| RotoGuru Politics Forum View the Forum Registry XML Get RSS Feed for this thread | Self-edit this thread |
|
| 0 |
Subject: Big changes happen in threes Posted by: Seattle Zen - [46315247] Sat, Nov 11, 2006, 21:27 I ask you: What is the opposite of Dubai? I believe I know the answer: Longview, WA Like Nerve, I am undertaking a move from one culture to a drastically different one. I got a new job and will be leaving the greatest city in America for a lumber town of 50,000 on the banks of the Columbia about an hour north of Portland. I will not be the only Gurupie in Longview as Recycled Spinal Fluid hails from the sister city of Wako, Japan. Why leave the Emerald City for the soggy, smelly little burg filled with corporate box stores and little else? While I love my present job, I am not paid well and I am not given health insurance. My girlfriend is leaving her job so little Lillie needs coverage. After an exhausting, frustrating, and humiliating job search, I ended up in Cowlitz County as a charter member of their Office of Public Defense. I will start working exclusively with misdemeanors but should move up to felonies shortly. After gaining felony experience I can come back to Seattle in a few years and I will dictate the terms of my hiring with one of the Public Defender agencies, not the other way around. I figure that I will be spending a lot more time at home for the next four-five years with the new baby so I would be missing out on what makes Seattle great anyways, but I am afraid that we will find it difficult to make new friends down there. Funny thing is - without these boards, I wouldn't have this job. Biliruben introduced me to his friend who offered me my present job. Guru will be getting a donation from my first paycheck. Things happen in threes. Two years ago I was a single man dating multiple women living the bachelor life in metropolitan Seattle. Now I have a cute little baby at home in Longview, WA and married. You can thank the Cowlitz County government for forcing our hand as Bozena and I will tie the knot because the county does not offer domestic partner benefits. It really does not make a difference to us, we made a life commitment to each other when we choose to have a baby. We wanted to elope in Jamaica, but now we will have a simple ceremony sometime in December. | |||||||
| 1 | sarge33rd ID: 76442923 Sat, Nov 11, 2006, 21:59 | A heartfelt congrats Zen. (Even if it does come from somewhere in "flyover" country. lol) I think over the next couple years, as the little one grows, you'll grow to appreciate the slower pace of a mid-sized city and the opportunities it presents for families. | ||||||
| 2 | Perm Dude ID: 131052118 Sat, Nov 11, 2006, 22:01 |
Nice. Congrats. 50,000 is a "little burg?" You've been in Seattle too long, my friend! | ||||||
| 3 | Perm Dude ID: 131052118 Sat, Nov 11, 2006, 22:09 | The new Zen home? | ||||||
| 4 | Pancho Villa ID: 366352418 Sat, Nov 11, 2006, 23:49 |
My brother's in-laws live in Longview. I used to do gigs there regularly in the 70s as well as across the river in Rainer, Oregon. It is beautiful and friendly. It's not Fremont District, but it's only a half hour to Portland which is just as cool as Seattle IMO. Good luck, SZ, you'll dig it. | ||||||
| 5 | angryChair ID: 459171622 Sun, Nov 12, 2006, 11:47 |
SZ: I am in Portland if you need a little beer break sometime to talk PNW Sports, especially the INSANE PAC-10 (Dude-Stanford?)... Anyways, congrats! P.S. I used to fish the Cowlitz River as a kid. A great river. Mt St Helens beat the heck out of it for awhile, though. | ||||||
| 6 | biliruben ID: 535193010 Sun, Nov 12, 2006, 12:05 |
Congrats, Zen! My sister's office down in Battle-ground, if you ever want to pay to be stuck with needles. I'll be in touch on some other doings. PD - Nothing in Cowlitz County, except maybe a lot of cocaine, should ever cost a quarter of a million dollars. I don't care how many square feet it has. | ||||||
| 7 | soxzeitgeist ID: 110271212 Sun, Nov 12, 2006, 13:34 |
Congratulations, Zen. I second Sarge's sentiment about 'burgh size. I'd never trade my NY upbringing, but it's not difficult to adjust to a small city size, especially when combined with proximity to the opportunities Portland (and their terrible NBA club) have to offer. Best of luck. | ||||||
| 8 | nerveclinic ID: 231047176 Fri, Nov 17, 2006, 07:56 |
Zen half an hour from Portland can't be all that bad. The opposite of Dubai is probably not such a bad thing either. Unless you like chain smokers, suicidal maniac drivers, 100 degree heat as the norm, over priced rent...OK and more beautiful women then you've ever met in your life including hot 25 year old Chinese chicks who just have to tell you they really want to marry an American...8-} (I didn't just say that did I?) You'll be fine because you have the best thing in the world...good company. Cheers and good luck, Nerve | ||||||
