This is exciting!
May 9, 2008
So, I’ve been waiting for something to break my finals induced non-blogging doldrums, and I think I just got it–the 2:30 re-air of the Colbert Report was just interupted for an emergency weather announcement! Rock on, National Weather Service! You can tell me all about your severe thunderstorm warnings any time! As you know, I am the last person to be cavalier about severe weather, but when I’m comfy cozy at home and looking for an excuse not to go running, I do enjoy me some thunder and lightning.
Now, in other news.
1) We now have a place to live for the next year in Iowa.
2) I say U-Haul, D says Penske.
3) I need to write an MFA thesis. Why do I have more fresh creative nonfiction and plain old fiction than poetry? To be rectified asap.
4) It’s kind of weird–since I accepted my new job offer, both the owner of my favorite wine store and the owner of my favorite pub have decided to move on out. I wonder if Florida–or all places, maybe– have epochs that people end up falling into. We got here in late 2004 and now we’re headed out in 2008. We’ve never been able to think about buying anything worth buying real estate-wise, but we never had trouble finding jobs when necessary. We were here for a whole string of hurricanes, none of them bad in an enormous way but all of them adding up to mass PTSD. We lived in a certain South Florida, and maybe that SoFla is giving way to a new one, the one that my sister will live in. Maybe the people who stay are the ones who don’t let these ups and downs get to them. But what makes it worth it to stay in a place? Will I ever be the kind of person who says, this is where I live, end of story? Is it just timing all along, and sooner or later the time comes you won’t or can’t or don’t want to move? These are the questions obsessing me as I start putting things back into boxes.
5) SJ = now obsessed by Battlestar Galactica.
Oh rats, the sun is coming out. NWS, you’re letting me down!
Let\'s Shall 
May 9, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Eventually you’ll find that place to put down more permanent roots … but that’s likely a ways off. We’re likely not going to be staying in Florida for much longer anyway…
May 10, 2008 at 9:36 am
DS and I are ready to split Florida too, as I’ve told you. But wouldn’t you know the first interview I’ve received for a full-time job is from a Florida organization. I may not get it, but if it were offered, I’d be willing to take it. And that would put a crimp on moving to Connecticut.
May 10, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Oh, to leave this place and soon.
I say Penske. U-haul has screwed me a couple times. I only use them when there is no other option. If you do use U-haul, reserve your truck in person where you’ll pick it up. The online reservations get sent to the local shops at the last minute and you’ll get put in the “if a truck shows up you can have it” queue. And then there is no way to get your deposit back from the online website. Supposedly you call the 800 number and speak to a rep, but you’ll just stay on hold and no one will ever pick up. I stayed on hold for two hours before I gave up.
May 10, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Emily: Yeah, I do see myself as one day wanting to stick around somewhere, and I think I was in a bit of a rush to do it here. That didn’t feel quite right, this time around, but I hope it will eventually.
SOS: It was all a matter of timing. I had an interview lined up in Miami as well, which I cancelled when I accepted this other job. No guarantee I would have gotten it by any means, but if the positions had been reversed I might have chosen differently. Mostly, I didn’t want to choose, so I decided to go with what felt great and not worry about other things that might have also been great. There were just too many branches on the decision tree, so I stopped trying to evaluate each one and just let it work out somehow.
JG: Thanks for the tips! Much much appreciated.