We all know all to well that it does not always break our way all the time. But at the least we can hope it evens out, and if we follow Thomas Edison's advice, the harder we work the luckier we get.
Good Breaks
After several months of fretting about her thin resume, offering supplications at the campus job fair and applications to frozen yogurt shops among others, Inga finally got a break. One of her professors in the Department of Public Policy, Planning and Management (3PM) posted a notice online looking for interns at the Health Research Institute Pacific Northwest. Inga indicated her interest via email, whipped out a resume and added the requisite buzz words with the help of her English Major roommate. She was then asked to supply a sample of her writing and reasoning capabilities, for which she chose a health policy paper from last semester, and that landed an interview. The professor looked at her portfolio and said, "I look forward to working with you". Opportunity favors the well prepared mind (and technically savvy laptop surfer).
Inga is now a happy little cubicle monkey, filling in spreadsheets with results she pulls from transcribed interviews with doctors who are applying experimental pharmaceuticals and therapies to patients. Her spreadsheets distill the patient's reactions into a common, codeable form which can then be subjected to comparison, research and analysis. She expects to work on numerous medical research projects as the Health Research Institute gets funding and grants to study a variety of up and coming medications and therapies. This job pairs well with her need as a 3PM major to gain credit hours by interning at such an organization, in addition to fitting into her plans to work in public policy and management of a health-based non-profit organization.
Of course there is also the moral satisfaction of advancing the health and welfare amongst the human species. With regards to advancing the welfare of the species, Inga is anticipating some influx of cash to replace a pair of worn out jeans and get her hair done. Advancing the welfare of the species, starting with one coed of the human species at a time.
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Tough Breaks (literally)
Grant was prepared to get his driver's license at the end of February [see: Curse of the Kielbasa; Feb., 2011] but a break in the water pipes at the DPS Drivers License Bureau during record cold on February 2nd, shut down the facility until the 28th. Numerous phone calls to the DPS at the Dallas location, the HQ in Austin and to other county DPS offices to see if the closed office had reopened as scheduled, all went unanswered. So Grant and I drove back to Dallas to see for ourselves. The new sign said come back on March 7th (sucker!).
Slam on those metaphorical brakes!
Skid marks right across a young man's dreams.
It's just sad.
Last Tuesday was a state mandated academic testing day at school, from which Seniors are exempted, so Grant did not have to be at school until 10:30. He really wanted to pull into the Garland HS parking lot as a solo driver that morning, with all of the rights, honors and privileges thereof; but had to catch a ride with Sam instead. Broken pipes, broken dreams.
A coworker of Sue's just had her son get his license; so we learned from her experience that despite being told that one's records/application, as a learning permit driver, can only be accessed at the one and only DPS office that is designated on the original form, that is "an old form" and is no longer true. Apparently Texas has discovered within the last few months that records can be digitized and accessed on a computer from more than one location. We also learned that the form that I had notarized last month that states I, as designating driving instructor, am waiving the need for my student to take a driving road test is also "an old form" and is no longer accepted, A drivers test with score sheet will be administered, including parallel parking skills.
We will try again on Monday - unless something else changes.
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