ECKLEBURG
2004-12-14 - 9:05 p.m.
Freedom (Sort-of)
So if you haven’t heard yet, I was laid off from my job last week during a heavy round of layoffs at my company. About 20% of the workers at corporate headquarters were let go, but I was honestly surprised that I was part of it. The standard line from my bosses was that my group was going to be immune.
Surprisingly, I am not really upset about it. I feel shocked that my world has been turned upside down, but I have this strange feeling like all is going to turn out better than before. I know that had I not been laid off, I would have stayed at my current job indefinitely for lack of a strong reason to leave. I was warm and comfy, and inertia is a powerful thing. Even if I was fairly certain there were better opportunities out there, I just didn’t feel the urge to expend all the time and energy and risk to find out.
So now I have been booted out of my cozy little cubicle and have a great chance to see how good or bad The Previous Company really was, and to see how much money I could be making, and other stuff.
The timing couldn’t have been better, actually. Grumblecake and I were having the serious “Do we want to live here long-term” discussions. We were really torn about whether we should bite the bullet and buy a horribly overpriced house here before the houses become so overpriced that we couldn’t buy one even if we wanted to. We just didn’t know if we liked this area enough to make the commitment.
Now, we feel like we have the chance to move anywhere we want to. And moving to D.C. to begin with, and the severance package I received, we feel like we are able to go where we want. It has been exciting and empowering to get to choose where you live next. Our top ten list right now (in no particular order) is:
Cleveland, OH (Family, culture, cost of living, Drew Carry is from Cleveland BUT Cleveland Browns, cold winters and not super close to other places)
Albuquerque, NM (Family and friends, Culture, cost of living, BUT might feel like a failure if we moved back home, less jobs, limited activities)
Washington D.C. (Job Market, lots and lots to do, already started to settle here, BUT Washington Redskins Super expensive housing, people are meaner, traffic)
Atlanta, GA (Has come Highly recommended, Job Market, Cost of living, easy to travel to other places BUT some people there still fighting civil war)
Charlottesville, VA (Just seemed nice while we were visiting, less expensive housing, college-town feeling, BUT are there jobs?, everything is named after Thomas or Martha Jefferson)
Madison, WI (Very liberal, Smaller, college-town feeling, hot job market, That 70 Show is set in Wisconsin, and it is funny, BUT Cold, limited social activities, harder to travel, school mascot is a Badger- although everybody here loves the Hokies, perhaps the wankerest mascot ever)
Seattle,WA (Just seemed nice while we were visiting, friends, culture, activities, easy to get to other cities, Liberal BUT Rainy and overcast, expensive)
Denver,CO (Broncos, Close to Family/Friends, Casa Bonita Restaurant, BUT, might be long commutes and cold)
Austin, Tx (Comes highly recommended, great culture and music, “a little piece of not-Texas in Texas, BUT Hot, in Texas)
Dallas, Tx (Comes highly recommended, jobs, housing, friends BUT in Texas, hot, most evil football team ever)
Montreal/Toronto, Canada (You know how after the election everybody joked about moving to Canada, well, it actually seems quite charming, free health care after a citizen, lower cost of living, culture BUT No Football, high taxes, cold, not in the US, their pledge of allegiance pledges to the Queen)
More to come later . . .
