#heykate

Well she sounds like a horrible person.

heykate replied to your post “Are you Stupid? Like were you born that way or did it just develop...”

What in the actual fuck

She really had this long detailed “oh woe be to my children” post about how instead of teaching her children compassion and empathy and tolerance, and more importantly... RESPECT... for others, she felt it was more important that schools should not subject young children to those who posses “grotesque defects” - her LITERAL FUCKING WORDS!!!

All i've wanted is a job in GIS. I ended up in utilities designing in Smallworld. Still looking for a real GIS position ..

I’ve helped a lot of friends get GIS jobs but it’s really area dependent! The easiest way is to start with the Federal Pathways program right out of college, but that usually involves being willing to move for a few years to wherever the need is.

Another good resource to check is NPOs/NGOs, like the NRDC or Heal the bay. If there is an environmental issue in your area, you can usually find someone who will hire you to make maps for them.

Private sector jobs are a lot harder to come by, especially for corporations. They tend to poach those who have done govt work that they’ve crossed paths with. My friend who is now working for an oil exploration company did 3 years with a city govt first, and another who is now working for a major environmental/geological consulting firm spent 6 years with the State Department.

A lot of times they’ll hire inhouse as well, like if you get a job with the USFS/BIA/BLM as something other than GIS, you can then transfer. My friend Cris was hired as a research assistant in Region 5 doing basic data entry stuff... 6 months later he was part of a research team doing GIS infographics and spatial analysis.

I'll start with right before I left. I hadn't ran going out past my Dad yet, and it was like five minutes before I was supposed to leave. So basically I had been pacing around and stuff, and my Dad told me I could watch TV if I want because he wasn't going to watch anything on the computer, but I was like "actually, I was going to go for a walk in the park with my friend from school". My Dad kind of just looked at me funny, and was like "A friend from school? What's their name?" since he pretty much knows every one I'm friends with or has heard of them before. So I told him, and he was like "oh, a friend?" and at this point I was already smiling like a dork and giggling like a little girl. Then Dad told me he knew there was someone because "I get dolled up every time I leave the house." And if you knew me, that basically means I am wearing jeans to places other than school. So then Dad was asking why Ryan couldn't come get me, and I told him that Ryan's not from in town and didn't even know where the park was. Then I told Dad how far out of town Ryan lives, which is an hour and fifteen minutes (ish) away. 

Eventually I did leave the house, and luckily I leave really close to the park so it only takes me around five minutes to get there. Then I met Ryan, and we walked and talked. We're both pretty quiet and awkward, but I got through it by never shutting up. I took him to almost all the places I love in the park, and we sat in each others arms, and all that mushy stuff.

Basically, I really really enjoyed myself. Ryan and I have a lot in common, interests AND personality wise.Like I mean, he's got all kind of the great attributes I want in a partner. Intelligence, humor, honesty, caring, etc.

And isn't it all crazy how timing works? We basically got together through a long series of me finding out someone likes me, figuring out who it was, and was totally not into the thought of pairing up ever again for awhile. But it's like someone hit a switch and I was okay with it. Maybe I hit the switch myself when I started talking about the crap the last guy put me through. But it really was like my eyes were opened at the most opportune moment, so I could meet this really great guy. It's so weird to actually be in an overall good mood now.

And on top of that, even though my Dad's never met him, I'm pretty sure he's impressed by him, which is super important to me. I think the fact alone that Ryan drove from where he did just to see me blew my Dad's mind. And Ryan's getting his BSc in Biology at the end of the month (my Dad says he wishes I met him sooner when he learned that). And because of where Ryan lives, he is a hard worker, for example, they have to go out and cut wood to heat their home. And his family isn't super well to do (like my family), so he doesn't just have things handed to him.