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Another month has elapsed and despite the monotony of my life there is some interesting news to share. About a month after applying to the Petroleum Institute I got an email from them asking if I was still interested in the position of Information Services Librarian. I replied saying that I was and was soon told that I would have an informal telephone interview with their search committee. The UAE is nine hours ahead of Florida so they called at 11 pm on Friday, November 11. The conversation was a chance for them to gauge if I was a suitable candidate to perhaps fly in for an on-site interview in Abu Dhabi. The phone call ended up lasting two hours! I thought it went fairly well and we both asked each other many questions.

A few days passed and their administrative assistant followed up saying that I had passed this stage of the interview process and now I needed to complete some paperwork. They contacted me a few days later saying they could not get confirmation from one of my references. I finally did and must now wait to see what happens. So I'm naturally quite nervous about potentially flying to Abu Dhabi for a three day trip!

I saw an orthopedic surgeon this morning. My chiropractor referred me to this doctor due to my degenerated lower discs. It is a problem (likely genetic) but as long as I remain healthy and active then I should be okay. But over time I will likely experience more degeneration but it should be gradual. Just another thing to keep in mind along with my mitral valve prolapse issue.

Was glad to hear that the Eskimos won the Grey Cup on Sunday! Unfortunate that I wasn't there to see their thrilling OT win. A colleague at work invited me to a Panthers hockey game last night. It was fun despite low attendance and the Mapleleafs pulled out a win. Hockey Night in Florida is still not the same as Hockey Night in Edmonton!

I watched the 1927 silent film Metropolis. What an incredible movie - it was so far ahead of its time with production values! The scenes with the false Maria are a bit racey so they must have caused a stir back in the twenties. I've also been trying to keep up with my reading. When I'm at home all I seem to want to do is relax, do yoga and exercise and read. I finished reading A Peace to End all Peace. Empires of the Sand looks very interesting as it's not written by a Westerner. Cradle & Crucible looks very good too! It includes an article by Daniel Schorr whom I respect greatly. He is NPR's senior news analyst and does his weekly new commentary on Saturday mornings. I believe that he is the last surviving student who learned about journalism from the fabled Edward R. Murrow. I'm currently reading The Emergence of the Middle East: 1914-1924 by Howard Morley Sachar. The subject matter is identical to David Fromkin's A Peace to End all Peace. There are surprisingly few books written on this topic - Sachar's book was published in 1969 and Fromkin's book in 1989. Another excellent bookd I finished reading was Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell. Sadly she seems to be virtually unknown today and played a crucial role in creating the Kingdom of Iraq in 1921. All Bush had to do was read these books to realize that his strategy for invading Iraq would be a mistake! But I guess that was too much to ask for as Bush has said that he doesn't read books but rather reads people.

Well, enough blogging for now. I better get to work as I work 1-9 tonight...

posted by Michael at 11:18 AM