Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

[DarkTirade]

So I might be moving across the country with very little warning soon.

Basically my life kinda went kaput a couple years ago, I had to drop out of school, ended up working at a warehouse, not much going on right now. What with the warehouse work for two and a half years, right now I'm without a doubt the most physically capable person in my family when it comes to sheer lifting and carrying things. Also, I've got the least going on right now, and I'd love to be able to get back into school. I also very much hate living in Florida, the only reason I'm here is because I don't have anywhere else to go.

Well, my grandpa has been sick on and off for a while, and right now he's just had a few surgeries and needs help getting around. My grandma is a college english teacher in upstate NY. I just got a call yesterday asking if I'd be interested in moving in with them and helping out around the house.

This seems like a great opportunity. Not only could I possibly get back in school this way and get the hell out of this muggy swampland, but I'd still be near relatives (grandma and grandpa right there, aunt and uncle nearby in Syracuse, my older brother just moved to Vermont last week, and a few more relatives slightly farther away in Boston. And my little sister was thinking about going to college in Ithica when she graduates. So if I stay there long enough I'd be around for that too. :) ), but I could also do some good. It really makes perfect sense for me to go, as I mentioned I'm the most physically capable of helping, and in addition I'm the one with the least going on here and the most to gain by going there. My older brother has his own family and his job to keep up with, my stepbrother can't just walk away from his work suddenly, and the only other person in the family who'd be physically capable of helping out would probably be my cousin, and he's off in college right now. Also, I'll have more of a chance to wear my bad-ass trench coat I found at Goodwill for 25 bucks a while back, there are only two or three days a year where it's cold enough to wear it here. :)

They also have a barn there with plenty of room for me to toy around with whatever I feel like doing. (I'm always trying to make something. I've got lots of leather lying about from my experiments with leatherwork, and right now I'm brewing mead and toying around with the idea of making guitar-type instruments. It's hard to find the right kind of wood though, and I don't want to spend too much money until I get a feel for it and see if I could actually make something worth selling. Before that I used to make prop lightsabers to sell on eBay, at least I did until Episode III came out and the Star Wars hype started to die down.)

When I was talking to my mom on the phone about this I think she was about to cry. She knows its a great idea for everyone involved and she really wants me to go, but at the same time she just had one son move all the way up there, and now without any warning the other one's about to follow. I'm not too worried though, we were planning on doing Thanksgiving up there this year anyway, so at the very least I'll see everyone soon. And I've got one of those Vonage internet phones, so I've got free long distance calling. :)

The only catches so far are:

A) I don't know if I'll be able to transfer my job up there, normally they only allow transfers for educational reasons, and my grandparents need me there soon, not when the next semester starts in January. They do occasionally allow a transfer if there's a good enough reason though, and I think taking care of a sick relative might count.

B) I have a lease here until August AND a roommate dependant on me being able to pay half the bills. If it was just me, I'd say fuck it and break the lease. Then I wouldn't have to worry about getting a job ASAP up there because I wouldn't have to pay rent and bills and whatnot. But I can't leave my roommate in the lurch like that. So I think my best bet will be to put up an ad on Craigslist or something. It's a bit of a messy situation, because this apartment has some kind of tax break thing for people within a certain income bracket, so it has to be someone relatively poor like us, BUT someone dependable enough that my roommate isn't gonna get screwed. And a nonsmoker, nonpartier, DEFINATELY nondrug user. And someone with no kids. There isn't room for them in here, and my roommate's allergic to them. :P And it would have to be someone who can put up with a messy (and occasionally not the most responsible guy) artist type as a roommate. Either way, I'll stop by the office when they open tomorrow and see what it would take to get someone else in here.

C) The only one of my creative endevours that I've been doing pretty much my whole life (I started doing BASIC programming in 3rd grade and went from there) is indie video game design. My current roommate is a 3d artist, and we've got plans to make a few games together at some point. I know it's POSSIBLE to do so over long distance, but that could be messy. That's a distant third though, because getting my life together and helping a relative both take precedence over that. I can still make games without him, just not the ones we've been planning together. I'm not worried about losing touch with him either, he was a roommate of both my brothers before me and he's practically family. He's even on my top 8 in Myspace. :)

Anyhow, I'd probably keep rambling on but I need to get ready for work. I'd welcome any advice, anyone looking for a roommate in the Orlando, FL area, or perhaps even marriage proposals if they're phrased properly. :P

*edit* and to quickly add before I go, all these relatives that live nearby are the quirky interesting ones on my mom's side of the family that I like, but what with me being on the other side of the country and being poor I haven't seen nearly as much as I'd like to in the last few years. So that's another plus. :)

[hfojvt]

1. every day at work I check the vending machines

It seems like 50% of the time there is a dime or a nickel left in one of them. People seem to forget all their change alot.

If you are going to upstate New York, I would say 'be prepared to shovel some snow.'

I find it amazing that this warehouse even has a branch in New York and Florida that you could transfer to.