| 9 | walk Dude ID: 32928238 Fri, Nov 17, 2006, 08:42 |
SZ: congrats on your life change. It sounds good. It sounds sorta "zen." Nice one. Nerve: Yeah, about that beautiful women thing. I get this feeling that if, and maybe it's already the case, you start, lemme see how best to put this, "appropriately exploiting those opportunities," your adjustment to life in Dubai may became very easy. - walk | ||||||
| 10 | sarge33rd ID: 99331714 Fri, Nov 17, 2006, 09:59 | exploiting?????? Nooooooooooooooooooooooo. It's "international relations". Sort of an unoffical "ambassador" kind of thing. ;) | ||||||
| 12 | RecycledSpinalFluid Dude ID: 204401122 Tue, Nov 28, 2006, 13:24 | Hmm...I think that might be a bit of "cherry picking" on the photo ops. Then again...maybe not. | ||||||
| 13 | Seattle Zen ID: 46315247 Tue, Nov 28, 2006, 13:51 | LOL! | ||||||
| 14 | boikin ID: 59831214 Tue, Nov 28, 2006, 14:01 | Nothing wrong with small town america you might just find you like it Zen, even if it is not quite a picturesque. | ||||||
| 15 | nerveclinic ID: 5710592812 Tue, Nov 28, 2006, 14:06 |
Zen Seattle is world class..a gem. But sometimes you have to take chances and make changes and the beautiful thing is...you can always go back. I sure as hell ain't staying in this plastic city the rest of my life... You'll be fine and if Seattle's in your heart...you'll be back soon. Just focus on how your return will be positive for your beautiful wife and child. But you know that. Respect. Oh and it snowed in Seattle Monday...good sign your gone...global warming. Nerve | ||||||
| 16 | Pancho Villa ID: 366352418 Tue, Nov 28, 2006, 16:50 |
Now, if SZ would have posted a picture of South Seattle and the activity along the Duwamish, it would have made that picture of the ship on the Columbia look downright environmentally friendly. What you should look at is the beautiful hills above Rainer, Oregon where that picture was taken. | ||||||
| 17 | Zen in Longview ID: 381117316 Sun, Dec 03, 2006, 17:40 |
Much praise and thanks for friends and family for we arrived in Longview in one piece. Let me laud a great man amongst us, Recycled Spinal Fluid, who came to my aid yesterday helping us unload a dangerously overloaded moving truck. If 10% of Longview residents are as warm and friendly as him, this would be great town. Of all the very large changes between our new abode and past the one that struck home last night hardest was silence. Our new place is fairly new construction. Every place I've lived in for the past decade had floors that creaked every step you took. Last night I walked on carpet and not a single sound. Eerie. | ||||||
| 18 | sarge33rd ID: 76442923 Sun, Dec 03, 2006, 17:59 | Glad you all arrived safe and sound SZ. Silence, can indeed be eerie. It is also something, you'll no doubt grow to cherish. :) | ||||||
| 19 | Seattle Zen ID: 46315247 Sat, Feb 03, 2007, 20:03 |
 I miss Seattle. | ||||||
| 20 | Baldwin ID: 3503618 Sun, Feb 04, 2007, 20:24 |
I recommend your next move is to purchase a minivan. 8] And lumberjacks are alright...believe it. | ||||||
| 21 | Seattle Zen Leader ID: 055343019 Fri, Oct 23, 2009, 18:56 |
At LONG last, it's OVER! I haven't mentioned it on these boards, but I have been unemployed this entire year. I was laid off by the County at the end of 2008 and I had little idea at the time just how long it would take to land another job. But that's what I did and it's in Port Angeles, WA, one of the most beautiful areas in the lower 48.  We will be living in between the gorgeous Strait of Juan de Fuca and a National Park, a short drive from the Pacific and we'll still be two hours from Seattle. I had thought that I was going update this thread many times this year. Back in March, I was going to write: “We are off to Yakima”, but that fell through. Then I though I was going to tell everyone that we were moving to Port Angeles in July, but that was not to be. Last month, I felt confident that I was going to be hired in Bellingham and when that didn’t come through, I admit that we were rather despondent. Out of the blue Port Angeles called and rescued us. There have been many highs and lows this year. The highs – we traveled a lot, road trip to So. Cal in January, trips to Astoria, Mount Hood, Canon Beach, OR, Seaside, WA, Eastern WA, Bellingham, San Juans, Olympic National Park, and countless trips to Seattle and Portland. I got to stay home and raise Lillie and watch her grow from two to three. About half way through the year, I thought to myself – if my former employer had come to me and said, “hey, why don’t we give you $25,000 and you take the next X months