An Internship, Grabbing Life By The Balls, The King's Speech, And The Gibson I Didn't Have

So the past few days have been very interesting for me...or I should say week.

On Wednesday I had a phone interview for an internship that I was then offered on Thursday and accepted on Friday. It is with Nexen, a Canadian based oil and natural gas company. The internship will be in Dallas from June-ish to September-ish, and hopefully it will turn into more than just an internship

Getting this is a really big deal for me on many levels. The first is knowing that I will have something after I graduate. So many of my friends from high school all now live at or near home with their parents, which is something that terrifies me.

My whole life I have always thought that one leaves home for college and then after that gets a job elsewhere. The thought that I would go home after college to "find myself" or "figure out what i'm doing" was absurd and just not in the cards for me. I can only move forward not back.

The second thing that made this a big deal was kind of two fold: whether my education could get me a job in the petroleum industry. On the one hand, I've been told time and time again by some people that I was going about it all wrong. That because I didn't go to a big oil school for grad school, I was already a step behind everyone else I was competing against. That because I was from an unfamiliar school, no one would want me. On, and on, and on, and on.

Also, a friend of mine who was a year ahead of me went on a similar track I was heading towards and didn't get a job. So with that precedent I was a little pessimistic going into the whole process. But by getting the internship I feel vindicated. I feel that I have proven my self-worth, the usefulness of my degree, and shown that I can in fact stand on my own merit.

This also gives me more focus for my thesis. The rest of life is starting.

I feel as if I've been walking through a long dark tunnel and I've been feeling my way along the walls, always knowing I'm going forward, but not seeing the end. But now I can see a light, a pin prick in the darkness and with every day that I get closer to graduation that pin prick gets larger. The excitement of the next real stage of my life is exhilarating. i don't usually get excited about things, but this is something I am truly excited about.

But of course there is still the thesis. And with a goal to run towards I am determined now more than ever to work towards finishing. I met on Friday with my advisor to go over my "progress". Always a fun thing to do, but I decided to grab the meeting by the balls and give the best song and dance I could. I set the agenda for the meeting. I outlined what I'd done, what I had to do, and a schedule (the key bit) of how I would finish my thesis. My advisor was impressed and happy with the fact that I was on top of my shit. And I was happy that she didn't have anything else to talk with me about.

After the meeting it was of back to home to visit mama and celebrate the internship. And I ate steak. So. Much. Steak. It was fantastic.

However, the whole time I wanted to have a Gibson. A Gibson is a martini with cocktail onions instead of olives. Nothing special, but I wanted to try one and be special.

Instead I got a gin drink off the special menu and enjoyed it very much. The Gibson will have to wait.

My mother and I also saw The King's Speech, which has to be the very best move I have seen in years. The acting, the story, everything was spectacular. If you haven't seen it yet, please do. It is truly one of the very best.

Two Shots To Paradise

Yesterday was a particularly frustrating day in lab for multiple reasons. First, I didn't even want to be there. It was MLK Day and, like I said Sunday, it's a holiday and I didn't want to go into lab.

But then...

My lab mate was going to come in for work, so I didn't want to leave her here all alone, plus I hadn't seen her for a week. So I went it.

But then...

My advisor also came in. No big deal, I usually go days without ever seeing her, but I had sent her a short write-up of something I had worked on over the weekend and hadn't heard back from her.

But then...

She emailed me back to let me know that what I had done was not specific to her liking. You see she wants to use this machine to see if we can find out something that, in the literature, the machine has never done. So it's up to me to figure out what we expect to find, when no one has done it before, and when I don't know what we can find.

But then...

I had made a suggestion last week when we met about a possible use for the machine which she shot down then, but magically it is now an acceptable route of possible research.

But then...

She first had me find samples to be sent out to this guy so he can do this thing (so descriptive I am during this wonderfully cold/rainy morning). The problem was this guy wanted fresh samples so we had to go looking through all of them to find them.

And then...

I called it a day. It was after 5. I went home. Poured myself two shots of whiskey. Knocked them both back in rapid succession. Grabbed a beer. Sat myself down in front of the TV.

And then...proceeded to have a wonderfully pleasant evening. I even had a dream about driving a 2012 Mustang Boss 302. It twas a good evening indeed.

Future Planing Of Marriage Adorableness

Tonight I went to a going away party for a couple of friends of mine that are moving across the country. They are married (to each other) and I met the both of them about a year or so ago and since then I've spent more time with them and really grown to like them a lot.

Tonight was really the epitome of what I love about them and what I hope my married life will some day be like. Here are a few highlights in wonderful list form:

- Games. We played games and I feel that game nights are a real big thing with married people and as a person who enjoys the competitiveness I had a TON OF FUN!!! We played Catch Phrase and Scene-it (the DVD based game) with the other people that were there (a recently engage couple and another couple who is very serious with each other) and it was a blast. I admit I probably missed out on raunchiness and inebriation on campus, but I was with people who were genuinely nice to their core and having good, wholesome fun...while drinking of course.

- Coupled friends. I never really appreciated the double date while I was dating my last two significant others, but having seen a group of couples interact I do see the draw and want in. The play between individuals and the couple-to-couple interactions are just priceless.

- Finger foods. I was reluctant at first to eat anything because I had just come from dinner, but they were fantastic. Definitely going to be a staple when I am hosting something small with my (future) significant other.

- Punch. This is the second time I've gone to a party that these people have thrown and both times they had a "drink of choice". Last time it was a bowl of champagne punch, this time it was a pitcher of Tom Collins. Either way, having a full bar and a set punch for everyone is a great idea and do want to include.

- Scented bathroom candle. It's the little things. I walk into the bathroom, turn on the light, and pee, and suddenly smell this wonderful field of flowers. It only took a match to change a bland room into an intimate, comfortable space. Smart, brilliant.

- Not getting old. The husband half of the couple got very drunk, though he held it together while everyone left, but after all the guests had left and it was just the couple of us left he was stumbling and drunk. I thought it was great; a true sign that one doesn't stop getting plastered just because they have a few more years and a ring. I admit to fond memories of girlfriends past helping me to be because I was very drunk. Some things don't change.

So I am sure I am missing a few, but I have to go to bed so I can play volleyball with these people tomorrow..errrrr, this afternoon.

Resolve To Be Resolute Resistive

One of my New Years resolutions was to create and stick to a budget so I wouldn't piss money away like I've been doing for the last 6 months.

So I made my budget and if I stick too it I won't necessarily be saving very much...at all, but I'll at least I won't be spending more than I'm making, which is the real goal.

The problem with my budget is that i mentally feel I must spend all of the money in each of the allotted categories. This is an issue because saving money is still the main goal of this whole shin-dig.

So last night I bought my booze...for the month. It was a very impulsive trip to the liquor store because I felt compelled to spend what I had budgeted, but at the same time I shouldn't spend everything in the budget, since the money I don't spend just stays with me and makes me lose less every month.

Moral of the story: I bought a lot of beer and am starting to think I should buy what I need when I need it rather than preparing for a second coming of prohibition every month.