Chicago

For those who don't know, I live in Chicago now.

Operation NYC: Part IV- Mixed Signals

Things have been looking good lately in terms of the move. I talked with Ryan last night and told him of my plans. He seemed pretty cool with it all and it might turn out working out well for both of us. One of his friends is thinking of buying a condo in CT and originally, Ryan had considered moving in with him, but the timing was off. Since I told him that I'd be willing to go on a flex lease for a month or two since moving out by June seems too soon for me, it might solve his timing issue as well. He's got to talk with his friend, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

In terms of a job, I made some good headway (I think) in California, talking with some people. I've been getting back into the networking habit and I think I have some good leads and I just got an e-mail from a guy I went to college with and he said he'd also hook me up with some contacts so I'm trying to stay positive. However, I got a call from my boss yesterday and as always, he just kept giving me mixed signals.

Basically, he called me up to see if my thoughts had changed on placement after my trip was over. I told him no and he said that things still looked the same. Okay, so what next? He mentioned that once I got back, I'd get a chance to sit down with our CEO and a couple of our VPs and get to talk about my career goals and what not. That sounded good, but still, he wasn't very optimistic about a transfer. After talking with the other trainees, I found out that they got the same spiel. They are also in the same mindset as me. If a transfer were offered, they'd jump at the opportunity. I don't blame them; CT is just not that great of a place for young people. I'm not sure if my boss really understands that.

Operation NYC: Part III- Timing Is Everything

That seems to be lesson of the moment. Being on the road for work these last 4 weeks has kind of messed up my sense of time. When I looked at the calendar yesterday, I couldn't believe that it was almost May. May!?!?! That means I effectively have 2 months to get all my stuff in order before things become even more complicated. The biggest problem at the moment is what to do about my current apartment.

My roommate, Ryan, e-mailed me the other day, letting me know that our leasing office had dropped off our lease renewal papers. First off, our apartment is trying to increase our rent. We live in Connecticut and the demand for apartments is not as ridiculous as New York or some large city. They want to increase our rent by 5%. I thought that was ridiculous. Then I did some math and when we moved in, we had been given one month of free rent. When you factor that in, the new rent is actually 15% greater than what we're paying on average per month. That is messed up and I'm definitely not going to pay that.

However, that brings me to the real problem. If I'm moving to New York, I don't intend to renew the lease under any circumstances. Before I left for my 6 week business trip, Ryan and I discussed plans for the next year. After some discussion, we basically decided that we wanted to live together again. I did mention, however, that there was a slight possibility that I could get transferred and in that case, I wouldn't be in CT. Even though a transfer is no longer a possibility, I'm still set on moving so now I need to break the news to Ryan.

I'm really torn about it because on the one hand, I want to give him enough time to make other arrangements. On the other hand, if I don't find a job by July, I'll need to stay in CT for a while and I'll be homeless. (My brother and parents have convinced me not to move until I have a job.) Obviously, I need to be fair to Ryan so I need to tell him this weekend because technically, we need to give notice of nonrenewal at the beginning of May.

This has just made the whole "idea of moving" that much more real.

Operation NYC: Part II- Saving Is A Bitch

Since my plan to move to New York this summer is not the most financially secure plan (i.e. I'm not sure I'll have a job), I decided to look at my financial situation this past weekend. In all honesty, it doesn't look too good. My current job pays me well and I have saved some as well as invested some money, but not enough. I've been too busy enjoying myself and traveling. I don't regret those decisions since I had a lot of fun traveling and going to the city to see friends, but now with my occupational future uncertain, I need to make some drastic changes. I'm pretty meticulous when it comes to tracking my spending. Given that, I haven't really used it in the past to really curtail my spending. I know in what areas I overspend and for the most part, I've just let that go.

So starting now, non-essential spending is completely cut off. No more shopping for clothes. Definitely no more shopping for sneakers. That one's going to be hard with the new Adicolor stuff coming out in May. No more paying for drinks for others at the bar. No more eating out all the time. No more Netflix, etc. etc. Basically, no more spending unless I have to. It's already been painful (I started this 2 days ago.) I'm a compulsive spender, but I need to do this. Even if I wasn't planning on moving to NYC, it would still be good for me to actually live on the budget I created.

Operation NYC: Part I- What's The Plan, Stan?

So I think I've told enough people this that I'm pretty much committed to doing it so I might as well post it here as well. I'm moving to NYC. I've given Connecticut a shot and it's not for me. My parents contest that I didn't really try and meet new people and get to know the city. That's true, but it's just not the right area for me. I'd rather live in Minneapolis that CT. That said, I decided that NYC is going to be my new home. The timeline for the move is summer; probably July since that's when my lease is over in CT.

I have absolutely none of the logistics worked out. I don't know where in NYC I want to live (or can afford.) I don't know if I will have a job. I don't know if this will work at all. To be honest, I'm a little worried about it all and afraid that I'll chicken out and not do it. It is an impetuous move, but in my head, it's the right thing for me. Career-wise, it's probably going to be a hard move at first (especially since it doesn't seem likely that my job will transfer me), but I think in the long-run, it'll prove to be a good move. Part of what excites me about the idea is that I know it won't be easy. Most of my friends, in particular Dani, thinks that I will quickly go broke in NYC. Living on a budget is not the easiest thing for me and if I don't have my current job, it'll be a huge change. No more shoes. No more eating out. No more traveling for a while. But I think that's good. I need a change. I need some different situations to see how well and quickly I can adapt.

The ideal plan is for me to convince my job to transfer me to our New York office. If that would happen, I'd at least have a job and most likely, they'd help me with the move. But given our staffing needs, I'm not too optimistic about that option. I did take a good step today and send a pretty detailed message to my boss about my reasoning for wanting to change offices. Hopefully his response is positive. But if not, I may be looking for a new job very soon so people, pass me some leads.

The other issue to work out is my living situation. I need to make a definitive decision soon and tell my current roommate, Ryan, so that he has ample time to find a new roommate. Also, I need to start scouting places in NYC. The other essential part of Operation NYC is that Kee Won is also moving to NYC and we're going to share an apartment. Kee Won is pretty much on board and we talk about this every couple of days. We're both keeping each other motivated about the idea because we both need to move to make it work. (I really don't want to have to go through the process of finding another roommate.) So here's hoping. I need to stay motivated and committed to this. I'll be posting progress as it happens. Any encouragement or advice is appreciated.