

If I go out to Arizona I will be working in Az and California on planned burn sites. They are trying to reintroduce indigenous plant species and draw endangered species back to the areas. I would work on a team of five if I went out there. I prefer to work on teams.

So, after the interview I returned to the lab and sat with Just to talk about the discussion and my options. While we were talking Chris called for a reference. Just said he gave him a wonderful description of me- he is so generous- and Chris was very pleased. Just said we are going to plan as though I have already received the job. So, we made plans for the future. After I am done there- wherever there is- I will return here to work until the end of 2009. This is assuming they do not offer me another position that I might want to take.

So, this weekend I am going home and I am going to bring as much with me as I can. I will find out next week if I got the job. Then, if I did, the craziness begins as I scramble to get all of my stuff packed and moved out.