From DC to Middletown to JFK to Fort Lauderdale to Grand Cayman to Cozumel to Fort Lauderdale to JFK to Middletown to DC. Ah, the wonderful vacation that was May 31 to June 6. A great time was had by all, but the 5 night cruise was entirely not enough to satiate my vacation needs. But it will be at least several months before I can take anything more than a long weekend. Check out some of the pictures on Flickr and facebook.
But this is only half of it because, as my title says, June has been a crazy month. The Monday after I returned from vacation, I put in my two weeks notice at ICF. The four months or so I spent there has been sort of unfulfilling. But then again, I really only took the job because I needed to work, so I had no expectations upon entering. There were some good people there, I did some good stuff, and I learned a bunch. However, I quickly learned that the hour and fifteen minute commute (that dragged on for as long as two hours when the Orange line was delayed) was too much. I was willing to bite the bullet, and give ICF another chance, besides, I didn't have anywhere else to go. But then the FDIC sent me an e-mail and called for an interview. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity, and quickly learned I had been offered an Economic Assistant position. I thought about it for a bit, negotiated salary, and accepted the position. When I told my managers at ICF that I would be leaving, two of them were kind of angry and disappointed -- they didn't understand how I could make such a drastic decision with less than four months on the job at ICF, nor did they have much hope for my success at FDIC. Luckily, I didn't care what they thought and proceeded to finish my project work and transition out of the company.
And let me tell you, I couldn't be happier with my new position at FDIC. I just started on Monday and in one week I have three projects and have been published on the FDIC intranet. Damn it feels good. I just feel a better connection to the FDIC -- it is closer to home, I know most of the people with whom I will be working, I have friends there, and the project work seems to be more meaningful to my career. Oh, and I don't feel the pressure to be fully billable (a huge downside to consulting work, especially because it would take years to develop comraderie, by which time all of the RAs and Analysts will have moved on). I will say, I won't be solving the energy or environmental crises as I would at ICF (well, doing some analysis of potential resolutions, including expansion of nuclear power), however, the financial crisis and potential recession will offer plenty of opportunity to analyze the US economy and offer resolutions just the same.
I can't wait to see what July offers.
