New Beginnings

Just hanging around with Daddy

Jimmy started his new job two weeks ago.  He is working for Coastal International Security in their Future Leaders Internship Program (FLIP).  For the next 24 months he will split time between Coastal's corporate headquarters while working on a contract as a security supervisor in the greater Washington area.  Coastal employs about 3,000 people and will be in 40 states and over 20 countries by the end of 2011.  There are many opportunities for advancement.   Coastal is also investing in Jimmy by sending him to two classes at George Mason University, one about international security and another about contract management.  Since Jimmy is still going to school full time at Johns Hopkins University, he is sure to take a mental break come 2012!

If you ask him how things are going, you're probably going to hear that his training is boring, especially this week as he is taking a basic security officer training that pales in comparison to boot camp or the police academy.  But the purpose of his internship program is to train him in all areas of the company, so yes, even the most basic courses must be endured.  But don't let him fool you with his less than sunny appraisal, his direct supervisor is the Director of Operations who has already shown him full contracts and budgets, so he is getting a high level view of things too.

Another thing that has changed our lives dramatically is that this job has predictable hours.  He works 7:30 to 4:30, which means he is seeing me and the kiddos much more often.  As soon as he gets on to a contract, probably in the next month or so, he will be making enough money in 40 hours and won't have to do (stupid) overtime.  (Yeah, I hate overtime.  I hate part-time, which is an inter-industry term that police officers use to describe the armed security jobs they take to supplement their mediocre salaries.  It isn't that I hate extra work; I could better tolerate it if it was for extra spending cash and not a necessity to keep afloat.)

So we are optimistic about the future and look forward to new opportunities!