July 4, 2002
Lotsa stuff I have to think about. And I'm not exactly a quick-make-a-decision type. Anyway, the meat of it is: I'm still unemployed, I should really get a job to tide me over for a while, and my lease expires in four weeks.
I have a few options with the lease thing. I could get a new apartment here, but I'd possibly have to break the lease at some point. And the only apartment I saw last week that I really liked won't let me break the lease at all during the winter. I could move back in with Mom and Jim, which kind of goes against my whole "Akron's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there" ideal. There's the possibility of moving to DC and getting the hold-me-over job there. Finally, Shields offered to let me "pull a Tristan" and sleep on his sofa while I try to find work in Atlanta.
It took me a while, but I've finally got it figured out. I think. Akron, while being good initially, would suck long-term. There are no computer jobs that I've been able to find in the Cleveland-Akron-Canton corridor, which would leave me stuck in my not-quite-job for a long time, since most people are hiring locally. Atlanta would also be cheaper, but I don't know anyone there except for Shields. And I wouldn't have time to try to set up (what passes for) my social life while working -- probably with overtime -- and looking for work and looking for an apartment. It's a nice offer, but no. Washington DC sounds good -- I know about 10 people there and there's a much larger job market for people like me. It's also a lot more expensive, and I'm not sure I could afford to look for work there.
Which leaves the 'Burgh. I'm staying here. I'll get my not-quite-job, look for work, and try to find a lease that I can break on x days' notice any time of the year. If I don't see anything good in Sunday's paper I'll sign up for the not-during-the-winter place and put my search on hold for a couple months. Worse things have happened.
And all the while I'll just keep in mind the old maxim that "whatever does not kill me makes me stronger."
As always, my loyal reader(s) will be the first to know what's going on.
