Day 2 October 12th,11

Day 2

Still thoroughly exhausted, our shuttle from the hotel to Raytheon Headquarters was at 730a, but class was fortunately over a 230p. The weather in Denver is perfect.  Sunny  and 70’s. Even with the sunshine, Denver traffic and my absolute need for a sleep convinced me not to wander and stay in and take a nap. 

Meeting more and more people and the majority many have lived or worked in Alaska. I still seem to be the only actual resident. I like everybody except 3 people who have shown themselves to be less than helpful, entirely conceited and completely judgmental. They are definitely NOT the norm for the rest of the group.

I tried to get ahold of Penny without success. This was unfortunate. I was looking forward to catching up with her after 28 years.

How it All Began....

Jerry and I had been laid off from the Pt Thomson project since October 2010. In June of 2011, Jerry was Googling North Slope company’s websites to see if any of them had any job openings. He looked up NANA and noticed that not only did they have North Slope projects, but also an Antarctica program. He researched it for a bit and shared with me some of his findings.  We discussed it and decided we were going to try for jobs down there. He also came across another company operating logistically in Antarctica called Raytheon. Raytheon is a major player in government defense contract work; but they also had a Polar program in support of our National Science foundation.

So we took to updating our CV/resumes and applied for a few jobs with NANA and a few with Raytheon.  While NANA had housing admin positions available, Raytheon had air travel coordination positions open. After many pages of applications and endless faxing our job prospects were beginning.

A few days after, Raytheon contacted me with interest in phone inter viewing me for a Lead Passenger Services Rep position.  I had a great interview with them and an offer was made. Unfortunately the offer was for the alternate Lead position. Meaning if the current Lead was not able to go down or he had to leave during the season, then I could go down. In disappointment, I asked if there was a non-lead primary position open. Pete (the recruiter) said there was and he gave me the job#. When I looked it up, it was no longer listed on Raytheon’s open job board. Pete said he would get it opened again for me to officially apply for a primary position. When I applied for that, an offer of employment was again extended. I excitedly accepted the position hoping someone was still going to contact Jerry.

Days and weeks passed and no jobs came through for Jerry. It was now time to discuss whether I would be going without him or not. 4 months was a horribly long time to be away from him. Knowing the magnitude of this experience, he insisted I go. This was something he knew I could not pass up. A once in a lifetime opportunity that he did not want to stand in the way or instill any regrets in me if I declined the position. He is a saint of the highest rank. My angel of pure love and understanding.  Through the excitement, sadness was beginning to dwell in my heart.