I have no idea where I am!
Had you been in the car with me today, you would have heard that refrain approximately 300 times.
So today was my interview with the County of Stettler. So I shall guide you through the events of the day beginning, of course, at the beginning. I had instructions on how to get to Stettler (go to Red Deer, Hand a Right on Highway 12, when you get to Stettler take a right at the first lights, a left at the T intersection and the county office is on your left) but I decide to Mapquest it anyway. Mapquest says it's a 2.5 hour drive from my apartment and it has a way more complicated route for me than the simple one provided by my contact, so I follow it.
Note: I was aware this may not have been a great plan so I gave myself 3 hours to get there. As well I should mention that those directions were in response to "What's the county office address?"
So anway, I head out at 1oam. I decide I'm not in a hurry so I set the cruise control for 110 and relax on the way down the highway (this little detail will be important later) and take the first turnoff indicated on my new route.
Then the second...and that is when I start to get slightly worried since I realize I've neglected to write down any distances on my notes (the furlak's printer is broke you see) so I don't know if I missed a turn or if there are any damn signs. I did say "Nice cows" alot.
So, as I'm wending my way through the countryside looking at all the various agricultural items I realize (for the first time) that I have no idea where I am. But, rather than panic and turn around, I just keep going with faith in my having lots of time. This will payoff as eventually, and without taking the third and fourth turns I'm supposed to take, I find myself on Highway 12.
Note: As a true city kid I followed the cardinal rule of rural driving. "If it's paved, you aren't totally lost."
I am now about 15 mins from Stettler (and 30 mins from my interview) and feeling pretty good when I come round the corner and find myself behind a man on a tractor...on the highway. Now I'm pretty sure there's no tax protest or anything and so this guy actually thinks it's ok for him to be here which leads to me having a good long "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?" session in the car as I mentally adjust to this possibly being a reality of my life if I get this job. Which I work out of my system before I even get to the county office.
The interview itself went pretty well I think. My only real flaw would be when they asked me what my salary expectations were, which made me laugh since I'd talked to one of my instructors who has alot of municipal experience and asked him what I should be looking for. His response "That won't come up at the interview." le sigh
They told me they had one more interview to do and would be making an offer by Friday. Now I'm trying not to be too optimistic. I mean it went way better than my last interview (One of your references is "Someone from TELUS"?) and I know that the only other student being interviewed is Tim. Who's...ummm...kind of hard to explain but suffice to say he's working on his 3rd SAIT diploma and is thrilled to be maintaining his 55% average. So yeah. When he gets the job I'll be drinking my rage...probably with a twirly straw and frilly umbrella...but still.
So I leave the interview and decide to just take Route 12 to Red Deer and then home. I'm still not certain how to interpret the following events/omens.
1) It was a beautiful sunny day and nice drive to Stettler. It was a sleeting hellstorm for about an hour leaving.
2) I discovered that Highway 12 does not, in fact, go directly back to Red Deer. It does, however, cut through several tiny towns including one with a speed limit of 50 (see: Ben has another speeding ticket) fortunately the cop liked me so he wrote me up as going 65 in a 50 rather than 78. He also gave me directions about how to get to Red Deer (it seems I was on the right road, it just turns sharply in Le Combe, or Lacomb, or some such).
Note: This town was like FOUR F-ING blocks long. 4...four FOUR. I mean really. But still, should have been paying more attention.
3) The sleet storm started about 2 minutes after I got the ticket. I had the lovely experience of a truck passing me and completely covering my windshield with snow/water such that I couldn't see a damn thing for about two passes of the windshield wipers. Thankfully I was in the middle of NOWHERE so there wasn't much traffic.
So yeah. Is the message "You should have stayed in Stettler!" or "What the hell do you think you're doing?!?"
So anyway, turns out highway 12 leads nicely into scenic downtown Red Deer. So an extra 30 minutes of wandering ("I have no idea where I am!) later I find Highway 2 (not to be confused with 2A) and head back to Calgary. Which means I get in at 4. And spend a half an hour trying to get to a gas station I can see from the road in but due to construction and wacky road distribution I am unable to get to. End result I drive almost home, gas up, and get to return the car in downtown Calgary at 5.
Note: You don't need to be superstitious to see what the bones say when you can drive to three other towns by Stettler in 15 mins. Or move forward 1-3 car lengths in Calgary. Spending half an hour on 5th Ave going 4 blocks was about the best damn advertising Stettler could have done.
So I get home, and heat up some chicken pot pie, add my new addiction of Cayenne Pepper (Slogan: Not just for practical jokes!) and wrote this. So that was my day.
Other notes: Stettler is 2.5 hours from Calgary and 2 hours from Edmonton. So, given the likelyhood that I won't want to stay in Stettler to live it up on the weekends, I expect to be a travelin man. Also Tim, the CAO or maybe COA or something ("This is Tim, he's our COA." They all seemed to think I would know what that meant) said I could definitely use a county vehicle for "business". Which I can only assume includes informational trips to other municipalities. He's also from Saskatoon and appparently drives up fairly regularly ("It's a 4.5 hour drive" says Tim. "5.5 hours" says MapQuest) so I might even possible hitch with him once in a while.
Assuming I get the job
Which I might not
NO OPTIMISM (or touching!)
