Erieversible

Okay, not exactly.  We close on the house on Wednesday at 10:00.  Assuming everything goes according to plan.  That’s the dawn of our new life, I suppose?  Though the subject has echoes of the 1943 film ‘We Dive at Dawn’.  Life’s like that.

There’s a lot to do between now and then, including the pre-closing walk-through.  Plus all the utilities and essentials such as cable TV.  I spent 42 minutes on the phone this evening setting up cable - I hope that I don’t need 42 minutes for each of the utilities otherwise I’ll be having trouble keeping up the ’smiling voice’ by the end of it all.

With 75mph winds in the last 24 hours, and more flooding than this area has seen for a while, if the house is still unscathed when I look round it tomorrow then, touch wood, it should be a fairly sound house for a few years yet.

Fingers crossed…it is all beginning to end.

So, three days into the new job, and after two days of orientation I entered the IT department.  First impressions are that as a company they not only talk the talk, but walk the walk as well.  Everyone is very friendly and the working atmosphere is quite remarkable.  Of course, in theory I could just have caught them on a good day, but I don’t think so.  This was the right decision!

Today I did most of the driving unaided; the GPS stayed tucked away.  No wrong turns, so I am getting to know at least a few of the roads around the place.

The pace of the house purchase seems to have settled down.  I think everything is now waiting for the legal processes to work through, though there’s some financial paperwork back in Erie needing a signature (or seven!).  That can wait until the weekend as it isn’t on the critical path.

In the next few days I have to make a decision on what to do about my 401k.  I’ve never had such a thing before, so whether to invest through that or take my chances elsewhere….a decision on which I’m trying to gather as much information as possible.  It is easy to focus too much on the last 12 months, and the general downfalls of 401k fund values, but I need to focus on the longer term.  Still not an easy decision, but a very interesting one!

So, another strange day, but all days at the moment are somewhat unique.  Routine is something we are working towards and which, hopefully, is now not too far away.

Well, maybe not the last day of freedom but certainly the last non-weekend day that I can do what I want.  On Monday I start work, and the US practice of giving only a handful of vacation days each year to employees will mean that days like today become precious.  I had 30 days vacation a year in the UK - that’s one of the things I gave up with the move!

It won’t be fun being away from home 5 days a week, but unlike when the rest of the family moved over here in the summer and left me behind to tie up loose ends (like selling the cars and house!) at least we’ll be back together at weekends.  And it shouldn’t be for too long, as the house purchase progresses smoothly.  Touch wood.

So what have I been doing today?  Nothing special.  I’ve had a lot of days like this since the summer and I am raring to get back to work.  When I suggested a start date of 8th December the company said that was a lot sooner than they were expecting, but luckily they are delighted to get me sooner rather than later.  At least if I find it hard going I’ve got the Christmas break to look forward to.