Hello, deadline

I have to get a draft of my thesis proposal to my committee by the end of the week. Hence the late hour at which I find myself taking a break.

With the light at the end of the tunnel starting to twinkle with a hint of promise (or is it a dash of Pollyanna-ism?), my thoughts are drifting to the great hereafter. Someday I will graduate (he says before knocking on wood and throwing salt over his left shoulder and spitting thrice), and that means finding some sort of gainful employment.

For the sake of argument, let's say that a post-doc counts as gainful employment.
Stolen blatantly from phdcomics.com
This process officially started a year ago. While driving through Massachusetts on the way to a race in Sterling, I found myself wondering how I'd fare as a post-doc at any one of the dozen fine institutions in the great Bay State (it's never too soon to start brown-nosing).

So I heard about a post-doc opportunity at the University of Michigan, beginning at least 6 months before my most ambitious date of graduation. Out of curiosity more than pragmatism, I started looking around the website, and I've gotta tell you, I like what I saw.

With no further ado, here is my pro-vs.-con stream of consciousness:

• Pro: Large department with specialties in my favorite fields
• Con: Michigan is cold. I don't enjoy the cold.
• Pro: They want to hire me. This describes me circa 2012
• Con: Why weren't they on my radar until now?
• Pro: There seems to be a decent cycling scene in Michigan
• Con: Wolverines
• Pro: Wolverines!

Just musing out loud. For whatever it's worth, though, all of these things are major considerations of mine, even "trivial" features like weather and cycling. Well, there is the exception of the last Pro... there doesn't need to be a subtle movie reference associated with the locale. It's just a bonus.