DEB UPDATE & MY CALL TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT...

Deb is doing just fine. I saw her a few days ago. I stopped by her house after I went for a run at the track at Calvin College (I am preparing for the 5/3 Bank Riverbank Run this coming Saturday). She is putting weight on her leg and is now walking around with a single crutch. When I stopped by her house, she was on her riding lawnmower, cutting her grass. Dee will take her to her next appointment with her surgeon in a few weeks.

As most of you know, I received a call from the U.S. Department of State offering me the position of Director of the National Passport Agency. On the same day that I accepted an offer from GE, I wrote a letter to the person who interviewed me telling her to remove me from contention for consideration for the position. I also scanned the letter into a PDF and I e-mailed it to her so she would know immediately that I no longer wanted the job. Needless to say, I was pretty surprised when I received the call telling me that I selected for the position. I called Nancy (who the women who interviewed me and who is the Director of Passport Services for the State Department) to tell her directly that had withdrawn my name from the competition for this position. I told her that I had sent her a "snail mail" letter as well as an electronic version of the letter. To wit, Nancy said to me, "I received both letters, Paul, but I did not understand that you wanted to withdraw your name from consideration." The call ended on a positive note and I wished Nancy well in her search.

Yep, I made the right decision to take the job with GE. Besides, the State Department does not offer discounts on appliances.

And the job offers just keep rolling on in...

I am well into my second week of work at GE. Each day, I am learning more about the duties and responsibilities of my position as Technical Manager. This afternoon, I was in a teleconference with another division of GE Aviation and a major U.S. aircraft manufacturer. Whenever I am in a meeting or a teleconference, I leave my cell phone at my desk. Today's teleconference was no different. I left my cell phone in the top drawer in my desk and went to a conference room for my 1:30PM teleconference. I got back to my desk a little before 2:30PM and there was a voice mail on my cell phone. This was the message:

"Hello. This is Renee from the U.S. Department of State. This message is for Paul Kra-tack-o-will. I am calling in reference to your application for the position of Director of the National Passport Information Center. I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected for the position. If you are still interested in this position, please call me at ..."

As soon as I received and accepted the job offer from GE, I sent a letter via "snail mail" to the State Department person who interviewed me, and I sent her an e-mail with a scanned copy of my letter, informing her that I was withdrawing my name from further consideration for this position. I will call her in the morning and let her know that I have taken a position here in Grand Rapids.