Since things have settled down at work, I have decided to take my name off of the job market. I am starting to warm up to the work that I have been assigned on an Army program, and I seem to be getting caught up on a different project that has been going on for the better part of 8 years in a maintenance mode. I realize that I may be taking my future in my hands at this point but I think that maybe the Lord is wanting me to rethink my position at this point. Anyway, I am about to remove my name from the pool of people on several job related web sites at this point. Time will tell whether this was a good move or not.

I was able to attend a Job Fair at Mary Washington College for the Marine Corps Systems Command.  Job Fairs always seem to be very crowded and lots of times you don't get to see anyone right away.  The line size indicated that the number of people for the day would have approached 1,000.  I was fortunate to have an interview already set up, so I was in and out in less than three hours.  The interview process was quick and painless, mostly because the HR group for MCSC moved everyone along at a good clip.  I was allowed to describe my talents to three individuals and received a few questions, mostly about what I really wanted to do.  It seems that the engineering group will meet to discuss the candidates later, and then they will invite a few in for interviews for specific group assignments.  I am hoping that I will get an invite to continue interviewing and possibly get a job.  I haven't worked for the Federal Government for quite some time, but I do remember that it was a good experience.  So we wait.

Today is another day and things are looking good. I just had a talk with my boss about problems associated with one of the contracts I'm supposed be working on. It turns out that the government has been holding back on money. And they don't know when that they will be able to put out another contract. Noting this, I'm just waiting for the next shoe to drop. Meanwhile, I am out looking for other work. I don't care what anyone says, I'm just going to wait on the Lord for this.

Ok, now I need to get really busy getting out the application for LM so that I can get to an interview before I leave on vacation. I also saw a number of other job opportunities that I need to investigate. My focus as of today is completely away from my company. It will be good after 15 years to find out what is available out there. I still would like to get a job dealing with IV&V instead of project management but at this point I need to review the possibilities. I'm looking forward to a bright and happy future.

I am actually nit being pressured by my boss or anyone in this company to leave, but it is starting to look a little grim for having work to do here. I found out that there is more effort going on to figure out the funding for the MPC project and that we still have not heard back on the COC proposal yet. Both of those things, along with knowing that I will not be picked up by IT anytime soon makes looking on the outside more attractive every day. I have no way of knowing whether these questions will be answered before the end of the month or not. I have to overcome the fear I feel. Lord please help me make the right decision on this!!! Amen.

Well, I installed Turbo Tax on a spare laptop to find out how much I owe Uncle Sam this time around and true to form, it's a lot more than last year. It's really tough to judge after you have eliminated deductions for other members of the household and your house mortgage. I payed off the mortgage last year and only had $86 in mortgage interest for the year. Good news, the mortgage is payed off, bad news, you get hit at tax time. I am going to have to change my W-4 again to either reduce my deductions or take out more money. However this may be mute since I might be working for someone else before long. No I'm not on the street but my resume is out there and I am starting to get bites.