A Bumpy Ride Called "Working with the Government"

Of course, in true Orme fashion, getting to this job has been a bumpy ride. As soon as we got to Texas, we set to work getting Tom's dental license. His job would start on September 20, and one month to get everything together was a little tight, but we figured we should be able to do it. The State asked for Tom's diploma, which we had packed away and hadn't seen since May 2009. We tried looking through our boxes and failed. We ended up forking out some money to get a duplicate made and sent, which of course took some time. We then submitted everything for him to get his license. Of course, when we called to get an update on the status of his license, we got the standard answer ... "It will take 2-4 weeks to process your application." Ugh!!! September 20 crept nearer and nearer, and we got more and more nervous. Finally on Tuesday September 14, we got a letter stating that he had been approved for a dental license in the mail!! We were so excited!!

Because of how the licensing is done in Texas, Tom was given written permission to begin working, but he had to sign a paper and pay a fee within 30 days or else he would not get his license. Unfortunately, when you checked the status of Tom's license online, it stated it was expired (on the same day it was activated ... go figure). Well the clinic required that his status be active online, so we headed up to Austin after we picked up the girls from school on Thursday to pay the fee and turn in the paperwork. Of course, we were told it would take 3-5 days to update his status online. How frustrating!!! Fortunately, his company decided to go ahead and fly him up on Sunday, so he could start work as soon as his status changed. By Tuesday morning his status was FINALLY showing active, so Tom headed to work only to be told that he couldn't work and needed to go back to the hotel.

Apparently, the government clinic he worked at required him to have his controlled substance permit (i.e. permission to prescribe meds). Now, you only need a dental license and malpractice insurance to work, both of which he had, but the clinic required this permit, which was still being processed from when we submitted it the week before. Immediately the company started calling to see what could be done. By Wednesday 2 or 3 employees from his company as well as Tom were calling to see about his permit. Of course, they were rudely dismissed after being given the same answer, "It'll take about 4 weeks to process." Seriously we were dying!!! 4 more weeks!!!! He'd already had a background check and everything verified. Why would it take 4 weeks to say, "Yes, you can prescribe meds."

By Thursday his company decided they'd rather have him wait at home because they still had up to 3 more weeks before he got his permit. We were planning to visit Tom that weekend because of a school holiday, but ended up getting him to come home ... and not on our dime! We were sooooo excited to see him, but the whole situation was frustrating and a little stressful. We needed him to start working soon because it's not like we have an endless amount of money in our bank account.

I jokingly told Tom when he got home, "Watch. You'll get your permit tomorrow or something." Sure enough, Friday morning I checked online, and he had been given his permit! As annoying as the whole situation was, at least we got to see him, and it was free!!! This morning, we dropped Tom off at the airport, and he starts work tomorrow!!! We are soooo excited for this job ... not excited about him being far away ... but excited that we'll actually receive an honest to goodness paycheck. Money that can be budgeted, bills will be paid, living expenses will be taken care of, and dare I even mention ... possibly put some away into savings!! I just hope now that the ride has ended, and he can get working now without any hiccups. I'll definitely be saying a little prayer tonight and in the morning!!