Bring on the major leagues

Well, it's official: I've been hired on as the campaign coordinator for Free Exchange on Campus and will begin at that job the last week in April. Needless to say, I'm excited. [Standard blog disclaimer: personal blog, blah blah blah; does not reflect the opinion of my employer, yadda yadda; reserve the right to call David Horowitz a moron on my own volition as a private citizen, etc. etc.].

The move to DC terrifies us right now. We have to figure out what we're going to do with our home here, find a place to occupy (rent or buy?) in the DC area, pay attention to school districts and access to public transportation, find out what ms. wobs will be doing, figure out where we'll relocate my sister-in-law, etc., etc. All of the standard issues that come out of a trans-continental migration, I suppose.

On the other hand, the move to DC is very ideal for us. Ms. wobs will be a train ride away from her friends in her beloved NYC, and most of my family is within a days drive in Tennessee (close enough for regular visits and maybe taking the l'il wobs off our hands every now and again, far enough to prevent drop-ins). We're also not crash-landing in a completely new city. It's a comfort (to me, at least), that I'll be at a job where I already know and respect many of the folks with whom I'll be working, and added to that, I have a plethora of friends from high school, college, and Eugene who live in DC, and a boatload more who live within a few hours drive.

All of this is tempered by the fact that I'm leaving Eugene, a place which I've lived for over a decade and have truly come to call home. And I'll especially miss the GTFF. I try not to use the term "comrade," as it's come to be something of a revolutionary cliché, but for those of you with whom I've worked closely in the union the past six years, I've really come to view you as comrades. I can't begin to describe the personal affection or professional commitment that I feel towards you. I've been lucky to work around some of the funniest, smartest, and honestly, the best leaders in the union movement, and I'm going to miss all of you. I mean, what other organization is going to send you off into the world with a photo montage and Malone singing Neil Diamond's "I Am, I Said" with lyrics especially made out for you? No other one - that was better than any parting gift I can imagine, absolutely perfect.

This isn't, of course, a good-bye to my favorite GTFF-ers. Not only am I going to be hanging around for a few more months, but I have every confidence that we'll continue to be seeing each other for a long, long time to come. Bonds like ours don't break easily, and let's face it, we work in the same field and will continue to move in the same circles. Couches will be crashed upon, alcohol will be consumed for the sake of old times, and maybe, just maybe, one day we'll be wreaking havoc as co-workers once again.

God help the world if that happens.