MistyCastle

Archive for the ‘Career News’ Category

Got some bad news the other day. The job offer I had with Booz Allen Hamilton (the one I got back in July that I’ve been waiting on) finally went down the tubes. The govt. ultimately decided not to fund the project. The thing about these “research” projects is they depend on discretionary funding and with the high operations tempo over in Iraq there is not alot available. This made me sad because it would have been an exciting project. But, on the other hand, I’ve gotten really tired of waiting and I’m glad to have a final line in the dirt.

There are several other possibilities in the works but most everyone agrees that nothing will happen until the first of the year. In the meantime I’ve been doing a little consulting work with Gilcrest Jewett Lumber (back in Iowa) upgrading their wide-area network and also taking a serious look at starting up an Internet-based business.

While researching my coffee hobby I realized there was a gap that I could fill. Everyone in the specialty coffee industry knows that freshness counts. Everyone knows that only your neighborhood coffee roaster, who sells a limited variety of beans roasted in small batches daily, can truly claim to offer fresh coffee. All that whole bean, vacuum-packed stuff at the supermarket is the result of large centralized roasting companies attempting to cut into the sales of the neighborhood roaster.

Yet, no one seems to be deliberately marketing these folks. So, I am building a website that will showcase the local Colorado Roasters and take orders for their products. I’ll let you know how it goes…

Patience…. Patience….. The good Lord seems to be testing me in this area as I continue to wait for a start date on my job. Yes, I really do have a job… I just don’t know when it will start.

I have accepted a written offer from Booz Allen Hamilton to join their organization. I am really excited about this opportunity because the firm is an exceptional company to work for and I think the cultural fit will be perfect.

The team I will be joining works with the US Air Force Space Warfare Center and the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command to develop geo-location tracking systems that provide situational awareness of the battlefield. These handheld devices use the Iridium satellite network and have been prototyped and tested to varying degrees. The immediate need is to transition these capabilities to real-world use in a truly operational environment.

What is holding up the show is lack of funding. As happens every year in the government, there are pots of money that do not get expended and these funds are redistributed as “year-end dollars” to worthy projects. We are hoping that our project will get some of these funds and my position can be added to the existing contract. If not I will probably have to wait until next years funding (Oct 1st).

So, in the meantime I am getting many things done around the house and getting a taste of what retirement might be like.