Update:
The networking FINALLY paid off! I moved back to VA last week. I got a job with a large electrical contractor in the DC area and I’ve been assigned to a job ten minutes from my home in Vienna! I’ve been busy as shit with moving and settling back in with everything, but the work is exciting and I hit the ground running - it’s a BIG job: metro station, parking garage, four office buildings and a high rise apartment building all in the same complex (four tower cranes so far!). Eight years of work is projected. I was hired as the foreman for the “big power” portion of the project which includes several switchgear, ATS systems, UPS system, generators and power feeders. It’s a perfect fit for my training, experience and skill set. I couldn’t have designed a better opportunity and work situation.
It has been a HUGE adjustment for me though, because working offshore you didn’t have to cook meals or drive to work (you woke up and walked out the door), you didn’t get cell phone service, etc… Now I’m driving to work at 5AM and picking my son up from school at 3PM! With the size of the project I’m WALKING about a hundred times more than I’ve been used to! I’m also able to buy my own groceries and clean my diet up - I’ve already lost some weight (I weighed in at 223 this afternoon) so I’m doing a protein shake in the morning, packing sandwiches for lunch and cooking a healthy dinner. I plan to start hitting the gym three or four days a week.
The last nine months were SUCH a good experience - I can’t even begin to articulate how much I grew/learned both personally and professionally. I want to publicly thank Bujo for all the help, advice and friendship he offered - that’s a stand up guy. And I wanted to thank all of you guys for giving me moral support at the beginning. Believe me, uprooting my life, driving to a new state, living in a tent and HOPING I’d get hired into an industry I never worked in before was NOT easy. It was totally worth it though - one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Working offshore was fun. Riding to work in a helicopter or being lifted off the back of a boat by a crane or swinging onto a platform with a swing rope was always an adventure. During the nine months I worked offshore I wasn’t injured at all - not even a cut, I was very lucky. I had a few close calls, offshore work is dangerous, but I have to say that I hope that I have the opportunity to do it again sometime before I retire.
So there it is.
