Bon Voyage

Yooooooooo.

Welcome to the blog. I'm going to apologize in advance for my writing. I guarantee that I will leave many words out of a sentence and ramble on at in appropriate times and I fucking love to overuse the comma, but hopefully you all will enjoy this. I don't think I've improved at all at writing since about 10th grade. I wrote a poem that my teacher wanted to send in for some contest or something, I don't know. It was on the destruction of Hiroshima...no big deal. But in writing this blog I have a few goals.

1. Stay in touch with Friends and the Family. Given this, I will most likely be true to my friends and keep the blog professional, but hopefully littered with inappropriate and perhaps vulgar comments. We'll see.

2. Improve my writing. Nope.

3. Document the experiences I have during my stay on the island...(Brag)

4. Add humor and whit to your daily lives. No. But maybe just comment on things like sports and other current events.

Honestly, I don't really know what to expect. I'm pretty excited as expected, but very curious to see the outcome of the next couple years. So to start, I'll write a few updates on where I'm at, maybe I'll write it as a FAQ. Also, I'll mess around with the layout and shit like that, put a few photos up and write a sweet profile about myself. Alright...

How on earth did you get this job?
I want to say luck and it was, but I also spend a lot of time searching for it. I finished up working in Ann Arbor around the 20th of August and was prepared to move back to Troy. My intentions were to move back and spend the next month searching for a job and studying for the GRE. With biological/ecological jobs, universities, research institutes, federal agencies do a lot of online posting, so this requires endless searching and looking through tons of potential jobs and then realizing I don't know how to drive a manual or I'm not familiar with fish species of the northwest atlantic, you know, bullshit like that. But I want to say in my third or so week back at home(third week of my parents doubting my job hunting skillz) I came across a posting on website for atomospheric and oceanic sciences. Hell yeah.

*Minor side note* I had made the decision to be looking for something related to aquatic biology--->want to go to graduate school in marine ecology----->that's why I was studying for GRE---->planning to start next year.

So...came across the job for Phosphorus Oceanic Chemical Anlaysis or something like that on this job posting forum. What??? Jackpot! Description was basically everything I was fairly familar with except with using freshwater instead of seawater. For those that don't know, I spend the past 4-5 months analyzing phosphorus with a fantastic professor at U of M, Dr. John Lehman. Immediately, wrote a letter for the position and sent my resume in and the next day, boom, heard back from a Dr. Michael Lomas and it was positive and a few follow ups(previous employer, Dr. Lehman, was such a tremendous help, I really can't thank him enough) later and a phone conversation and I had been offered a job at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences as a research technician for 2 years.

What will you be doing?
Not exactly sure yet, but I know most of the work will focus on nutrient cycling and phytoplankton biological processes. So, lab work and sampling from what looks to be a pretty serious research vessel. I'm excited to work on it. I'll know more when I get to Bermuda.

When do you leave?
Monday, October 13th. Like 7:00am. US Airways. What up.

What has packing been like?
Packing has been interesting. I'm first required to get a ton of documents for Bermuda's immigration offices and a work permit that states I'm allowed to work here even though I'm not Bermudian. Aparently, the government does a pretty good job at not outsourcing jobs. The employer must show that nobody on the island can fill the position and that the applicant is of quality charcter, extremely attractive, super jacked and yadda yadda.

So, I've acquired police document of a clear record, medical clearance, chest x-ray, character and employer references, certified qualifications for the job(Supervised bench press and a notarized picture of my ripped triceps). All that stuff is taken care of.

Now for the actual packing, there's not much. I'm taking three big bags with me. Big lacrosse duffels. Shipping stuff to Bermuda is outrageous...like 150 dollars for 10lbs for Fedex. So, I've cut a lot of things down and managing to fit what's soon to be my whole life into a few bags.

On the packing list, there are usual: clothes, sheets, pillow, mattress pad, towels. A few plates, bowls, silverware, and cups to get me started. Then other random stuff like books, small DVD player, DVDs really not much at all considering I'm moving to live in this place for 2 years.

There are a few purchases I was excited to make though. Ipod Speaker set. Altec Lansing IMT 702. If anyone is ever considering getting one of these things and want a good one, take a look. I figured I'd invest into something that is portable, good sound quality, and nice and compact so I didn't have to bother bringing up any computer speakers, but still wanted to rock the F out. Second, snorkeling gear, another investment. I can't wait to get into the water and see some feeeesh.

How can I contact you?
That might be hard. I(Clark) bought a phone at verizon the other day, a pay as you go phone. So as of Monday the 321-3138 number and the legendary 6+yr phone I had will be gone. I've got a new phone when I get back to the states to contact any of you folks. In Bermuda, my plan is to get another phone with a cheap local plan and then match it up with another cheap international plan to chat with the family and maybe some other lucky people once in a while. So...this means you will not able to text me. Also, I'm unfamiliar with Skype, but I'll look into it and if anybody has a Mac/Video thing that will work as well and as always....I'll be happy to take the shirt off during the conversation.

How much longer is this post going to be?
I don't know. Hopefully not much longer...I am tired. Tired of watching Michigan fart all around the field today. I'm convinced the Threet/Sheridan combo is in the top ten for worst QB situations in Division 1. Pathetic, I'm happy to escape the horrendous football fall that the Lions and Wolverines are causing for me. Also, Red River Shootout was a pretty good one to watch today.

Doug, is there lacrosse in Bermuda?
Hey. Great question, yes in fact there is. Bermuda lacrosse has a mens team and a U19 team. Not really sure how they are, but looked at their roster and had a few guys from D3, but in general not a lot of experience. Wes, I packed the SickLax shirt to try to sell to the local Bermudians. So congrats, a couple hundred people will again pass on buying your shirts.

The mens team will play in the 2010 World games and as a resident I should be able to play for them, but who knows with the work schedule. I'm damn excited to keep playing to get some new gear. I've got so much UMich Lax stuff I dont know what to do with.

What are you most excited about?
Easy. I hear there are Tiger Sharks right around the island...

Where are you living on Bermuda?
BIOS has their own apartment complex on the station, so as of right now, I have a studio apartment. Luckily, I get a pretty sweet deal on it because housing is so ridiculous on the Island. I've been told like parts of Manhattan. In general, Bermuda is expensive, not sure how much yet but I expect to be in a little shock.

When can I come visit, Doug?
Again not sure. It will have to depend on the work schedule and the status of our friendship. For example, if you are Alex Mazzenga, you have a slim to none chance of coming to visit and even if I do agree you can come, I will make sure to lie to you and be off on a sampling cruise and you will be left with purchasing very, very expensive nights at a hotel.

Here is a short list of who can come visit:
Charlie Sheen
Paul Rudd
Megan Fox
The dude who plays Tony Soprano
Either Cuddihy or Townsend...never at same time.
Jeff Goldblum
President Bush(only because I honestly want to see what he's gonna be like after he's done. He's going to get hammered as hard and as often as possible)
Definetly more, but I'm not feeling very creative

END of FAQ

That's about it. I'm guessing there may be a few things I've left unanswered, but let's be serious, I'm guessing a total of 4 people will read this, including myself.

All in all, I'm very excited. I'm excited to finally start a professional career and attack one of my great interests. It should be an unreal learning experience, academically/professionally and couldn't be a better spot to do it in.

I'll be posting quite rapidly to start off and please keep in touch!


Cheers,

Doug