Wow, the last time I actually published an article was October 1, 2023. As I’m typing this, it’s September 28, 2024. Almost exactly a year. That’s not to say I didn’t try to post. I have a couple of drafts sitting on the shelf on the back, but I just lost steam with them.
So it’s been a year—What’s new?
A lot. I’m no longer in Kansas City; I’m in Washington, D.C.
Well, in the “DMV” anyway. I don’t actually live in D.C. proper. Regardless, I moved here about 5 weeks ago.
It was at least a 16 hours drive. We—my dad and brother—did it over two days. I flew them into KC to help me. We left on a Saturday around noon and drove the moving truck and my car east along I-70. Terre Haute, Indiana was the goal for that evening. The next morning, on Sunday, we did the remaining roughly 10 hours drive to D.C., arriving just before midnight.
That was quite an awesome drive, especially once we got to eastern Ohio and started driving into the Appalachians. While not as majestic as the Rockies, I think the Appalachians are far more picturesque. Once the sun started setting, the shadows of the mountains on each other created these awesome silhouettes. The mountains looked illustrated.
It was a much more relaxing drive than I thought it was going to be. Cheaper, gas-wise, too. But the rental truck itself was like $2200, so…
But why did I move to D.C.? I got a new job! I left the non-profit sector for a sorta different kind of “non-profit:” The Government 🦅
I’ll still be doing IT, but in a somewhat different manner than I was doing in my last role. It’s tough right now as I don’t fully know what my role is. And at times, it seems my employers don’t know either. But I’m sure it’ll come together. It’s only (“only”) been three weeks since I’ve started, after all.
Is this a dream come true? No, but both moving to D.C. and getting a federal job were goals of mine. And now I can cross both off! I liked Kansas City, having lived there for about 30yrs total, but it was time to go. I was the last of my family members to leave town, so there was really little reason to stay.
Unfortunately, I’m now even farther away from my family since they live in Las Vegas! My flights used to be about three hours from Kansas City to Vegas, if non-stop. Now I’m likely looking at five hours or longer. I imagine I won’t be visiting my family as much, which is certainly a bit sad. But it is what it is.
My goal is to eventually get a full remote position with the government. Just like my last job was. If I can make it a year here, I think I’ll start looking around for something else within the government.
On the tech front, I obviously had to pack up my server and network to move out here. Once I got here, I had to set it back up. Which I just did this weekend. I think I’ll explain more in a separate post.
I can’t say I’ll have more free time than I had before—It’s a hybrid role, so I’m back to commuting. But I am looking to get back into messing with my homelab. So hopefully I’ll post more things here. Even if write one blog post a month, I’ll be happy.