It's that time of year again...
I've lived in St. Louis for almost a year, so I guess it's time to move again. It seems I'm slowly traveling the world by living in a different location every year. The only glitch is that I have yet to leave the states of IL or MO.
This time it looks as though I'm headed to Champaign-Urbana. My best friend Amanda is about to move there, and we've been talking about being roommates for a long time. The only real problem as of yet is finding a job.
I was thinking about it today, and I kind of hate to move out of St. Louis. I love that I live across the street from a park, and there is a dog park close by to take Luke to. I'm surrounded by cool old architecture including the building that I live in. There is even a neighborhood coffee shop two blocks away that always has cute little kids running around in it while their parents drink coffee. There are so many great restaurants close by especially on Grand street which is only four blocks away. The city just has so much to offer with all of the museums and events. I've lived here for a year, and I have come absolutely nowhere close to experiencing half of what this city has to offer. But at the same time I never have any time to experience it. I work all of the time, and when I'm not working I'm spending time with Phil or my dog. My workplace is way out in the boring suburbs. Far from anything interesting. I work way too hard for what I get paid, and my bosses seem to take advantage of my hard working nature by giving me more and more responsibilities with no pay increase. What kills me is the day after Amanda told me she was officially moving to Champaign my boss decided to tell me that when the new store opens he's going to make me the assistant manager and I will get a pay increase of an unknown amount. It makes me mad because I have no idea if it will be worth it to stay, and of course this recognition of my hard work comes along right as I'm planning on leaving. I am going to have a tough time quiting this job though, because the owner Rod is a good guy and I would hate to let him down, besides the place really will fall apart without me unless someone else steps up and starts doing A LOT of extra work.
I think living in Champaign will be a really good thing for me. I'm really looking forward to being Amanda's roommate, and I'll even be living closer to Phil if I move there. I'm sure I'll be able to find a park, and maybe even a dog park. I know there will be great restaurants and coffee shops. Hell I know there will even be events to go to and things to do, just not quite as frequent as in the city. And it may not be quite as exciting as life in the city, but in all reality I'll probably get to have more fun and do more. Now I just need to find a job that is at least as good as my current one, if not much better. Really I just need to get myself out there and start asking around. Just yesterday I met a photographer from Highland that just happened to be in the Chesterfield mall and had decided to see if he could check out our studio setup. I know Highland is nowhere close to Champaign, but we struck up a conversation and he mentioned that he is always looking for assistants for weddings. He didn't say how much he paid or if he needed anyone full time, but if nothing else it could be an option for some extra cash. Plus sometimes chance meetings like that can lead to much greater things.
So yeah I'm on the move again, here's hoping that I find a good job, and that I'm making the right decisions... Got any advice for me?
This time it looks as though I'm headed to Champaign-Urbana. My best friend Amanda is about to move there, and we've been talking about being roommates for a long time. The only real problem as of yet is finding a job.
I was thinking about it today, and I kind of hate to move out of St. Louis. I love that I live across the street from a park, and there is a dog park close by to take Luke to. I'm surrounded by cool old architecture including the building that I live in. There is even a neighborhood coffee shop two blocks away that always has cute little kids running around in it while their parents drink coffee. There are so many great restaurants close by especially on Grand street which is only four blocks away. The city just has so much to offer with all of the museums and events. I've lived here for a year, and I have come absolutely nowhere close to experiencing half of what this city has to offer. But at the same time I never have any time to experience it. I work all of the time, and when I'm not working I'm spending time with Phil or my dog. My workplace is way out in the boring suburbs. Far from anything interesting. I work way too hard for what I get paid, and my bosses seem to take advantage of my hard working nature by giving me more and more responsibilities with no pay increase. What kills me is the day after Amanda told me she was officially moving to Champaign my boss decided to tell me that when the new store opens he's going to make me the assistant manager and I will get a pay increase of an unknown amount. It makes me mad because I have no idea if it will be worth it to stay, and of course this recognition of my hard work comes along right as I'm planning on leaving. I am going to have a tough time quiting this job though, because the owner Rod is a good guy and I would hate to let him down, besides the place really will fall apart without me unless someone else steps up and starts doing A LOT of extra work.
I think living in Champaign will be a really good thing for me. I'm really looking forward to being Amanda's roommate, and I'll even be living closer to Phil if I move there. I'm sure I'll be able to find a park, and maybe even a dog park. I know there will be great restaurants and coffee shops. Hell I know there will even be events to go to and things to do, just not quite as frequent as in the city. And it may not be quite as exciting as life in the city, but in all reality I'll probably get to have more fun and do more. Now I just need to find a job that is at least as good as my current one, if not much better. Really I just need to get myself out there and start asking around. Just yesterday I met a photographer from Highland that just happened to be in the Chesterfield mall and had decided to see if he could check out our studio setup. I know Highland is nowhere close to Champaign, but we struck up a conversation and he mentioned that he is always looking for assistants for weddings. He didn't say how much he paid or if he needed anyone full time, but if nothing else it could be an option for some extra cash. Plus sometimes chance meetings like that can lead to much greater things.
So yeah I'm on the move again, here's hoping that I find a good job, and that I'm making the right decisions... Got any advice for me?