Dan is becoming a productive member of society again!

[duc_fan]

That's right, I have officially accepted an offer from Insitu.  I'll be a "UAS Systems Engineer" working on their small surveillance UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles).

Insitu is located in Bingen, WA, which is right across the bridge from Hood River.  I'm going out there Tuesday to look at rentals and homes for sale.  Gonna live on the WA side of the river for tax purposes.    White Salmon, Carson, Stevenson, North Bonneville, Lyle, and Dallesport all have promising listings.

Can't believe the blessing this is... I got laid off when the bizjet market tanked, but landed a cooler job, paying more, with a better bonus structure, and with comparable health/retirement/other benefits!

I'll be working like a madman starting June 1st.  They're busy, and they haven't been shy about the fact it'll require plenty of time and energy.  But... the work looks cool, the aircraft are very cool, and the people I've met so far have been great.    I think it'll be a rewarding experience.  Plus... I get to stay close to family and live in a stunningly beautiful area.  W00t!

We'll see where I land a rental or home.  I'd like to host some kind of ride/BBQ gig this summer.  I'll be scouting out roads, plan a route, and post it up here.  I was thinking plan a ride, have y'all meet at my place mid-morning, go for said ride, and have a big ol' BBQ when we get back.  If I can get a place with enough room, people could crash for the night and wouldn't have to worry about riding back out the Gorge 'til the next day.  We'll see what kind of pad I'm able to find... I'd love to find a 1000+ sqft house! 

[ryandalling]

Kick ass man!! Congrats!! Cool place to be for both living and working. Plus I hear there are some good wineries out there too.

[NEIKOS]

Congrats.

[scott_araujo]

Sweet to hear that someone I know is getting a job instead of losing one lately.  Congrats Dan!

Scott

[bnbmike]

Good news, Dan.

[JohnnyDucati]

Way to go.  Didn't take long, did it?  Best wishes on your new position.

[krolik]

Congrats.  It's better to live in Washington if you work in Washington, but Washington ranks higher than Oregon for local & state taxes.

[marvellous]

Congrats!! 

[Tailgunner]

Dan, I'm so glad for you  man that's awesome! That looks perfect for you, and what a great area to live and work in.

Looking forward to a house warming party  [moto] moto on out the gorge, yeay!

Billy

[duc_fan]

Thanks all!

Still looking for a rental... found one option in White Salmon that'll do on a temporary basis, but it would only be temporary.  If it had some more interior space and an official garage, it'd work long-term.  It has a great carport with plenty of room to shelter my daily driver and my bike (bike can go against the wall of the house and it would be completely out of the rain/sun/etc).  But... because it lacks a garage, I can't store my project GTI, nor is there room for my garage shelving & tools.  Anyway, I'm looking for alternates at the moment, and we'll see what crops up.

[Tailgunner]

How did your first day go, Dan? I hope you liked it, fit right in, dating the receptionist, cause dam dude... you already live out there and nuts!

Hoping you love it. Or it may be too soon to tell, but do tell us what you think. This is a public forum though so 

Here's to ya brother 

[duc_fan]

Thanks Billy!

I just got in here to post up, actually...

Good first day!  Kinda random, running between buildings (Insitu has almost 2 dozen buildings out here), trying to get all the IT stuff ironed out, the usual jazz.  Cool people, and man, it is SO FRICKEN GORGEOUS!  Dude... every time ya turn around, there's the river and Hood.

My first weekly grocery bill sucked, though...    Small town grocery stores.  I'm gonna have to get a cooler or something so I can do my grocery shopping in P-town when I'm there on weekends.  Or buy the room-temp stuff there, and just eat the higher cost of milk/eggs/cheese/etc out here.

Oh yeah... not dating the receptionist... 

But I've only just begun meeting people. 

So yeah, managed to get wireless internet hooked up and it took me less than an hour!  My apartment is a "daylight basement" in a house, so I'm tapped into the owner's cable internet.  For him, it's totally transparent, he connects the same way he always has.  For me, I have what appears to be a functioning WiFi connection, and my internet is thereby free!  It's all part of the deal.  This is a nice rental where all the utils are included.  Soooo sweet, not having to jack with the utility startup and all that.  Especially since I'm in the process of finding something to buy or lease long-term, specifically something with a garage.

Anyway, I need to wrap up here tonight... summary: it was a good day!