Change Course: new job!

I haven't written anything for a while, so I thought I'd take a minute to update anyone who might wander across my blog now and then.

The past few months have been pretty quiet. I finished up a couple hitches on a dredge job down in San Francisco and then went home for Christmas, New Years and all of January. 

I received an officially layoff in the beginning of January, which was to be expected.  I was hoping to avoid the "job hunt dance" with unemployment, but ended up having to put out some resumes and applications here and there in order to receive benefits.

In the process, I did a little networking and talking with friends in the industry and with some solid referrals, landed a job with a new company.

So, I'm currently on a plane, enroute to Coos Bay Oregon for a new-hire orientation at Sause Brothers Towing.  They do mostly cargo and petroleum barge towing up and down the West Coast and Hawaii. 

I have heard really good things about the company and am looking forward to learning more over the next few days.  The dispatcher told me to bring my gear and be ready to ship out after orientation. The typical schedule with them is 6weeks on/off steady rotation from what I've heard.  I don't yet know where, when, or how long I'm heading out on this first hitch... So let the adventure begin.  

I'll make more entries after I learn more and get my first assignment.