the hypercube of happydalek

I just got called to interview for a position tomorrow!  My first interview in three months of looking and applying.  Yikes. 

I applied for an archeology job at Monticello today.  Monticello, as in Thomas Jefferson's mansion in Virginia.  It's only a temporary position, another phase I survey, but it would be beyond awesome to actually do work someplace with a known potential for Grand Historical Discoveries.  Given the state of the economy right now, I'm sure the ad is going to attract more qualified applicants than a dead elephant would scavengers in the middle of a desert, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, you know? 

The really interesting part of it is that if I would get on the crew, I'd kinda have to relocate to Virginia for real, because the job doesn't come with paid lodging or per diem.  This is not a problem, as I have archaeology-type friends a mere half an hour from Monticello whose doors are open for me, job or not (incidentally, they too are applying to ad).  I mentioned this all to my mom, who got rather amusingly thrilled at the prospect of me moving out for real. 

I have nothing but realistic expectations of my probably-not-going-to-get-it-ness, but... *squees quietly anyway*

I've been at my new job for about a month now, and figured it was time to post some my observations and insights into the eating habits of University students in an all-you-can-eat dining hall.

1.  Students routinely take much more food than they will actually eat, and tend to be extraordinarily messy about it. 

2.  Students also, speaking generally, do not eat very healthy (given the high proportion of untouched salads and empty dessert dishes I dispose of).

3.  Despite lunch and dinner shifts that are 4 hours long, 90% of the students will all come to eat during the same hour.

4.  Any time the menu includes gooey desserts and meat with bones in it, you know the dish room is going to get backed up and very messy.

5.  Everyone who works in the dish room develops "the dish room shuffle," because the floor gets so wet and soapy. 

6.  There are never enough cups or forks.  Never.

7.  The smelliest part of the job is cleaning out the shop vac.

8.  Cooked-on chicken is more durable than steel.

9.  No matter how late you let it get before spraying down the conveyor belt and window, there will always be at least two people who will choose that exact same moment to finally bring up their dirty trays. 

10.  When the air vents stop working, the dish room can get as hot as 110 degrees F and as humid as a sauna.  (This happened yesterday and an employee actually got woozy from it.)