Progress Perhaps

Before I continue, I'd like to establish for the record that:

A) I know it's the 700 Club, but they get a 200 point deduction for nobbery and for declining viewers; and
B) I know all they have in Biloxi is casinos, I just wondered why whenever there's a disaster, we always get the "casino cam". Let's show some 7-11's or White Castle or something.

Back to the stories of the day.

It appears, although I have not heard yet for sure, that I will be getting a month long temp job starting either Friday or Monday. I met with the senior Attorney, the litigation manager, and the paralegal on the case yesterday and at the end of the meeting I was informed to "operate on the assumption that [they're] going to bring me in." That's good news. That position would make me fully funded as the money isn't bad. Thus, I could afford to live, travel, and even save some money. Sadly, I won't be able to go to Spain in September, but I'll have sufficient funds to go elsewhere in October, so it's a fair tradeoff. I still haven't found a room to live in, although I'm looking at one place this evening and hopefully I'll hear back about a couple others today. So, that's progress.

The thesis is coming along. I'm almost done with the history/background chapter. It needs polishing, but it's sufficiently meaty to move on to the Kuwait War with confidence. The funny thing about the thesis is that there is a ton of stuff to write about for the Kuwait War, but not so much for Bush's little war he did with Iraq in 2003. A dozen or so UN Security Council Resolutions in 1990; one in 2002. Great.

Moving along, my plans for global domination seem to be progressing fluidly. It appears (and this isn't a firm conclusion, say, 80% firm), that I'll be making my return to the States around mid-November. Ms. Colombia, assuming we can swing the ticket change, will be coming with me for a week in Washington before we go to Chicago for a week. Then she goes to Colombia and I go back to Washington for a couple months with the intention of joining her there in February (my preference) or March (more feasible).

This was all planned out for December/January, but something changed recently that I have yet to talk about. I have mentioned, I believe, that prior to moving to London Ms. Colombia worked for a giant pharmaceutical company that has a division in Colombia. While she's been here, she's been working for their European subsidiary on a part-time basis. The President of the Colombian division told her when she left that he would hold her job for her for a year. So, when she called him and told her when she planned on returning she received some surprising news.

The bad news was that they needed her back by December 7th to prepare for a big conference in January. The good news was, she wasn't getting her old job back, she was getting a huge promotion and sizeable raise. Instead of just being on the marketing team, she's now going to be a product manager - essentially equivalent to a VP level position in the US (or just below VP, hard to tell). Either way, she's excited about it because not only does she get to manage a series of pre-existing product lines, but she's also going to be soley responsible for designing a marketing strategy and launching a new product that is likely to be the top selling product for this company. The amount of responsibility they're giving her is enormous and will require her to work very hard, but she's clearly ready for it and eager to get started.

I think it says a lot about her that her former boss who hasn't seen her in about 14 months would not only hold her job, but also give her this type of promotion. Ultimately, he told her that he's looking for a replacement and she's one of the top candidates. Now, she doesn't really want that type of position (for many reasons) and her plan is to go back to Colombia for 1 year (well, 13 months since she's going back a month early) before moving to the States, but that's her business. The point is, she's earned a high level of respect in her field because she's smart as a whip and she's very good at what she does.

As for me, my plans are still formulating. Teaching English is definitely an option, although I don't think it's the preferred option. I want to go to Colombia for three reasons: 1) learn Spanish, 2) Be with Ms. Colombia, and 3) Get a better understanding of Colombian politics. The first two are sorted. But number 3 doesn't really get achieved by teaching English. I will do that if I have to, but the goal is to get a position either in a company or the US embassy that continues my education process as well as earns me some bling-bling. Even better if it's a US company and they pay me in dollars. Now, I have some really great contacts and they think it's possible, so I have to utilize those contacts and see what can be.

Another area I have great contacts is in both the Colombian military/police, the US military, and the guerrillas. So, if I can manage my real ambition (to write about Colombian politics) and learn Spanish, then I should have great opportunities to interview people in the field with incredible stories. See, I have this theory that I'm building that argues that Plan Colombia and the "War on Drugs" is really a counter-insurgency program wrapped up in the jargon of drugs. The US interest is primarily to counter the narco-trade, but the Colombian interest is to eliminate the 40-year old insurgency. Anyway, I won't belabor that argument at this point. It's just sufficient to say that I've spent a great deal of time over the past year listening to Colombian people talk about their nation and the war, reading about it on my own, and studying the problem in a formal capacity to the point that it's something I want to not just be knowledgeable about, but write about as well. Maybe someone will pay me to do that someday.