moving? maybe
thursday, september 5, 2002


moving has come up between saxy and i as an option before, but this is the first time we're really serious about it. serious enough to start looking around. serious enough to ask friends about where they live and the job markets and rents.

face it, california can be a pleasant place to live, but it is outrageously expensive and the pay only covers it if you have a degree. period. with the "energy crises" out here, utility bills alone have sky rocketed. and the minimum wage hasn't even begun to keep up. consider this:

there are next to no jobs where we live and the ones that are available require a degree. period.

a 3 bedroom apartment (not a house) in a sucky neighborhood starts at $750-800/month. houses starts in $1000/month range.

my electric bill on a good month is close to $80. don't ask about a bad month.

we've only made it because we're in income sensitive housing. we always feel we're one step away from the streets. then there's the other things - the gang and drug infested neighborhood, over crowded schools, and air you can cut with a knife - as long as it's sharp.

so we're looking into moving. probably to one of the middle or southern states since the east coast is close to as bad if not AS bad as cali. there are states that are recruiting teachers - to the point where they pay to move you. in some states i could teach community college with my current degree. in cali you have to have a masters just to teach at community college part time. heck there are places where mcdonald's, MCDONALD'S, is paying $10/hour, tuition reimbursements, and sign on bonuses! you don't even get that for driving out here! other states need workers. california is an employer's market. and where we live there is next to no jobs.

so, we're seriously considering moving. we're checking into places we could go with jobs and reasonable rents (of course, from our perspective, almost any rent is reasonable! lol). i was surprised this was an option for saxy. me, i've lived here for over 10 years (actually, now that i think about it, probably close to 20), but i don't call it home. i moved a lot as a kid, no place is home. lol but saxy was born and raised here. i figured he'd want to stay. but, as far as he's concerned, it's just a place to live and he's willing to live anywhere.

the biggest issue is the kids. and the biggest issue among the kids is kitten. it's just going to turn into a fit fest. sigh . . .

as for the how to do this, that's a bit of a problem too. we're pretty sure we'd send saxy out first and let him get things set up enough to move us out there, but just sending him some place for a bit will be a heck of a lot cheaper than trying to get all of us out at once.

well, everything's still in the consideration phase. we're not even planning yet. one step at a time. we have a lot to think about and look at, a lot of needs to cover, before we deicde: work, housing, special needs services, schools, etc etc. this may end up being a long process.