As I’ve mentioned before, I typically write my posts about four weeks in advance. So this scheduled date marks one year since I changed jobs.
So far so good.
My honeymoon phase is over, but I’m still enjoying the work. That said, I usually don’t get antsy till year two or three, so I’m not sure if this is going to be a long term career ending job (assuming they want to keep me around!).
I am still enjoying the higher rate of pay, even if it’s only numbers on a page since our lifestyle hasn’t changed one whit. It has been fun to work on some different tasks, some of it is just gratuitous paper pushing as to be expected in a government job, but I feel that I have been also been adding legitimate value to the projects. It has also been a privilege to work with multiple firms in the valley, networking on steroids.
But the biggest benefit has been the regularity of the work itself. My previous firm was always on medium alert with regular fire drills. Even though they were generally small issues on a short deadline, it was a continuous drain on one’s psyche to never know what surprise would be around the corner. It was bad enough to make me hesitant about scheduling lunch with people outside the company.
The other way this change has manifested is in this blog. When you are always on the edge of catastrophe, there isn’t the slack to create a regular habit in the morning. This gig with the state has allowed me to create a morning routine, at least as much as one can with two small kids in the household.
So on to the next year. The next couple years are going to be dominated by the construction of the education building on Nevada State College. It’s a little daunting, but I’ve got a good team, and these things don’t build themselves, so I might as well lead the charge!