April 2002 Archives

I'm finally beginning to settle in as a full-time employee. (One of the companies I've been freelancing for offered me a job, and after some navelgazing, I took it.)

It's funny, because I wasn't a freelancer for long, but it was incredibly easy to settle into the contractor lifestyle. You work when you feel like working. (And when you can find the work.) You collect massive checks. (When you've been working, after finding the work.) You can work as little or as much as you want. (And your bank account is adjusted accordingly.)

But I'm settling in again as a member of a team.

The only really strange thing about it is this: Amy and I are probably moving to Florida in August. Fort Lauderdale, to be specific. This to be near Amy's grandmother, and also to find a school with a good-sized latino population where Amy can use her Spanish skills without having to teach spanish.

And also for the pure adventure of it. I mean, you can't stay in the states and get much further away from Portland, Oregon than Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

So I'm settling in as a member of a team, glad to contribute what I can and so on and so on. But there's also this distinct feeling that I'm not really going to have time to truly settle in before we go. (Though we may not, and then everything will change, of course.)

We're heading down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in May so Amy can attend a job fair for Broward County Public Schools. There's a good chance she'll get a job offer while we're there.

Until then, though, we have no idea what's in store for us next year. Amy also put in an application to the Army schools in Puerto Rico, but I think the chances of us ending up there are slim. At least, the chances are slim this year. Next year is a whole different story.

In all of this crazy talk about leaving Portland behind (a sad idea, but an exciting one, too) there hasn't been a whole lot of time to think about what I'll do wherever we end up living. I'm pretty certain I'll still be a web developer, and I think I'll find a job without too much trouble. But then again, if the market in Fort Lauderdale is anything like the market in Portland...

I'm still freelancing a lot, which is actually an excellent way to make a living, if you can find the work. That's probably what I'll start with in Florida.

And all of this talk about "when we're in Florida" is pretty silly, really. There are no guarantees that we'll end up there.

In the meantime, I'm trying to soak up the rain, the evergreens, the cold and beautiful beaches, the moutains, and everything else that make this part of the world so amazing. Just in case.