After Nine Months and Four Days . . .

After being unemployed since April 17, 2009 I have today - finally - found another job! I've accepted the position of Manager of Compensation and Benefits at the South Texas Project, which is a nuclear power plant located just south of Bay City, Texas. I spent all day last Wednesday interviewing with them, meeting with the CEO, and being introduced to my potential staff. I received an offer on Monday morning and, after some negotiating over the salary, I accepted it this afternoon.

For those of you who know this part of Texas, you know that Bay City is a little more than an hour's drive from Sugar Land. I figure my commute will be about 80 minutes, but STP works a ten-hour, four day work schedule, so I'll be off every Friday. I expect to join a car pool or van pool, which means that when quittin' time rolls around it will really be quittin' time. No more staying until 8:00 or 9:00 every night like I did when I was serving my sentence with Transocean.

I really liked everyone I met during the recruiting process, and I'm excited to be moving into an new industry that will hopefully be a little more stable than the offshore drilling business. After two mergers since 2001 I'm looking forward to a more orderly, less stressful, less politically charged work environment.

Looking back on the last nine months and four days it actually went by pretty quickly. I enjoyed all the traveling that Vicki and I were able to do, and I got just about all of my household projects taken care of while I was off - with the exception of the leaky drain under the kitchen sink (I hate plumbing). I also really enjoyed the Thursdays that I spent down at Second Mile.

Speaking of Second Mile, I was there today doing my usual Thursday shift. Today my task was to repair worn out places in the carpet. The primary fix-it spot was just outside the food pantry, which is of course the most heavily travelled spot in the whole place. I got to meet a lot of clients as they wheeled their groceries around me. I gave my boss, Tom, my one week notice. Next Thursday is ceiling tile replacement day.