Nyrial

So I did it.

I submitted an application for the PA job. I’m not sure if I will take it if it’s offered to me, but I figured it can’t hurt.

I’ve compiled my own list of pros and cons.

Pro-Washington

We both really love our jobs, I enjoy the milder weather, even if it is gloomier for 6 months, we’re getting to know our way around, we’re getting to know people, and it’s just a very laid back place to live.

Con-Washington

We’re damn far from both of our families, sometimes it’s TOO laid back, traffic is hell, high cost of living.

Pro-PA

My job probably wouldn’t change much, MUCH cheaper cost of living, closer to both of our families.

Cons-PA

Dan would have to find another new job, The portion of the company I would be working for is much less stable than the portion I’m working for now (military vs. commercial), we would have to break our brand new lease, and I don’t know the consequences of that. I would have to find another engineering school flexible enough for my schedule.  Closer to both of our families (kidding!)

I don’t even know why I’m comparing it yet really, I need to get an offer before I should be thinking about any of this, and I would reject any offer that paid much less than what I make here. The pure truth of it is, I don’t expect an offer that would be the same, but if they did offer the same or a bit more, we would probably move, because my salary would go much further there than here.

So I’m doing a little bit of procrastinating today, and I was browsing our internal staffing system. There I stumbled upon a job listing for my classification and job title. The difference being that it is in Ridley Park, PA. I know they are starting a new program there, the JHL . The interesting story behind that is that the weekend before the press release, one of my coworkers and I were milking overtime, and were looking out the window. There was an Outback Steakhouse blimp cruising around, and I was like, you know, it would be cool to build a blimp here.

Well, its not here, but we are building one, and I for one would love to be part of the team that does it. However, it would mean another move across the country, uprooting ourselves and the kids again, being back in a snowy, icky cold climate.. etc. You get the idea. However, Dan and I would also be much closer to both of our families, and well, it would just be REALLY cool to work on a blimp.

So Dan and I are going to discuss it tonight, I don’t even know if they would release me from my current position here, as I am supposed to wait 12 months, but I was also thinking we could just set my start date AFTER the 12 month period in January. There is also the “what is better for business and the employee” question, which means I could be released, but only if both managers concur it would be for the best.

I’m not sure if I should apply or not, but would love some input. Please try to be as objective as possible, I know the emotional reasons that would make it a good idea, but I also have to consider other things, like uprooting my children again, moving again, moving animals across the country again etc..

Money:

No matter how much overtime we put in, or how hard we work, there never seems to be enough. The first part of the month sucks regardless of course. Rent’s due, car payment, insurance, utilities, pay the sitter, buy groceries, feel guilty because I owe my mommy and daddy a lot of money and (yet again) I can’t send them any. I’m looking forward to our extra payout from Uncle Sam. We filed with Dan as head of household, the last two digits of his ssn are in the low 20s, so we should have ours by next Friday. I’m like, YAY, I can tag my cars, get my Washington drivers license, get the dogs their shots/haircuts, get Amelia birthday presents… well, you get the idea.

Time:

I’m still waiting for the invention of the 30 hour day. I have some things I desperately want to catch up on, but by the time I can think about them, it’s time to go to bed. All I want to do is sit down and spend an hour each night on poser, never seems to happen, and, when I do catch a few minutes, I’m completely uninspired.

Sunshine:

Yeah, I know it rains a lot here. I was aware of that before I moved out here, but I (and my rosebush) could use some more sunshine. And maybe about 10 more degrees outside. It’s F’ing cold.

Friends : (local)

Not downing anyone in Michigan, believe me, I miss you all so much. Its so lonely out here though. I don’t know how in the hell housewives survived in mid-century 1900s staying at home all day. It’s not that damn fulfilling. Hell, I work around other adults all day and I still don’t feel fulfilled socially. I mean, I love my husband and kids, but I need more. It makes me feel very selfish to say that too, however, a discussion on poop, and why we need to wipe afterward, with my (almost) 3 year old just doesn’t quite…do it for me. It’s practically impossible to make friends at work too, no one, and I mean NO ONE understands how I look at things. The place seriously lacks a sense of humor.

Inspiration

I have all this great art stuff sitting at home: paints, markers, tablets, ink. Of course, even if I did have the inspiration, I don’t have the time to do it.

So I figure, if I had more money, I could use it to buy time, and friends. If I had more time, I could find someone to hang out with sometimes, or maybe clean my house so that people could hang out there. If I had more inspiration, and time, I could do the things I wanted to do to alleviate the stress that’s associated with having no money. Or if I had the sunshine, I could at least pretend everything looked good.

Damn this weather sucks

Actually, the blog isn’t nearly as interesting as the title, but I thought it was a good way to lure you in.

I’ve been brainstorming this week about things to put on the rest of this site, currently I have some wikis installed (Thanks to my wonderful sister) although they are still not working because I haven’t done anything with them. One is a wedding theme wiki (appropriate emails will be sent with info when it’s up and running) and the other is just a private one.

So right now I’m taking ideas for what to aim the rest of the site at. I was originally going to offer some kind of downloads for Poser, but I don’t have the time, skill, or ambition to work on it. I’m thinking it will just be to showcase the things I can do with photoshop and my 3d renders, and possibly drum up some work on the gaming front from it. Again, this requires time and motivation, neither of which I have, but I hope it will get better at some point.

I’m fighting a little bit of a cold, the bastards at work keep coming in sick, and I’m like, seriously, I’m going to have to call in sick so that I don’t get sick.

It’s been mostly an uneventful week otherwise, Dan was picked over for the job he wanted, so we’re both bummed about that, he’s been scouring the newspapers all week.

I’ve made some rather uninteresting observations about life out here.

For the most part, people are very laid back and mellow, and it seems to be rubbing off on me. I think it’s all the good west coast pot they must be smoking. Combine that with the ability to secure a latte/mocha/yoguccino, whenever they wish, people here seem very content.  I’ve witnessed NO road rage incidents (except my own, but even those seem to be petering out), and people are very courteous (to me anyway) on the road. I have a theory about this: People see my Michigan plates and they assume 3 things: A) I’m from Detroit, B) I have a gun, and C) I will shoot them if they piss me off.

I’m ok with that.

The movers brought our stuff today, so the house is stacked with boxes.

I have an ad on Craigslist for someone to watch my kids for me, apparently the daycare on site doesn’t want anyone’s kids there unless they make at least 6 grand a month, considering it would cost me 2 grand a month to take my kids there, no kidding.  So far the ad has gotten some good responses, although I about fell out of my chair at the lady who said she charged 35 bucks an hour, not sure why she’s browsing Craigslist.  Shit, thats almost twice what I’m making, if I can make that much money watching kids, I’ll watch kids.

Otherwise I’m still sick, I can’t stop coughing, I think they’re getting irritated with at because I keep leaving my desk to go to the bathroom, but I think they would appreciate the massive chunks of mucus that I’m hacking up even less. It’s so bad I can’t even walk across the parking lot in the morning because I can hardly even take a deep breath of air, so I end up wheezing and coughing all the way across the parking lot. We’re still in the hotel because of the mess at the house, but will be checking out in the next day or so. These 5am mornings are killing me.

So thats about it, my kids will be here in less than 48 hours, I don’t know if I will have a clean house for them to come home to, but I plan to at least have their beds and Amelia’s toys up.