E pa'a puliki mai, 'ane'ane ko'u maka i ka poniuniu.

Had lunch with the recruiter today, and let him know I wanted to move to Hawaii.

He was only too happy to do this. Let me explain.

I work as a tech consultant for a Fortune 500 company. More precisely, I work for a small consulting firm that sources work to this big company. The guy I work for owns and runs this consulting company, and has relationships with the big company I work at as well as other big companies in the Madison area. Last year he saw that this big company had a need for a person with the skills I had. He scoured the internet, and came up with my info on one ( or more ) of the big job sites.

He got in contact with me, telling me he had an opportunity he thought I'd like to take a look at. I did, and I got the job. It turns out they were going to pick someone else, but he went to bat for me.

And it's awesome. I do interesting work, in a variety of situations. It's all stuff I went to school for, and I'm learning much of the time. Madison is great, as well. Very friendly, environmentally and socially conscious place. Very tech-friendly, a good music and art scene as well, plus wonderful outdoors ten minutes in any direction.

But I fucking - h a t e - winter.

I used to live in Hawaii. Not for very long, but the time I was there made an impression on me. I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, where no one this side of the Russian Republic could hold a candle to the winters produced. I never used to mind- until I lived there.

Every winter since has been like a special kind of tack at the bottom of my shoe. Especially when it gets cold enough to freeze the whiz inside one's bladder. Every time I went out to the car and had to slip into Master Po mode to not shake and shiver hard enough to make the car come apart because it was sooooooo cold, I thought to myself "It doesn't have to be like this...".

And I was right.

And now that I'm

- Not married
- Not a parent
- Not a homeowner
- Not involved in a serious relationship
- Not tied down by a job I can't do from anywhere
- Not too far along in a Ph.D program

I think it might be time to get my ass back out to Hawaii. That's basically what I told my recruiter/boss.

Anyway. back to my point. So, my recruiter/boss gets me the job, and puts me to work at this big company. I get paid really well by the recruiter/boss guy, but he's getting paid even more by the big company. What he does is take a bit off the top, then pass the rate they we negotiated on to me. His company takes care of benefits and taxes and all that, but the way it goes is this:

Technically, I work for him. But the only time I see him is when he takes me out to lunch, or when we put away a few cocktails on some Friday.
He pays me
The Big Company pays him more, and he keeps the difference
He handles all my "employee" stuff like benefits, taxes, and so on.

I told him I was perfectly happy here, with this job, working with him and the Big Company... but I longed for beaches and palm trees. He was not upset, in fact he was eager to see if he could get me the job in Hawaii. I could get me a job in Hawaii... but getting people jobs is what he does. So, I'm happy to let him take a crack at it. I'll still look myself, but we'll see how it goes.

Here are some possibilities, from best to "worst":

I could keep doing the job I do here in Madison, at the same time being based in Hawaii. I'd fly up here one week a month or so, work some magic, then fly back home after visiting everyone.
I could find a job that had some Bizarro World tie to Chicago or Madison, but that was either based in Hawaii, or let me live wherever.
I could find a tech job in Hawaii, comparable to what I do now
Find a job that let me live anywhere, and that anywhere would be in, you guessed it, the land of the Menehune. Hawaii.
Find a job somewhere on the Pacific Rim, where I could commute there and still live in our nation's 50th state.

So, we'll see how it goes. My recruiter/boss was up for it, probably because I was letting him in on the process at all. If he finds me the job, he gets to take his cut from what the job would pay him.

Not a bad deal; for him, or me.

But until that all happens... I'm "stuck" here in the jewel of the Midwest, with smart, funny coworkers and easy driving distance from my Chicago friends. So I think I'll be okay.

But I -really- fucking hate winter.

My recruiter is a good guy, but as I walked to his car today for our month Take-My-Ass-to-Lunch lunch, I walked with my friend Miriam ( a contractor, also walking out to her recruiter's car. Also a black Lexus. Hmmmmm ) and caught sight of her recruiter. On one occassion Miriam described her as "an Evil Cheerleader, with a heart of gold". Of course I was curious... but she was hidden behind sunglasses and a glaring sun. But I know for a fact she's cuter then -my- recruiter. He also coaches football in his spare time, and looks it.

Hmmmmmm.