It's been several weeks since my last update and so much has happened. Let me get you caught up.
So those of you that know me personally know that when we originally bought our house, we bought in a cheaper neighborhood so that my wife could work part-time and then eventually become a stay at home mom. The downside of that is that the housing bubble really took a toll on neighborhoods like ours and so the value of our home never increased. Like many people we lost value. So when the time came to sell our house things didn't look good for us. In fact after doing a lot of research, it appeared that our best option would be to rent it out. Naturally that brings with it a whole new set of issues but it worked out. We rented out the place, packed up, moved out and in with...
The In-Laws
Its funny, I always said I'd never be the guy that moves back in with his parents. I am currently typing this blog post from the "FEMA" tent we have set up in my in-laws backroom. Now admittedly, it's for a limited time (92 days 22 hours as of right now....) and it is to save money for the move. Truth be told my in-laws are about the nicest people I've ever met so it isn't like I'm walking around on egg shells. They do have some odd habits though. Just the other day they were sitting around watching old episodes of the Lawrence Welk show. Not the SNL parody (I checked) and not to make fun of the sheer amount of polyester featured in shots of the crowd. My wife's dad also has a vast knowledge of horrible jokes. Not horrible like The Aristocrats horrible. I mean horrible like I may have already read the joke on a laffy taffy wrapper. So obviously it could be a lot worse.
The Job
A couple of weeks ago I had a trial with my employer to shake out some of the issues I'm going to have working remotely. It was a very limited test that only lasted a couple of weeks but it kind of opened my eyes as to what I'm in for. During this trial period I woke up around 3:30 and was supposed to work until Noon. These are the hours I will have in Maui and so I think they just wanted to make sure that I could wake up and be productive that early. The problems we encountered stemmed from the fact that while I was working the hours I would be in Hawaii, I was still located in Omaha. So if I needed a response on something, I wouldn't hear back until everyone showed up for work. I also may have received a complaint or two about my 4:00 am emails. The other issue is in the level of engagement with other employees. I still need to come up with a way to engage the other employees remotely. Working in a small office, most people are more comfortable with face to face communication and collaboration. In this day and age though, I really believe that we should be able to communicate effectively with anyone no matter where we are. All in all things went well and I am officially proceeding with the plan to move. Like a runaway train the only thing that is going to stop us now is a complete derailment.
I hate long blog posts, so I'm going to cut this one short. The next one I'll talk a little bit more about getting the cat ready to go over and what is involved in that. I will also be discussing the amount of planning and coordinating involved in a move like this.
For motivation I've been looking for other blogs and podcasts of people that have made the move and I find the variety of people interesting. There is one particular couple that I've been following for a while now. Check out their channel TheDavisDuos. Josh and Kalie have truly been an inspiration. They had a dream and decided to follow it. Watching their journey from just before they moved to more than a year after their move to Oahu has been great. Just getting a glimpse into what daily life will be like helps everyday pass a little quicker. Check em out and Subscribe.
