Sunday, August 05, 2007

8-20-07

It's been an emotional roller coaster recently. In the midst of job searches and studies, I found out I got the job with the (breathe) California Solar Initiative, working with the California Center for Sustainable Energy, formerly known San Diego Regional Energy Office (gasp).

To celebrate, my friends and I went to go see Vanilla Ice down at Canes. Yeah, the same Vanilla Ice we listened to in . . . elementary school? Was it that long ago? Ice only played for a little over an hour and he's really more Insane Clown Posse than his other alter egos, complete with evil clown props and lighting pulled from a disco palette. And if watching Vanilla Ice trying (horribly) to get them to take off their clothes was bad, he proceeded to plug his appearance on Country Music Television's "Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge." Reality TV gone horribly wrong.

Of course in the midst of all this excitement I managed to get a recall letter (after the concert, not during) for a specific product because the company, in their infinite wisdom, decided that infecting thousands of loyal chili-eating customers with botulism would be bad for business. Don't know what botulism is? It's what happens when bacteria thrive in what should have been a sterile (tin can) environment. Oh, and it turns you into a quadriplegic.

Fun!

Maybe that's why my stomach was flip flopping more than a presidential nominee.

Anyway I'm now working for the California Center for Sustainable Energy. It's a mouthful but I make it shorter by saying that I work for the CSI program in the CCSE. Of course no one knows what that is so I say I work with "solar energy". It's quick, like our attention span.

Truncating my job description wasn't so difficult after explaining where (or what) Vanuatu is, and in 60 seconds encapsulating 3+ years of Peace Corps experience. I swear, I've got it down to a few sound bites. And if I have my island photos it's that much shorter. Pretty much it goes something like this.

"So how was the Peace Corps?"

"Good"

"Sweet, I always wanted to join the Peace Corps. Maybe you can tell me about it and I can act like I know what you're talking about"

"Sounds like a blast, here's some photos I took while I was there"

"Hey, black people!"

Ok ok, so the people I work with are actually a lot cooler than that. Our director even knows where Vanuatu is, which is definitely a good sign. My coworkers genuinely care about the environment, going so far as to banning plastic bottles in the workplace and turning off lights while they're still in their offices. Genius! We have a flex-fuel van and host workshops about their free shade tree program, calculating energy use and offsetting electric bills with solar systems.

I've been working for a week so far and it's been interesting (I'm still kind of man-bush) to say the least, as has everything I've done for the past 7 months. It's all part of the process, like learning how to manage databases, multi task and order office supplies.

Offices have supplies? Since when!? Oh yeah, that was a Vanuatu office. At least this office has free tea, coffee and water. Free tea and coffee! The Vanuatu office had free water but it was hell of the stomach, a far cry from the gecko-floating well-water I was used to on Tongoa. Mmmmm, gecko flavored water.


Oh Paris, with it's small stuffed mice and temporary monuments. Again, no transition.

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