Self-check

Things are going well. I got fired from my horrible consulting job where I was working for a nightmare of a manager. She was a complete bully who insisted on telling everyone that she had a PhD and an MBA, so anything she said or thought was obviously superior to anyone else. Well, you can imagine it didn't take long for me to "lock horns" with her. She told me that my "problem" was that I was overconfident and had a persona that leads people to believe me... ?!?!?!?! It went downhill from there. She also determined that there was no way I could be a good biologist if I didn't have a Master's degree, despite the five year's experience.

So I've been out of work for six weeks, getting unemployment. The first two weeks we had really good surf, probably the best of the winter, so I surfed every day, sometimes twice. The next two weeks I started coming out of the denial stage and dealing with the questions at hand, which had been in my head but I hadn't worked through them:

1. What career would allow me to make more money (since it's so damn expensive here, both partners need to make about 100K per year to live comfortably and near the beach).
2. How do I start working for myself or starting several streams of income?
3. If I leave biology/environmental consulting, how do I segue into a new field without starting at the bottom?
4. What career will I be happiest in?

So I had a lot to think about.

During that time, Teri and I had also planned a trip to British Columbia. Since we had a free place to stay, free plane tickets, and a buddy to pick us up in Seattle, we decided not to cancel the trip. Turns out it was 5 days of great snowboarding/skiing at Whistler/Blackcomb. Teri did really well hiking the glacier and experienced her first real powder turns. We stayed with a biologist friend who owns a place outside of Whistler. Danna has enjoyed the rise in real estate prices since they announced the 2010 winter olympics will be there.

We were able to spend some time in Seattle, too. Now we're considering moving there. For the price of our townhome here we could buy a house with a small yard in Seattle. Have you looked at U of Washington? Teri works from home and can live in any major city on the west coast, and I can work wherever. We're seriously considering it, even though I'd have to give up surfing (there is surf there, but you have to drive 2 hours, so I'd become a weekend warrior) but the sailing, mtn biking, backpacking, and winter outdoor activities are endless.

So we'll see. Lots of change, all of it good.

On the job front, an old coworker called me up and asked if I'm available as a sub-consultant for a large job that would take up most of the spring and summer. I named my price and he met it, so it looks like I just more than doubled my salary (I know it doesn't account for 401K contributions, health care, etc., but I'll take it for now).