To Bring Everyone Up To Speed

Well, let me start by telling everyone that after 10 years of proud service in the US Navy, I decided to try my fate in the real world and see if the "Big Money" is really out there for us nukes. And let me tell you, it is. The best decision I had made up to that point in my life (the other would come shortly after.) So after a few interviews here and there, ranging from Senior Reactor Operator to Auxiliary Operator to Training, I decided that my best transition would be in training as an instructor. So I accepted an offer with Florida Power and Light to be an Operation Training Instructor at their Point Beach Plant in Two Rivers, WI.

It did not take too much thought on my part to accept the offer. I got paid a lot for my job, I did not work shift work and did I mention the money? Not too mention I got paid a whole lot of cash to go to training and class for the next year and a half getting my Senior Reactor Operator certification. So since I had the job, I needed a place for the Boyz and myself to call home. I had put off buying a place while in the Navy, since I didn't want to risk having to be stuck with a mortgage payment if I had to move. So with the help of the parents as my trusty advisers and a few days to house hunt, I finally found a place I could hang my hat in and call it my own. I found a new construction, ranch style, in the northwest portion of Green Bay, near the campus of UW-Green Bay. I could not ask for a better place, a great kitchen, fireplace, a 3 car garage and a spacious backyard for the boys to run around in.

I returned back to Saratoga Springs, NY to pack my stuff, separate for the Navy and begin the long trek from New York to Wisconsin. Surprisingly enough, even though I drove the whole trip solo, it went fairly fast with one exception, Chicago. What a freaking mess that place is on a Sunday afternoon. It took me 5 and a half hours, through bumper to bumper traffic to get out of that hell hole of a city. I still managed to make it to Green Bay at the time I had planned out and so I did not fret too much about the lost time.

Green Bay, is what you might expect. Small town, all about Brett Favre and their beloved Packers. But the town is starting to feel a little more like home, though there is still no mountains and no Broncos. It is how ever home to Brats, cheese curds and Leinenkugel Beer. If not for my fortuitous workmates, I might have never bought a snow blower and I may have been still shoveling snow. My real estate agent told me that it does not snow much in this part of the country and that it just gets really cold in the winter. Well she got the last part right, it was not only one of the coldest winters on record for Northwest Wisconsin, it was also one of the snowiest on record. Ok, so I talked about getting out of the Navy, finding a new job, buying my new house and a little about Green Bay; oh yeah, Jess!!