As of tomorrow, I will have been here a month. I've been noticing that I am not homesick. I don't even miss cheesesteaks. If it was hockey season, I'm sure I'd miss the Flyers, though.Here are a couple of lists of things I miss and don't miss about being in NJ.
Things I don't miss about NJ/Philly:
1. Rudeness
2. Watching the local evening news and getting whiplash from shaking my head.
3. My job
4. Eagles drama
5. Traffic congestion (taking a half an hour to go five miles)
6. My past lurking at every corner
7. A large majority of people not speaking English
8. Smug attitudes
9. The stress
10. Paying $845 for a tiny one-bedroom apartment that is at least as old as I am, with a perpetually broken air-conditioner.
Things I do miss:
1. My parents being close enough to really check on
2. My kitties--they help with the lonesomeness
3. Wawa
4. The elderly neighbor we call "Pastor." He always waves hello and good-bye to me from his wheelchair. I dare say he probably prays for me, too.
5. Ummm....can't think of ten things. Is that bad?
Back home, I never feel like I "fit". I never have. My grandmom used to tell me that I wasn't an Easterner. She used to tell me that I was Midwestern. I don't know what she meant by that. But what I do notice is that I need to be in a calmer, less stressful environment where people are kind of chill. Living life seems to be more important here than rolling over people to get to the "latest" thing.
I wish I could stay.
8 comments:
Damn. I wish you could stay too.
I like the way you have mellowed since your vacation.
What usa_admiral said. You'd be happier where you're at.
Every time I go to NJ to visit, I remember why I left. Crowded, rude, dirty, expensive, crumbling, smelly...What's not to love?
Admiral
That mellow person you "see" is what I become whenever I leave NJ.
I'm praying about that move. Trust me.
Insol
I love reading my local Jersey/Philly papers online (to keep up) and feel like I'm not in the middle of all that crap anymore. I rarely watch the news here. I feel a little clueless, but that is beginning to feel like a good thing.
Jeffro
That would be my hope. There is stress everywhere you go, but the pace of life is much different and I like it.
Big Bad Wolf
There is nothing attractive about it. The places that have pretty scenery are cost prohibitive and have plenty of rude people.
The rudeness is getting worse, too. I don't like driving by the landfills and pig farms every morning, either. Blek.
OK, so what's keeping you in NJ? Really, if it's that bad...why not explore other opportunities? It's a big country and full of far better environments than the toxic hell that is the 'Garden State'.
Please note, I say that as a former resident.
The only place I'd consider living in NJ is near where my parents are. All farms and horse ranches and woods. They're 10 minutes drive from Great Adventure since I know you're wondering.
Spread your wings and fly, RT. Take a chance.
I'd have to take a 10K-15K pay cut. I need to pay my bills.
I'd still have to help my mom with rent back in Jersey. We signed a lease a couple of weeks before I came down here.
Honestly, that is what stands between me and moving down here. My parents would likely follow me wherever I went. Heck, my dad is thinking about moving to Maryland.
That financial miracle I've been praying for...still praying for it. My boss knows I want to stay and she's cool with it, so I'd get a great recommendation. (I teach at one of the top schools in the state, too. That is a major help.)
If anyone feels like praying, this is what I've been praying for: Debt free enough (or totally) to exist on what I'd make down here, money to help my mom, a job, and a place to live.
God knows the numbers. :)
Well, I can understand about the lease thing. They're tough to break without a really serious reason. I had to have an officer on one of my ships write me a formal letter to break one and Virginia tends to be an easier state to do it in.
About the pay cut though...
Imagine rents that aren't ridiculous, taxes that are reasonable, prices for goods that are fair, almost no tolls, cheaper insurance for just about anything.
There's that $10-15k you just lost all back again. Ok, maybe not so much but it's better than it was.
Between the wife and I we pull down about $2k a pay period after taxes. We pay for a mortgage, condo fees, insurance, utilities, cell phones, groceries, credit cards and gas and still have enough left over to 'feed the pig' so to speak and put some in savings.
Still think you can't do it? Keep the faith. The universe answers us when we ask for something.
God will provide if it is His will. Really, He will.
I've seen a lot of evidence just within the past year of what He's capable of doing.
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