Victims of the Economy

We've become victims of the economy. After those crazy 6 weeks when Ryan put in 20 hour days every day, it seems that he worked himself out of a job! He'd done most of the work they had for him, and they weren't able to find any more.

So about a month ago, Ryan's boss told him that when two last projects were done, he'd need to either transfer to the Utah office or find a new job.

We aren't about to pick up and move again! Not when we've finally owned a house for only 6 months! Not when about 1/3 of the houses in our neighborhood have For Sale signs out on the lawn, and have had them there for months on end (across the street there are three in a row!) Not when Jared is making friends and we're settled before he starts kindergarten! And there's no way I'm going to move 4 times in 2 years!!!!

So Ryan immediately started calling all his engineering contacts. He wasted no time, even though he estimated that the last two projects would take him 2 months to complete. Then, just two weeks after the initial warning, Ryan's boss yanked the rug out from under us. It was a Tuesday when he told Ryan that he'd reassigned the projects and he wanted him "off the books" by Friday. Nice, huh?

It's been 2 weeks since his last day at PEC. I'm so proud of Ryan's forethought and hard work! Because he presented at the transportation engineer conferences in Jackson Hole for the past two years, and has been active in the local professional group, he's found that he's fairly well known among his peers! He visited an engineering office without calling ahead. He didn't know anyone who worked there, so he was surprised when the boss there knew exactly who he was, and that he was looking for work! He was even more surprised when he was offered a temporary position right on the spot, with the possibility of a permanent position in a few months. Sort of like a trial period.

He's at an interview there right now. I'm so excited to hear what he has to say when he comes home!

I'm sure he won't say that he's hired, because another company asked him to call them on Monday. They want him to work in Idaho for their Utah office. That company has been talking to Ryan for about 2 weeks now.

The boys ha'sve enjoyed having Daddy home so much. He's often out making professional visits and phone calls, but he's been able to take them to swimming lessons a few times. He also dug out more of our garden and has done lots of odd jobs around the house. He says that despite the stress of not having a paycheck, this is way more relaxing than working 20 hour days!