Headed South Again

As usual, it's been too long since I've posted, and I apologize; but I haven't spent more than 12 hours in town and not working in about a month.

We left our hero (me) with a job in hand in Hawaii, and a possibility in San Diego.

Since then there has been a phone interview, an in person interview, and some reference checks.

Yesterday, I was offerred a job at UCSD. Today, I took it.

I'm going to miss SF, and all my friends here, but I think I need to do this. Y'all can call me Professor Trambley now. And hopefully, some of you will f'ing visit.

I'll try to post the pictures from Hawaii and San Diego soon. I'm not leaving until January, but I'll take Bon Voyages and good wishes at any time.

Time's Up!

At 1400 PDT it had been one week since I was offered the job in Hawaii. After talking to tons of people (and some of them more than once)...

...I'm not taking it. Yet.

I leave open the possibility that I will end up kicking myself for not taking the opportunity to go to Hawaii. In fact, just thinking about it that way again makes me shudder a bit.

Thanks to everyone who helped me figure this out. The MVP (Most Valuable Perspective) goes to my friend Jean. After listening to me for a bit, he said, "So you found a good job, but it's not the ideal situation. They offered you the job right away, so you're a competitive candidate. And even thought you don't like your job, you still have it, so you have some time."

I agreed.

"So you want a job like the one in Honolulu in a city with a good gay community," he summarized.

Right again.

"So why don't you apply for that?" he asked.

Good question. When I started applying for jobs, I was just looking for a safety net, so I just applied to a couple of things that jumped out at me. I never really hunted. Now, I've decided that:

(1) I want to leave my current job.
(2) I want to work at a teaching hospital
(3) A city with a healthy gay community is important to me, and I'm not sure Hawaii has one.

Yesterday morning, I got on-line and went to UCSD's website. When I got to the Department of Medicine/Hospitalist homepage, the first thing that came up was:

NOW RECRUITING!

I sent my CV, and they sent me back a note today. We're working on a phone interview, and hopefully a return trip to SD. I'm still planning to send my CV to Denver, LA, and Arizona, but I'm excited about the SD prospects. Honestly, I doubt the job itself will be as good, but I'd rather give everything a chance to move forward than sacrifice my personal growth for my job. I already did that, and it didn't work out so well.

BTW - I tried not to completely close the book on Hawaii. I did love the job -- the only issue was gay life in Hawaii. I might feel more comfortable with it if I spent some time there, so I asked for a little longer to decide. We'll see what they say -- I may be headed back for a conference at the end of the month.

39 Hours 26 Minutes and Counting

I just got back from my Hawaii interview/San Diego softball trip. I'm sitting at the Rogue Brewery, waiting for my friend to deliver my house keys (more on this later), so I'm going to keep this brief.

I went. I interviewed. I got the job.

There was no "Thanks for coming. It was great to meet you."

No, "We're all going to get together in a few days, and we'll give you a call. But everything is very positive. Really."

Instead, I got "I just talked to everyone before you came in, and I want to offer you the position."

Fortunately, he followed it up with: "Don't answer now, because I know moving out here is a big decision for you.:

Unfortunately, he followed that up with: "Let us know in a week." That was about 1100 Wednesday, Honolulu time.

So here's the current thinking:

1) This job knocks the socks off of what I am doing now. I get to teach residents and medical students again. No PA's. Less drama. And I still only work every other week or the equivalent.

2) Having spent the week in Hawaii and San Diego and mulled this over, I think I could leave SF.

3) I'm not sure I should go to Hawaii. The gay culture, by all reports, is not a consistent, supportive, community with a lot going on (softball, pool, Academy of Friends, etc.). It seems to be much more about hook-ups with tourists.
***Please correct me if I'm wrong and make this easier***

4) Dad thinks I should go. Given that he was right about the level of crap I would get from my current job (which he never thought I should take), it's hard not to go with him this time.

Here's a picture of the hospital, which really is PINK. Maybe it's a sign.



And a shout out to RottenRyan for showing me a great time in SD.