Have tweed, may travel...

to Dekalb

Regular readers (and thanks for hanging in there!) have probably noticed that the frequency and quality of my posts has dropped a bit lately. There are several reasons why: first, I was laid-off back in March and I'm just coming out of my funk. Second, I've been doing a lot of part-time gigs - everything from hauling compost with a bike trailer for guerrilla gardeners on the northside to working for the UC Survey Lab. Then there was this year's Lake Pepin 3speed Tour which was FANTASTIC despite the chilly start!

The biggest reason, though, is that I spent 3 weeks writing a US State Department grant proposal for the International Training Office at Northern Illinois University. These are the same folks I've been working with on a Philippines youth project for the last 6 years. If we get the grant it would expand this project to include youth from many of the ASEAN member states in Southeast Asia. It would also include funds to hire me full-time to help administer the grant through October 2010!

That could mean I'd be moving out to the Dekalb area sometime in late August or September! On the one hand, this is exactly the kind of job I've been looking for even before my lay-off. I'll be getting full benis. Rental properties are substantially cheaper and larger out there. And if all goes well with the grant and the Illinois university system lifts it's hiring freeze, there is a good possibility of the position becoming permanent.

On the other hand, I've grown to love The Windy City in the decade I've lived here. In fact, it's the place where I've lived the longest ... in my entire life! All my friends are here. I'm active in the bike community and if the NIU job did go south I'd be unemployed in Dekalb with few resources to return to Chicago. And yet, Dekalb or perhaps Sycamore, 10 miles to the northeast, are only a hour and a half away by METRA from The Windy City. Besides, I could bring tweedyness to the cornfields!