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I have mentioned this a time or two on Twitter and Facebook, but now that the date is getting closer, I guess I can state firmly that J and will end our exile in OKC and move out of here around May 1, if all goes according to plan. The only reason this is possible at all this year is that J inherited some money. It's not a lot of money, but it's enough to get us moved and have a little bit of a cash reserve to keep us afloat for a while as we get ourselves employed in new day jobs. Yes, like every other time I have moved from one city to another, I am doing it with no firm prospect of employment. Last time, when we moved here, that was quite nearly a catastrophe because it took a couple months longer for me to get steady new income than planned and we completely ran out our cash reserve and were in some trouble. Because of our business failure and subsequent bankruptcy in 2007, we have no credit cards to fall back on either. So the money in the bank is what we have, and that's it until we come up with some more. I have decided to view this as an opportunity rather than a crisis.
The need to change jobs is the main downside of this plan. But it's also one of the best things about it, too, since we fucking hate our day jobs and can hardly stand them for even the few weeks that remain. Also, they are untenable even if we did like them, because we have both been rolled back on hours steadily over the last year, to where our combined income, which was meager to begin with, has contracted by about a third as compared to a year ago. Indeed J's rollback has been even worse than mine, and he earns so little that he can hardly be said to even have a job anymore anyway. We can't cut anymore from the budget, we need more income, but neither of us can stand the prospect of doing another job hunt around this town that we have grown to deeply dislike. So the inheritance cash comes at a perfect time. J is a believer in the idea that circumstances in the universe sometimes click together in a way that occasionally points us in a direction we need to go whether we were ready or not: We inherited money. We hate living here. Both of our day jobs suck and they have both undergone management upheavals in recent weeks which make our staying with them even less possible. Spring is coming. All these things and others suggest to him that a new chapter is being opened for us. I don't believe there is any order in things on the human scale, but I can see the comfort in a pattern like that and I am happy to view it in that way right now.
Another thing that we are of mixed minds about is our destination: we are returning to St. Louis and to the old neighborhood. This does not accord with our long-held dream of living somewhere with a winter-free climate, but we just can't manage something so extravagant anyway, and maybe never will. So let's be realistic. Also, J's mom still lives there as do most of our real-world friends. And it's much more our kind of city culturally and aesthetically than where we are now anyway, and it's just easier to go about our daily business there than here because of its density (we're not from the vast suburban sprawl around STL but rather the city-proper, which works better for us since we have only one car and J doesn't drive anyway). We know people and places and will get reoriented quickly, so in that sense, it's an easy choice. Also, J wants to continue his horticulture education at the Missouri Botanical Garden which is within walking distance of our new home (we do not actually have that new home rented yet, but wherever it is, it will be probably be that close to the Garden because we're not planning to look outside our old territory if we don't need to, and Craigslist suggests plenty of options for us in the old 'hood).
We'll be up there for a few days in early April finding a place. If all goes well, we'll be relocated soon and hopefully feel some new optimism about our future. The moving plan and working on The Aether Age are the only things that have beaten back what felt like an acute season of depression coming on, and now it's almost spring. So I feel (cautiously) good.
The need to change jobs is the main downside of this plan. But it's also one of the best things about it, too, since we fucking hate our day jobs and can hardly stand them for even the few weeks that remain. Also, they are untenable even if we did like them, because we have both been rolled back on hours steadily over the last year, to where our combined income, which was meager to begin with, has contracted by about a third as compared to a year ago. Indeed J's rollback has been even worse than mine, and he earns so little that he can hardly be said to even have a job anymore anyway. We can't cut anymore from the budget, we need more income, but neither of us can stand the prospect of doing another job hunt around this town that we have grown to deeply dislike. So the inheritance cash comes at a perfect time. J is a believer in the idea that circumstances in the universe sometimes click together in a way that occasionally points us in a direction we need to go whether we were ready or not: We inherited money. We hate living here. Both of our day jobs suck and they have both undergone management upheavals in recent weeks which make our staying with them even less possible. Spring is coming. All these things and others suggest to him that a new chapter is being opened for us. I don't believe there is any order in things on the human scale, but I can see the comfort in a pattern like that and I am happy to view it in that way right now.
Another thing that we are of mixed minds about is our destination: we are returning to St. Louis and to the old neighborhood. This does not accord with our long-held dream of living somewhere with a winter-free climate, but we just can't manage something so extravagant anyway, and maybe never will. So let's be realistic. Also, J's mom still lives there as do most of our real-world friends. And it's much more our kind of city culturally and aesthetically than where we are now anyway, and it's just easier to go about our daily business there than here because of its density (we're not from the vast suburban sprawl around STL but rather the city-proper, which works better for us since we have only one car and J doesn't drive anyway). We know people and places and will get reoriented quickly, so in that sense, it's an easy choice. Also, J wants to continue his horticulture education at the Missouri Botanical Garden which is within walking distance of our new home (we do not actually have that new home rented yet, but wherever it is, it will be probably be that close to the Garden because we're not planning to look outside our old territory if we don't need to, and Craigslist suggests plenty of options for us in the old 'hood).
We'll be up there for a few days in early April finding a place. If all goes well, we'll be relocated soon and hopefully feel some new optimism about our future. The moving plan and working on The Aether Age are the only things that have beaten back what felt like an acute season of depression coming on, and now it's almost spring. So I feel (cautiously) good.
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