Politics.NET

A little over a year ago, I wrote about why I left Aquilent . Funny that I am now writing about why I left the federal govt (don't click that link!). Anyway, as before, I wrote the bulk of this post a few weeks ago. Enjoy! Shortly before thanksgiving 2010, I started looking a new job. For fun, I decided to try USAJobs just to see what kind of government jobs were out there. I say for fun because I really didn't have any burning desire to be a federal govt employee. I mean who wants to take the jokes (my favorite is why are govt employees not allowed to look out the window in the morning? Answer: Because they won't have anything to do all afternoon!) and the low pay. Anyway, I found one that looked promising, applied for it with no strong hopes of getting the job. As you can guess from the title of this post, I got an interview and got the job. I took the job because I was no longer interested in doing what I was at the time; the other company I applied to were draggi...

Usually people are shocked when they find that I have been at the same company for over 8 years. Especially since I am in IT where the norm is to jump from job to job in search of higher and higher salary. They tell me I can make more money at other places; that doing short-term contracting can bring in bigger bucks.  Well, here are the reasons I am still at Aquilent close to 9 years after driving to a mostly residential area of Laurel for a job interview with an anonymous IT contractor: the commute can't be beat. It's 7.3 miles of local roads. the medical benefits are excellent! Both in terms of the quality of the providers and in the price the employee pays. When my wife and I decided to consolidate our health care with a single company, we found out that what I'll pay at Aquilent for "Employee + Family" is way cheaper than what she would pay at her company for "Employee + 1". That's coverage for more people for less money. Tuition reimbursement. I...