A phone call last week changed my life. At 9:04 a.m. on August 18, 2008 I got a job offer from Oregon State University! This was the job that I’d been pursuing since Memorial Day, the same one that I interviewed for in late July.

The bad news about the offer–the only bad news–is that the starting salary is less than half what I was making at HP. But Amy and I can live frugally and both kids’ college expenses are already taken care of for the year. Plus, the pay raises can come very fast if the work is good, so there’s considerable incentive.

Other than the salary, everything else looks great! The job, the team, the manager, her manager, the location, etcetera, etcetera… I’m really thrilled with the possibilities.

There’s also some interesting psychological ramifications to the new job and especially to the environment at OSU versus that of HP. More on this later, as it’s a topic that merits some deeper consideration and perspective.

Suffice it to say that, for now, I’m very content with the situation and optimistic about the future. Those two basic things are all I need for the moment.