Update

I've been working for about two and a half months now as a lab tech in a paints/coatings development group at PPG Industries.  I have some administrative responsibilities (customer complaint tracking, cleanliness/efficiency initiative, other duties as assigned), but most of my time is spent in the lab.  This is no chemistry lab, mind you, but a paint lab.  Being in development, I get to work on a variety of paint formulations, but the basics stay the same: collect raw materials, mix up a small batch of paint, adjust the formula and remake the paint as many times as needed to obtain the right color or specifications, paint metal panels with said paint, put said painted panels through testing or cut them up into displays for a customer.

Probably the most useful outcome of this position for me will be the look I'm getting into industry.  Quite a bit different from the nonprofit/academic world I've been in.  I don't imagine I'll work in paints long-term, but I'm enjoying becoming familiar with how the company functions and I'm trying to pick up bits and pieces of chemistry along the way.  It'll take me a while longer to completely know my way around or to have a good sense of what goes into the production of the big batches of paint that actually get sold.

Even in the short time I've been at PPG, I've settled into a routine that makes me feel like I've been doing this for quite some time.  Working in a small-town suburb, driving to work every day, and getting to know coworkers with significantly different priorities than mine were all big adjustments at the beginning.  Surprising how quickly something can become the new normal.

Outside of work, my stressing about the growing number of adult-ish things I have to do has been punctuated by some novels, some trips to Indy, some newly learned Hindi phrases, some happy hours, some chilly walks, and a lot of snuggling up in blankets.  

You Is Brave

A story.  This is from back in February when we all made mini podcasts as part of one of our PULSE seminars.  Makes me wish my whole life was set to music!

The Search

I enjoy quite a number of activities; job searching is not one of them.  As I keep looking, I feel discouraged, humbled, resigned, hopeful.  I more or less know what I want, but here's the thing: there's a diagram in my head, one circle enclosed in another.  In the inner circle are things I know I want eventually, things that will help me reach my long-term goals.  The outer circle holds (many more) things I would enjoy doing, things I would consider worthwhile ways to spend time, things that can pay the rent.  I'd been almost completely focused on the inner circle, but after a couple pieces of disappointing news there, I'm trying to decide where the new boundary for my search should fall.  Thinking 1) How much energy should I spend on what? and 2) It's probably as much about timing as anything.

As an aside, my very privileged version of unemployment is making me consider the equation our society tends to make between a person's occupation and a person's worth.  It's not cool.

This situation does have its perks: time to work on projects, time to read novels (gasp), time to clean and bake and organize my room so I can actually feel settled.  And I must say I'm better rested than I've been in a while!  This late-night blog writing is not the sign of dysfunctional sleep patterns it would normally be--instead it's because I don't feel tired enough to fall asleep immediately upon touching my bed!  (Granted, my sleep patterns are still not much to speak of.)

The search continues.  If you get impatient for an update, it probably means I am too.  

Perspective

It's been long enough, eh?

Friday is my last day at GBA.  I've had a great year there and will miss working with my fantastic team.  I'm thrilled to be staying in Pittsburgh though, surprisingly so.  (I have an irrational fear of getting "stuck" here, as if somehow being happy enough to stay is a bad thing...)  What can I say, Pittsburgh is a good city.  My housemates and I are moving a couple neighborhoods over at the end of the month, and I can't wait to get settled in our new place!  I'm looking at various chemistry opportunities and have an interview next week.  More on that when I actually have news to share.  We met the incoming PULSErs tonight, and while I'm ready to move on, I'm also quite excited for the great year I know they have ahead.  I keep trying to remember how it felt to be beginning this program, to see myself through their eyes.  Lots of transition in the next few weeks, but I'm happy.

And now, for some pictures from atop the 64-story US Steel Tower, where I got to go on a tour last week!

The Point

Three Sisters

Strip District

Hill District, Oakland

Looking down the Monongahela

Looking toward the South Side

The big brick building on the right is where I work--for a few more days!

US Steel Tower from the ground

Audit

Another external blog post, this one about an event I coordinated at our office: http://www.go-gba.org/energy-audit-eps/.  

Things I Am Not So Great At

I'm starting to bike to work!  By starting, I mean I biked there once for a Saturday event and I biked for a regular day at the office for the first time today.  I've done a fair amount of biking to the busway to shorten my daily travel time, but I hadn't done the whole 7.3-mile trip before.  (Biking the whole way doesn't shorten travel time much at all, at least not with the leg muscles I currently have.)  I'm still planning to be a weather wimp, but bike commuting at all feels like an accomplishment!  Woohoo!  

I've also kinda sorta taken up swimming (like, a couple times a month).  I still apparently think I can breathe water, and I'm not quite to the point of particularly enjoying it, but what I do enjoy is seeing myself gain a skill!  I'm not a fan of doing things I'm not good at, so I have to force myself.  But, with that in mind, I have a whole list of other skills I want to learn.  

*ahem*  

Skills I want: Spanish-English interpretation, permaculture, graphic design, web development, drawing, ballroom dance, sight reading, playing an instrument well, bike maintenance, driving stick, tennis, conversational German.  

This I Choose for Myself (A Womanifesto)

A VIBRANT LIFE: 
In which I have the freedom to explore.
In which I delight in the world & the people I encounter each day.
In which creativity colors my very habits.
In which feeling deeply is welcome.

A WHOLE LIFE: 
In which health & well-being are at the forefront.
In which meaningful relationships stem from listening, kindness, and consent.
In which my behavior contributes to equity and sustainability.

A BOLD LIFE: 
In which I speak and act with integrity.
In which grace is the first response to a mistake.
In which fear will never hold me back.

"This is not the end, but it is the road."