Triumphant Return

Oh where, oh where have I been?  Not publishing blog posts, that's for sure!

Notice that I said not publishing blog posts.  I have indeed been writing them, I just get to the end of them and just... sort... of... stop.  Not that there has been nothing noteworthy to write about in my life and not that I haven't had the time.  I actually had a long and scintillating essay outlining my opinion on kissing and date etiquette, but it always ended up being kind of a drag. 

To give you the concise version, I find the current trends in kissing to be a bit disturbing.  In my experience, most boys are unsure of how long to wait.  While one would assume that this would lead to a comfortable waiting period, it seems that they have all come to the conclusion that the second date is when you do it, no matter how well you know the person or how much you actually like them.

Seriously, if I had a dollar for every time a guy went in for the kiss before I was mentally ready for it...

Lest you think that this subject arose from a recent incident, be assured that it did not.  It actually came from a conversation I had with a male friend who amazingly enough admitted to me that he has never "technically" kissed a girl.  Don't ask me to explain the quoted use of the word technically.  It pretty much just means that he has never had the guts to kiss a girl.  Even though he has dated and gone out with some of the girls for as many as a dozen dates. 

Anyway, enough.  I refuse to get pulled back into that discussion again. 

So what else is new?  My semester is half over!  October is almost gone!  I am applying for more jobs!

Actually, I am not applying for tons and tons of jobs just yet.  I know that I still have a good couple of months left in my education before I can seriously entertain the thought of moving to chase a good position, but it doesn't hurt to start looking.  This is how I came across an interesting possibility. 

Although you may have forgotten, I was not always a suburban city-dweller.  Most of my formative years were spent in the semi-rural regions of Minnesota.  Willmar always gets top billing, but we did live in a few other places.  In fact, both of my brothers were born in a town other than Willmar.  OK, OK, so all three of us were born elsewhere, but my brothers were born in the same elsewhere as one another.

In the interest of protecting my potential privacy, I shall not name the town.  I don't want to jinx anything.  But let it be known that there is a library job available in this city and I have applied for it.  Honestly, I have no idea if I will be considered, but then again, I don't know what kind of competition there is for library jobs out-state. 

For a long time, I have had a great deal of stress surrounding the idea of working outside the metro area.  Mostly because of my housing situation.  Then I had an epiphany.  So maybe I just had a conversation with a knowledgeable person who helped me to land upon a very possible solution:  property managers. 

You see, my house can simply not be sold right now.  The market has sucked away every penny of equity I had and then some.  Some people might look for a way out or even just walk away from their debt responsibility.  But not me.  I will not do it.  Unfortunately, I likely cannot afford to keep paying the bills for the place if I need to be paying the bills to live elsewhere.  The thought of renting it out had strong appeal, but how to manage tenants?

Then some brilliant person (I honestly cannot remember who) suggested that I contract with a property management company.  They could not only take care of finding and screening tenants, but they could be the people to take care of any issues that may come up after the fact.  I have priced out a few places, and once I follow up a bit more, I think that I may have found my solution.  Who would have thought?

Now, don't worry.  I am not putting all my eggs in one basket.  I am still going to keep looking in the Twin Cities to see if I can't find a way to stay local.  But I cannot tell you what a freeing thought it is to realize that my stupid townhouse will not doom me to a life of second choices and lesser options in my life. 

This brings me to another interesting part of the debate over moving away, especially to a rural area.  What would I give up to do this?

1.  Convenience.  I have become so accustomed to having nearly everything I want at my fingertips.  I realize that the Internet has opened up options in this area, but I will have to re-learn the basics of life without easy access.  Things that I take for granted such as being able to take my car in for free oil changes at the dealership will be a thing of the past.

2.  Friends.  Most of my closest friends live in the Twin Cities area.  Not that some have not moved or threatened to move far away in the past, but I will need to figure out how to build a new support system in a new location.

3.  Media.  So I know that they have Internet and TV elsewhere, but will my favorite radio station play somewhere else?  Can I get access to high-speed Internet that will allow me to stream their programming?  Will my smart phone work in the new town?

4.  Lena.  I have a dog.  She needs to have space to move.  I would love to be able to live in a place with a yard, even a tiny one, but if I end up in a metropolitan area, that may not be easy.  If I live in a rural area, this could be a non-issue, but still a consideration.

5.  Housing.  I have always assumed that I would not buy another house as long as I still own my current one.  However, if the new location is somewhere without a great deal of rental options, I may have to consider other ideas.  Could I become a land baron?  Maybe!

These are just some of the many things that run through my head as I contemplate a total upheaval in my life and change in venue.  It is exciting and terrifying all at once.  Wish me luck.