Job, Housing, onwards and upwards!

[mijan]

At the risk of jinxing myself, I'm going to tell everyone my latest news.  Earlier this week, I interviewed with Novartis, in Cambridge, MA, with its Oncology research team.  Well, the interview went extremely well, the boss likes me, and he told me that the only reason he's not telling me for 110% certain that I have the job is because technically he still has to interview someone.  I looked at him and said that because I live outside of Boston, before I can start working, I'd need to move closer.  So, I asked, should I start appartment hunting.  And he replied with a sheepish sort of grin, "Yeah, you really should."  Essentially, he pretty much told me that I have the job.

So, I needed to find an appartment.  I hit Craig's List, and found this: Three Openings in Cool Creative Shared House.
In other words:  Real house!  Nifty roommates!  Affordable rent!  Nice neighbourhood!  I already talked to the guy who's screening new people, and we really seemed to hit it off.  He also told me that he's screened dozens of people, and most of them, he told them within the first couple of minutes on the phone, or from the first e-mail, "Sorry, but you're not what I'm looking for."  In other words, he's being *very* careful about screening people, which makes me happy.  I'm heading out there today to scope out the place.  There are a couple of other options I'm looking at, but I'm *really* excited about this one, even sight-unseen.

Of course, if anyone here lives near Cambridge, MA, and has a spare room... *wink*  Let me know!

Now, if only I can find my pocket-knife, which I misplaced the day before yesterday, I'll be very happy!  I was using it to carve some wands... I made three really beautiful ones... and I put it down, and now I can't find it!  Bugger!  And when I went to look under my bed, I sliced my elbow open on the bedframe.  It's really quite bloody.  All that, and I still can't find it!

By the way, is anyone interested in ordering a hand-carved wand?  I'm still making them.

*huggles*
~P

Comments

[phoenixw.livejournal.com]

Cool! Good luck on the job, the housing and the pocket knife recovery!

What kind of wands do you carve? I was thinking of getting a piece of corkscrew willow, because don't you know I have to be different. ;-)

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I generally carve straightforward wands in a style that I imagine wands in the Potterverse would look like, although I sometimes do different sorts of handles. All kinds of woods, all sizes, all colours of stains, etc. I kinda custom-tailor each wand to the recipient. Interested? :D

[phoenixw.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed, I'd be interested. Not sure what composition I would like, though. I'd have to do some thinking about that. Birch is the tree I feel closest to.

At one of the local Ren-faire events, there was a fellow selling wands that he had drilled out the center - the grip of the wand fitted over it like a cap. So the buyer could use whatever they fancy for a core. I thought that was a cool idea.

~E

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've seen wands with drilled-out cores. The thing is, I don't use machines... everything is hand-done. It's impossible to whittle out a hollow center with a pocket knife.

And I could definitely work with birch. White birch, yellow birch, black birch, river birch, or grey birch?

[phoenixw.livejournal.com]

White birch would be perfect. It's part of a name that I took for myself many years ago.

I can see why you wouldn't want to hand-whittle a hole in the center. lol! But you know there are hand-powered drills? I inherited one that belonged to my grandfather. On the other hand, I'm sure they're rare and hard to find. And you'd have to clamp the wand... ergh. Anyhow, hand-carved is lovely.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'd have to clamp the wood while drilling, PLUS because I take them from branches I harvest myself, the grain isn't always perfect. I can just see myself having an almost-complete wand, and then trying to drill a core and ruining the wand.

There are some white birches right near where I live... I should be able to find a suitable piece. The only problem that arises with birch is that branches of the right size usually have a lot of knots. They can be hard to carve. I'll let you know what I find though!

[phoenixw.livejournal.com]

Oh, and given that the traditional length of a wand is from the inside of the elbow to the tip of the longest finger, would 15 inches be too long?

[mijan.livejournal.com]

15 inches isn't too long at all! Here's how I do the length:

The handle is custom-designed to your actual grip. In fact, if you want to be REALLY precise, here's what I want you to do: Take a pencil, wrap it in a thin layer of clay or other impressible material, and grip it with your natural grip that you'd use for a wand. Now, measure the distance from the furthest part of the thumb-print and index-finger-print to the pinky-print. The thumb should extend just a little bit past the index-finger, if you use a traditional grip.

Then in addition to the grip-part, I put some design-work onto the handle. That usually adds about an inch and a half to the overall handle portion.

The length of the shaft is as-requested. The shortest I've done have been about 7.5 inches, and the longest has been just over 13. So, add up the length of the handle for your hand, and then figure out how long you want the shaft to be, if you want the overall length of the wand to be the same as your forearm.

Actually, the new wand I just carved for myself is just a bit longer than from the tip of my finger to the *outside* of the tip of my elbow.

[phoenixw.livejournal.com]

And finally, best of luck on your move! I'd come help you but, y'know, I'm on the other coast. ;-)