A fork in the road
So had my annual review with the boss today and he told me that once more I get a exceeds expectations because well, I am awesome and stuff :). So I took the time to tell him of some of my plans and wants and my future here at the company. I explained that to reach the goals I have for myself I either need to live somewhere cheaper or make a lot more money. I basically explained that I would like to be able to work remotely, that I have been working hard to establish myself as someone who could work in a remote office and still be counted on to always finish my projects on time or early and produce results. I explained that I was not talking about doing so this year or anything and I was honestly expecting him to just shoot it down right away. To my surprise he seemed very open to the idea and told me to let him know when I was ready to do to it and he would start pushing it through with our department to see what we could work out as far as what I can expense (power and stuff) and how it would work. Well, that kind of puts me on the spot because now I have to make some tough choices but they are ones I have needed to make for a while.
I love CA, I love where I live and seeing all my friends, I really do, but its not putting me any closer to the goals I have had for myself for a very long time, and I am not getting any younger. As crazy as I know many of you will think I am, I have always wanted to live in a small simple house, on a large bit of land and just do the country thing for a while. Now there are some places in CA where I can do that and its not super expensive but it was certainly not in driving range of work. It is at least in visiting range of friends though. So I have that option. Another is to leave the state and go somewhere else where I can certainly get more for my money. I also have land in TN and would only have to pay to build a home there. Basically I could stay out near CA and friends but it would cost more to live, or I could go further away and make more money. I mean I could go live in TN where my sister and father live and live on the family farm that I own and basically live like a king with my current pay but, well I would not be in driving distance of my friends that I have out here in CA. But the other side of that is that I would finally have something I have wanted all my life. And it does not have to be TN (I just have land there), it could be OR, WA, CO, there are just many places I could get what I want.
So I am at a crossroad. I don't have to decide today, but I know in the next year or two, I will have to make the choice. This is going to be a hard one to decide.
I love CA, I love where I live and seeing all my friends, I really do, but its not putting me any closer to the goals I have had for myself for a very long time, and I am not getting any younger. As crazy as I know many of you will think I am, I have always wanted to live in a small simple house, on a large bit of land and just do the country thing for a while. Now there are some places in CA where I can do that and its not super expensive but it was certainly not in driving range of work. It is at least in visiting range of friends though. So I have that option. Another is to leave the state and go somewhere else where I can certainly get more for my money. I also have land in TN and would only have to pay to build a home there. Basically I could stay out near CA and friends but it would cost more to live, or I could go further away and make more money. I mean I could go live in TN where my sister and father live and live on the family farm that I own and basically live like a king with my current pay but, well I would not be in driving distance of my friends that I have out here in CA. But the other side of that is that I would finally have something I have wanted all my life. And it does not have to be TN (I just have land there), it could be OR, WA, CO, there are just many places I could get what I want.
So I am at a crossroad. I don't have to decide today, but I know in the next year or two, I will have to make the choice. This is going to be a hard one to decide.