My New Job

I'm in Ft. Morgan for the week. Other than getting it confused with Ft. Collins, Ft. Logan or any of the other forts in the state, I had very little knowledge of this place. And really, it would be little loss had it stayed that way. The only welcoming thing about this place is the 75 MPH speed limit on the road to get here. Apparently, this town is one of the biggest producers of beet sugar in the nation. Did you know that a buy-product of the beet refining process is sulfur? bet not. I woke up in the middle of the night last night to sheets permeated in a sulfur smell. But onto why I am actually here...
I was offered a job with the Census Bureau a couple few weeks back and invited to attend this 5-day training in Ft. Morgan. Upon arrival I learned that this is not only a training, but also a further selection process to promote people from Crew Leaders to Crew Leader Assistants. I found myself up for the promotion against two men in their late 50's/early 60's. Now I think that being in more of a "corporate" environment as compared to a social work environment over the past couple days got the best of me. I was interested in the promotion, but more than that, I think I was interested on "winning" the promotion. We just don't really do these things in social work, we are much too collaborative and relational. Well, I "won" and almost immediately had buyer's remorse. After a good pep-talk from Mark, and reminders from him that I often feel this way after I get something that I've wanted, I'm settling into the idea of working in this facet. More or less, I am now entirely responsible for the residential mapping of 2500 sq miles of eastern Colorado. I'll have a team of 20+ to get the work done, but the buck stops with me. And now I'm supervising those men that I've been competing with. Though this is the first time I've been east of the airport, here I come eastern Colorado, sulfur and all.