Christina Dulude

I realized recently that I’ve lived in Indiana for almost 9 years — that’s one-third of my life. Which is ironic because the original plan was to complete my four-year tour of duty (aka, “college”) and then head back east. Even more ironic, however, is the fact that many of my native Hoosier friends have since relocated to more exotic locales.

But in a month I’m picking up and moving to a state in which I’ve only been once — and that was just last week, for the job interview. Two days ago, I accepted a position at Duke University in North Carolina. It’s in web development, very similar to what I do now. I am absolutely thrilled.

This Duke thing was a little out of the blue. I first started thinking about finding a new job last summer, but didn’t take much action until last January or so. I applied for positions primarily at universities in Chicago. I love Chicago, and I figured I’d have the best chance of finding a job there because it’s closer than, say, Boston. And then I applied for a few  jobs at other schools around the country too.

Had so-so luck with the Chicago jobs — two interviews, neither of which I was particularly excited about. But then the Duke thing came along. They flew me out for an interview, and four days later I’ve landed myself a new job.

I had never been to North Carolina before last Friday. And I’m not quite sure what I was expecting — I had really never thought about the state much, one way or the other. I suppose I expected it would be a lot like Indiana, but more so. That’s not the case, however; at least, not in the area in which the university is located. For one thing, there were a lot of trees! I was shocked — it was all so green. And I even spied some hippie- and crunchy-granola types.

The Research Triangle area seems to be to North Carolina what Bloomington is to Indiana — the more liberal or progressive area with an influx of super-educated people. Also, like Bloomington, the majority of people I met during my interview there weren’t originally from the area. According to various touristy websites, this is because of the many universities in the area, as well as the medical center, and a lot of IT industry. Later on, I read that a large percentage of Durham and Chapel Hill residents are actually transplanted northerners.

Perfect — I’ll be right at home. I start my new job on June 6. I can’t wait.

Last weekend I placed an order from REI. So this means I get to try Bloglines’ new package tracking system! So far it seems like a neat feature.

I was thrilled when UPS introduced online package tracking years ago. I’d log on to the site several times per day — “Oooh!! Now my package is loaded onto the truck in Omaha, Nebraska!” It’s a good feeling of control, knowing (theoretically, at least) exactly where your goods are on Wednesday morning at 11:21 am.

So this new Bloglines feature streamlines that process. Package status is delivered right to your Bloglines aggregator — no more checking the UPS site obsessively.

In the past year or so, a few tools have emerged that convert shipping data into personalized RSS feeds. This article discusses one project, and gives sort of a do-it-yourself guide to creating your own XML/XSLT output for UPS shipping. I’m very tempted to try this out.