Tucson?

I had a good interview in Tucson this weekend. My favorite part happened after the main interview at the office when the senior partner, junior partner and I went out to dinner at a nice Asian pace. After an hour and a half or so, the senior partner had to go visit his wife who was in the hospital with a serious illness. After he left:

Junior Partner: "He really liked you. I'm nearly positive that you'll get an offer. I think you'd be a really good fit here."

My second favorite part happened while I was in the main interview at the office. Out of nowhere the senior partner asked what size my wife's feet were. I thought that was a little odd. I thought he was asking to try to get some sort of weird insight into the state of my marriage. Instead, he went to his office and got me a pair of shoe inserts designed to make high-heels more comfortable. Apparently the senior partner had used his years of experience with inventors to solve a common plight of modern women. You can check them out at http://insolia.com/ but you'll have to pay for your own if you want a pair, at least until I get the job.

So, finally, some good news. But honestly - Tucson?

There are a lot of people that love the whole desert vibe with the pueblo architecture and cacti in the yard. I am not one of those people. I like a lawn - something I can walk on barefoot when the weather's nice. If there is a house with a lawn in Tucson, I haven't seen it. I'm definitely not saying that I wouldn't take the job if it's the best offer we get. I would. It's still close enough that I could come to at least some of the family dinners. Plus, Tucson is really close to Mexico and it would be fun to head down to Rocky Point every once in a while. It's not too different from Phoenix I guess, and if we hate it, we can always leave a couple of years down the road.

And the firm may be a great opportunity for me for at least 3 reasons:
1. It's small- about 5 lawyers total in 2 offices. This means that I won't be a cog locked in a room doing due diligence. It also means that I get a lot of face time with the partners and consequently the chance to become a partner quickly.
2. Notwithstanding the size of the firm, they still handle sophisticated work from big-time clients. Boeing is probably the biggest name client and there are others. They also are by far the most involved with chemistry and biochemistry in Arizona. It's not even close.
3. The other new associate (there will only be 2 of us if I get hired, and he's only been there a year) is LDS with kids. I haven't been able to meet him (he was at Disneyland this week), but that's got to be good.

So it at least is looking like an option. I have another interview with a biotech company in Phoenix this week and we still are waiting to hear back from Prescott. If I'm really lucky, maybe I'll have more than one.