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I throughly enjoyed my visit with my brother and sister-in-law.  It was the first time we had to really enjoy ourselves without one of us working.  We've either had short, hurried visits back home in Edmonton over Christmas and my trip up in March.  I was busy editing my article and they both worked during my Denver visit last November.  We drove to Key West, Miami Beach, Naples, and spent time in Broward County.  They even did a yoga session with Darcy and I on Monday night!  It's sad that we live so far apart and I may not see them again until next spring or summer.  That's assuming that Darcy and I don't get the UAE jobs.  

Darcy had her phone interview at the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST).  Despite the good pay (47K) she does not have good vibes about it.  The library seems a bit drab and the programs offered are similar to BCC and seems to be a trade school.  We're not demeaning the place but the low quality of the library and type of reference questions asked may not justify moving there.  Plus there apparently aren't many library job oppourtunties for me in MooseJaw.  It is about an hour drive one way to Regina.  My only option may be to buy a laptop and take online courses somewhere.   So despite the job being in Canada and closer to home our hearts aren't set on moving there. 

Darcy's Dad sent some interesting links about the UAE country http://www.uae.org.ae/general/contents.htm and http://www.uaeinteract.com/news/default.asp?ID=43#top.  The UAE library is at http://www.library.uaeu.ac.ae.   Darcy and I had an hour long informal phone interview with the search committee head of the UAE Library.  The conversation went quite well I thought.  Of course we may have an idyllic view of living in the UAE but I have a feeling that if we are hired that we would enjoy living there for a year or two.  Benefits are generous and include free housing, free healthcare, tax free income (salary would be about the same as here) and free round trip tickets back home once a year.  Drawback is that they won't begin conducting phone interviews until September.  The SIAST people would likley make an offer long before then.  

The other thing is that if we are both offered jobs at the UAE that would likely change our wedding plans.  So unfortunately we haven't spent much time on our wedding as we would like.  It's a special time as a couple is only engaged for a finite time.  We've spent little time ring shopping although Darcy has found some neat ring sites online like http://www.weddingbells.ca/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=18&t=007075 and http://celticrings.com/index.shtml.  Plus my lease expires at the end of August and I don't know if I can get a roommate to potentially live there for only a few months.   Month to month rent will go up to $950 a month.   So it's frustrating with so many things being up in the air.

Anyway I should go have dinner and then rush off to my drumming class....

posted by Michael at 6:33 PM

 
Another day at the office is over and I'm listening to Darcy's Breathe song as I wind down. Yesterday (June 30) was a significant day in my life. Ten years ago my family moved out of our St. Alberta house. It was the end of our family *unit* as Dad moved in with Heather, my brother and my mother moved in together while I moved into the Theta Chi fraternity house. It took two days for us to move all our belongings and I vividly remember Dad and I moving his stuff in the pouring rain at about 2 am. We stopped at A & W for a late night dinner as we were starving from the long day.

So I've been in a reflective mood. The early '90s were tough for the family but in hindsight we made it through all right. Getting hired at Gonzaga University two days before my 26th birthday jump started my library career and living independently far from home. I've certainly become more aware of issues and open minded compared to ten years ago. I remember wishing for a job that paid $20,000 a year in 1994. Ironically I got my pink slip (merit pay increase form) today and my salary is now $40,606! I got a $1,600 raise that was up from $1,000 last year. Not bad. I've risen up the corporate ladder a bit but after the pathetic ALA placement center in Orlando I'm not sure I can advance much further than this salary wise.

The ALA Conference was fun and not as many people attended it seemed compared to Chicago in 2000. But that was also the peak of the dotcom era. Darcy has only a few leads with the most interesting being openings at a university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). I ran into a librarian who worked there and she enjoyed the work after 11 years. There are multiple openings that are difficult to fill due to post 9/11 paranoia. I would consider moving there for a year or two. Apparently great benefits and I'm sure it would open Darcy's eyes to what is out there beyond the confining borders of North America. She would be amazed to what the Arabic culture is like.

Not much wedding news to report due to the conference last week. Somewhat hard for us to balance looking for work and planning a long distance wedding. It seems everything is hitting us at once. I have another WHA book on ILL called Same Game, Different Name: The History of the World Hockey Association. Makes me think back to going to WHA games with my Dad in the mid 70s.

Last bit of news is that I'm not sure what to do about restoring the Chevelle. I was corresponding with Joey's Place about the type of work they do. They told me about a 1970 Chevelle restoration project. They seem to do excellent work that is equal to what the late Skip Cain discusses in his Chevelle Restoration Series. Unfortunately Joey's Place charges around $50,000 for detailed work!! I could afford to pay 10% of that so I don't know what the hell to do. I really want to use the Chevelle for the wedding. The car runs but would need a tune up and a paint job. I'll have to see what I can do.

I guess that's all for now. I need to have dinner at my desk and then rush off to my dumbek class. I've been to busy to practice much. Hard to juggle reading my books, excerising, and drumming! But the long weekend is coming up and the Craig and Malini are here for a week. I need another break already...
posted by Michael at 6:08 PM