I got my letter!
I quit my job!!!! WooHooooooooo!
The aforementioned letter I have been waiting for was formal job offer with a company I have been interviewing with since August. Finally they have made a decision and I am their top choice. The offer was quite good, and my current job situation is quite bad, so I turned in my resignation Wednesday and will be moving on.
What a relief! It will be a little sad to leave my current employer - I like my colleagues and you couldn't ask for a more casual and relaxed work atmosphere. But I am in a "soft-money" position - as a contractor, my job security is only as long as there is money in the grant for me. I was first told that the money would run out last January. Then it was extended to March. Then more funding was trickled on to the grant in allotments of 3 - 6 weeks at a time. How long would you work for an employer that kept you on 3 - 6 weeks notice? No security there. It is quite sad, the state of research at this lab. It is a government lab, and used to do quite impressive large-scale research projects. The kind of future-looking, forward-thinking research that private industry is no longer willing to pay for. But now the government too has decided that they can no longer afford this research. In a way, they are right. With the war and the other strains on the country's and the agency's budgets, long term research is a tempting area to cut. No immediate payback. But here's the thing - once you let your scientists and engineers go - they aren't coming back. Sure, you can train new young people to do the same things in ten years when the budget allows you to start up again, but hundreds, no, thousands of years of collective experience and knowledge are walking out the door. And you will pay dearly to rebuild it.
No photos today - weather was not good for shooting yesterday. But Clapotis (colorway #88 btw for those who asked) is nearing the end - I am into the decrease section and have dropped 4 markers. And I have spun up all the Corriedale Ashley sent me. I'll have to go buy some more this weekend. So many different things to keep track of when spinning!
Have a good weekend!
The aforementioned letter I have been waiting for was formal job offer with a company I have been interviewing with since August. Finally they have made a decision and I am their top choice. The offer was quite good, and my current job situation is quite bad, so I turned in my resignation Wednesday and will be moving on.
What a relief! It will be a little sad to leave my current employer - I like my colleagues and you couldn't ask for a more casual and relaxed work atmosphere. But I am in a "soft-money" position - as a contractor, my job security is only as long as there is money in the grant for me. I was first told that the money would run out last January. Then it was extended to March. Then more funding was trickled on to the grant in allotments of 3 - 6 weeks at a time. How long would you work for an employer that kept you on 3 - 6 weeks notice? No security there. It is quite sad, the state of research at this lab. It is a government lab, and used to do quite impressive large-scale research projects. The kind of future-looking, forward-thinking research that private industry is no longer willing to pay for. But now the government too has decided that they can no longer afford this research. In a way, they are right. With the war and the other strains on the country's and the agency's budgets, long term research is a tempting area to cut. No immediate payback. But here's the thing - once you let your scientists and engineers go - they aren't coming back. Sure, you can train new young people to do the same things in ten years when the budget allows you to start up again, but hundreds, no, thousands of years of collective experience and knowledge are walking out the door. And you will pay dearly to rebuild it.
No photos today - weather was not good for shooting yesterday. But Clapotis (colorway #88 btw for those who asked) is nearing the end - I am into the decrease section and have dropped 4 markers. And I have spun up all the Corriedale Ashley sent me. I'll have to go buy some more this weekend. So many different things to keep track of when spinning!
Have a good weekend!
1 Comments:
Congrats on the job. As a post-doc in a government lab I know the frustration of wondering whether or when your position is going to get cut. And your right, except for a few crazy individuals who live and die with their work (of which I'm not), most scientists are like normal people who will only make so many sacrafices before finding another way to make a living. It's too bad, they've spent a lot of money training us.
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