Gainful employment...

has been secured... sort of. I am working my first day as an intern for the Redwood Coast Energy Authority, it's going well. I'm working to invoice all of the bulbs that the other interns are installing at residences around the area. The organization is a NFP that works through grant programs set up through Pacific Gas and Electric (the Devil trying to do right.) PG&E sends the list of its customers to the Authority who then notify the customers that they'll be stopping by to offer free Compact Fluorescent Bulbs for every Incandescent one they've got. The customer gets savings on their bill, the Authority yeilds the state rebate for each bulb, PG&E gets the state and federal incentives for energy reductions and the planet gets a breather on energy generation! It sounds suspiciously simple, but if it's a shell game... this sucker has yet to spot the gaffe, an until then, I feel very good doing my part to help.

The job pays $9 an hour, better'n a kick in the throat. It will look great on my resume' as well as introduce me to the guts of local, state and possibly federal interactions in the advancement of sustainable energy designs and policies. The major issue that revolves around the job is, how many hours can I afford to put in here? I just got moved into the place here in Eureka, I'm not completely thrilled about it. It's great that I've got a roof over our heads for the foreseeable future, and that the lease is month-to-month... but without a vehicle, the scheduling of class time, homework and all things Arcata is gonna be a bit nightmarish. The Authority has told me that I could conceivably have many hours here after school, and Gabe, who until recently worked for quite a while at the Authority, has said that they can suck a body dry if allowed to.

This seems to me one of those moments where it's necessary to sacrifice in one area to realize in another and have the whole operation better off for it. With that, I'm figuring I'll try to pull around 20 hours a week, save up for the car and try to not get too far behind in the studies so that once I've got the car, my schedule will be back up to speed. Details to follow.