On the sixth day of christmas...
Yay for semi-frequent LJ updates, eh!
...
Well, Ok, frequent for me.
So, starting from about where I left off last time...
This Thanksgiving, much to my parents' chagrin, Teeka and I decided we would spend the time in Seattle with our many friends there instead of at home, with my ueber-huge family.
We stayed in the "Comfort Suites Seattle Center" (which we highly recommend to anyone who needs to stay in the Seattle area, and doesn't have a couch they can crash on, or don't want to impose on friends living in the area already). We got off to a late start mostly because I spent most of the day leading up to the time we were going to leave trying to get World of Warcraft running under Linux (I got it working, but it was still choppy enough that I decided to just turn my laptop into a dual-bootingwintendo/linux box over the break. I managed to get this set up by the end of the holiday, but it turns out there wasn't any time for WoW then anyway, thank goodness. :)
For the record, Pronto Pizza delivers at 2:30am, and their pizzas and sandwiches are very nummy.
Thursday (Thanksgiving) after sleeping in until noonish, Teeka and I hit Fred Meyers for some groceries and burnable CD's, then headed over to wicked_sairah's and blueroo's place for some awesome Thanksgiving goodness. We caught up on old times while helping to prepare the meal (a little-- Sairah and the 'roo did an awesome job with the meal and hosting and whatnot). Eventually a bunch of people showed up (I think doc_mcdowell, calypte, jurann, K'sharra and someone else whose name I don't remember off-hand), and much goodness was had all around.
Notes from Thanksgiving:
Mostly, I was really happy to be able to hang out with Blueroo and Sairah again... It's been so long, and things ended on such a sour note when we left Seattle. I guess time is healing those wounds, too.
Friday, after again sleeping in liberally, Teeka and I eventually picked up her long-time friend gibbouswolf and then her room-mate jyuu-chan for some hangin' out and arting goodness back at the hotel. We ordered a taco pizza and watched Taladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (which was surprisingly funnier than it had any right to be). Eventually we were joined by kliefox and v_lockhart and generally had a good time. Jennifer drew some of the most cute little sketches of people in the hotel room (it was to squee for, really).
That evening, we all headed down to the Purple Dot Cafe for some late-night chinese eats. We were joined by foxcutter, xodiac and eventually doc_mcdowell and calypte. Although the food wasn't quite as good as I remember it being, I think we all had a good time. And it was great to just be able to catch up on the times with everyone there, eh.
Saturday, again, after sleeping in liberally (we loooooves the sleepin' in thing!) Teeka and I hit Uwajimaya for lots of asian-snacky goodness and then head south to firesplace and kieferskunk's place. I have to admit I was really impressed with the find they've made with their new home: Teeka and I would feel very lucky indeed if we could land something as sweet. When we got there, kiri33 was there, and eventually we were again joined by foxcutter and xodiac. To our surprise and joy marbled_genet and crashka had apparently burned rubber earlier in the week with their move from the east coast, and had arrived in the Vancouver, WA area earlier than expected. Instead of taking a break like sane people, they decided to jump in the car again and head north to meet up with us all at Fire and Kiefer's place. (And we are *really* happy they did! They're soooo awesome!) That evening, all of us decided to go out for sushi at Fire and Kiefer's favorite sushi place in Redmond. It did not disappoint! (We *so* miss sushi and bubble tea where we live here in Moscow.) That evening, those of us non-locals crashed at Fire and Kiefer's place.
Sunday, after once again sleeping in (can you sense a theme here?), Teeka and I enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the skunk and unicorn's place, got to see some of the truly awesome gameness of Kiefer's X-box 360, and then we finally said our goodbyes and headed out... only to get caught by the crappy weather on the pass. It was an interesting trip home (our average speed up the pass was 10 mph), but we made it safely, if rather late. Our kitties had missed us, of course, and weren't stand-offish for too long. Still, the extra-long drive home gave Teeka and I plenty of opportunity to talk about all kinds of stuff, and come to a couple of decisions about things...
And one of the things we decided is that we are probably going to be looking seriously about moving in the near future. There are a number of reasons for this:
So... Teeka and I are thinking we want to move to the Portland, OR or Vancouver, WA area. We've thought about Seattle, but really don't think we'd ever be able to afford it or be able to buy a place we'd *want* to live in that didn't entail an hour-or-longer commute to work. Among the biggest reasons we left the Seattle area in the first place were:
I'm not sure there's much we can do about that last point above no matter which population center we decide to move to. We're steeling ourselves up for it, though, and think we will be able to deal with it.
