The Times They are a Changin'

Well, once again we are embarking on another life adventure. The Tuesday before the 4th of July we found out that Matt, along with half of the engineering staff at ReliOn, was laid off. Although we expected staff reductions, we did not anticipate the massive engineering culling, so we were pretty surprised. After the initial shock, denial, and anger wore off, we sat down and figured out our financial circumstances. Fortunately, we received a fairly generous severance package and extended health care coverage. That, along with unemployment, will get us through the first part of December. Matt spruced up his resume and cover letter the next day and applied for a job in town at Honeywell. Since then, he has applied for about eight jobs, all of which are in the Pacific Northwest, but most of which are not in Spokane. Two have already scheduled phone interviews. The first was with a division of GE that does water treatment in Bellevue Washington. The interview went well and he is expecting an invitation to interview in person soon. The second is with another fuel cell company in Hillsboro (Portland, OR). It takes place Monday.

Unfortunately, we recently heard that the Honeywell job had been filled, so the only real lead in Spokane is gone. However, we have reconciled ourselves to the fact that since I have to finish my teaching stuff at Eastern this coming school year, and we need (at least) a year more equity in the house to be able to afford to sell it, I will stay in Spokane for at least a year. We are really NOT looking forward to living separately again, especially so soon, but are hoping that Matt can find a job close enough to allow weekend trips. We are in pretty good spirits now, and are feeling like things will work out for the best. In fact, they may get us closer to the OCEAN - wouldn't THAT be nice!! If anyone knows of any process chemical engineering work - let us know! We will keep you posted on any upcoming details.