Bye Bye LA

Me in 20 years, somewhere in Africa, working for the CDC


Well, I had a long, drawn-out post about how I slaved for 3 years to get the call I got last week, but I thought nobody would want to read it, and the Government, in TRUE Government style, has sucked some of the enthusiasm out of me with it's, "well, we've put in all the paperwork and we're 95% certain, but you have to wait until you're contacted by HR next week" I hate that! But, more honestly, it's hard to write this because I still can't believe it's actually happening...all so fast, too...ah, such is life.

At any rate, long story short, I was accepted for a job (still waiting "final" confirmation sometime next week) at the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention--think "Outbreak") in Atlanta, GA--not my first place of choices, but I really didn't have much of a choice as I've been eyeing one of these jobs now for a couple of years.

The job itself will be similar to what I have been doing for the past 3 years, except now with the twist of working in the international acquisitions and grants office. An ex-colleague from Detroit who works there put in a good word for me, and thought I'd be interested because of the international traveling required for the job. She'll be traveling to Ethiopia (red passports and all) next month and visiting the US embassy to work on some projects -I'm not quite sure exactly what kind of projects they do. The office itself provides contracting support to CDC projects in 25 countries, often working out of embassies and hand-in-hand with US AID and the Dept of State.

Leaving Southern California isn't easy for many reasons, thus even the thought of moving is bittersweet. It's amazing how difficult change can be, and it's true, you certainly have to be careful what you wish for. But, I always knew that living out here was only temporary and that if I got the call to jump, I had to jump. So much of life is determined by stepping up to the plate when it's your turn to bat. And with that, I expect to negotiate a start date with the CDC to be sometime at the end of October or the beginning of November.
Here’s the countries that my future office will work with, let's see where I'll be able to go…




Head East on a heart of Gold (Thanks for calling, Digs! Happy Bday, buddy, let's see if the avian flu kicks up, maybe I'll be over to see you faster than you think:)