![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fenchurchI realized the other day (after having several people comment here and on Facebook) that I hadn't actually mentioned that rackham got a new job! For those who don't remember, he was laid off back in mid-September after 19 years at Microsoft. It was actually a bit of a strange situation... because while he was effectively out of work at that time, he continued to be considered an employee for two more months (due to Washington state law that requires 60 days notice for layoffs). Same paychecks, same benefits... making it a great time to refresh some skills and go job hunting. So, he spent the time taking some online courses, doing some projects around the house and putting out feelers for jobs among friends in the industry.
He had one really strong possibility pop up right away, working for and with several people he'd worked with at Microsoft for several years and, more to the point, had really enjoyed working with... although the potential job there wasn't opening until December/January timeframe. Long story short, it ended up working out pretty well for everyone. We had time to go visit family in December (since it will be awhile before Rackham has vacation time built up at the new job) and they didn't have to try to scramble to get him hired on.
So, this last Monday he started his new job at Amazon! He's been really enjoying it so far... working as a software quality engineer with a bunch of people he's missed working with. The biggest downside is that he's now working in downtown Seattle... which would have been a long enough commute from our old house, but is 45-60 minutes from here, depending on traffic. He's driving down to a park and ride and then taking an express bus to within a few blocks of his building, which is not bad, really, and he's been able to do a LOT more reading.
Because he's been leaving so much earlier than he did with his old job, this last week he's been going to bed rather insanely early (okay, 10pm, which seems insanely early to me... and is quite a switch for him after all the late nights during his "time off"). And, strangely, my sleep schedule changed almost immediately... from going to bed around midnight to going to bed around 2am (I think it's because he's going to bed early enough that it's not triggering the "Oh yeah, it's late!" in my brain and I keep doing what I'm doing until I realize it's after 2:00). OTOH, I feel like I'm getting a lot more done than I have for the past few months (in part because Rackham has been great about helping out around the house... so things I usually do were getting done by him). So, we're still adjusting to the new normal, but it seems to be working out pretty well!
On Friday, we stopped over by our old house to pick up a couple of Christmas cards and one package that had gone to the old address. I love that we have such a good relationship with the woman who bought our house... and, even better, while we were there we were able to help her figure out a few things (she had no idea how to use the fireplace insert or how to even get a fire started). We've tried really hard to be the type of sellers we wish we'd gotten both times we bought a house. This is her very first house and so she's still learning how to do a lot of things... and it's felt pretty good to help her figure things out.
I'm feeling really happy that I didn't make the photo-a-day thing into one of my goals for the year. As you may have noticed, I didn't post any over the past few days... and that's because I haven't really had anything that seemed interesting enough. So, rather than just one more photo of the cats, I figured I'd just hold off until I did have something worth posting.
Crossposted from my Livejournal.
rackham got a new job! For those who don't remember, he was laid off back in mid-September after 19 years at Microsoft. It was actually a bit of a strange situation... because while he was effectively out of work at that time, he continued to be considered an employee for two more months (due to Washington state law that requires 60 days notice for layoffs). Same paychecks, same benefits... making it a great time to refresh some skills and go job hunting. So, he spent the time taking some online courses, doing some projects around the house and putting out feelers for jobs among friends in the industry.He had one really strong possibility pop up right away, working for and with several people he'd worked with at Microsoft for several years and, more to the point, had really enjoyed working with... although the potential job there wasn't opening until December/January timeframe. Long story short, it ended up working out pretty well for everyone. We had time to go visit family in December (since it will be awhile before Rackham has vacation time built up at the new job) and they didn't have to try to scramble to get him hired on.
So, this last Monday he started his new job at Amazon! He's been really enjoying it so far... working as a software quality engineer with a bunch of people he's missed working with. The biggest downside is that he's now working in downtown Seattle... which would have been a long enough commute from our old house, but is 45-60 minutes from here, depending on traffic. He's driving down to a park and ride and then taking an express bus to within a few blocks of his building, which is not bad, really, and he's been able to do a LOT more reading.
Because he's been leaving so much earlier than he did with his old job, this last week he's been going to bed rather insanely early (okay, 10pm, which seems insanely early to me... and is quite a switch for him after all the late nights during his "time off"). And, strangely, my sleep schedule changed almost immediately... from going to bed around midnight to going to bed around 2am (I think it's because he's going to bed early enough that it's not triggering the "Oh yeah, it's late!" in my brain and I keep doing what I'm doing until I realize it's after 2:00). OTOH, I feel like I'm getting a lot more done than I have for the past few months (in part because Rackham has been great about helping out around the house... so things I usually do were getting done by him). So, we're still adjusting to the new normal, but it seems to be working out pretty well!
On Friday, we stopped over by our old house to pick up a couple of Christmas cards and one package that had gone to the old address. I love that we have such a good relationship with the woman who bought our house... and, even better, while we were there we were able to help her figure out a few things (she had no idea how to use the fireplace insert or how to even get a fire started). We've tried really hard to be the type of sellers we wish we'd gotten both times we bought a house. This is her very first house and so she's still learning how to do a lot of things... and it's felt pretty good to help her figure things out.
I'm feeling really happy that I didn't make the photo-a-day thing into one of my goals for the year. As you may have noticed, I didn't post any over the past few days... and that's because I haven't really had anything that seemed interesting enough. So, rather than just one more photo of the cats, I figured I'd just hold off until I did have something worth posting.
Crossposted from my Livejournal.
