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General News, July 2007

Catching up!

I can't believe I've let so much time pass without updating my site. So much has been going on; it's just ridiculous that I haven't shared any of it.

First, we're moving. Theoretically.

I like to move. When I was growing up, we moved roughly every five years. I didn't spend more than two years at one school until college -- and my record there was 2.5 years! Renting is difficult with animals, so we own, but before I got married, I rented and moved every year or two. I get ancy living in the same place, even if I love the place I'm living in!

Jay knows that and hates it, but has accepted it. The whole moving thing came up in a bizarre way rife with misunderstandings (on my part). Initially, I was going to sell my horses, and we were going to move back to Memphis. But I just couldn't do it. I can't sell members of my family, and I love this area (and its climate) too much. So instead, our plan is to move to a less expensive place down south of Olympia, perhaps as far south as halfway between Olympia and Portland.

Our reason for moving there is three-fold. One, it's within commuting distance of a city, so we can find work. Two, it's closer to Leslie, Blue's trainer. And three, it's much less expensive than anything within a reasonable commuting distance of Seattle.

We had a great boost to our plan right away when Jay was told he could keep his job and telecommute. (He really loves his job, and I really don't want him to give up something he likes.) But just this week, we had a wrench thrown into that. Word came down from the higher ups at his job that he can telecommute for one year, and then he has to either come back in or leave.

That news put the whole move on hold for me, because I don't want to force Jay to give up his job. He hasn't given up though. He put out feelers among his network about telecommuting jobs. He got some positive responses, but of course, he hasn't had a chance to look into them yet. I'll keep you posted.

So in the meantime, we're in limbo. We're not sure what to do about this house. It's... a fixer upper. In my opinion, there's a lot to do to get it market ready. According to our realtor friend, the market in this area is two to six months, so obviously, anything we can do to make the house more salable is a good thing. A friend of mine is married to a contractor, and he wants to come out and take a look at it. He may want to buy it as-is, then remodel and flip it. I'm more than willing to sell low in exchange for not having to do the work to sell it!

He's not going to be able to get out here to look at it, though, until close to the end of this month. We really need to get it scrubbed, and then have our realtor come out and tell us what we must do before putting it on the market and what we could do that would raise the sell price.

Enough about moving. Second big piece of news: I'm working for T-Mobile. It's a contract gig, but they love me. The word through the grapevine is that they want to hire me. I'll listen to their offer -- really, I will -- but it's highly unlikely I'll accept. Even with the mandatory breaks in service that contractors are required to take, this is a very lucrative contract. Being a contractor means that most weeks ar capped at forty hours and those that aren't are paid overtime. And, I have to say, for me, a three-month break in service is a GOOD thing. I don't want to work all the time. I work to live, not live to work, and the break in service is a chance to LIVE.

I absolutely love T-Mobile. I'm working with Learning & Development and creating training for their call centers. I was brought in to work on a super high-visibility project, and it has resulted in my work becoming really well-known around the company in a very short time. It's a great feeling! I was fortunate enough to be put on a team with terrific people that I adore. The culture there is soooo different from other companies I've worked for -- especially Microsoft. T-Mobile is truly team-based and is all about customer service. I love T-Mobile as much as I hate Microsoft (and that's saying a lot)!

Okay, there's more, but it's all animal related, so I'm going to put it on the Menagerie page.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

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