Yes everything is expensive in a big city. But the key is to be aware of your finances and not live beyond your means. And also, not to sell yourself short with how much you are demanding to be paid to work at a given job. (I realize now that this may have been my biggest mistake in moving to Seattle-- I far underestimated how much it would cost me to live there, which also means I far underestimated how much my employer should have been paying me to live there.)
I'm not sure how bad the traffic is around Portland, but I suspect it's better than in the Seattle area. If any of you have input on this, we'd love to hear it.
But mostly... Teeka and I want to own our home. We really, really don't want to be dealing with a landlord again, or flushing our money down the toilet paying rent (for very long-- we realize we might have to rent for a half year or so once we move.) We absolutely refuse to get ourselves into the situation again where we are consistently paying more each month than our income... we absolutely will not live in such a way that perpetually drives us deeper into debt. And housing prices vs. salary in a given area are a key indicator of whether we'll be able to do that. From the looks of the housing prices around Portland and some typical salaries for the area, we'd be able to live comfortably in a home we want to live in, given the right job (which appears to be within reach).
So... long story short, I've updated my resume and have been sending it out to companies in the Portland area. I've had a few bites... and a few companies who've come out of the woodwork to ask about hiring me (several in the Seattle area... and various other non-Portland areas around the United States... grrr!). But if any of y'all have any input on the above, or know of any hot jobs in the Portland area, we'd love to hear it!
...
Well, Ok, frequent for me.
So, starting from about where I left off last time...
This Thanksgiving, much to my parents' chagrin, Teeka and I decided we would spend the time in Seattle with our many friends there instead of at home, with my ueber-huge family.
We stayed in the "Comfort Suites Seattle Center" (which we highly recommend to anyone who needs to stay in the Seattle area, and doesn't have a couch they can crash on, or don't want to impose on friends living in the area already). We got off to a late start mostly because I spent most of the day leading up to the time we were going to leave trying to get World of Warcraft running under Linux (I got it working, but it was still choppy enough that I decided to just turn my laptop into a dual-bootingwintendo/linux box over the break. I managed to get this set up by the end of the holiday, but it turns out there wasn't any time for WoW then anyway, thank goodness. :)
For the record, Pronto Pizza delivers at 2:30am, and their pizzas and sandwiches are very nummy.
Thursday (Thanksgiving) after sleeping in until noonish, Teeka and I hit Fred Meyers for some groceries and burnable CD's, then headed over to wicked_sairah's and blueroo's place for some awesome Thanksgiving goodness. We caught up on old times while helping to prepare the meal (a little-- Sairah and the 'roo did an awesome job with the meal and hosting and whatnot). Eventually a bunch of people showed up (I think doc_mcdowell, calypte, jurann, K'sharra and someone else whose name I don't remember off-hand), and much goodness was had all around.
Notes from Thanksgiving:
- Robot Chicken is friggen hillarious
- Serenity is a great movie
- Gourmet mustard from Buffalo, NY is TEH BOMB! (Blueroo-- you'll have to tell me the name of the place again, and whether they've got some kind of online or phone ordering system in place.)
- Shiba Inus are extremely bouncy, but totally lovable and funny, too.
Mostly, I was really happy to be able to hang out with Blueroo and Sairah again... It's been so long, and things ended on such a sour note when we left Seattle. I guess time is healing those wounds, too.
Friday, after again sleeping in liberally, Teeka and I eventually picked up her long-time friend gibbouswolf and then her room-mate jyuu-chan for some hangin' out and arting goodness back at the hotel. We ordered a taco pizza and watched Taladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (which was surprisingly funnier than it had any right to be). Eventually we were joined by kliefox and v_lockhart and generally had a good time. Jennifer drew some of the most cute little sketches of people in the hotel room (it was to squee for, really).
That evening, we all headed down to the Purple Dot Cafe for some late-night chinese eats. We were joined by foxcutter, xodiac and eventually doc_mcdowell and calypte. Although the food wasn't quite as good as I remember it being, I think we all had a good time. And it was great to just be able to catch up on the times with everyone there, eh.
Saturday, again, after sleeping in liberally (we loooooves the sleepin' in thing!) Teeka and I hit Uwajimaya for lots of asian-snacky goodness and then head south to firesplace and kieferskunk's place. I have to admit I was really impressed with the find they've made with their new home: Teeka and I would feel very lucky indeed if we could land something as sweet. When we got there, kiri33 was there, and eventually we were again joined by foxcutter and xodiac. To our surprise and joy marbled_genet and crashka had apparently burned rubber earlier in the week with their move from the east coast, and had arrived in the Vancouver, WA area earlier than expected. Instead of taking a break like sane people, they decided to jump in the car again and head north to meet up with us all at Fire and Kiefer's place. (And we are *really* happy they did! They're soooo awesome!) That evening, all of us decided to go out for sushi at Fire and Kiefer's favorite sushi place in Redmond. It did not disappoint! (We *so* miss sushi and bubble tea where we live here in Moscow.) That evening, those of us non-locals crashed at Fire and Kiefer's place.
