Parents were in town the last week helping unpack. Very helpful in that regard. Unfortunately they also have a ton of wedding questions which either don't have answers, or have answers they don't like, so that was an annoying thing we dealt with all week. There were also multiple meetings with my parents and my partner's parents and that was rough due to personalities. But my parents flew out this morning so don't need to think about that again for many months.

New job starts Tuesday. Going to the pen show Saturday and hiking Sunday-Monday to relax before it all starts. Overall very excited for it, though a bit more time off would have been great. Oh well, can't win it all and it all turned out fabulously regardless.

Have just barely started the great painting adventure on our trim, walls haven't started yet. Plumbing needs a bit of work. We found some wiring in our house that is not only not up to code but possibly also illegal, or at least the insulation over the wiring, so we've gotta figure that out and have a few people coming to provide quotes. I know it's all short term pain but damn it's a lot of short term pain. It'll all be worth it in 10 years though!

Not only do pen people not give a damn, there's a whole profession of people who fix up nibs called "nibmeisters" and some have months to years long waitlists because they're so in demand. We talked to some folks who recommended visiting the pen show for this exact purpose. Regardless, I'm confident my partner will be keeping that pen for herself forever.

I still gotta do a Japan trip report let alone the pen show lol but I'll try for ya.

Parents decided less than a week ago to fly in to help unpack. They arrived two hours ago. Now my partner's entire family wants to meet them, so we're juggling moving, big life changes of job/school, and now trying to squeeze a big family gathering in the mix. So as much as I was hoping for a quiet unpacking and organizing it seems to be anything but. Oh well, it'll be a fun adventure regardless.

Going to be attending the SF pen show in a few weeks to hopefully get someone to fix my partner's pen nib. It's a really nice pen but it's writing is very scratchy and gives a lot of feedback and everyone says this is the way to do it. No appointments though, it'll be a show up and hope for the best extravaganza, and I'm not super optimistic. But worst case scenario we send it back to Florida for Pilot USA to send it to Japan for a warranty claim. And that's got an ~12 week lead time without shipping times factored in.

I requested a copy of my background check. Everything clear except my last job, but the only discrepancy was the job title (formal vs forward facing) so I am hoping I'm in the clear. It's been a few days and I haven't heard anything so I'm pretty optimistic at this point. Also my tuberculosis test came back clear, so that's nice!

Thanks so much!

Well I got a job offer! Start date September 2, with a raise of about 40k/year to boot! Hiring manager said it was an insanely difficult decision and they actually had someone who had experience in healthcare risk management, but decided I was a better fit regardless. So now just panicking about the background check being fucked up somehow with my old job trying and costing me this opportunity. The more I look into it the more excited I get, so really hoping it all goes well.

Otherwise, floors are being completed as I write this (finishing tomorrow), moving in Sunday, and then we unpack and the great painting begins! Gotta test the popcorn ceiling for asbestos before we de-popcorn it. Want to do the roof and skylight now that I have a job and we can afford it again. Need to start looking at furniture too since our couch was $300 new 6 years ago and is showing every bit of that price. Our mattress is also not rated for two people so we need a new one of those as well. Plus a Murphy bed (going to recycle our shit mattress into that!), light fixtures, new lights that aren't harsh white, gardening tools, a grill. It just keeps going, but now I'm employed again (hopefully!) and we can actually afford and start to tackle all this once I start getting paychecks again.

NikolaiFyodorov -- here's the update!

Interview round 2 I think went well! Hoping for the best. They let me know I was in the top 3 which is nice. Their last one is Monday and I'll be hearing a few days later an outcome.

Also, we have picked a wedding date! Photographer and reception venue have been chosen as well, only need to get ceremony location which opens 1 year out. After picking a date and confirming our reception location we flipped from anxious to excited lol

Got a second round interview for the that job from about two weeks ago, looking forward to that. They said only the top 2 or 3 would move in so that's nice that I'm a top candidate. Hoping for the best, it's a neat job with a pay raise from my old one, and a really convenient location.

Otherwise, we've got movers hired and will be moving in about 3 weeks. Really excited to be settling into our new place. Have internet set up, need to get other utilities organized. We've got the floor folks set up too. Roof is on hold pending more income than a PhD stipend and whatever holdover work I get.

Wedding planning is going slowly. We think we've found a venue (local restaurant) but they're shit at communication. But they also have awesome food, are accessible, have good space, and deal well with allergies for people so it has a lot going for it, plus a lot cheaper than your normal wedding venue. So we're tolerating it but nearing the end of our rope. We last emailed and decided between ourselves it was our last reminder to them before we say they're too much trouble which would be a shame. We'll see where it goes!

I'm officially unemployed!! The union has been useless in this process. I get to write a "letter of reconsideration" to my supervisor's supervisor, but they've also announced it so I'm guessing I know which way that's going. So now the job search begins anew. Meeting with lawyers to see if I have options from that route. They put performance on the termination letter but my civil service file literally has nothing, and I was never given a performance eval despite my requests. Want them to change it to financial layoff which makes a lot more sense. The feds only delivered 70% of the funding they were supposed to, they are replacing me with someone a step below, and the feds want to cancel the grant outright. It makes a ton more sense, then I can easily collect unemployment, and then I don't need to deal with them anymore. Going to be interesting to see where this goes.

Otherwise, just applying to jobs and getting ready to move.

Made bagels yesterday that turned out wonderfully. Making more today. Poppy, plain, and zaatar. I'm excited for the zaatar with cream cheese.

For the first time a job with literally no connections, and for the second time since the job search began like 10 months ago, I've got an interview. Healthcare Risk Management for a local hospital system. Looks interesting, pays well, short commute with no bridge crossings. What more could I ask for.

We've got flooring squared away, finalizing roofing in the next few days. Moving late August just in time for my partner to start. We've officially started packing. Very excited for the new place.

Job said no which while disappointing alleviates the worries of taking a job that's a 25% pay cut while my partner starts her PhD at a 70% pay cut.

They were going to hire one person at a level 2 and have decided to instead hire 2 people at a level 1. Both will be supervised by my current supervisor who never trained me and always acted like an ass. Going to be fun watching that.

Backyard is both (a) tiny and (b) not accessible at all and we've got people we need accessibility for. None of the family in the area has a sufficiently sized yard unfortunately. Parks we've looked at. Some issues with accessibility and somewon't provide tables and chairs which becomes expensive quickly. We're gonna figure it out it'll just take some finagling

I'd be down with that but we also want pictures of family and friends and a day to celebrate us so we're leaning towards wedding.