Signing on the Bottom Line

Is it okay for men to blog? My wife assures me that it is and that it shouldn't be included with activities such as watching "Americas Next Top Model", doing the laundry or anything like that.

So here I go.

My father worked for the same company for over 30 years. He had a very nice engraved gold-rimmed champagne glass to prove it...until it fell victim to my pre-teen clumsiness. They told us in high school that our generation (generation X?) would change jobs at least 5 times before we would retire. Well guess I am two-fifths of the way to retirement because this past Friday I signed an offer letter committing us to change jobs in August. If I continue to change jobs at this rate (once every 23 months), I should qualify for retirement in just over 6 years. If only our savings account would allow it. We accepted a position in the Spokane office of Moss Adams, LLP - a public accounting firm. We think that this one should stick for a while, so maybe I'll never get to that 5th job change. As long as we are talking generational issues, they say that the next generation ("the millennials" or "generation Y") should expect to change jobs 12 to 20 times before retiring at 75 years of age. That doesn't sound like any fun at all.

So we have been stewing on this decision of a month or so now and it has been causing Amanda some unwanted anxiety. She is 7-months pregnant. Those of you who have experienced the human gestation period know that the emotional state of pregnant woman is fragile enough already; consequently, additional stress and/or deviations from the normal routine can leave a mark. Needless to say, both Amanda and I are relieved that we somehow found the guts to make a decision. Now we can focus on preparing for the arrival of the second dude to our brood.

Our actual move to Spokane will depend on who we can find to rent our house. It could be as early as September 1 to as late as late October. Know anybody looking to rent in the Seattle area? I'll make 'em a good deal, maybe even throw in free cable. Plenty of free parking and the neighbors are only somewhat intrusive.

They say that the only thing constant is change, and so it goes in the Skidmore home.

I've got to run, "The Gillmore Girls" starts in just a few minutes.