All That, And A Bag Of Chips

Where to begin? Since the last time I posted, I've been to two onsite job interviews, both of which were adventures in themselves. I'm home from the most recent one, which was only in Lynchburg (a veritable stone's throw from Blacksburg compared to the flying and cavorting in Pennsylvania). The verdict on both of these interviews is that I wish I had had more rest the night before, but I think they both went reasonably well given the circumstances. All that remains is hearing back from them, and then it will be time to make some decisions.

... I have some travel notes from the trip to Pennsylvania. First, the flight to Philly on Thursday night was delayed, so U.S. Airways booked me on an NWA flight to Detroit, which then took me to Harrisburg (where I needed to be). I was only maybe an hour and a half behind schedule at that point, so I grabbed my rental car (a spiffy white Chevy Classic - I didn't even know they made those) and sped off to Lancaster at around 12:30 AM. I arrived at my destination hotel at approximately 1:00, called home and Gina to let them know I arrived safely, and crashed by 1:30. Only to get up at 6:30 and begin a grueling day-long set of interviews. I think that if I could survive that and still give intelligent answers to questions and land a job offer, I can handle any interview situation. I was also happy to have Sarah and Gina send me off on Thursday night from Roanoke.

The return trip on Friday was comparatively uneventful, though I was back on my original itinerary with U.S. Airways. This meant a ride on some Dash-9 puddle jumpers instead of the DC-9's NWA was using, and it also meant less pretzels and less drink in my soda cup. Oh well, I was asleep most of the way back, anyway. There four or five other Tech students on the final flight back to Roanoke from Philly, which was cool, because we were all in the same interviewing situation, just looking for a job. We chatted until we all drifted off to sleep toward the middle of the flight.

When I landed in Roanoke and headed toward the exit, much to my delight, I saw Gina, Katie, Sarah, and Gina's roomie Jania standing there with some "Welcome Home Bret!" signs. What a welcome, to be surrounded by ladies right after stepping off a plane! Gina ran into my arms, and it would have been straight out of a movie if I hadn't accidentally stepped on her foot and hurt her toenail in the process. Drat my clumsiness! It was still the thought that counted, and it meant a lot to me. Thanks, gals!

... Sunday, the Wesley Band played two gigs. The first was at BUMC's contemporary service, and the second was at Wesley's Sunday night program. I think we're really coming together as a band, which should speak well for the Singers songs that we'll eventually do. For now, we're rehearsing a lot of praise stuff to use in the occasional service and program, and at the same time, we're getting used to playing with each other. I think it'll work out just fine.

... The interview today was with Frito-Lay in Lynchburg. I like the idea of being close to the 'burg for the time being, so maybe this will be the job for me. Who knows? I do count it a bonus that I received a couple of free bags of chips, fresh off the line from today. Anybody want some?

... Thanksgiving break is fast approaching, and I can't wait! These interviews were my last big hurdles for this week, so now I can focus on schoolwork. Sounds good to me.