Journal…Of Sorts…

Having never been to Hartford, CT, I really didn’t know what to expect.  Both Sharron and I were pleasantly surprised and we had a great time exploring the area.  Saturday night we went out to eat at a restaurant called the USS Chowder Pot IV.  Since we were in New England, we of course had chowder, and we both order a lobster dish.  Wow, the food there was excellent, and really, not a bad price.  The next day we spent in the area with a real estate agent.  We figured that if we were going to really evaluate the area that we’d better see what the houses are like.  We found a few we really liked, but we definitely had to change our mindset from new houses to older houses.  The other areas we’d been considering had houses that were built very recently.  The oldest house we saw in Hartford was built in 1830.  Wow!

That evening, I met with a bunch of other potentials for dinner with some people already working for the company.  It was a nice dinner and I learned a lot more about the culture.  The most important thing I learned was that the 10 candidates were not competing against each other for the same job(s), but that they could hire all of us if they wanted to.  Nice.  The next morning was interviews, but it really wasn’t a traditional interview or what I was expecting.  I met with three people separately and while they did ask me a few questions, they didn’t really want me answering too many, but asking them.  They were all very curious about what I thought of the area, the company and if they could better explain what the company does or what I’d be doing.  It was the most relaxed interviewing I could think of.  After interviewing, they took us on a tour of a different faciliy in the area, fed us lunch, and then took us to the airport.  It was a great trip.

Now the pay off.  This morning I got a call from them with a job offer.  I know how I want to respond, but I’ve already scheduled another follow-up interview, so I have to wait until after that.  Who knows, it might change my mind.  What I’m hoping it will do is to solidify my thoughts about the Hartford company.  The most exciting thing about this second interview is that it wasn’t one of the companies that said yes, but only a maybe.  What else is exciting is that the position will have travel to Puerto Rico.  In fact, I’m being interviewed in Puerto Rico.  I leave Sunday!

Sharron left for Japan this morning.  Nick and Christy are flying in on Sunday to tour the area.  I hate that I’m stuck here and not able to help Sharron with the touring.  The hardest thing about all this is that we both have to go back to Japan.  We’re SO close to leaving that what ever time we have left there will seem like an eternity.