I've kept mum about this here, since it has been up in the air for a lot longer than I would have preferred, but as I now have it in writing, and (by the time this actually publishes) have informed my current employer (not that he reads or knows about this page), I suppose I can say that this blog and its attendant author will be pulling up stakes and leaving Seattle in just under two months.
We will be moving to Durham, NC, which long-time readers will know is familiar ground.
Without going into a lot of googlable detail, I've gotten a much, much better job in the RTP area. I will still be doing science, but in a more collaborative and interdisciplinary environment, and at a much more "big picture" level.
That's all I should probably say about the job here and now. My wife and I are both very, very excited about this. Seattle has been a great place to live--I think that it is, for all its quirks, one of the better governed and most livable major cities in the country. Life here was great, and I'm grateful to have had a few years to experience it. We've met some wonderful people here, and hope that a few will remain lifelong friends.
However, despite its charms, I don't think I've ever felt truly at home, here. My work situation has been very, very difficult, and it wouldn't surprise me that given a better situation on that side of things if I would have found myself happy to put down roots and never leave. But that is not the hand I was dealt.
More than that, though, is that I've felt a nagging pull back to Durham since we left. We have friends there that aren't "like" family to us, they are family to us. And the community there is something very hard to explain, but very, very special. I'm amazed and humbled that the job market (and especially this job market) has provided us with an opportunity to go back to the one place I really do feel is home.
This will be my fourth major relocation in 14 years. But I'm hoping that it will be my last.
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6 comments:
Congratulations -- it's tough to pull up stakes and leave a good place but this sounds like a great situation for you. And I hope you are going to be able make this your last relocation.
well, this totally sucks. i was intending to be fully prepared/recovered enough $-wise to start taking trips again this fall, and i still got that daughter in Seattle (and a few others) asking when they would see me again.
ok, strike Brian from The List. and my brother doesnt live near Durham anymore either...
but seriously...
i's kinda suspecting this move would occur eventually, based upon a convo we had...
100%. i'm behind it (based upon said convo). you can always visit the place that you like, but you can only build a home in a place where you feel at home.
(i'm still looking for a way to get to that place, realizing that it may never happen for me...)
the better career move is just bonus.
congratulations! to you and Marsha. party on, yeah?
Congratulations!
Thank you all.
Roots? Humph ... what are those?
I'm at nine moves now, but admittedly the gob'ment pays for the movers.
Seriously ... congrats on the new job in the desired location. Though I have to admit I'll miss that view of downtown seattle from your apt.
I'll miss the view as well. But while buildings (and mountains, and water) are nice to look at, they aren't much for company.
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