Where to begin, where to begin.
So I moved to New Hampshire right as winter was ending (thank god). It snowed twice after I moved, and once enough to even have work cancelled. The image to the left was the view outside on the morning work was cancelled. The snowfall was waaaaay less than forecasted, and, since this happened on April Fool’s day, I was left wondering if my boss was playing a cruel joke on me. The first time it snowed I was overcome with this incredible childlike wonderment. In the past I had a little experience with snow, but not much. This coming winter I’m sure I’ll get my taste. My dad doesn’t think I’ll be able to stick it out here after being a lifelong Floridian. He could be right. I’ve put myself in unknown territory, and now it’s time to see what I’m made of.
On my trip up and upon arrival, everyone thought I was crazy to make this move. My dad and I constantly wondered why people stay in places they think are horrible.
I had several motivations for moving:
1. With the Space Shuttle program ending, my job was likely to follow suit.
If I had stayed I probably would still be working at Kennedy right now, but the future looks no better. Probably worse. With congress’s inability to sign off on a budget for this year, and the whole debt crisis, absolutely no progress has been made in deciding what the future is beyond the shuttle. All indications are that we’ll be seeing another budget fight for FY2012 that starts in October, so who knows if they’ll finally stop with continuing resolutions and make a decision.
2. Having always lived in Florida, I wanted to switch it up.
Might as well see what somewhere else has to offer while I can. I still want to live in a real city, and the obvious choice is Boston at this point. It’s a little far and definitely more expensive (e.g., state income tax, longer drive to/from work, higher cost of living in general), maybe after a promotion or two.
3. Vaishali’s interest (and general distaste of Florida) and her family in the Boston area and my relatives in New Hampshire.
This was, of course, very key. The part about my family ended up being perfect timing, but not for a pleasant reason. Right around the time I moved up my grandma was diagnosed with Richter’s transformation (extremely rare) of the form of cancer she’d had for ~20 years (CLL). This mutation is incredibly aggressive and she passed away in late June. I was incredibly fortunate to see her quite often thanks to my move, and able to help where I could.
In regard to Vaishali, she hasn’t been able to move up so far, but I’m hopeful. Her sister living in the Boston area has aided me in seeing her several times already though.
See, that wasn’t so bad. Although it did take awhile.
