here's the new recruit

Well, this morning I spent about 40 minutes making calls to HR and 401K and did the paycheck math and figured out my absolutely optimum "last day". Then, of course, I reported my findings to the CEO of the relocation enterprise. I won't be announcing to my employer when intend to vacate until sometime next week, when me new boss has officially started. He already knows my plans (in the elevator today he offered to link me up with a guy he knows out east who might be hiring) just, like everyone else, does not know the specifics. Originally I was going to hang on to my job until i found a new one to go to, but that's just not in the cards. There's something called money at play here, namely the large sums of it we are going to need to actually move, so while I steady paycheck is nice, what we're really going to need is some rapid infusions of lump sums like all those weeks of vacation I've never used and all that 401K (heh, if left alone, in 60 years it might be a tidy sum, but as far as 401K goes, its not exactly a retirement savings just yet) that isn't really all that much, but could mean the world in terms of securing housing, paying a mortgage (until the house sells), and allowing us to float at least until Andrea starts getting paid.

So, the title...I posted my resume online and I mentioned before frequently getting called by headhunters, recruiters, etc. Sometimes you can tell its a guy in a bullpen who has a list of search terms and is matching words from resumes to words in job postings and trying to insert himself in between them to pick up some finders fee. Ok, it goes with the territory, and in some ways it feels great, in some ways not so great. It feels great when you get called by someone who seems to think that you really are a good candidate for a particular job, especially if its one that you haven't seen, or that isn't posted, or maybe even there isn't a posting but someone saw your resume and thought, "This guy has potential, I think I might be able to get him in here...or maybe there." I've run across a couple individuals that I think are really seeing some value in my compilation of skills. I've gotten calls from people who clearly are just trying to cram a peg into a hole and pocket the cash. My response to them is short, "Sorry, that's too far away. I don't have a car." or "For a short term contract such as this I would need to earn $90/hr to make it worth my while."

But I'll just say I have some prospects. Every day is like a roller coaster though, the emotional ups and downs. I had a phone interview the other day, my first, and I keep going over in my head, "I should have said this..." and then thinking, "God, that would be a really interesting job...if only it weren't so far away from the city. Even if they offer I don't think I can take it." Grrr.

On another note, we have our housing inspection tomorrow so we can go on the market on Monday. I've been completing projects at record pace, though not many of them are really impactful on the result of our inspection, I don't think. I mean, I dug out the inspection of this place from last year and literally nothing has changed except we've put a little wear and tear on, I started insulating the attic, and our crap is still everywhere. But still, last night I used almost all of my power tools and quickly installed sort of railing/slats thing out of 2x4s to somewhat close the stairwell in the basement. It wasn't an R&R but was a "safety" thing that our own buyers inspection guy pointed out last year. You know, the more I look at this house and the initial truth in sale report from last year...we sort of wasted money on the buyers inspection. GRANTED, what we were paying for was piece of mind, but still, in a city that requires a truth in sales inspection I think the buyer inspection should cost a hell of a lot less. Its a bit of a racket, especially since those guys aren't even certified by anyone. Not anyone who matters least wise, and they offer like, no warranty, on most of the inspection. Its really a purchase agreement placebo if you ask me. Anyway...so I've been getting handy and we've been getting ready to vacate. You know, all things considered, I think we're just going to have to clean and tidy up anything that has to remain here and this place should do OK. I mean, WE bought it not so long ago, right? The two houses nearby sold in under a month on the market.

We'll see.