the eternal student

AeroSpace Corporation Interview in Los Angeles

I’m writing this while on the redeye from LA to Atlanta. It’s a pretty emotional time maybe from the lack of sleep and huge decisions to be made shortly. The interview with The AeroSpace Corporation went really well. Initially I wasn’t too excited about interviewing with them, but that was before seeing what they do. The AeroSpace Corporation is a non-profit Federally Funded Research Center (FFRC for those who like acronyms) and works closely with the Air Force. Boeing, Lockhead Martin, and other companies in the aerospace business. Most of the work is consulting on satellite systems and miscellaneous aerospace projects. Basically when Boeing has a problem they can’t solve, or if something goes wrong in space, they turn the AeroSpace Corporation. In addition, the government wants some entity that will be around forever to maintain and oversee such tremendous projects such as satellite systems. It takes 10-20 years to develop a satellite and get it into space, so these are long term projects that people get tied to and you better believe it is an emotional moment on a launch pad when you see your life’s work have one shot of success.

A defining moment was seeing and touching the actual O-ring that brought the Challenger down. That was a huge moment in the country as many politicians, scientists, and pretty much everyone wanted to know what happened. Many many people tried to figure out how it happened, including the notable physicist Richard Feynman who was key solving the problem. It’s humbling and exciting to think I could be taking part in projects such as that.. Maybe it’s the nerd in me, but it feels like somebody saying ‘Hey, take this brush and add a few of your own strokes to Mona Lisa’s smile. We think you have the skill, in fact, we think maybe you can do it better.” Alright, so maybe satellite and spacecrafts aren’t that cool or important. But there is a ton of stuff we are learning about earth, origins of the universe, and just some weird stuff that satellites are doing. This job would require a pretty security clearance, even to the point of the government interviewing neighbors and friends.

They really enjoyed the work I’m doing now and could see some of it being funded further. So that’s a big big bonus. They were well equipped with the necessary research toys. It’s really the first time someone has given me real affirmation that my work has more than academic or a curiosity factor to it. It could actually be useful to them. I’d also have a chance to learn work with solar cells which I’ve had an interest in but never have studied I did get a verbal confirmation that they were going to make me an offer. This guy has been pursuing me for 2 years to interview with him so it makes sense he would be ready to move. But, after how the whole GE thing went down, I won’t rest until the offer is in hand.

So the job would be great: great problems to solve, great job stability, and a lot of lifelong learing and being part of important space discoveries. Which brings us to the tough part; living in LA. A universe apart from where I had ever considered living. After driving around, I could see why people pay so much to live near the beach and in certain areas such as Manhattan Beach or Pasadena. I had a chance to visit.past our friends the Mauer’s in Pasadena and was jealous. The AeroSpace Corporation is right near the LA airport, and we would probably live just a mile from the beaches in a p;ace like Inglewood or Hawthorne. Can you say outrageous housing prices? A minimum of $300k-$400k for a 1000sqft. home with maybe a yard. The houses are cute and unique, I can’t stomach or fathom how to survive that. My salary would be around $90k which hardly compensates for the higher cost of living. I’m expecting $90k from Micron in Boise, Idaho where we can get over an acre of land or more plus a 2000sqft. home for about $100k cheaper. The only way people are affording LA is through interest-only loans, which I’m not interested in at all long term.
On a positive note, I went into a Trader Joe’s and was impressed with the organic selections and reasonable costs. Much cheaper than Whole Foods and the same quality.

I have a really hard time seeing us thriving as a family in LA. I would take the job easily iit were just Lynn and I, but it’s a much harder decision with the boys. I don’t care how much fulfillment I get at my job if Lynn and the boys don’t have places to play and grow that we can afford. I know LA is full of museums and culture, but it’s also got a lot of junky entertainment and stuff with it. I don’t know how it will affect our kids growing up with it. I can deal with the level of drugs, prostitution, and racism in our neighborhood in Atlanta, but I think it’s different in the inner city neighborhoods of LA. I may be looked at funny or feel uncomfortable in our neighborhood in Atlanta, but my life never feels threatened. Maybe I’ve just gotten used to it and a new environment like LA makes me uneasy. But I think the presence of gangs in LA changes my desire to raise a family in the inner city. Maybe I’m copping out from helping the inner city with the excuse of my family safety coming first.

On Sunday I fly to Micron in Boise Idaho. Micron will offer the almost an opposite image of what AeroSpace offers: less job stability and a higher pressure competitive environment, but the pay will be higher and we will actually be able to have decent land and a house while being able to put a significant amount of money away for the future. In Boise, we have the option of buying a $100k home to start and living in that for a few years while paying off student debt and saving enough for a 30-40% downpayment on a house with land. That’s a big deal to us. But, first I have to see if I’d like working at Micron and actually get an offer. Micron makes flash memory and components for CCD cameras which isn’t nearly as sexy as satellites, but there is some incredible techonology going into new semiconductor devices. We’ll see. I will be spending part of Sunday with a realtor driving around and getting a feel for the area.

So, who lives in Los Angeles and can give me some advice? It doesn’t help that I met a family with three young children who had moved from LA because the qualtiy of life wasn’t there for them.

Posted by andyp at February 2, 2006 6:12 AM | TrackBack