New Job with Raith

So I recently quit my job at Leica in September.  It was one of the toughest decisions I've ever made.  I was really nervous because I had already gained such a good reputation at Leica.  It all started when a recruiter from Linkedin reached out to me.  I went ahead and proceeded with the motions of going through the interview and submitting my resume.

I WASN'T LOOKING FOR A JOB!!!

I was casually looking and, in my mind, if this new company can provide a better paying job with less travel, then I would take it.  Even if the risk of starting over is a bit risky, I think that by not sleeping in hotels every night is worth the move.

The interviews went so well, they invited me out to Troy, New York.  I said that I would go on one occasion.  If my family can come with me so that I can tour that part of New York.  And they agreed!

We packed our bags, I submitted my PTO and off we went!

When we landed, we picked up the rental car, checked into the hotel, and ate dinner.  I decided to drive around Albany to see the "Egg".  On our way back, BOOM!  A drunk driver ran a red light and crashed into us.

Baby Winston was crying and Cecilia was okay.  Her glasses got knocked off and she lost her cellphone.  

OUR CAR WAS TOTALLED!

The police was quite friendly and drove us back to the hotel.

The next day, I went to the rental car center (AVIS) and the lady at the desk was quite rude to me.  I told her what happened, and she looked at the keyfob and said that she can't do anything with it.  Her manager asked if I called the phone number that was printed in the agreement.  

I said I didn't get the phone number or call the number.  A tow truck just came and took the car.

Reluctantly, they gave me keys to a new car.

I called the boss at Raith that I was going to be late, and they were quite understanding.  

When I got there, I knocked the interview out of the park.  They really liked me.  A couple of months later, I received an offer.

I counter offered by presenting them what I think I am worth and they accepted my counter offer.

Now I have a job with Raith.  It is a company that does electron beam lithography.  It writes patterns and lines so small, it's 10,000X smaller than a hair.