Friday, June 25, 2010

To Boldly Go...

I would like to announce that I have accepted a position of Indentured Servitude at the University of Somewhere Else!

So, I will be moving. Moving somewhere that is not my parents' basement. That's the up side. The down side is that instead of getting paid in "money," I will be making mandatory blood donations and serving as a guinea pig for their local science experiments* while simultaneously teaching my allotment of nose-picking and remedial comp classes. However, I did manage to negotiate in my offer that I could leave my lab cage for the actual teaching part of my duties. Never say that I am not a savvy negotiator! And a 52-47 course load isn't too bad if you don't have many preps, right?

Furthermore, this new place isn't even in California! I hear that outside of Cali, they have these things called "states" and some of them don't even have beaches! It should be an adventure. People keep telling me about this "weather" thing, but really, the 60s were so long ago, why should I care? They also mention such things as "humidity" and "bugs" ---- I hope these are the names of new exotic drink combinations I can sip by the beach --- or poolside, if there is no local beach nearby. Really, how bad can it be?

And in addition to all that greatness, I get the opportunity to do the academic job market all over again! Oh joy! You know, I was missing that whole extended process ---- when was I last looking over my job materials? Last week? Two weeks ago? Anyway, this means I have to pull those damn articles out of storage and make sure the final edits go through, as well as slap together a new research plan and figure out if I'm doing some conferences this year. Luckily I was soooo productive this year in terms of articles written and conferences attended.... oooh. Hmm. Maybe I can bind all my job letter templates and call it a festschrift in honor of my advisor.

This should be interesting! I may even need to redecorate the blog.





* by using me instead of actual guinea pigs they will avoid PETA harassment, you know. Look for this new trend in ethical experimentation at the university near you.

26 comments:

Lucky Jane said...

Huzzah! May I uncork the champagne? If anything, it might help with both the bugs and the humidity.

I'm glad the search is over for now. These search committees were reminding me of your Craigslist flakes.

Anyway, congratulations!

Bardiac said...

Congrats!

Are you coming anywhere near me, by chance? (Upper midwest?)

If so, feel free to email if I can help with stuffs. bardiacblogger AT yahoo DOT com.

And again, yay you and congrats!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, a last-minute reprieve (for los gatos too?) -- and, at a "university" rather than an "institute"? While I'd rather teach at MIT than the University of Phoenix, on balance it seems like it might indicate the presence of a research library... See if the mosquito count can earn you a reprieve from excessive blood donations.

Rohan Maitzen said...

That's good news! Glad to hear it--though I take your point that there are some flies in the ointment.

heu mihi said...

Hey! That's great! And just think--you don't have to look at a job list until September 15; that's something, right?

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!

squadratomagico said...

Yay! I'm so glad you don't have to move into the basement! And I hear the protocols for experimentation on human subjects are very rigorous -- they won't be able to use electric shock treatment without giving you ice cream afterward!

Congratulations!

Flavia said...

That's such great news, Sis. At the worst it gives you some breathing room while you think about/try out both academic and non-academic options going forward.

And at the best, you might get some awesome, new, non-FDA-approved drugs out of it!

Inside the Philosophy Factory said...

YEA!!! Welcome to the rest of the world :).

medieval woman said...

Great news! It's better than the basement - is it a one-year gig or renewable?

Many congrats and if you're coming down south, let me know!!

Tree of Knowledge said...

Yay! Weather is awesome. I miss it. The things with the bugs though is to befriend someone tastier than you.

kfluff said...

Fantastico! I hear you, it's not ideal. You'll be hooked up to monitors and poked full of holes. BUT---you landed something, and that's no joke in this kind of market, my dear. Like Bardiac, I'm hoping your headed out my way---please advise if you are.

Susan said...

SO glad it worked out! And states do have weather. (Actually, so does my part of California...)

Of course you still do have to move :)

Anonymous said...

Huzzah! W00t Woot! Kudos!

This is such great news. You're not totally tied down to the place that is not California, but you also won't have a gap in your CV in terms of academic appointments (and in this market, that's saying a lot).

Are you by any chance heading closer to Crunchyville and its environs?

CONGRATS!

Belle said...

As you can see, your future home is of considerable interest to those of us out here in weather-rich states. You've probably got blogger-types all over the country (some of us also lab rats), so how are you going to figure out who is close? Or do you prefer to suffer in private?

Congratulations Cog! Yay Sis! A job!! More! Details! Soonest!

Meansomething said...

Really happy to hear your good news! And looking forward to your dispatches from the University of Somewhere Else!

Arbitrista said...

Congratulations? You sound uh...thrilled?

auto ethnographer said...

Congratulations! It's money and experience and a super tough hiring market. And, who knows, one day, when you've moved on, you might even muster nostalgia for the weather(never the mosquitos, to be sure)>

Feminist Avatar said...

Congrats... I think.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!! If you're ending up anywhere near the land of high altitude, drop me a line! (Though humidity and bugs sound more like where I used to live, land of the Delta Color-Between-Green-and-Indigo.)

And, you know, some of the other lab animals might be fun to play with!

Not Quite Grown Up... said...

Congratulations on getting a job! That's wonderful.

Shane in SLC said...

You sound pretty ambivalent, for reasons I think I understand. Still, you never know what future opportunities this might open up. Congrats, and welcome to flyover territory...

undine said...

Congrats on your postdoc!

Maude said...

Yay!! Congrats!!

Dr. Koshary said...

I know I'm awfully late to the party, but congratulations!! You're movin' up in the world, Sis! I also take pleasure in knowing that others out there in Blogland are suffering along with me in our quest for permanent academic employment. But hey, you have a job! A real, CV-improving, I'm-a-professor-goddamnit job!

Is it totally out of line to say that I'm proud of you?

Anonymous said...

Congrats! You've hung in there -- and, I know, there's still more hanging in there ahead of you -- but this is *big* *good* news.

If you happen to be moving to a very large state, let me know.