Another Big Change!

It was almost mind boggling when we considered all that had to be accomplished over the next few weeks.  Nursefinders offered us a trip to San Antonio, to check out the area and start the search for a new home.  We were only allowed to hold on to the profit from our first home for eighteen months before we would have to pay taxes on it, so we didn't have the luxury of moving to Texas and renting until we became familiar with the city. In addition I had a lot to learn about running a nursing agency.

We contacted Carolyn, the real estate agent I talked to in San Antonio and she began lining up some houses for us to look at during our three day stay in town.  On the day we arrived we got off the plane and felt like we were hit with a wet wool blanket.  It was not only hot but very humid, a bit worse than we experienced in St.Louis.  We rented a car and found our way to a motel in the city.  Once we got settled, Carolyn came by and took us on a grand tour trying to familiarize us with our new city.  I remember how quaint the down town area was and we were  fascinated with the Riverwalk, which is below the street level and lined with shops, restaurants and hotels.   It had a European look to it and really caught our attention. After getting something to eat we headed back to the hotel to get some much needed rest.

The next day we got an early start looking at the homes Carolyn thought might interest us but it became evident that being so unfamiliar with the area Jane and I were really confused.  Maggie was going to be starting school in a few years so locating in a district that had a reputation of excellence meant a lot to us.  Around and around we went and the more we saw the less we knew.  Finally calling it quits in the late afternoon.  Carolyn decided that the next day we would concentrate on an area northeast of the city, it was a relatively new community and the elementary school was in the subdivision.  We only had one day left so we wanted to make the most of it.

It turned out the subdivision called Camelot, was closer in style to what we had experienced growing up and in St.Louis or Denver.  We saw several single story homes that would have worked and then a two story four bedroom house on a culdesac not far from the elementary school that intrigued us.  Carolyn unsucessfully tried to contact the listing agent but we went back to her office to discuss our approach.  Jane and Maggie were heading back to Denver the next morning and I was going to meet Ann Rains at the hotel and begin my orientation.  Carolyn promised to pursue the listing agent and contact me at my motel or the office.

The next day, feeling frustrated, I packed up the girls and I got them to the airport by 8 am.  Then I followed my directions to the office, which as it turned out was two blocks from the hotel in which we were staying.

Can A Jersey Boy & An Iowa Girl Adapt To TEXAS?

Jane was quite surprised to see my smiling face come through door after turning down the job in San Francisco. When I told her that Ann understood our concern about the expense of west coast living and made a call to try and get a higher salary but ended up finding another administrators job, this time in San Antonio!  I went on to tell her everything Ann said about how wonderful the city was, in fact that it was her favorite town!  Jane's reaction was predictable, she grabbed the car keys and headed to the library!

She wasn't gone long but returned with an arm full of books and magazines. As we started going through them it became apparent that San Antonio had a lot to offer.  The pictures of the Riverwalk were beautiful and it looked like an older city with a lot of character.  She and I liked the fact that the climate was similar to St.Louis but without the bitter cold winters.  We saw ads for real estate agencies so I made a few calls.  One of them resulted in me getting hooked up with Carolyn, a friendly young woman who was anxious to help us.  She asked how much we had to put down and what size home we wanted.  I gave her a basic idea of our situation and we agreed that she should look through the agencies listing and get back to me later.

A couple of hours passed and Carolyn called back with what sounded like good news to us!  Properties seemed very reasonable.. Jane wanted to know if the houses had basements there and Carolyn said that due to the kind of soil in south Texas having a basement would be very unlikely;  Jane was concerned because she knew that Texas had tornadoes and being from Iowa she knew how important basements were.  Carolyn assured us that the tornadoes we had heard about were way north of San Antonio.    I told her that as I learned more about when we would be moving I would give her a call and she could line up some properties for us.

We went out to dinner that night to celebrate the end of the long transition to gainful employment!

I Think I Have A Mentor!

I arrived at the office before Ann Rains and was offered a cup of coffee by the young lady, who's title was  Coordinator,  but being as nervous as I was, I asked for water!  I hadn't called Ann the night before so I knew she would be surprised to see me sitting there.  A few minutes past and she bounced through the door with a surprised look on her face.  "Well, Tom, I wasn't expecting to see you today. Come back to my office."  Once she got settled and she got herself a cup of coffee, I began explaining the situation we were in.  I told her how interested I was in learning the business but after making a few calls to real estate agents in the Bay area we had come to the conclusion that we just couldn't afford to move there. She asked me if there were any other concerns and I said that even with the profit we had from our home in St. Louis, I couldn't support the family in an expensive area like that on the $25,000 salary that came with the job.  She looked at me and smiled, admitting it was an expensive are to live.  With that she picked up the phone and called her son-in-law who was in Dallas.  She said "Look, I've found a great candidate for the job in San Francisco but he's checked into the cost of living out there and can't take the job at the salary we are offering."  She listened for a minute or so and then said, "Let me check into that and I'll call you back."                                      

Ann looked at me and smiled, she said, "I just found out about another opening.  How would you feel about moving to San Antonio, Texas!"  She explained the cost of living was much lower and that it happened to be her favorite city and wanted to know if I had been there.  After explaining that I hadn't she took me on a verbal tour of the city listing all the reasons she loved it there.  I must have looked relieved because she smiled and told me to head on home and kick it around with my wife.  She asked if I could get back to her by the end of the day because she was only going to be in town for another day and if I accepted the job she wanted to spend some time with me.  I was so grateful, I wanted to hug her, but instead promised I would call later that day.

