I figure the story of how we came to find ourselves in Lisbon, Portugal might be of
interest to some. Don't worry there will be more.
I don't know exactly where this odyssey started but I suppose if it can be said to have started anywhere it started with a dame and a blue strip. Or more exactly the acknowledgment of what was a mildly risky behavior had resulted in pregnancy. I know on the spectrum of risk unprotected sex between married and consenting adults is on the order of cutting the tag off of the mattress but we weren't looking to get pregnant just then. I had finished up writing and defending my master's thesis 6 weeks prior and was not yet gainfully employed. We had moved to Bloomington, Indiana, for my wife's work and I was in the process of looking for work as newly minted Master's of Science in mechanical engineering.
I started mildly freaking out and when a job offer did come I took the slightly higher paycheck over the job that had the had the longer commute, better work environment and better rapport with the boss (side bar: I remember thinking 'this guy [my boss] maybe a bit of a jerk, checking his email while we are finishing up the interview in his office but I can deal. In retrospect it now belongs among the pantheon of bad ideas like: 'never get involved in a land war in Asia' or 'never mess with a Sicilian when death is on the line').
I grew to not just dislike my job but it became apparent that I had relied on the judgment of my boss to determine if I was a good fit for the position. That was a horrible idea but how does one determine if a job is a good fit when one is new to the industry?
Our child is born 3 weeks early in February 2008. He is mostly healthy save for an inability to tolerate dairy proteins, not dairy sugars like lactose but something unique to cow's milk that was making it into Liz's milk. His bowels were in open revolt at the time and Liz had to deal with this episode more or less by herself.
Where am I? I am at work. I have limited time off because I don't really qualify for Family Medical Leave Act at the time of his birth (sidebar II: You have to work for your employer for 1 year before being eligible for FMLA but you can take the leave up to 1 year after a qualifying FMLA event.)
In the second quarter 2008 my wife is looking for her next position and hears about a job offer in Lisbon and she brings it up and I say, 'sure' not giving it much more thought than that. I am looking for work myself and go on a couple of job interviews in the area but nothing works out. Then the market starts to go really south and I become more resigned to the prospect that maybe I can just put in my time and get transferred out of the department rather than out of the company. Meanwhile my wife's application has been sent off into the ether without so much as a 'thank you for your application' return email.
Granted this behavior is odd by the standards of the US but according to our confidential Portuguese informant and friend, Alfredo, the lack of communication may not be a bad thing as the Portuguese have rules to prevent favoritism that prevent them from talking to us.
Then comes Valentine's day 2009. For those of you playing at home, it has been almost 10 months since the application and Liz gets an email asking if she is still interested in being considered for the post in Lisbon. In the meantime Liz has given up dairy completely, we have gotten our son into an awesome daycare (I would put CVCC up against any daycare provider in the world, seriously the teachers in the room have more empathy and skill at working with children than anyone I've ever met), and Liz has discovered the magic of beer and that she hates teaching. Me? I am still not liking my job but more over they have gotten religion. The Toyota religion; the religion of 6S (the idea being that if we can as a company can keep our desks organized, clean and labeled that this will save the company money). Never mind that we don't have a clue as to what we as a plant are measuring or how to improve it but we will spend company time grading each other departments on cleanliness.
So Portugal asks Liz to respond in 2 or 3 days. We talk over our Valentine's evening and I say let's continue with the process; if they say yes to us and I don't get a job I figure I can be without employment for 2 years without much damaging effect on my career (Sidebar IV: I loathed my job at this point and have decided my boss is to be avoided. I recognize this behavior as counterproductive but I was in survival mode: expend no additional energy during the performance of tasks.)
In April we get notified that they would like to fly us out to visit at the end of May. My thinking is at this point that if Liz cannot see herself working with these people then we walk. I don't relish my job but I know how poor fit work environment is a losing proposition.
Our trip was full of joy. We are picked up at the airport by a Portuguese friend and former colleague of Liz's who initially takes us to the wrong hotel. This was the low point of the trip. In the caffeine and sleep-deprived fog of transporting ourselves and a 15 month old 5 hours into the future we had a minor hiccup with the hotel. Liz liked all of her potential colleagues everything was great and so we decided to start the process of moving ourselves to Portugal.
I thought my time in big pharma had prepared me for paperwork, little did I know...
