We're going to Virginia!

Today it's announced that I officially am going to join Virginia Tech's Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics in Blacksburg, Virginia. This is in the middle-left part of Virginia, a little closer to the West Virginia border than shown in this CNN map to the right. It's in the Appalachian mountains, less than 15 miles from the Appalachian Trail. It's very pretty.

An extra special bonus: they have cows there. And Toyota Tercels that look like cows. We hope to one day have our own chickens.

As the map shows, Virginia Tech is far from California. Not being one for a long commute, we'll be moving there. Not today, not tomorrow, but someday before classes start in August. Unless teleportation comes along and adjusts humanity's sense of distance and location.

We'll be closer to Washington DC, New York, and Barcelona, but further from many of our friends and family. Our distance from Texas will not change appreciably.

There is of course more to come on this subject as the days progress.

But for now, a final note. Mystery surrounds the Virgnia Tech mascot, a "Hokie". This is not to be confused with the word 'hokey', as in 'effusively or insincerely emotional'. In fact, no less than the ignorance-fighting power of the website The Straight Dope was needed to clarify what a Hokie is.

Blog value?

Hey party people,
I came across this website that I think puts a value and market share on blogs (!?)

Looking at the section "Top 100 Incoming Links", it looks like Jenny's blog is the most valuable, followed by Ryan's and Matt's. Why isn't John from Ann Arbor on the list?!

My recent travels

Just in case you were wondering what I've been up to, I've been interviewing at several places for a professorship position. In the space of a week and a half I had interviews at Virginia Tech, University of Maryland, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This was a grueling schedule, but being interviewed is a good sign that places are interested. And this is on top of two previous interviews at University of Michigan and University of California at Irvine. I've interviewed in different departments at each university: math, engineering science and mechanics, aerospace and mechanical engineering, and two simply aerospace departments.

I won't say exactly where I'm going yet, but I'll say that I've started receiving job offers, which I am very thankful to God about. Jessica and I are praying for guidance in this decision. A friend has prayed that God would make the path clear by opening doors and closing others. I could take this to mean that one place will stand out over the others. But then that would make choosing too easy. I can see how God may want us (me) to learn how to make decisions, as decision making is very important.