Moving?

It's definitely in the realm of possibility.  I don't know how to feel about it, really.  How about I come back to it?  That's real life stuff.  Let's talk comics for just a short bit.

I tried to make a move recently, and was told today that the people weren't interested at the moment.  Well, that's what it boiled down to.  But I'm not going to let it keep me down.  I'll just have to continue to work hard.

Speaking of which, I'm pretty stoked about the upcoming SDCC.  Its been five years since I last went, and I'm a LOT further along now than I was before.  A lot of that is due to the fact that I'm pushing myself to be more out there with my writing and my projects.  I have to do it for myself, because no one else is going to do it for me.  That's simply the way it goes.

I've also avoided going to see Watchmen.  I'll buy it when it comes out on dvd, but I believe that the movie was made too soon.  A story that deconstructed superheroes should not have been translated into a medium that was just getting good at telling superhero tales.  This is a movie that should have been done in another ten to twenty years.  That's just my take.  Obviously, others disagreed. (It's not like I was asked, anyway.)

Yup.  I'm distracted.  It's the moving thing.  Okay, I'll break it down, and I'll try not to get too technical.  I'm also going to start WAY back, but I'll gloss over the boring bits.  Well, I'll try.

Okay, I was originally born on Long Island, NY.  When I was 18, I joined the military.  While there, I've lived in Japan, NY, and CA.  After separating (honorably) from the military, my first wife and I moved back to NY.  We split, and she moved to VA.  She then asked me to move to VA to be closer to the children.  It just so happened that my job had an office in the same town my ex was living, so I transferred.  

I got remarried, my ex moved back to NY, and my present wife hated the VA office.  She wanted to move, and we talked about it, and settled on Tucson (after discarding NY and CA as being too expensive to live, FL and GA as being too uncomfortable, and Alaska as being too damned far off the map).  

While in Tucson, we've moved twice, which doesn't count the initial move here.  Following all of this?  Now, we're in a house that we'd like to buy.  We'll come back to that in a little bit.

Now, my wife's job is growing, as a region.  She works in insurance, and the states the office here has to handle are growing at a phenomenal rate.  It's almost unheard of.  If the pace stays the same, with low instances of accidents, next year's profit sharing is going to set a record for the company.  

However, the rate of growth, if consistent, would necessitate the Tucson office being its own regional office, instead of just a satellite of the San Diego office, which it is now.  Right now, her company is sharing space with another company in a building, but the company likes to build its own office whenever it can.  It likes to own the buildings.  If (no, not if, when, really) it becomes its own region, there will be an exodus out of Tucson.  Why?  Because there aren't enough qualified people to hire here.  That's saying something.

So, the rumors my wife has been hearing are Oregon and Colorado.  There's also the possibility of staying in Arizona and moving to Phoenix, but that chance is pretty slim.

This is down the line.  Two to three years.  We'll call it two years for the office to gain its own region status, and then another year to have the building built and ready to move in.  Maybe a little less on the building, but still.  It would be a phenomenal chance for my wife, and one I don't think she should pass up.  But what does it do to me?  What would it do to us, if we bought the house?

Let's start with Phoenix first, the most unlikely of scenarios.  It does nothing to us, besides ensure the fact that we would need to buy a second car.  We've been jumping through some hoops with the one car all this time, but nothing too strenuous.  If the office moves there, that would mean a lot of driving for her, which isn't something she's looking forward to, but would do.  If we have bought the house by then, there's no problem with that, either.  I could keep my job, and things would be great.  Nothing much changes.  Again, that's the most unlikely of scenarios.

Either one of the next two means a move, and while I wouldn't be happy about it, I'd do it.  

Colorado: not really a favorite place of mine.  Not really a place I'd like to be.  I'd LOVE to visit, but I don't know if I'd want to live there.  Just a vibe, y'know?  Nothing I can really explain.  But who knows, if we were to go there, I may love it.  I just don't think I would.  

I'd much rather go to Oregon, if I had my druthers.  We have Dark Horse comics somewhere in Oregon, we have Gail Simone there, we're still relatively close to San Diego (driving distance?  maybe, but Colorado definitely puts us out of range for a drive there for the con), and besides that, it would be a return to lush greenery and friggin seasons!  I didn't know how much I missed greenery until I went back to NY and saw it.  

So, what does this do to me?  Of course, with moving, I'd have to quit my job.  The job I struggled a bit to keep (one of the positions kicked my entire ass!), the one that allows me to work for four days, and have three off.  The one that allows me to work at night, that allows me to bring out my laptop and write.  The one that allows me to do everything I need to do, almost as I need to do it.  That one.  

Would I be able to transfer to another city position, if we were to move to another state?  Who knows?  I can't even do any real research on it, because I don't know what state or city they would move the office to.  I don't know what the environments are like, pay, work schedule, anything.  

And then, there's the fact that I'd be starting all over yet again.  When we moved out here, Lenora knew a few people, but I didn't know anyone.  I now have a job that I love, working with people that I generally like, and am making friends I can hang out with.  And then to have to leave all of that behind?  I did it when I moved to Virginia, and then had to leave there just as I was truly getting comfortable.  Three years.  And now, to possibly have to do it again?  Not something I'm looking forward to.

Then there's the house.  We like it, and we'd like to buy it.  But why buy it if we may be moving?  Then we'd have to sell it, and everyone's seen the economy.  So that may be put on hold while we figure things out.

There's another possibility, however.  Lenora could retire.  She's eligible in 2 years.  She'd be 52, and would have 15 years with the company.  What would she do then?  I don't know.  She's very good at her job, but her skill set is limited.  Her age would be a factor, too.  I personally don't think retirement is an option right now.  It's like moving to Phoenix: it's out there, but highly unlikely.  

Yep.  We have a lot to discuss soon.  A lot of ramifications, and things hinging on other things.  

Thanks for listening.  I appreciate it.  I'm going to go continue watching Lost.  For you, however, I recommend watching The Saint.  The original movie, not the spectacle with Val Kilmer.  I think it was made in the 50s.  You'll be glad you did.

-Steven