I’m coming home, no joke.

It’s been killing me to hold this in for the last few weeks but it wasn’t final until today.

When it’s time, it will happen.  And it has.  I just submitted my two-week’s notice and I’ll be coming home for good!  I just accepted a position with the company I was a sub-contractor for up at the Jacksonville ARTCC in Hilliard.

I’m happy with my current company and they treat me well.  But the job is for single guys or people that don’t mind a divorce and estranged kids.  The family guys on the road have it tough and I’m hoping something opens up for a few of them.  It’s hard to walk away from a job like ours.  The constant travel brings a certain amount of freedom with it and a lot more money.  But the cost was too much to bear.  I wish there was a way to stay with the company and not live on the road.  It’s a scary proposition to change companies in the middle of an economic downturn, you become first on the list for lay-offs.  But you know what, if you don’t gamble you’ll never win.  Teresa and I miss each other more and more every day and Becca is wondering who the hell I am…

This is the same job I turned down last year.  It wasn’t time to take it back then.  The contract wasn’t secure and I could have found myself looking for work within months.  But now with project shifts and rumors of lay-offs at my current job I started wondering if I made the right choice.  New administration in the White House makes government contractors nervous.  My job depends on TSA and Homeland Security.  If they cut or even shift spending, they cut techs…  There was even talk about shutting down O’Hare last year but the only reason Chicago got green-lighted is because it’s considered White House West.  I was winding down the Miami install and wasn’t sure where I’d be until a few days after the election.  Now I’m winding down O’Hare and I have NO idea where I’ll be going after this.

Lucky for me the ARTCC job opened up again, my brother Heffner hipped me to the opening and I called in a few contacts.  My name went on the list and I happened to be the most qualified applicant.  I already know the guy I’ll be working with.  He is a good guy and has a lot of the same work qualities I have (That’s probably why we butted heads when we first met, can you imagine working with two of me?).  There will still be travel required but all of it is within a three hour radius of Jacksonville.  I’ll be home every night.  So if you know anyone selling a cheap/reliable fix-er-up vehicle, let me know.  I’ll need one in two weeks and I’ll need time to install the stereo…