Road to Carson City

I never thought of myself as a climber of corporate ladders, but I find myself doing a lot of it lately.

On Friday, I sent a cover letter, resume, and letter of recommendation to the Directors of the Reno/Carson City and Las Vegas Chrysalis programs. There is an open Associate director position in both areas. I had some doubt as to whether I was qualified for a promotion after only a few months as a house manager. In the end, I decided that the worst that could happen is that I may not get the job and I stay in Salt Lake City. So far, I have felt really good about the prospect of starting a new job. The only thing that is stressful is the prospect of moving away to a new city, new job, new apartment, in sum, a new life.

Its only been a couple days, and since its Memorial Day weekend, nobody has even been in the office since I sent my credentials. I've still been checking my email for a reply. I probably won't get a reply until the position listing closes and they start calling up applicants for interview appointments. But still, I check for any kind of acknowledgment from the higher ups that will decide my fate. Anything that will give me a hint whether I will be dismissed or have a shot at something that would be monumental for my family.

There are several things about this promotion that would be incredible, not the least of which is the money. It would mean that for the first time, I would be making enough money to support my family on one income. My wife would be able to be at home as much as she needed and do part time work if she wants to, not because she needs to. It would give me the opportunity to continue in the field that I love, and stay with the company that has been so good to me. And most exciting of all, it gives Claire and I a chance to have a whole new set of experiences and opportunities, a brand new adventure.

As my coworker, John, pointed out to me, one of the biggest disadvantages to getting this promotion is that I would have to live in Nevada. Even worse, I'm in either Las Vegas, which is a city that has more than its share of moral decay and seedy locations, or I'm in Carson City, which is the smallest and second most remote state Capitol in the nation. Basically a little city like the one I grew up in, except with more in-the-middle-of-the-desert-ness. But I think I'm ok with that. The other thing I really worried about was the reaction of my parents and in-laws. I had scarcely told them that we were expecting a brand new grandchild, then I tell them that I might be moving before that grandchild is even born. I am thinking that this is even more difficult for Claire's parents, considering that this is their first grandchild, but so far everyone has been very supportive.

I have spent the entire weekend getting ahead of myself. Again, the only indication that I've had that I have any chance of getting this job is that the Director over my area didn't shoot me down when we talked about it. The CEO of Chrysalis asked the Directors of the several areas in Utah and Nevada to have informal interviews with anyone expressing interest in the associate director positions. I guess he's trying to start sorting through applicants before he even starts getting resumes by email. So I had a chat with the director, my supervisor's boss, about the possibility of getting this promotion. He asked about my schooling, whether I was renting or owned a home, guaging my ability to relocate. We also talked about the position and the kind of requirements of the associate director in that area. Chris told me that they were looking less for a particular skill set or points on a resume, and more for a certain personality. I didn't say it outloud, but as he told me what they wanted to see, I thought "They're looking for someone like me. Chris told me that he would mention my interest, especially in the Carson City position, to the CEO and do whatever he could to get me an interview.

Since then I have spent my time researching Carson City, the demographics and history, as well as my potential future boss. Apparently, he also studied at USU, and worked for Chrysalis in the Logan program. He was also a Sterling Scholar finalist in Social Science at his High school in '99. I Googled him. I thought it would be beneficial to know as much as I could about the person that would be my interviewer and boss. I was very pleased to find that he and I had so much in common. I have found an apartment that Claire and I could move into, and put together a budget based on what I will be making. I figured out how far the apartment is from the office I would be in. I looked into golf courses and sushi restaraunts in the city. I have been thinking about what it will be like to live there and do this job. I have spent the last week getting ahead of myself.

I really don't know what is in my future, whether Heavenly Father wants me to go to Nevada, or to stick around here for a while longer. But either way, I know that he's going to be taking care of me.

One of the things that I realized very quickly after starting this blogging project is that , like any project, effort is involved. Especially if you want to write informed opinions about a specific topic, like films. And that in order to review films, you have to be willing to spend money to go and see films. There are several reasons that I have considered abandoning this blog and simply starting from scratch with another. Suffice it to say, its nothing like Julie and Julia.

The only reason that I decided to keep the title as I continue with the blogging project is because it seemed important to remember where it all started. Its far too easy to go about your days, taking care of your responsibilities and forgetting to step back and see where life is taking you. Its like a long highway, you get on at Salt Lake and you figure, I'm heading South, so I should end up in Arizona, right? Before you know it your in Las Vegas and you don't know quite how it happened.

So, I look at my life, trying to figure out how I went from getting fired from a position stocking frozen waffles, to where I am now. And the even more puzzling question is "Is this road taking me to Carson City?"

When I came back to the blogging website and realized that it had been nearly a half year since I had posted, I had a jolt of fear shoot through me. I once read a routine by a comedian (or it might have been someone else that was not a comedian) who talked about a humorously pathetic individual who had a blog with only three posts, all apologizing for not posting more often. I don't want to be that person. So no apologies.

I carefully considered the blogging project that lasted a whole hour, until my attention span ran out. It was almost embarrassing that I had lost interest in it so quickly. I thought about erasing the blog and trying to delete all evidence that I had ever started it. But I couldn't figure out how to do that...so I didn't.

I have actually been doing some writing. I don't often have a blank piece of paper, or a pen, or a cohesive thought to write down. But, coincidentally I have found myself in possession of all three of those items a number of times in the past few weeks, and written some musings on my life and thoughts. Alright, I stole that from John Knowles. I admit it. We can move on now.

The point is that its not important what you say, or how often you have something to say, or even that the title of your blog has no bearing on what you find yourself typing about at any given time. The important thing is that you say something.

In conclusion... Avatar was way overrated.