Sunday, after once again sleeping in (can you sense a theme here?), Teeka and I enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the skunk and unicorn's place, got to see some of the truly awesome gameness of Kiefer's X-box 360, and then we finally said our goodbyes and headed out... only to get caught by the crappy weather on the pass. It was an interesting trip home (our average speed up the pass was 10 mph), but we made it safely, if rather late. Our kitties had missed us, of course, and weren't stand-offish for too long. Still, the extra-long drive home gave Teeka and I plenty of opportunity to talk about all kinds of stuff, and come to a couple of decisions about things...
And one of the things we decided is that we are probably going to be looking seriously about moving in the near future. There are a number of reasons for this:
- Teeka is pretty lonely living in Moscow, Idaho. While we do have a few friends in the area with whom we occasionally do stuff, we very much miss everyone we left out in Seattle when we moved. True, we don't live *that* far away-- but a 5-hour drive (also over a mountain pass) makes the occasional weekend visit a chore, and really, just doesn't happen.
- And although I don't show it that much, I'm somewhat lonely myself. But probably not as much as Teeka.
- Teeka and I were utterly dumbfounded by the number of people who went out of their way to be able to visit and hang out with us over Thanksgiving. Apparently some of y'all miss us, too! ;)
- I'm in a dead-end job here in Moscow. My marketable skills are atrophying, and... well, I don't get any satisfaction out of my job anymore. To be honest, my work performance has been really lacking, even considering what little I have to do here-- I'm actually to the point where occasionally I'd like them to simply fire me so I'd have more of an excuse to move on with my life. And the area in which I've accumulated the most experience and qualifications for... well, those jobs are generally only found in or near larger cities.
- Once we've discovered the nature of Teeka's health problems, and hopefully a way to treat them, Teeka will have a much easier time finding work in a more populated area.
- Obvously, if we lived, say, within a couple-hour drive of Seattle, and not over the pass, we'd have a much easier time doing those weekend visits and stuff.
So... Teeka and I are thinking we want to move to the Portland, OR or Vancouver, WA area. We've thought about Seattle, but really don't think we'd ever be able to afford it or be able to buy a place we'd *want* to live in that didn't entail an hour-or-longer commute to work. Among the biggest reasons we left the Seattle area in the first place were:
- Housing prices are insanely high. And if you want to own a place you actually want to live in and can afford, you're looking at an hour+ commute to your job.
- Everything is so damned expensive in the city...
- The traffic... the traffic... the traffic...
- I hate to say it, but people are generally rude and mean to each other in big cities.
I'm not sure there's much we can do about that last point above no matter which population center we decide to move to. We're steeling ourselves up for it, though, and think we will be able to deal with it.
Yes everything is expensive in a big city. But the key is to be aware of your finances and not live beyond your means. And also, not to sell yourself short with how much you are demanding to be paid to work at a given job. (I realize now that this may have been my biggest mistake in moving to Seattle-- I far underestimated how much it would cost me to live there, which also means I far underestimated how much my employer should have been paying me to live there.)
I'm not sure how bad the traffic is around Portland, but I suspect it's better than in the Seattle area. If any of you have input on this, we'd love to hear it.
But mostly... Teeka and I want to own our home. We really, really don't want to be dealing with a landlord again, or flushing our money down the toilet paying rent (for very long-- we realize we might have to rent for a half year or so once we move.) We absolutely refuse to get ourselves into the situation again where we are consistently paying more each month than our income... we absolutely will not live in such a way that perpetually drives us deeper into debt. And housing prices vs. salary in a given area are a key indicator of whether we'll be able to do that. From the looks of the housing prices around Portland and some typical salaries for the area, we'd be able to live comfortably in a home we want to live in, given the right job (which appears to be within reach).
So... long story short, I've updated my resume and have been sending it out to companies in the Portland area. I've had a few bites... and a few companies who've come out of the woodwork to ask about hiring me (several in the Seattle area... and various other non-Portland areas around the United States... grrr!). But if any of y'all have any input on the above, or know of any hot jobs in the Portland area, we'd love to hear it!