sorry for my extended mostly-absence around here, life's been pretty nuts for us! i just wanted to share our excitement now that we've got a bunch of good things in the works. first, we're moving to the DC area in about a month. i've got a big-effing-deal fellowship under final review with a government agency, and with all the support i have from the agency, we all expect it to be approved with great enthusiasm. this is a huge thing for my career, and i will be doing some incredibly important work. i am so excited. next, DH took his major certifying exams about a month ago, and we should know the results by the middle of june. this certification would be a big boon in his new job search, as only ~2000 people in the nation hold that certification. there are a ton of opportunities for him in the area. finally, it took 9 months since my actual degree completion date, but i went back for the big annual commencement gala at my university unfortunately, i think all these goings-on mean we'll be very scarce around here for a while longer! i thought i was busy as a grad student... seems that what you don't know can kill you!
Good luck on the fellowship. I suppose that it' ssomewhere in the area of NIH and they seem to be doing OK at the budget table these days. What's DH going to be repairing? something top secret? Your message, welcome as it is, seems to exclude detail.
Hi galaxee. It's great to hear from you again, and especially good news. You folks have had a hard time of it, and it's great to hear that things are starting to fall into place for you. I'm glad the hard work is paying off.
We miss hearing from you, but glad things are well. And glad you'll sorta be back in my neck of the woods. I get up to and through the DC area from time to time. I'll give you a wave as I pass by.
we miss all the goings-on here, too! it's just been very work-intensive for a while, we've been working opposing shifts and don't see each other much. i have had a hard time keeping up with the major increases in volume here at PC and the major changes in my work. i'm trying to be careful what i say here, tochatihu my employment will be kinda indirect, because it's administered as a fellowship, but the work will be in an institute run by the DoD. budgets are not an issue, paperwork is though. DH is searching for a job repairing medical equipment. there are some big service providers out that way and lots of hospitals.
Great news! So glad to hear and boy can I relate. ( to the busy part that is) Also, I will be traveling to DC in June for my new job. I won't be staying though, just attending my first bona-fide work related conference. I do plan to stay and extra day and take the opportunity to see the Smithsonian. I hear it's worth it. Congrats on all your great news!!
Galaxee, glad to have you back in the "neighboorhood". Octavia, your trip sounds like the perfect reason for a Prius Meet. "The" Smithsonian doesn't exist. There are 17 museums in & around DC. Check out Smithsonian: Museums
I realize that, but have to admit, before I started to do my trip research I didn't! I've tacked an entire day onto my trip with hopes that I'll be able to see several of the ones that interest me the most. Even at that, I won't be able to see it all. Of course it is! That's why I mentioned my trip in her thread. I was secretly hoping someone from the area would arrange one.
Good luck G. I'm sure I could tell you about some of my DOD contract misadventures But then I would have to kill you
Hey Galaxee- good luck with everything! YOU CAN DO IT! would love to come down on the train and meet up after you get settled in... best of luck! Barbara:cheer2:
hey again everyone! thanks for all the support! i've got 2 weeks left at the job here. we're doing a lot of sorting-packing in preparation for the move, last time we relocated it was much less organized than we would have liked. DH passed his certifying exam, so after the work experience requirement he will be a full-fledged certified biomedical equipment tech!
Congrats to your DH on passing his exam. (Though we all knew he'd pass with flying colors. ) Best of luck at your new location.
Housing in the DC area is 'nuts' expensive but here is what I learned. 1973-1985 - rented either a room in a house or the last years, rented a house. The costs of housing is insane but renting is possible, including rooms in houses. 1995-2000 - rented a room in a house. However, we had a house in Huntsville that my wife commuted back and forth from. She'd come up after the last frost and back in the fall. I commuted on three day weekends which I stretched with leave. My last plan to get back to the DC area, Holly's home, was to buy a house in the Salsbury MD area, a place 4-5 hours away from DC and rent a 'sleep over' room. During the week, I would commute in and work 4-5 days, 10 hour days, and sleep in the rental bedroom. DC public transportation is reasonable. Holly could come into town and sleep over as she felt like it. Then on Friday or as soon as the weekend arrived, I would commute home. Just some suggestions to consider. Bob Wilson
Great news after a spell of challenges galaxee! Octavia, one day is barely going to scratch the surface of a Smithsonian museum experience. Both of you, if you are into seafood, check out Chrisfield's restaurant (URL: Crisfield Seafood Restaurant - Silver Spring, MD- Welcome ). The baked shrimp stuffed with crab meat is to die for.
alright, the final award paperwork came through from the national academies, the moving arrangements are booked, my resignation is submitted to my current employer, the start date is decided! whew! that took a little more paperwork burden than i had anticipated! we move in 2 weeks. this is really exciting and really nerve wracking- but it's just one of those opportunities you don't stumble across every day.
i found that out! ha! thanks for the suggestions... i've found that my salary is comfortable enough (omg, i just used the words "salary" and "comfortable" in the same sentence! how novel!) that we can afford to rent an apartment. if/when DH lands a good job locally, we can start saving to buy a not-too-extravagant place of our own one day. we're outside the beltway, which comes with a commute time hit and a price benefit kind of trade-off. public transportation goes straight to NIH, but not to where i will be working- unfortunately for me, this means the metro and bus would take longer than just driving (or possibly biking, once i do some exploring). it'll be an adventure any way you slice it.
Congratulations to you and DH. Washington is a fascinating area and I am sure you will enjoy your time there. Very best of luck with your move and new job.
Once again, congratulations! I'd be scared to live in D.C., but I've always been scared of big cities. Sounds like all that hard work is finally paying off for you. You deserve it.
