I'm Federal Now, B-yatch!

So, after over a year of working as an independent consultant for the Smithsonian (which is actually code for: sounds awesome, but really means no job stability or benefits), I have just accepted a federal permanent position at the National Archives and Records Administration!

My position is in the Special Media Preservation Lab and I will be working as a Digital Imaging Technician. Basically I will be digitizing really amazing photographs, letters, maps, negatives, etc. for exhibits use, public programming use, and for preservation purposes. Digital preservation is the wave of the future and I'm excited to be working at one of the top labs in the country. Digitizing original documents ensures their perpetuity and allows public use without damaging originals. It also means that Joe Schmo in North Dakota can access high quality captures of documents on the internet if he can't travel to D.C. to see them. What I'm most excited about, though, is that I will be working with the collection of the National Archives, basically the Rock Stars of archival documents. Letters by Jefferson, Washington, Lincoln... Supreme Court rulings... The Declaration of Independence. Well I probably won't be around that, per se, but you get what I'm saying.

The down-side is that I'm working at Archives II, as opposed to Downtown. I will have the schlep up to College Park every day from Arlington, which is around an hour and a half Metro ride each way. I did the commute before in Grad School and it's not awful, but it's also not great. So, David and I are moving into the District ASAP. We're looking at Eastern Market/Capitol Hill and Mt. Pleasant right now. My commute would be from thirty minutes to an hour then, which would be a lot better. Plus, I'd already be in DC on weekends. I don't want my only time in the District to be underground. I've gotten really used to being here every day for my current job and it makes me sad to leave. I'll also be sad to leave Pastries by Randolph and the Italian Store in Arlington, but I think I'll live. Well, I don't know, those pretzels Randolph makes on Saturdays are probably the best pretzels I've ever had... Mmmmmm, pretzels.

Oh and one final thing. It is in fact true that when it rains it pours. The very day after I accepted this position, I get called for an Associate Curator position at a history museum in Kansas City. Seriously, what's up with that? Now that they can't have me, they want me? It's some sort of sick employment law or something. The minute you say "yes" to something, five other great and amazing jobs will open to you.

Oh well, people can call all they want, 'cause I'm federal now, bitches!