With the interview, the baby, and what will wind up being a large interstate move of my very own*, I’ve been deep in thought. I’ve pretty much had to be.
People keep quizzing me on why I want to move to North Carolina so badly. To me, it’s not so much that I want to move out of New Jersey, but that it’s gotten so expensive to live here that I don’t know what else to do. I’m in a job that, while it’s not horrible, is slowly shriveling my soul. I can’t do support as a full-time thing anymore. There’s no creativity in it, just repetitive motions and repeated admonitions from my mouth and out their ears. While this job is soul-shriveling, it’s a state job. The benefits are fantastic. Healthcare is not an issue (except when they drag their feet getting your newborn onto your plan *grumble*) . The salary is OK. It’s more than a lot of people I know make for a single income.
But in this lousy state, it’s not enough. I don’t want an eighty year old house in Glassboro for $200,000. It’s not where I want my son to grow up. I don’t want to live in a place where the population density is to the point where if I want to avoid living up someone’s ass I have to move to the Pine Barrens or Millville. If I get this job, we’re moving, and it’s not without regret. I love New York City at Christmas. One of my favorite memories is when Aimee and I went to see the BNL Holiday Show, and we took the train in from New Brunswick, and got on the subway, walked across the street through crisp winter air and saw a great little show. New York positively crackles in winter. And it’s not to say that I don’t love Jersey at Christmas either.
It’s just a lot to deal with. I’ve been thinking about it for a long, long time. Yeah, Jeff got to me a while ago, but it took until I had a family to realize it. I joke that the streets are paved with gold in North Carolina, but to me it’s not so far off the truth. It’s a beautiful place to live. It’s a place I can afford to buy a great house for m son to start his life in and it’s a place where very close friends have done great things with their life.
And that’s where we’ll do it too.
*Because I’ve done plenty of interstate moves in my life with my family, just not as the primary person actually initiating and preparing the move. QED.
