by "Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
Published 08/12/2017 at 11:50
by "Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
Published 08/12/2017 at 11:50
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STARS: 3
Since moving to the Midwest 5 years ago, I’ve taken some time off from work, unfortunately most of it involuntary. The last time I took some time off, back in May, it was spent just cleaning house, something I’ve been putting off for some time.
My current job has a different approach to vacation time than most places I’ve worked, a system that I actually like. Based on seniority, we meet with the manager and HR and pick out our vacation weeks for the year. We know what we have, the company knows what they need to cover, and there is a sense of fairness about the whole thing.
I haven’t gone anywhere in 5 years. When I was unemployed I obviously couldn’t go anywhere, unless you count a volunteer teaching job at an Army base 130 miles away as a vacation. The other day I was talking to my mom and mentioned that I had a week off coming up in September. I’m not really in a position to buy a plane ticket right now, and driving 1,834 miles each way, solo, during a week off didn’t terribly viable. Sure, it would go faster in the Mazda than it did in the Budget rental truck, but still, that’s a bit much. She mentioned the time off to my dad, and he remembered that he had a stash of frequent flyer miles on American just sitting around, essentially unusable to them since AA really doesn’t fly to the places they want to go (and if they do it’s with so many restrictions as to make getting a free ticket or two an exercise in frustration). Anyway, a few minutes online and I’ve got myself a trip to SoCal!
Unlike other vacations, I’ve got a roof over my head, home-cooked meals every day, and a classic Benz at my disposal, all at the same price as my airfare - nada. I get to fly straight into SNA, so I don’t have to go to Los Angeles (I lived in LA for 21 years - I’ve seen enough of it). Now I’m just thinking of all the things to do besides visiting with friends and family. There are a few favorite restaurants I want to hit - nothing too terribly fancy, just places that bring good memories:
walking the equestrian trails
maybe a little boating in Newport Harbor
I do wish the city’s one car dealer (Mazda/Buick) was still in business because I’d love to have a license plate frame from them for my Mazda:
And since it may be a few years before I get back there again, I’ll probably look like some sort of crazy tourist, snapping pictures everywhere I go. It would be nice to move back, but I just question whether or not I can afford to do so. The Midwest is just so incredibly affordable compared to what I’m used to; I guess I’d have to find a really great job in order to make the move back.
(my apologies if I get Kinja’d and you get 287 copies of every image. The last time I deleted the duplicates I wound up with zero images, so obviously I don’t know WTF is going on...)
"Rico" (ricorich)
08/12/2017 at 12:43, STARS: 0
What made you want to leave the West Coast for the Midwest? Work?
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
08/12/2017 at 13:03, STARS: 1
Years ago I was looking at places that I was willing to relocate to for work, and the cities stretched from San Diego to Vancouver BC; obviously my thinking was a little too focused on the west coast.
In 2010 I was laid off from a job in the airline industry, kind of a specialty manpower and resource planning position, and finding work close to home was a challenge. A position opened up in a company based in the Midwest and so I jumped out of my comfort zone and moved 1800 miles away to try something new, at least as far as living conditions were concerned (Snow? That’s something you visit, you don’t live in it...)
As it turns out, that job morphed into a crappy sales job and the company was horrible, and I was actually quite relieved to be laid off yet again. I did find a much better position in a fantastic organization, this time working in public transit. I still miss the airline biz, but the boom/bust cyclical nature of that world did not allow for long-term planning. Perhaps in a few years I can take a look at public transport in California and relocate back to what I still consider to be ‘home’.
"Rico" (ricorich)
08/12/2017 at 13:11, STARS: 0
Wow that’s still quite the move. Big ups to you for being able to do that and be successful. “Snow? That’s something you visit, you don’t live in it...” lmfao that’s why I asked! Hey good luck with your well deserved vacation and hope you get plenty of rest and relaxation!
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
08/12/2017 at 13:24, STARS: 1
The weather isn’t really as big a deal as I expected. Where I am the winters are relatively mild, and even last year I was disappointed by the lack of snow. I have come to enjoy having actual seasons for a change.
When I moved here I bought a new car, a Mazda5 6MT. I figured that I should give up RWD and no stability/traction control or airbags for something a bit safer in these new-to me conditions. I actually don’t mind driving in the snow now, but if the right opportunity came along to move back to the west coast I might just jump on it.
About 18 years ago I had the chance to relocate to Hawaii for a several years on a military project I was working on, but I ended up taking a higher-level position in the same organization during a reorganization/palace coup and ended up getting laid off, whereas the people I had transferred to the lesser position ended up keeping their jobs and going to Hawaii. Now I think twice about passing up sweet relocation opportunities.