I couldn't get over the fact that I found such a warm, friendly person, who really wanted me to join her company.  I felt I had a mentor and wanted to take the job, although I had no idea what it would be like to live in Texas, and couldn't imagine what Jane would say.

Finally The Sun Is UP!

I was actually surprised how well I slept and woke up looking forward to my appointment with Ann Rains.  I was glad we had spoken last night because from the conversation I could tell she was a sincere woman.  It also didn't hurt to learn that one of her daughters was a former teacher and now worked for Nursefinders.

I arrived thirty minutes early which insured that I wouldn't be late but unfortunately left me time to sit in my car with nothing to do but anticipate my interview.  Nonetheless, I found the office, which was in a high rise building on Broadway.  A pleasant looking place and a very professional looking young woman was sitting at a round desk which had what looked like a lazysusan in the middle of it.  There were slots in this thing with tall books in each of them.  I told her who I was and that I had a meeting with Ann Rains.  She smiled and asked me to take a seat and then she disappeared down a hallway to tell Ann I had arrived.  A few minutes passed and a short portly looking woman walked over and introduced herself as Ann Rains.  She had a wonderful smile and reminded me of my Grandmother with her white hair and soft voice.  She invited me to follow her to her office, a small but well furnished space.

I handed her my resume which she politely reviewed noting that I had been raised in New Jersey and lived in St. Louis for a number of years.  She asked about my family and seemed interested in the fact that my Father was the Vice President of Pan American Airlines before he died in 1967., and that Jane and I had a one year old daughter.  I asked her all of the appropriate questions about Nursefinders and was impressed to find out that it was Ann and her son in law who started the company.  He, had previously owned Medical Personnel Pool franchises in Dallas and Fort Worth.  He and Ann's daughter,the former teacher, hadn't been able to go on vacation for some years while they built their franchises.  As it turned out, Ann was the first woman executive with Illinois Bell Telephone, and had quite a bit of experience as a manager in a huge corporation.  She went on to say that she and her husband volunteered to run Larry's franchises while he took his family on vacation for a couple of weeks.  While tending to their business Ann started to analyze the operation and came up with a number of ways to improve what they were doing.  When the family returned Ann called a   meeting and proposed that they form a partnership and open their own company.  It was a complicated plan because Larry had to sell his franchises and then comply with Personnel Pools non-compete contract.  They owned several Nursefinders operations and then sold franchises for others around the country.

I was very impressed with what they had accomplished.  Generally their business was to provide temporary nurses to hospitals,  nursing homes and to those trying to maintain their independence at home.  I certainly had a lot to learn but the concept captured my imagination.  She mentioned that they were looking for an Administrator for their San Francisco branch and wondered if we would be interested in relocating.  I told her that I would discuss it with Jane and let her know the next day.  She expressed confidence that I would do a great job and then asked if I knew much about San Francisco?  I told her I hadn't been there but heard it was a beautiful city.  Then she mentioned something about the population and whether either of us would be bothered by the different types of people who lived there!  I told her we were not afraid or bothered by gay people and that wouldn't be part of our consideration. With that, we ended our meeting and I thanked her for the opportunity.

I could barely contain myself and raced home to share the news with Jane!  Perhaps our long period of unemployment was about to come to an end!

An Then Came Rains

Nine months had gone by and I was beginning to wonder if I would ever find a new job.  It's hard enough to be unemployed, even if it is by choice,  eventually you start to question yourself, not a good situation! As it turned out signing up with the career counselor was a smart move, he served as a good counter balance to my ever growing insecurity!

I got up early Sunday morning and began my search through the Denver Post classified ads.  I had turned this ritual into a systematic process, armed with a highlighter and a pair of scissors.  I could find appropriate listings quickly, highlight them, cut them out and tape them into a spiral notebook before I finished a cup of coffee!  This particular Sunday I found three ads that had possibilities but one really caught my imagination.  It was run by a company called Nursefinders , they were seeking an administrator to run their home care program.  The only requirement was that applicants had to have management experience and since I served as the chairman of the History/English department for three years I felt I was certainly qualified!  The other nice thing about the ad was they wanted interested parties to call not just send their resume. To me, the eternal optimist, that meant they were in a hurry to hire which sounded like a perfect match!

I didn't sleep well that night thinking about the call I was going to make in the morning.  I ran various scenarios of what the job would entail and how my background matched up with the company's needs.  Finally the baby was up and the day had  begun!  I waited until 9:30 before I called, not wanting to look too anxious!  The person who answered the phone told me that I needed to speak with Ann Rains, who hadn't arrived in Denver yet, but was due later that day.  I hesitated to ask whether I could expect to hear from her today but I couldn't stand not knowing, unfortunately, the answer was inconclusive, and I was doomed to wait for an undetermined period of time.

Around 7:pm the telephone rang and the voice on the other end asked for me and announced that it was Ann Rains calling.  I introduced myself and thanked her for the call.  She explained that she had been in San Franciso and had a hard time getting to Denver due to fog on the west coast.  We chatted for a few minutes and she asked some basic questions about my background.  When I told her that I was a teacher trying to find a better paying job she totally understood, telling me that one of her daughters was a teacher but now worked for Nursefinders! Wow!  She asked me if I had time to come to her office and visit the next day, and I almost said I could be there in a half hour, but restrained my enthusiasm and scheduled a 10:00 am appointment. There was general excitement about my scheduled interview although I knew it would be another long night!