Finally I have details
Well I stopped writing here for a couple of reasons… the poorest one is that the site is blocked by my work network and I can’t be bothered to disconnect the VPN for long enough to write and post an entry. The slightly better reason is that I’ve had a lot on my mind and wanted to post more about my work situation, of which I still had no real details of until yesterday. So my silence is now broken and hopefully I’ll be updating more frequently again.
I’ve had many nights where I haven’t slept much, with my mind full of impossible decisions that I knew one day would need to be made. I’ve discussed it with pretty much anybody that will listen, and have probably made what is initially a shocking and exciting opportunity now sound to my close friends as a boring internal debate. The fact is that it’s still real, and a life changing decision will still need to be made.
Yesterday I finally found out the salary and relocation package, although I don’t have this in writing and still need certain other details before I would be expected to make a choice. Now I have these two important details I can now begin to discuss this more seriously with friends and family (and bore them again).
Clearly the figures they’ve given me aren’t making it an easy decision (too little and I’d stay without hesitation, much more and I’d be stupid not to go) but there are so many other factors - as I’ve discussed in a recent entry.
Today I intend to write a list of pro-Florida things and pro-England things. This is something Andi suggested, and although I initially didn’t like the idea because just writing one word doesn’t show the significance it has on my life, but the more I think about it the more I should probably get these thoughts written down. I might surprise myself and end up making it an easy decision!
I also have several questions to ask my employer: Can I get a short business trip out there before I make a decision to see the area and meet the people? Will they provide a visa for Pam - if she wants one? If things don’t work out, will they help me to get a job within the company back in England? All things that I believe are reasonable requests…
Anyway, I intend to update this blog with details in hope that it might help somebody else in this situation. It’ll certainly make for interesting reading for me in five years time, whichever decision I make!
February 12th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
If Pam wants to go and it’s logistically possible (I imagine she’s more than qualified, but US immigration is a total bitch to work with at the best of times) then I totally think you should go. It’s really easy to make friends and meet people in a place like Florida (even I know people there!) and unless the pay is crap, there aren’t that many negatives.
The main pros for staying here, of course, are probably familiarity and the ability to settle. But, heck, you’re 25 not 35, and you’ll probably be kicking yourself in twenty years if you didn’t take the opportunity. As they say, “on your deathbed it’s the things you didn’t do you regret, not the things you did do.”
Of course, this is an extremely simplistic stance, but, well, sometimes the most complex of situations requires the simplest of decision processes. I’ve done quite a few things just with a “oh fuck it, let’s just do it” mentality (moving out, buying a house, writing a book, for example), and can’t say I regret it. I mean, come on, you jumped out of a PLANE! Moving to sunnier climes and having an adventure of a life-time is not even as bad as that! :)
February 12th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Just to add yet more blathering.. I saw the title of your last post and felt inspired:
“Making 2008 memorable”
In twenty years when, I hope, you’re telling your kids the stories of your life, what do you want to be telling them? Let’s assume staying in London would be good, and going to Florida would be less than perfect. Still, you’d either be saying that in 2009 you played it safe, had a fun time in London, got a good job, and so forth.. (that is, not a story you’d tell your kids at all) or that in 2009 you moved to Florida, got into all sorts of crazy scrapes, and had an amazing mind-opening experience in a foreign culture?
Perhaps the kids / legacy angle doesn’t work for you, but I try to keep it in mind when I can!
One of my best moments to recall is when Laura and I got stuck on the wrong side of Snowdon, on the side of a cliff, in cloud under 10m visibility, Laura bawling her eyes out, me crapping myself, but hey, it actually felt good in a way and I really have fond memories of it now (Laura doesn’t, but that’s a different matter). Dramatic experiences can still be good in the end.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Thanks for the comments Pete, you make some good points.