off, spend it with your family, and when that’s done, go work in Port Angeles” – I would be ecstatic. I tried to live under that philosophy, but there were times that I felt my prospects were bleak. When a law school representative tells you that "you can do anything with a law degree", no bigger lie has been told. Not only do employers refuse to consider hiring someone with a law degree for any non-legal job, but you can't even get an interview for a lawyer job outside your prior experience (unless you were the editor of Yale Law Review). I am a criminal defense attorney and unless I win the lottery, that's my lot in life. We've stayed in Longview because we had just signed a lease when I was laid off, but that place we were renting was so cheap, we could do just fine on unemployment, my wife still hasn't worked since Lillie was born. We traveled a lot, road trip to So. Cal in January, trips to Astoria, Mount Hood, Canon Beach, OR, Seaside, WA, Eastern WA, Bellingham, San Juans, Olympic National Park, and countless trips to Seattle and Portland. I will admit that I'll miss one thing about Longview and that's my man Recycled Spinal Fluid. Russ has been so generous, he's fixed our computer countless times and helped us move, frequently. I had better buy a nice, expensive desktop with a long warranty because we will be lost with our our RSF to help. I lost my job when George W was the President and got a great job when Barak Obama was leading us to prosperity. Man, that guy ROCKS! | ||||||
| 22 | Perm Dude ID: 154552311 Fri, Oct 23, 2009, 19:07 | Nice, Zen! I've got clients in Port Townsend, which doesn't look to be too far from where you'll be. | ||||||
| 23 | DMAN ID: 420562310 Fri, Oct 23, 2009, 19:10 | Congrats SZ!! Love that area!! Spent August in Quilcene and Port Townsend with my grandparents and other relatives. :) | ||||||
| 24 | Tree ID: 248472317 Fri, Oct 23, 2009, 19:18 |
congrats SZ, and good luck. if memory serves, P.A. is where the ferry to Victoria is, so enjoy that as well. | ||||||
| 25 | Seattle Zen Leader ID: 055343019 Fri, Oct 23, 2009, 21:18 |
Thanks, guys if memory serves, P.A. is where the ferry to Victoria is, so enjoy that as well. Yes, in fact, it was on that ferry that Ahmed Ressam tried to enter the US so he could bomb LAX back in '99. Victoria is really cool. It's only $12.50 to walk on, quite reasonable. It's $50 to drive on. We want to explore Vancouver Island, but we won't be able to do that very often at that price. I've never wanted to own a boat before, but there are so many places to go from PA by boat that it now interests me. I mean, I could go to Victoria, the San Juan Islands, Gabriola, Vancouver, Bellingham, Seattle, Olympia, hell, all the way to Alaska. Good luck to you, too, Tree. | ||||||
| 26 | Pancho Villa ID: 49192321 Fri, Oct 23, 2009, 22:19 |
I used to gig in PA in the 70s quite regularly. Kind of a sleepy town back then, but that was part of the charm. The Olympic Peninsula is as beautiful as it gets on this planet. Good luck, SZ. | ||||||
| 27 | RecycledSpinalFluid Dude ID: 204401122 Sat, Oct 24, 2009, 15:41 |
Awesome! Glad it was Port Angeles as opposed to Yakima. Although, if you could survive in hill-billy land of Longview, you'd have done just fine there. So...when are we packing? And don't forget to get the bigger truck this time! | ||||||
| 28 | nerveclinic ID: 105222 Sun, Oct 25, 2009, 14:49 |
Hey Zen does laibach play in Port Angeles? Good luck brah. | ||||||
| 29 | Seattle Zen Leader ID: 055343019 Mon, Oct 25, 2010, 00:28 |
What a appropriate 60 Minutes piece on tonight about the 99'ers, the 1.5 million people who have used up all 99 weeks of unemployment. Had I not been hired one year ago this week, I could have joined that unillustrious group right about now. Shudder! I am very grateful for my job and we have really taken to Port Angeles, we LOVE it here. The weather never ceases to amaze, for 2010, Port Angeles has received just over seven inches of rain while Forks, WA, just 35 miles away as the crow flies, same altitude, has 85 inches. It snowed up on the ridge, so the mountains are going to be gorgeous again. And even with the bigger truck, we still had to leave a few things, didn't we RecycledSpinalFluid? :) | ||||||
| 30 | biliruben ID: 34820210 Mon, Oct 25, 2010, 09:54 |
Dude. And killer goats! And you didn't even get him a fair trial. | ||||||
| 31 | biliruben ID: 34820210 Mon, Oct 25, 2010, 10:12 |
I'll have to tell you the story of Amy's alpaca and the sexual predator goat some time. Moral - those goats are bad news. | ||||||
| If you believe a recent post violates the policy on Civility and Respect, you may report the abuse via email to moderators@rotoguru1.com | ||||||||
| ||||||||
Post a reply to this message: | ||||||||