[DarkTirade]

2. Well, I don't want to give up too much personal info about where I work...

but the initials are UPS if that helps. :)

[DarkTirade]

3. Huh. Unexpected good news on one front.

Apparently it'll be REALLY EASY for me to leave the apartment without breaking the lease. The way it is set up, if the person who makes the most money leaves the lease is broken and everybody leaves. But if the person who makes less money leaves, it's no problem. Up until about a month before we signed the new lease I made more money than my roommate. But suddenly he got a better job, and my freelance work dried up. At the time I thought it was a pain in the ass... now that might turn out to be a good thing. :) I don't even have to give any warning or notice, I just need to sign a few papers and have my roommate sign a few. Getting somebody else in there to take over my half of the lease would require jumping through a few hoops, but just the same hoops it takes to apply for a lease in the first place. And between me and relatives eager to make sure my grandpa gets the help he needs, I'll be able to keep covering my half of the bills for at least a few months while I find a replacement and they get the paperwork in.

And I might have a lead on a good roommate to replace me too. One of my old roommates, who is also a friend of my current roommate because they both have worked at the theme parks here, might be looking for a new place soon. So I just dropped him an email, hopefully he'll bite. (But not too hard, I don't want to have to explain any random teeth marks to people... :P ) I hope that works, because it's hard to find a good roommate. Especially with such stringent requirements as 'a non-smoker, nondruggie who doesn't have any kids or noisy or arachnid (roommate's arachnaphobic) pets and preferably doesn't drink/party a ridiculous amount'. And I know my old roommate doesn't do any of those things. In the three years I lived with him the only time I ever saw him drunk was after his fraternaty initiation. (and he is NOT a frat boy type, this was a very lax non-typical fraternaty) And even then he was a nice drunk. He kept stumbling around and telling me and the rest of the roommates, "You know what... you guys are just awesome. You guys are so awesome." :) If he's interested then this whole thing'll work out just fine I think.

[Dora]

4. All the signs are saying, "Go!"

I think you've already made up your mind.

:thumbsup:

[DarkTirade]

6. Yeah, I'd already pretty much decided to go

I just wasn't sure whether it would be a temporary stay or a move. Now it's looking like it'll end up being a move.

[Dora]

7. I think this sounds like a great opportunity.

Congratulations on the change! Your mom will be okay. :hug:

Good luck!

[DarkTirade]

9. Yeah, she's still got two out of five living down here...

although one's a stepson rather than a biological one.

We were kind of a Brady bunch. My mom had two, my stepdad had two, then they got married and had one more. Boy it was nice when my older brother moved out when he was 18 and I finally got my own damn room... :)

I'm actually a little worried about leaving my little sister behind though. She really looks up to me. :( She's turned into as big a geek as I am, and I'm the best geek role model she knows.

[SmokingJacket]

5. It sounds great!

I live in upstate NY, and think it's the greatest. The only downsides are the weather (which you might like) and the lack of jobs, which you've already got covered.

Lots of good Democrats up here!

There are tons of places to go to school, too.

GOOD LUCK!! :hi:

[DarkTirade]

8. Lemme tell ya, I am a cold weather creature.

I have not enjoyed living in FL for the last seventeen years or however long it's been. It's too damn hot to even go outside and exercise here... and yet if I can't exercise and get rid of that extra layer of insulation around my middle, it makes it even hotter!

The only thing I'm worried about when the cold weather comes is learning how to drive safely in the snow and ice. All I've had to deal with here is wet roads.

Of course, they're wet ALL THE TIME here. Because if it isn't raining (I think we get more rain here than they do in Seattle and London combined), people leave their sprinklers running full blast and don't bother to point them towards the grass. Then they wonder why the aquafers are running low... stupid people. Now I'm going to go brush my teeth and leave the water running the whole time. :P

[SmokingJacket]

11. The worst winter drivers are the ones who don't think it's any different

You just have to be constantly aware of the fact that in the winter, the road can be slick in one spot, slushy in another, and dry in another. You have to feel your car and your tires reacting to different surfaces. People who just speed through it all are the ones who end up in a ditch. And never slam on your brakes at an intersection when it's been snowing! :spinningsmileygoeshere:

Also, I highly recommend studded tires.

[DarkTirade]

12. Well, unfortunately I just wrecked my own car (wet roads + stupid person in front of me)

so the car I'll be driving up there will be my grandpa's. And I'll need to learn how to drive stick. So I'll probably be more in tune with feeling the car by the time winter hits anyway. :)

I've always been a fairly cautious driver anyway though. The only accident I've been in was that one where my car went kaput, and my only mistake there was letting my guard down for a split second and NOT expecting someone else to do something incredibly stupid. A mistake I won't make again anytime soon.

[lost-in-nj]

10. It sounds like Karma

is working for you here......

Don't know if you believe in signs but I would say being able to leave your lease
is a huge one.....
You will still come here?? right???
Good Luck. And yes, I think you have made up your mind... :)
lost

[DarkTirade]

13. Oh yeah, I'll be making sure they get internet installed there.

Especially since my only phone right now is a Vonage internet phone. Kinda needs internet to work. :)

[TK421]

14. Go for it...its sounds like a great opportunity

I know, I lived in Florida for four years and hated every minute of it. :thumbsup:

[DarkTirade]

15. Yeah, only reason I'm here is because my parents moved here when I was a kid

only reason I've stayed is because of monetary reasons, plus all my friends and family were here.