After five years of working for a Major International Bank, it's time to move on. They've been good to me- the pay was fine, and management was supportive. But the job schedule included twelve-hour shifts every Saturday and Sunday, and that was causing family stress because we just didn't have that much time all together. Plus weekends are when all my friends get together to do things, because we're mostly grown-up now with grown-up jobs.

So I got myself a government job. Yay, I'm a bureaucrat now! It's M-F business hours, doing work that I feel helps people. Plus I'm earning more money. The one downside is that the bank's vacation policy was set in their European HQ, i.e. we had a crazy quantity of vacation by American standards. The new job is three weeks vacation annually, which honestly is still decent by American standards.

So far I'm enjoying it. Working in a cubicle isn't awesome- my wife has her own office which obviously is better. But my bank job was hot-desked, so it's nice to have a chair that only my butt sits in, and a keyboard that only my crumbs fall in. After two years I'll have the option of working from home for part of the week. I might take it- it'll be nice to save the commute. But that's a decision to make down the road; who knows, the policies might change before we get there.

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