In '91, I got done with college and decided it was time to return to my midwestern roots. I relocated to Michigan where I still had quite a bit of family, and changed my collecting focus to Michigan cans. I rode that wave until 2003. Life got in the way a few times and I finally lost the zeal for the specialty - starting and stopping a couple times didn't help. I sold off and started dabbling in new specialty areas. In 2004, I took a work transfer and wound up living in NW Indiana while working in Chicago. Then the recession hit, I transferred jobs again for [what I thought would be] job security, got laid off anyway in 2009, and chased the shiny nickel on down the river to Memphis. I lived two years in Mississippi, took yet another job in Chattanooga and moved to SE Tennessee...got divorced, moved yet again, and actually wound up staying in that apartment for 4 years. It felt like a lifetime compared to all the moves I'd made up to that point.
All the details eventually sorted themselves out and possibilities seemed to be opening up, although the job I was working in Chattanooga had become completely unacceptable. I found myself with the unique luxury of being able to actually sit and quietly plan my next move. I was sitting at the half-century mark, with no further energy or desire to maintain my pattern of "work mobility," and I had honestly gotten pretty homesick. So I started entertaining offers from tech recruiters, having a little fun playing them against each other and being picky about where I wound up next. At first it looked like South Carolina - which wasn't the Midwest, but would not have been half bad with the ocean in close proximity and plenty of cans to be dug - and at the last possible moment, that job opportunity evaporated. I cut ties with that recruiter and started working with a couple others in the midwest. It boiled down to a pair of opportunities in western Wisconsin, either of which would have been pretty good, but 20 minutes after agreeing to send my information along to these two employers, the recruiter called me back with a fortuitous question. He asked, "Dave, where do you want to work?"
Hmm. I hadn't really thought of it from that perspective, so I was glad he asked. I said he'd be on my Christmas card list for life if he could put me back in Michigan. I heard some keyboard clicking in the background, and then he said, "You know, I have one client in Michigan who is currently looking for somebody with your qualifications. Let me do a little checking and I'll contact you tomorrow."
Long story short, he hooked me up with a telephone pre-interview that went perfectly. There was a second tech interview over the phone that lasted an hour, and also went very well. A day later, I was asked to come interview on-site, so I packed up a travel bag and went to Michigan. The whole interview was little more than a trial by fire with electrical controls and automation, after which the senior engineer snapped his laptop shut and said, "Well, I've seen enough." I shook several hands, then took off to Chris Taylor's place in Ann Arbor to tip a couple and crash for the night before heading back to Tennessee.
Four days later, the company presented me an engineering offer. If I needed any more proof that this move was the right one, they voluntarily upped my salary requirement and offered me close to $7K more than I'd asked for. At that moment, I knew this was a no-brainer. I made my arrangements, packed up, and finally came home in late April. I absolutely love the job, and for the first time in ten years, I'm completely at ease with my employer and surroundings. So I did something I haden't even really contemplated for a long time: bought a house. I'm planning to stay awhile.
Collecting-wise, I'd gone through a number of small specialties and "explorations," as I seem to have a penchant for, but a couple years ago I found myself drifting back into Michigan cans and breweriana. That dovetailed nicely with this move, but the irony was pretty intense. When I started messing with Michigan cans again, I sure wasn't expecting to actually move back.
I got my collection stuff out this past week and, for probably the second time in life, experienced the simple joy of coming up with display ideas. A lot of these bits and pieces had been boxed and packed for some time, and a few had even survived from my original collection, but there had been no opportunities until now to see everything together. I'm in the process of slowly developing a display concept. I look forward to the day a couple weeks from now when everything's assembled and I can just sit with a beer and enjoy the visual, but for now it's incredibly refreshing to just try things and see what I like. Here are some pics as I get started:
LEON.
Congrats!
