Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Good Stuff

I forgot to mention a few exciting things that are (or could) be happening so keep your fingers crossed for us! (and sorry to disappoint but it's not what some of you are probably thinking)

First, Ryan asked me about 2 weeks ago how I felt about Guam because his company is possibly bidding on a government contracted job in there. His company wanted to get a feel for who would be willing to go to see if they could adequately staff the job. He asked me if he should let his boss know that he was interested and willing to go work there and I didn't hesitate to say yes!!! He said that if they bid the job and get it we probably wouldn't find out for about a year and then the work would commence in probably a year and a half. Ryan has to get an FBI background check which can take anywhere from 4-8 months so it's going to be at least a year until we even hear anything. According to Ryan our chances of even going are very slim, but if his company gets the bid then I'm sure that ups our chances a ton! We're perfect candidates because we don't have a mortgage or any kids so it would be easy for us to go live there for 1-2 years! So keep your fingers crossed for us and I'll definitely keep everyone updated on this one. I am elated that we even have a small chance of living in a tropical paradise for a few years!






I think I could get used to calling tropical paradise home!

Next, I am finally making some headway on getting a job! I submitted my application to the California charter schools and they've accepted it and added it to their application pool! Apparently only half of the applicants make it to that point so hopefully I'll be able to do some interviews soon and possibly have a teaching job for this school year! You'll definitely hear from me on any news regarding this. I did get a tutoring job and it's private in home tutoring. Basically I get a phone call from the agency and then go to the student's home as arranged by me and the parents. I just got that last week so nothing yet but it's a start!


2 comments:

The McCarthys said...

cool deal! I did a little research:

The highest risk of typhoons is during October and November. They can occur, however, year-around.

An average of three tropical storms and one typhoon pass within 180 nautical miles (330 km) of Guam each year. The most intense typhoon to pass over Guam recently was Super Typhoon Pongsona, with sustained winds of 125 miles per hour, which slammed Guam on December 8, 2002, leaving massive destruction.

Guam pays no income or excise taxes

popular destination for Japanese tourists

Most of the island has state of the art mobile phone services while digital cable and high speed internet are now widely available through either cable or DSL.

As Guam is also part of the U.S. Postal System ("state" code: GU, ZIP code range: 96910-96932), mail to Guam from the U.S. mainland is considered domestic and no additional charges are required. Private shipping companies, such as UPS, DHL or FedEx, however, have no obligation to and do not regard Guam as domestic. The speed of mail traveling between Guam and the states varies depending on size. Light, first-class items generally take less than a week to or from the mainland, but larger first-class or Priority items can take a week or two. Fourth-class mail, such as magazines, are transported by surface after reaching Hawaii. Most residents use post office boxes or private mail boxes, although residential delivery is becoming increasingly available. Incoming mail not from the Americas should be addressed to "Guam" instead of "USA" to avoid being routed the long way through the U.S. mainland and possibly charged a higher rate (especially from Asia).

Most residents travel within Guam using personally owned vehicles. The local government currently outsources the only public bus system (Guam Mass Transit Authority), and some commercial companies operated buses between tourist-frequented locations.

Wildfires plague the forested ("boonie" or "jungle") areas of Guam every dry season despite the island's humid climate. Most fires are man-caused with 80 percent resulting from arson.[16] Poachers often start fires to attract deer to the new growth. Invasive grass species that rely on fire as part of their natural life cycle grow in many regularly burned areas. Grasslands and "barrens" have replaced previously forested areas leading to greater soil erosion. During the rainy season sediment is carried by the heavy rains into the Fena Lake Reservoir and Ugum River leading to water quality problems for southern Guam. Eroded silt also destroys the marine life in reefs around the island. Soil stabilization efforts by volunteers and forestry workers to plant trees have had little success in preserving natural habitats.[17]

Guam exemplifies the effects of bioinvasion.

The Guam Public School System[22] serves the entire island of Guam. In 2000, 32,000 students attended Guam's public schools. Guam Public Schools have struggled with problems such as high dropout rates and poor test scores

Ryan and Adrienne Johnson said...

Thanks for the info; I've already done plenty of research! I'm trying to not be too obssessed because I don't want to be disappointed, but it's still fun to entertain the idea!