The Next Chapter in Life Starts Tomorrow!

It's been a frantic week. 

I arrived home from San Jose Wednesday evening.  I took I-40 back and drove US 66 in both Barstow and Needles.  The stretch from Ludlow to Mountain Springs Road exit I-40 was closed, but I couldn't have driven that and made it back to Tucson that night.  I was worn out something good, and immediately had to start preparations for a long stay in Las Vegas.

I have booked a month at a residence inn a mile or so off the Strip.  Under Nevada law, if I stay 30 days there then I don't have to pay the 12% tax because then I'm considered a resident.  I will be spending some time looking for an apartment and I'm either going to land somewhere near Nellis or I'm going to land in Henderson.  Once an address is figured out, I'll apply for a Nevada driver license and get Nevada tags on the truck.  I might wait though until early January before I declare myself a resident there.

In addition to all of that, some things around the house decided to start self-destructing.  Sheila's pleased as punch with the new dishwasher, but it brought forth a problem that a needed a plumber to fix.  Sheila knew the right one.  We had to bring him back yesterday when the downstairs toilet started leaking, and while he was there we discovered roots returning to attack my cleanout line.  This guy was good; he charged me less than I was prepared to pay, and I told Sheila from here on out he's our plumber.

This afternoon the latch mechanism failed in one of the downstairs doors.  I've changed that lock a few times over the years I've owned the house, but this one defied every attempt at home repair.  I had to call a locksmith.......and this one was good too!  I got off with a $65 repair when I thought I was going to have to pony up two bills.  So we have a new locksmith of choice, if we decide to keep the house.  If.

The hot tub still needs fixing but that's a future repair. 

I needed new tires on my truck, that was taken care of yesterday.

Ring shopping has wrapped up. 

With all of the above and lodging stays in California, I am dreading what the credit card balances will be when the bill comes.  Fortunately I've got a good pile of money in the bank.  I can pay them off in full, but I'm thinking that I'm going to have to apply for a Southwest Airlines Visa to start racking up points.  I'll be flying back to Tucson once a month and perhaps driving once a month as well.

I would be lying to you if I told you that all of this was easy.  It isn't.  The relocation to Tucson was a whole lot easier since I wasn't moving a whole lot of stuff.  In fifteen years not only did I buy a house and live in it, I bought things to fill it up.  That stuff now has to be moved up to Nevada if we decide later next year that's our new home, or we sell it so it doesn't have to be moved. 

The job itself?  That I'm not worried about.  It literally is an area of engineering where I can make a difference that's going to benefit the planet.  It is advanced technology, innovative, and it's something that not everyone gets to work on.  It's better than being a satellite engineer, which I once was.  I'll be working on spacecraft.  It's going to be challenging.  It's also going to be a great deal of fun.  And, I'll be living in a city where most folks in the rest of the world want to visit.  I will actually get to live there.

Yes, I'm going to miss Tucson.  I'm going to miss a lot of the people here, even if over the next six months I'm back here.  I'm going to miss some fabulous Mexican restaurants and the southern Arizona attractions.

But I'll tell you what is really great. 

I have a fiancée who has literally surpassed every girl of my dreams that I could possibly have dreamt up.  She's been a wonderful source of support.  She's encouraging me to go forward with this venture.  She's prepared for a relocation to Nevada.  And she's going to become my wife early next year.  I'm getting two wonderful kids as part of the package too. 

I'm now going to sign. 

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.