It's been almost exactly a year since I came to San Diego for a conference my old company asked me to attend. It's wierd to think back to that time - I was excited to see Stu and his family, but thought the recruiting at the conference would just be a waste of time. San Diego seemed to be something of a dream: crisp, crystal clear mornings gave way to sun-drenched days in the low 70's, as if Mother Nature woke up every morning, wandered over to the thermostat, and bumped it up to room temperature. Just the fact that I was in San Diego was a fluke. The conference was supposed to be in New Orleans, but plans obviously changed after Katrina. I had been looking at a job in San Diego, and on a whim, dropped my contact at the company an email before flying out. I said that I'd be in the area, so why not try and meet. It all worked out in the end, and I met the guy that would eventually hire me, as well as 3 others at my current company.

In the year that's passed since then, I can't help but think that we've been blessed. The reason I wanted to leave Pittsburgh was just that I didn't enjoy going to work every day. I thought that if I were to build a career in the healthcare industry, I'd feel like what I did meant something, and I'd enjoy the market dynamics more. It was an admittedly simplistic view of life. However, I'm 9 months into it, and it's turned out to be mostly true. A lot of the same dynamics exist here as with my old job: extreme cost pressures, the company's inability to execute, complacency, and a huge corporate beast with tens of thousands of employees. Still, the industry is fascinating, and I love being a part of it. That's the difference. For me, the bottom line is that tomorrow's Monday morning, and I'm looking forward to going in to work. Things can change quickly, though, but for the time being I'm thankful for last October and my trip to sunny San Diego.