Ok, so now im not moving to Oregon. Uhaul was not happy.

I got a job working IT Weenie stuff for Pinellas County; my office is in downtown Clearwater, so im going to find a place to live over there.
The job is a good job, though, great salary and bennies. I am content. :)

so those of you praying i would leave Florida again, sorry; God says to wait.

A friend with Pinellas County IT set me up with an interview with them, so me and my uhaul trailer rolled into Tampa last night to see how it goes. Im only out a few days travel time if the interview goes poorly, or i can just stay here if the interview goes well. So we'll see.

As some of you may recall, my job was moved to the Charlotte, NC area in July/August, and i have moved into an apt in Gastonia, NC.
Well, that job is now over, so im going to move back to OR. I really like the northwest, and have a few leads on jobs in the Portland OR area, so that's where im moving to, in the next 2 weeks probably.

Im going to swing through Florida this week to visit friends there, then back here to pack a uhaul trailer and drive cross country. for those who took really good notes last year, i drove from Fla to Eugene OR last January. ironic:)

More news as it comes, and check my facebook page if you want to see pics of the drive, up to the day events, etc. the plan will be to roll west from NC on the 14th or 15th, stop in Arkansas to see the folks, then west and north from there up to Kansas City, Cheyenne WY, Boise, ID, then into Oregon via the Columbia River Gorge. should be a pretty drive, if i can avoid the snow:) Im in no hurry, though, so if i see snow, i'll be content either way.

All my stuff and my car just showed up, so i guess i can say ive moved now:) a few errands to run this week, but i can start unboxing and settling in now and figuring out what makes this town tick, etc.
So, let me tell you a little story.

Monday my furniture left Eugene, so i slept monday and tuesday night on the floor at my old apt in a sleeping bag.

Tuesday my car left, so i ordered chinese for dinner that night. However, they had packed all my silverware over the weekend, and the chinese place forgot to give me plastic ware, so i got to eat my Cashew Chicken with my hand, while sitting on the floor of my apt.

I was supposed to fly east on Wednesday, however, in checking my flight Tuesday evening while eating chicken with my fingers, i noticed the ticket was for Thursday, not Wednesday. The airline wanted a mere $400 to move me up a day, so i said never mind, and took a cab to a hotel Wednesday night to stay the night.

Flight from Eugene to San Francisco was pretty boring, though i was on the aisle so i had to keep leaning into my Window Seat Friend every time someone wanted past. The San Francisco airport is such a clever place that i had to go outside the airport to switch terminals, so i got to go through security a 2nd time to get into my proper terminal. i deal, i wore sandals on purpose, plus i had a 3 hour lay over. One nice feature of that airport, though, is these leather recliners with power plugs between them, so i was able to recharge my phone and laptop while sitting comfortably.

The flight from San Fran to Charlotte left at 10pm ish, and thanx to the magic of time zones, the 5 hour flight took 8 hours long, and i arrived at 6am, or there abouts. I couldn't really sleep on the place, since i was in the middle seat and could never relax for fear of squashing either of the 2 little old ladies on either side of me. at least they were little, so we all had enough room to wiggle a little bit. I was hoping the red eye would be empty, but no, it was actually completely full somehow.

Once i arrived at Charlotte, somewhat bleary of eye, i couldn't get a rental car. none of them would take my bank check card, the only card i had. fortunately i had some friends in the area, and i was able to take a shuttle bus up to Hickory and have one of them pay for my rental car on their credit card. Thank God for friends:)

Some of you, my readers, may have seen the listing in put on Facebook for a cute little house in Lawndale, NC.. Before i left OR, i had setup the utilities to it in my name, sent some stuff from Amazon to meet me there, etc., so hopefully i would be able to move right in and get going on Friday morning. Twas not to be, alas. On my way there i called my would-be landlord, and he waffled somewhat on that house, offered me a 2nd house; maybe i would like it better. I didn't quite bite his head off, but i came close in my fatigued stupor, but calmness prevailed. Once i got to the house, however, calmness lost the battle. Fortunately the landlord couldn't meet me there then, because i might have sworn at him and thrown things.

The house has new shingles on the roof, new siding, as advertised, new exterior lighting. very nice. However, the roof is as wavy as the atlantic ocean, and the foundation looks like it predates the roman ruins, and is in worse shape them the pyramids. Also, someone still had belongings in the house.

Nice.

So after prowling around the yard and getting more and more upset, i gave up and left. Remember now, my furniture and car were arriving here this weekend, and they were all planning on showing up at that house.

When i calmed down enough to think clearly, i pulled out the trusty laptop and got on Google. I found a decent looking apt complex in Gastonia, and calling them they had 1 unit available Friday. I went and looked at it immediately.

Im writing this now from that apartment, but i will say that the ladies running the front office were great, bending a couple procedures to get me approved in under 2 hours.

So, a day i would rather not repeat anytime soon, but it ended well, and i had some most excellent Cracker Barrel for dinner. They don't have Cracker Barrel in Oregon, somehow, so it was top of the list of things i needed to find to eat.

I think i will like it here well enough. its not a cute house on an acre, i can't have honey bees or a chicken coop, but it has a nice back porch facing the woods. I am content:)

I can't post this on facebook yet, but i will later, once everyone at work knows.

The short of it is i am moving to North Carolina, to the Hickory/Charlotte area. My office will be in Hickory.

Good Neighbor Care manages assisted living apt buildings, but owns few of them. the rest are owned by various investment groups, and they pay GNC a fee to run them. of the 49 buildings GNC manages, 34 are owned by a REAT out of New York. that REAT group has chosen to move their 34 buildings from GNC to a new company forming in NC. as part of the deal a few of us are moving with it to help the new company do the work. there are 40 other buildings in other ownership coming on board, too, smaller then GNC buildings, but still, saying we will manage 74 buildings is impressive i guess.

The bad news is that alot of my friends at GNC are getting laid off, or short terming with GNC for a couple months, then done. the company that owns GNC isn't making the best decisions in the world right now, so i can't honestly say i think GNC will exist for long. I am moving with some friends i had in Tampa, and some new friends from GNC, so i will have some coworkers i trust in NC. the short version, i guess, a large part of the people i trust at work are still going to be coworkers, while the people i dont trust so much are staying and floudering; a few people i really enjoy the company of wont be able to make the move for various reasons, and i will miss them.

Its been a busy year for me:p moving from one side of the continent to the other twice in 6 months:p I dont have a solid timeframe for my move yet; i may home office in Eugene for a little while, or i may move asap. i am apt hunting in NC just in case i need to move quickly. id like to drive cross country again, but there may not be time. we will see.

So, if you could pray, i would appreciate it. alot of good people are losing their jobs all over this country, but i really will miss some great friends here, and i pray they will be taken care of.

Church recommendations for the Hickory/Charlotte area would be appreciated, too.

NC will be a great move for me, i think. good job, good people, lots to keep me busy in the new place. plus i'll be alot closer to alot of people i have missed since i moved west. i'll be 6 hours or so from Nashville, Washington DC, 12 hours from Fla.

Maybe i'll move back to the northwest someday, i do like it here alot. you should definitely check out this part of the country.

When i know something official about my move timeline, i'll post it on facebook.