In the words of Dierks Bentley, what am (was) I thinking?

I never thought I would try my hand at keeping a blog, but the NFL season is almost over. I need something new to keep busy. Actually, a friend of mine started one and it seems like a fun idea; let's just hope I can keep this up longer than a month or two.

Well, a little about myself...
I graduated from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT) with a B.S. in Civil Engineering last May (2005). I spent the better part of that May applying and interviewing for jobs. I finally recieved a job offer on May 25, 2005 from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT); a day after my interview! I ended up in Yakima, WA.

A little about Yakima, Washington, and the WSDOT
Yakima is located in the south central part of the state, but still on the east side. Washington state is extremely different depeding on what side of the Cascade Mountain Range is considered. The West Side is what most people in the U.S. think of Washington:

1. It rains alot. The average annual precipitation in Seattle is 37.19 inches.
2. Forests
3. Seattle
4. HIGH Cost of Living

The East side is:

1. DRY, the average annual precipitation is 7.98 inches.
2. Natural vegetation = SAGEBRUSH Even though thanks to irrigation, The area around Yakima produces many bushels of apples. Also, wineries are popping up allover South Central Washington.
3. Lower Cost of Living (but still higher than South Dakota)
   

The WSDOT is hardup for entry level engineers all across the state. The problem on the West side of the Cascades is that the salary is based upon the statewide cost of living, rather than a westside cost of living. This leads to a substantially lower pay than engineers with private firms. This leads to high turnover rates for the WSDOT on the west side of the state. For example, I have heard it stated (from WSDOT employees residing on the west side) that a 'veteran' design engineer is an engineer with 1 year of experience.

The east side of the state has problems attacting engineers, because it is a desert. To get to Yakima, you travel through some very depressing looking areas (sagebrush as far as the eye can see!) Lucky for them, I interviewed and accepted the job over the phone. I hope to be back in SD with an engineering job before to much time passes. Nothing against working for the WSDOT, I enjoy my job very much. Yakima is not necessarily a bad place to live either. I have had the opputurnities to see Lee Ann Womack and Sugarland concerts. And last night I saw Danielle Peck, Joe Nichols and Toby Keith in concert

A few interests/favs of mine:

1. I am a die-hard Carolina Panthers fan... and this week was a test of my loyalty! (I passed)
2. I am a huge Gaelic Storm fan. By the way, their DVD, Live In Chicago, was released earlier this week! I have also been listening to CDs by Great Big Sea andThe Clumsy Lovers lately.
3. As a Scaper (Farscape fan), I have entered into the hobby of vidding. Defined as the act of making fannish music videos by the urban dictionary.
   
4. Before vidding, a hobby of mine was collecting TV shows; the most impressive of which is my (completed) collection of the original Twilight Zone.