Hi, Daily Kos
I haven't been on in a while and for that I apologize. But there is a good explanation and a reason I have to leave this great community.
Almost a year ago, I posted a diary about a rough time in my life. If you care to read about it, there's the link.
Not long after that diary, my family got me away from Washington, DC where I was -- quite frankly -- failing. I guess a country boy with no connections doesn't get the big break there.
Fast forward a little while and I found myself washing dishes at a golf course and doing awesome, incredible and astounding things with that masters degree. (snark) At least I eventually ended up back at the family home, where I am actually needed. During that time, I was busy with so much other stuff and commenting here was simply not high on my priority list.
Now to the point of my story. I just landed a job as the borough manager of my hometown. For those of you who don't call the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (best commonwealth in the nation) "home," I will be the guy who runs the day-to-day operations of our little town of 2,900 people.
And that's the problem.
A job like this is supposed to be non-political. While I am not sure if I may legally keep up my political activities, I know that it is a bad idea.
So I have to TTFN and possibly for much longer.
But I need to extend some thank yous.
First and foremost, I need to thank David Waldman. We haven't talked in a while, but you gave me the shot on Congress Matters. For that I am forever grateful. I'm also going to mention CalBerkleyWV here, too because she rocks as well and she knows why.
I am deeply in debt to Laura Clawson, and Arjun Jaikumar who took me out to dinner and brainstormed on where I could work in DC. It didn't help but you two were a ray of hope in my darkest hour so far. I also have to give props to Slinkerwink who put me on the "jobs that are left" listserv. Again it didn't help, but it gave me hope that someone would hire me.
Next up are Spedwybabs and Stranded Wind. These are two other people who kept me sane in DC.
Every person who commented in that diary I posted in January is awesome. Do yourself a favor and follow all of them. Good people.
Next I need to mention TiaRachel and the whole crew at the Daily Show/Colbert Report thread. I will miss all of you and the good laughs.
I also need to give a shout out to the "Help Pakistan" group last year. Laughing Planet, Aji, Clytemnestra, GlowNZ, smileycreek, SolarMom, rexymeteorite and I know I am missing some. We (and I emphasize "we") did some good work. It rekindled my passion to help others. In fact, when I settled here in this little town, I joined the Lions Club after they helped some of our local flood victims -- including my godmother. I hope anyone reading this would look into joining some service organization like that. They are hurting for members right now.
There is also the crew at Progressive Electorate. alpolitics, CornSyrupAwareness and MinistryOfTruth. You guys rawk.
I can't say enough good about noweasels. I will really miss reading some of the most heart-felt postings on the internet.
Finally I just want to wish a few others a fond farewell on this big site. desteffen, boatsie, eeff, JekyllnHyde, Situational Lefty, Crashing Vor, blueyedace2, nolan, vcthree, PerfectStormer, Trix, wader, Cpt Robespierre, BFSkinner, TheMomCat, BruinKid, palantir, jlms qkw, RLMiller, BarackStarObama, weatherdude, casperr, Clarknt67, ItsJessMe, Something the Dog Said, Magnifico, Vladislaw, Oke, Meteor Blades, triciawyse, shortgirl, maggiejean, miep, Radlein, skywalker9, KyleTheMainer, fleetadmiralj, captainlaser, terrypinder, Mets102, BlueJessamine, ericlewis0, Neon Vincent, Patriot News Daily Clearinghouse, Lefty Coaster, catchlightning, socratic, RimJob, nonnie9999, Colorado is the Shiznit and BigAlinWashSt. And I know I am missing quite a few of you. These are some of the people I had a chance to talk with here and even meet in person. I will cherish their friendship forever.
Finally, thanks to kos for creating this community. I wish I didn't have to leave.
If you want to keep up with me, my Twitter is still going @CasualWednesday. If you want my email or Facebook, shoot me a message. (That stuff isn't going public.)
Good night and good luck.
10:05 AM PT: Wow. Thanks for all of the love, everyone. I do appreciate all of the comments, even if I can't respond to every one of them. I just had my first meeting about this job and I have to leave in a few minutes to finish out my current job.
I can't even begin to express how much I will miss all of you. Take care and keep fighting the good fight.