I am so excited and optimistic these days. I had job offers in both Colorado and Massachusetts. The job in Andover, MA is a better fit for me, and I think it’s more realistic to relocate there than Colorado. It was a challenge for me to arrange to travel for interviews with Lou’s schedule, so I can only imagine the issues we’d face with long distance house hunting. I just can’t picture us actually moving to Colorado, and if I can’t picture something in my mind, it typically isn’t going to happen, but I can envision working in MA. Lou, Anjelica, and I flew in the TB-20 for a preview trip to make sure we are happy with moving to the area. It is all green lights: he really likes the area, the housing market is good, there’s a small airport nearby to hangar our plane, and for commercial flights, Logan Airport in Boston is less than an hour’s drive. The location is convenient to ocean beaches, mountains, and the city. We’ve vacationed in New Hampshire more than anywhere else over the past 15 years; it really does feel like a good fit.
Without hesitation, we agreed it was a good move, and I accepted the job, which is a custom fit for me. I’ll be responsible for financial planning and reporting and most of the accounting functions for the Medical Products Group, which is a corporate organizational level higher than my current role. I’ve been doing the same work at the division level for several years; this will be a fun change. I’ll be working with the group general manager, group controller, all of the division controllers, as well as corporate finance in Palo Alto. It will require some travel, especially now, as HP has just split into two separate companies, and there are many projects relating to separating Agilent from HP. They haven’t hired a group controller yet, so it should be a good opportunity for me to demonstrate that I can operate smoothly in a new environment without a boss. I really can’t wait. I love my job here in Delaware, but I don’t realistically see any promotional opportunity for a while without a move.