I Guess I’ll Be Blogging from Arizona…

My interview in Arizona went incredibly well.  The resort at which I stayed was beautiful.  I saw a whole new (lush) side of Arizona.  If you check out my photo album, I have a new album of Arizona Flora and Fauna.

In between interview commitments, I found time to explore some of the nature Arizona had to offer.  Here’s a photo of the Catalina Mountains.  I see some climbing in my future…

And if you know me at all, you would know about my obsessive love for small creatures.  Here are photos of a thoughtful finch, an elusive hummingbird, and a curious rabbit.

One creature I saw (but I didn’t have my camera) was a giant tarantula.  He was just walking around.  It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.

…

Anyway, on to the BIG news… drumroll…  I was indeed offered the job in Arizona!  I have 7 days to decide if I am going to accept the offer…  Whatever shall I do?

Interview in Arizona

Well, I am once again sitting in the Fort Lauderdale airport writing a blog entry.  This time, I’m off to Tucson for a job interview.  I’m a bit nervous because I would really like to be offered this job.

I am getting a bit more confident as I complete interview after interview.  Practice make perfect, right?  Well, the interview I went to last week went really well.  The interviewer was unusually attractive, which actually made it easier to talk to him.  I’d like to think I was remarkably charming, but that remains to be seen…

He was a bit concerned about me moving so far for the job (it’s in the UK).  I wish he could understand just how ready I am to leave Florida far behind.  And moving to Europe would certainly accomplish that goal.

But moving to Arizona would also get me far from Florida.  So, I would be almost as happy to get the job in Tucson.  I can already picture myself bouldering in the desert… *wish me luck*

What I Learned On the Road

Since I claim that the purpose of my travels is to maintain my sanity, I should probably reflect on any personal growth I experienced while traveling this time.  Here goes:

1. Spontaneity = Good

I suppose I realized that I like to be spontaneous.  Before this year’s Japan trip, I would sit down every Sunday night and schedule my activities for the following week, in 30 minute increments…  Seriously, it can be done.  Now, I only schedule things the night before.  We need to walk before we run, right.

2.  Hiking… I love this game.  (inside joke)

But seriously, I love hiking.  I’m addicted.  I’m already tentatively planning a S. America hiking trip (I’ll tell you about that later).  Me + mountains + nature = bliss.

3.  I don’t care if people stare…

Usually, I’m a big fan of obeying social norms.  However, sometimes I just want to jump or yell or do a cartwheel.  While doing pirouettes in the swimming pool, I realized I don’t care what people think of me.  It’s a lot more fun to spin when you want to…

4.  DTA – Don’t Trust Anyone

This is an old friend’s mantra.  Yes, it’s a bit cynical.  But I realized people lie… a lot.  Either I met some of the most interesting and exciting people in the world, or they were the biggest exaggerators and outright liars.  Maybe I have become a cynic in my old age, but I just don’t believe the person sitting next to me in a crappy economy class seat is an award winning, wildly successful writer with 2 PhD’s and homes all over the world.  If I had a dollar for every cockamamie story I heard, I’d be as rich as my best friend, Bill Gates…

Well, I didn’t have any earthshaking epiphanies, but I did experience a touch of personal growth.  Add that to a nice, relaxing vacation and I think it was a successful trip.

Late Night Blue-Hair Bus Ride

Tucson -> Fort Lauderdale 

Well, my flight from Tucson was delayed a bit, but I didn’t mind because I had a 3 hour layover in Atlanta… Just kidding!  I just found out they postponed my plane by another hour to 11:20pm! 

I got to Fort Lauderdale around 1:00am and caught the shared bus back home.  I was sharing the ride home with a couple of blue-hairs.  Two of us were going east and one was going west.  The driver told the west lady that he would drop her off last.  She agreed…  Until she found out that I was getting dropped off quite a bit north of her destination.  She complained of being a customer held captive.  WTF, lady?!  It’s a SHARED ride!  If you wanted a private taxi to your home, you should have gotten one…  God, please never let me become a cantankerous, old blue-hair.

I finally got home at around 2:30am.  I have got quite a busy day to look forward to, on very little sleep…  *Back to normality*

Stuck in Pandemonium

Las Vegas -> Tucson 

After a VERY LONG nap, I woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  I can’t say the same for my companion, though…  I convinced him to take an early dip in the pool with me.  At 8:00am, the pool was ours alone!  All 4.5 feet deep of it…  The temp was in the 80s, so I felt nice, but my Arizona companion was cold.  Cold?!  How did you acclimate to the desert weather so soon?

Another face-stuffing buffet, then we went gambling.  After all was done, I had a net gain of $0.32!  Ha!  I beat the casino!  We then did a bit of souvenir shopping before heading back to Tucson. 

We stopped for a bit at the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.  It was kinda cool.

You can kinda see the rocks are bleached white just above the water level. 

While we were making the long desert ride back to Tucson, traffic stopped behind a tower of black smoke.  We were stopped there for about an hour while the authorities drove by to address the situation.  Well, leave it to a dangerous situation to bring out complete pandemonium.  What do these people think they’re doing?  Sure, let’s all walk out into the desert in 110 F toward a great deal of smoke…  Sounds like a brilliant idea, right?

We got back into Tucson around 10:00pm.  I fell right to sleep.

14 Mile Dirt Road

Tucson -> Grand Canyon West

Early this morning we went out to Grand Canyon West.  It was about a 7 hour drive.  It was cool to drive through the deserts.  I had never seen anything like it before.  Also, there were many surprises along the way.  For example, the one pictured below…  What surprise on Bell Rd.?

We even saw my favorite characters!

 We reached the road to the Canyon to find out it was another 14 miles of bumpy (and rather treacherous) dirt road. 

After a rocky ride, we finally got to Grand Canyon West and took a bus to ‘the best view’.  We walked and climbed a bit over the rocks around the canyon.  It was really incredible.

 We left Grand Canyon West in the late afternoon, and watched the animals come out and the sun set over the desert as we drove to Las Vegas.  Here’s one of a road runner.  We saw a cayote too, but he was too fast to photograph.

 We arrived in Vegas after 11:00pm dirty and exhausted.  I hate to admit it, but I went straight to bed.

Arizona Bound

This morning was a bit different…  I had a phone interview for a job I applied for in the UK.  I don’t think it went too well, though.  They kept saying, “IF we call you for an interview in person…”  That’s not good… right?  Anyway, back to my trip…

Fort Lauderdale, FL  -> Tucson, AZ

This afternoon I marveled at South Florida’s public transportation once again.  The train was only 20 minutes late this time.  It’s fun to guess what time you will arrive at your destination!  *sarcasm*

I paid $2.75 for a bottle of green tea at the Fort Lauderdale airport!  WTF?!  Now that drinks are FORBIDDEN through security, the airport can charge just about anthing they want for a drink.  And I guess that’s exactly what they’re doing!  Adding insult to injury, the Atlanta airport is charging $7.95 per day for internet access!  That would probably be a good deal, if you planned on spending the whole day at the airport!  WTF?!  I’ve really had it with airports robbing people just because they can.  Let’s start a revolution!  Boycott the airlines!  Wait… that would severely limit my travel possibilities…  Nevermind, just do as I do and growl and shake your fist in the air in no specific direction.  That’ll show ‘em!

The plane from Atlanta to Tucson was quite dreadful.  It had quite a bit of turbulence, and the landing was more of a crash than anything else.  People yelled and gasped.  I have a strong stomach, but even I felt a bit queasy after that.  The plane was also late, so I missed my dinner reservations…