Current Job, Next Job, New Job!!!

I'm currently blogging from the parking lot of the Wallingford Farmer's Market using some very impressive stolen wifi. Seattle is awesome in part because it's so tech-oriented. Everywhere has wifi (except my house, of course), the population is more or less educated and working in one interesting field or another, and some awesome companies have offices here (Google, Boeing, Amazon, etc). I've packed my things and am just waiting for Leigh to bring the truck around to pick up our stuff, take me home, and get dinner started. Starving!!!

The market gig is finally picking up speed. We're working 4 days per week now and sometimes running to the farm to get more fruit, so Leigh works 5 days per week and I keep her company along the way those days. It's weird to be the one working the least between us, but it's not a big deal, just something to get used to for the summer. Maybe I should just enjoy it before my clerkship starts, which I am sure will include long hours and challenging tasks.

Speaking of the clerkship, the job I start Sept 1 is working as a co-clerk for a pool of 10 district court judges. Apparently this is more or less commonplace in certain states, but I'm still trying to imagine how two people will do the work of what is most often 10 people. It should be interesting, to say the least.

One of the first clerkship interviews I had back in the winter recruiting months was with a Superior Court judge who seemed to really like me and we had some things in common, including an interest in languages and the love of travel. This sounds silly, but having a common interest is pretty important for a professional relationship like a judge and clerk because the two must work closely together for a year or more. Ultimately the judge did not make me an offer and extended his regrets. This week I received an email from him offering me a clerkship for the 2011-2012 term, the year following the clerkship I'll begin in September.

I thought about this for about an hour before deciding it was a great idea. For one thing, I am now employed for a full two years with a liveable salary and state benefits. Awesome! Plus I will get the chance to learn about the District Court from a very varied caseload (because it's a pool of judges and not just one) as well as a civil docket in the Superior Court. Basically I'll learn an incredible amount in 2 years. This also means I don't have to start job hunting again for at least 6-8 months if not more like a year or a year and a half. I've never been able to look 2 years in advance knowing what my income would be, where I would work, how much time off I would have, etc. I've certainly never been able to count on having health and dental benefits for this long! In short, I was thrilled and a bit relieved to be able to look forward to this extent.

When I spoke with the judge yesterday via telephone I accepted the position! The judge said that he had been thinking about my interview for some time, was still very impressed by me and saw this as an opportunity to hire me in spite of not being able to for this term (I don't know why he couldn't hire me this year, but that doesn't really matter in the end). So that's the big news for now.

Seattle is still treating me pretty well. Work is fun, the weather just turned summery, the food is amazing and healthy (seriously, I've never eaten this well in my life), and there's always something to do- even if that means just hanging out at home reading or sitting on the porch looking at the city and the mountains.