The Skinny in Virginny (Part Un)

I'm thinking of renaming my blog to the above title, or at least adding it as a subtitle. I just spent the last week in Nova (Northern Virginia) driving all over God's creation and interviewing for more jobs than I've held in my entire life total. Do you remember back in high school (and college *blush*) when I was too timid to drive anywhere outside of Bowling Green? I still get extremely tense and nervous in high traffic areas, but last Thursday, I actually drove in downtown Washington, D.C....during the noon rush hour!! Scary? You bet! Crazy? All kinds. Did my life flash before my eyes? Yeah, just a little (enough to make me feel like I was being judged for all my sins one final time before entering the Kingdom of Heaven). It took me an hour to go 10.8 miles, partly because I missed a U-turn, but seriously! I wasn't about to attempt one in all that oncoming traffic. I opted to make a few extra turns and negotiate some traffic circles that made me feel like I was headed down some abyss in the Twilight Zone. Ok, maybe I'm being overly dramatic there. Given the fact that I only moved 2 feet every 10 minutes, it wasn't that scary. But, it was quite an eye-opening experience, and one that made me still see flashes of it as I lay down trying to fall asleep that night. Why did I do this, you ask? Well, the story officially started back in October, when I was laid off from my job due to the current financial situation of the office. Uncontrollable rising costs of medical malpractice insurance for Obstetricians in Ohio led to the practice no longer being able to afford it, which forced Doc to drop OB from her list of services offered, which led to a sharp loss of business when all the pregnant people had to transfer their care elsewhere, which led to me no longer having any job security. (Get all that?) Unfortunately, the job market in this area isn't exactly thriving. I did get another job, but absolutely hated it there, so no more than 2 months or so passed when we both agreed it wasn't the right place for me. (And I can name several other former employees there who could say the same thing and all agree that leaving was the best decision they ever made.) So, after that, I was faced with very few options around here. I knew I wanted nothing to do with OB/GYN anymore, and any general office/administrative jobs are very hard to come by, and usually the competition for them is tough. I really wanted to be able to work with animals, and finally apply my learnings from that Veterinary Assistance course I took 5 years ago. But, if I had been able to land a job doing that here, I wouldn't have been dicking around with OB/GYN in the first place. So, I began to entertain the idea of looking for a job in the metro DC area, since I already know several people who live there. I looked at housing, registered with a few employment agencies, and finally decided to fly down to look at some of the places I'd seen advertised. The week of Jan. 18 I spent in Arlington, looking at a few places and getting a feel for the area. I did some serious shopping at the Pentagon mall (serious, as in no amateurs allowed!), saw some neat landmarks I'd only ever seen on TV before, and even went with John for some of those Thai lettuce wraps from Cheesecake Factory (damn! I missed those!). All in all, my impression of the area was favorable. And, while I was waiting at the Pentagon Fashion Centre metro stop, I saw a stack of little mini-catalogs called the Pet Lover's Companion, so I grabbed one and figured I'd start sending my resume to all the local vet listings. I figured at least one would get in touch with me. Well...the responses started coming in droves. It appeared everything I'd been told about DC being the hottest job market on the east coast was all true! I started lining up interviews for the week of Feb. 4. In BG, I'd had a total of 3 interviews in 2 months. In DC, I had 8 in 4 days (and more on the way!). I was starting to think I could probably sell my services to the highest bidder. The interviews ranged in areas from DC to Arlington to Alexandria to Herndon to Ashburn to Great Falls to Centreville...yeah, it soon became apparent I wasn't going to be able to rely on mass transit in order to get to all these places. I'd already purchased my plane ticket there and back (because I bought it back when I thought I'd have 3 interviews at the most and all in the same area) so I couldn't cancel it without a huge penalty. Plus, I really, really did not want to make the 8-hour drive down there and back. What to do, what to do? Well, it seemed that unless I wanted to entrust my life to non-Anglophone cab drivers who charged, like, a hundred dollars per mile, I would have to (dunt-dunt-DAH!!!)...rent a car, another thing I'd never done by myself before in my life. Just the thought of having to drive myself around to all these unfamiliar places was terribly intimidating. But, I decided to bite the damn bullet and give it a shot. Who knows? Maybe I was capable of more than I give myself credit for. And, with that, I leave you until Part Deux...