So today was my interview with the County of Stettler. So I shall guide you through the events of the day beginning, of course, at the beginning. I had instructions on how to get to Stettler (go to Red Deer, Hand a Right on Highway 12, when you get to Stettler take a right at the first lights, a left at the T intersection and the county office is on your left) but I decide to Mapquest it anyway. Mapquest says it's a 2.5 hour drive from my apartment and it has a way more complicated route for me than the simple one provided by my contact, so I follow it.
Note: I was aware this may not have been a great plan so I gave myself 3 hours to get there. As well I should mention that those directions were in response to "What's the county office address?"
So anway, I head out at 1oam. I decide I'm not in a hurry so I set the cruise control for 110 and relax on the way down the highway (this little detail will be important later) and take the first turnoff indicated on my new route.
Then the second...and that is when I start to get slightly worried since I realize I've neglected to write down any distances on my notes (the furlak's printer is broke you see) so I don't know if I missed a turn or if there are any damn signs. I did say "Nice cows" alot.
So, as I'm wending my way through the countryside looking at all the various agricultural items I realize (for the first time) that I have no idea where I am. But, rather than panic and turn around, I just keep going with faith in my having lots of time. This will payoff as eventually, and without taking the third and fourth turns I'm supposed to take, I find myself on Highway 12.
Note: As a true city kid I followed the cardinal rule of rural driving. "If it's paved, you aren't totally lost."
I am now about 15 mins from Stettler (and 30 mins from my interview) and feeling pretty good when I come round the corner and find myself behind a man on a tractor...on the highway. Now I'm pretty sure there's no tax protest or anything and so this guy actually thinks it's ok for him to be here which leads to me having a good long "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?" session in the car as I mentally adjust to this possibly being a reality of my life if I get this job. Which I work out of my system before I even get to the county office.
The interview itself went pretty well I think. My only real flaw would be when they asked me what my salary expectations were, which made me laugh since I'd talked to one of my instructors who has alot of municipal experience and asked him what I should be looking for. His response "That won't come up at the interview." le sigh
They told me they had one more interview to do and would be making an offer by Friday. Now I'm trying not to be too optimistic. I mean it went way better than my last interview (One of your references is "Someone from TELUS"?) and I know that the only other student being interviewed is Tim. Who's...ummm...kind of hard to explain but suffice to say he's working on his 3rd SAIT diploma and is thrilled to be maintaining his 55% average. So yeah. When he gets the job I'll be drinking my rage...probably with a twirly straw and frilly umbrella...but still.
So I leave the interview and decide to just take Route 12 to Red Deer and then home. I'm still not certain how to interpret the following events/omens.
1) It was a beautiful sunny day and nice drive to Stettler. It was a sleeting hellstorm for about an hour leaving.
2) I discovered that Highway 12 does not, in fact, go directly back to Red Deer. It does, however, cut through several tiny towns including one with a speed limit of 50 (see: Ben has another speeding ticket) fortunately the cop liked me so he wrote me up as going 65 in a 50 rather than 78. He also gave me directions about how to get to Red Deer (it seems I was on the right road, it just turns sharply in Le Combe, or Lacomb, or some such).
Note: This town was like FOUR F-ING blocks long. 4...four FOUR. I mean really. But still, should have been paying more attention.
3) The sleet storm started about 2 minutes after I got the ticket. I had the lovely experience of a truck passing me and completely covering my windshield with snow/water such that I couldn't see a damn thing for about two passes of the windshield wipers. Thankfully I was in the middle of NOWHERE so there wasn't much traffic.
So yeah. Is the message "You should have stayed in Stettler!" or "What the hell do you think you're doing?!?"
So anyway, turns out highway 12 leads nicely into scenic downtown Red Deer. So an extra 30 minutes of wandering ("I have no idea where I am!) later I find Highway 2 (not to be confused with 2A) and head back to Calgary. Which means I get in at 4. And spend a half an hour trying to get to a gas station I can see from the road in but due to construction and wacky road distribution I am unable to get to. End result I drive almost home, gas up, and get to return the car in downtown Calgary at 5.
Note: You don't need to be superstitious to see what the bones say when you can drive to three other towns by Stettler in 15 mins. Or move forward 1-3 car lengths in Calgary. Spending half an hour on 5th Ave going 4 blocks was about the best damn advertising Stettler could have done.
So I get home, and heat up some chicken pot pie, add my new addiction of Cayenne Pepper (Slogan: Not just for practical jokes!) and wrote this. So that was my day.
Other notes: Stettler is 2.5 hours from Calgary and 2 hours from Edmonton. So, given the likelyhood that I won't want to stay in Stettler to live it up on the weekends, I expect to be a travelin man. Also Tim, the CAO or maybe COA or something ("This is Tim, he's our COA." They all seemed to think I would know what that meant) said I could definitely use a county vehicle for "business". Which I can only assume includes informational trips to other municipalities. He's also from Saskatoon and appparently drives up fairly regularly ("It's a 4.5 hour drive" says Tim. "5.5 hours" says MapQuest) so I might even possible hitch with him once in a while.
Assuming I get the job
Which I might not
NO OPTIMISM (or touching!)
posted by Bne | 4:52 PM
6 Comments:
Good luck! Small town living is where it's at...?
What would you be doing in Stettler?
...and you're studying...geography...and map reading?
I know. It's I-ronic!
I should note, for both of you, that I'm not studying map reading...but rather map making. Which is a whole different thing. See I can make a map for other people to use without necessarily being able to use a map myself.
Or so I claim
I'm just going to go ahead and ask what I know everyone else is too ashamed to ask themselves.
Did you see the Threshing Machine?? Did you take pictures??
I will cut you!
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