On the eve of turning 59 years of age, I am in the process of concluding a week that fortunately, is not one of those types of weeks that you get every week. A few days ago I learned of the passing of Smithereens frontman and lead singer Pat DiNizio. I knew that he had been in ill health these past few months, but he was posting just three days before passing that he was on the mend and was expected to start touring next month.
I had the pleasure of meeting him while I was exiled in Las Vegas, and was impressed by just how a nice guy he was. I had never met him before and yet I got to meet him backstage not once during the soundcheck, but again before they were to take the stage. I chatted with him for several minutes afterwards. If I had signed up for Facebook I could have interacted with him some more since he was a social media hound, but I don't do Facebook and do not plan to in the near future if at all.
I should create a separate post highlighting some Smithereens songs. He was a gifted songwriter, touching upon a wide range of thoughts that can reside within a human soul. I had wondered if some of them were as a result of a personal tragedy that he had experienced, but in an interview I learned that the song I had in mind (Blood and Roses) was inspired by a short story that he had read.
Needless to say, I was in something of a funk this week. But there was more.
Yesterday I learned that my current employment is coming to an end early next month. To be honest, I had seen the writing on the wall, and have been in discussion with recruiters these past few weeks. We've been beset by retirements, resignations and layoffs since our firm lost the contract to another company. The contract transition is being held up by protests from another losing firm, and the government cannot fund the task orders until this is resolved, and that won't be until mid-February.
Even then, the infrastructure we were using for testing is not properly working, and the government can't replace it until Congress passes a budget, which is something they haven't done for several years. I made the decision some six weeks ago that I needed to start looking. There was one possibility with a local firm that produces medical equipment but they cancelled the requisition. A return to a former employer in Oro Valley is a possibility but there won't be a decision on that one until the holidays are over.
I have had some people I know suggest a return to the firm where I was laid off from in 2014 as that they are now hiring like crazy. I was hesitant to pursue that option, but I have now, through my own sources and methods, started the process of taking a pulse there.
There's also another former employer that's been after me for the past six weeks. That would involve a relocation to Texas, in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and a good friend of mine who is going over told me of the offer package that he got, and that is now under consideration.
I am not feeling the attachment to Tucson that I used to feel five years ago. The city council is running The Old Pueblo into the ground. Our roads are the worst of any major city, the police department response time is such that you get put on hold if you have to call 911, and in spite of sales tax increases that have passed it isn't getting any better. Sheila and I do not feel like we are going to retire here and although we don't want to leave Arizona, what if the pastures in Texas are better?
A recruiter from that firm contacted me again this week, and yesterday I submitted a resume. Housing prices are slightly higher than they are here, but if I score the same percentage of salary increase that Mike K did, then I can get that, plus enough land to erect an antenna farm. That would allow me better access to the lower frequency bands for my ham radio activities.
So the question that will have to answered is, will the quality of life there be substantially easier? Will the job be something that I can't wait to tear into to? I would get such a job if I were to go back to that medical device firm.....I really enjoyed working there, and gave me even more satisfaction than satellite engineering did. I'll have to see what kind of opportunities are over there in the Metroplex. Sheila and I will have to consider if Texas is where we will be when we retire. Arizona, in some places, offers great locations, but Flagstaff and Prescott have gotten expensive, and Kingman won't work and neither will Sorry Vista. Silver City in New Mexico is a place we would like, if we got far enough out into the country but not too far away from supermarkets and medical care.
Another question is, do I do a contract job for six months out of state, and then come home? Things in the industry are picking up (they started really picking up the day after Hillary lost).
I am not worried about a long period of inactivity, but I am also aware that I may have to make some tough choices. It won't be the first time; I had them to make in early 1999, and that's how I got here.
We are not in a society where most of us end up growing up in the town we were born in.
You follow the money.
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