The long process of getting there

When i first started in the construction industry i had always heard about these government jobs that seemed like really good jobs. I had also heard that when you got your license some company that had a contract with the government would send you some job offers because they are always short handed. Well, when i got my license, i was talking to a buddy of mine that his dad use to work for a company that did work for the government. We talked to his dad and he gave me a web address and told me that all i had to do was pick out a job. I found one that i met the qualifications for and sent in my resume. About a week and a half later i got a respones that they liked what they saw and wanted me to fill out an application.
All that happened in late November. I spent several hours filling out papers and faxing them in as well as mailing them in. The day after Christmas i recieved a phone call from the electrical supervisor on the island. This call was my interview. The interview went really well and the supervisor told me that he really wanted me down there and i took that to be a really good sign. But, this is where i ran into my first glitch, I had a little more that four years of experience and the job required five. I had two things going for me, they are short handed on the island and I have a license. The guy that interviewed me said that he would put the paperwork through and see what his supervisor says. About three weeks later I was eating lunch with my dad and he asked me if I had heard any thing about the job yet. I told him no and at that moment my phone rang, it was the human resource office for that company. They had offered me the job!!! I was really excited, i went told mom later that afternoon and her excitment surpassed my own. The next day i recieved a packet of papers that I was to read, fill out, fax in, and mail in. After that I was to have a physical and some drug test done. There office is the one that was to schedule the appointments. Weeks and weeks went by, nothing. I was starting to get impatient, maybe a little upset and finally I sent an email to a contact and asked what was going. I waited so long because i didn't want to be pushy. I got a respones saying that they were looking for a clinic in my area so that i didn't have to travel. So i responed saying that if I had to travel even a few hours that it was not a big deal. It is something that is a part of life when you live in a small town in New Mexico. About a week later I received all the information that was needed for the physical and blood test. This was the first big thing that has happened in two months and I was ready to get it over with.
I am not sure if you have noticed what has been missing from this story. A departure date. I still don't know when i leave. I have the job, I signed a contract for it, I got all the paperwork filled out, physical and blood work done and everything done the way it was requested of me. This is a process that started sometime in November and here is the middle of March and no one has told me when i get to leave and start working in my new tropical paradise. Almost everyday someone ask me when I am leaving. There are three words that I really don't like to hear my self say and they are, I don't know. I have spent some money on some cloths that should be more comfortable in the tropical environment and all they get to do is sit on a shelf in the closet.
That is the story of the long process that taking this new job is taking. All in all i can't wait to get started on this new adventure that will teach me more about life than i could every hope to learn by staying in a small town in NM. I am really looking forward to all the new experiences that will help me out later on in life and help shape me into the man that i want to be.