We made it! 1000 miles of road striping and a two-day drive led us here. All pets are safe and accounted for, that's the main thing. The three rescue kittens hung out in Caesar the dog's large kennel, no problems at all. Stay tuned for a post on traveling with pets sometime.
It was hell getting out of South Carolina, the place sucked me dry until the last minute of repairs and painting. There wasn't even an informal goodbye -- van stuffed, and hotter than hades, we rolled out on highway 25, as if we had never met that town.
Houston is big, mostly busy, vibrant, hot, interesting, hot, spread out... did I mention hot? In the two weeks since landing we've moved and unpacked a ton of boxes and have gotten a considerable amount of work done on the home, which we just love. Highlight is an eight-foot waterfall, in the back patio area, which I have been working to maintain.
The most refreshing thing has been the services -- people actually coming when you call them! Getting real service and a "thank you" instead of a stupid look. Yes, believe it or not there are lots of friendly people in big cities. I always knew this but appreciate it a lot more after living in rural SC where people claim they're so nice and friendly -- HA!. More on that when I write my new screenplay, "Escape from South Carolina".
Back to the good stuff -- palm trees, a new, nearby dog park, TARGET on seemingly every corner -- we're in heaven! More than one grocery store, imagine that! People that are good at driving aggressively -- no prob! It's been a long road, in many ways.
I'm still far from being able to hang out with "the fonts". Currently working on a tile backsplash in the kitchen and I have a studio to set up on the second floor. I hope all of your projects are going well.
FADING IN ... SLOWLY!
Showing posts with label Moving to Houston. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moving to Houston. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
SCREENWRITER'S UPDATE - ALMOST READY TO ROLL OUT
Ahhh, fellow bloggies and black fonts, how I miss you so! It's been full-on reno here, in prep to put the SC house on the market and get our butts moved to Houston, where we just closed on house contract #3. The RELO company was a pain in the ass down to the last minute, just like two years before. I won't go into it all, lets just say I'm not impressed when everyone we deal with makes it seem like it's the first time they have ever done their job (because maybe it is?).
On this house, of course the work and things to move becomes three-fold before your eyes once into it all. Fortunately, I was able to recruit an eighteen year old guy I met at Starbucks to help me with the work. Unfortunately, this brought to light what a pain in the ass I must have been when I was also a mouthy eighteen year old! But, we're getting it done and exterior window painting continues this week.
The new house, which I have yet to see in person, has a 2nd floor addition of 500 square feet -- the same size as my old classroom in St. Louis -- so I plan to teach art again, out of that space. This helps me avoid a lease and a pesky landlord, as well as the fact that I can check in on all of our pets during breaks. The economy is slowly creeping back so I hope for a few students.
Just a few weeks and it will be a roll-out with six cats and a dog for 1000 miles, one overnighter. Last time we did 700 miles with three cats and I'm hoping this goes just as well.
Beyond the prep, not much, been sort of living in a bubble of reno. I catch world news when I can and the BP oil ordeal is heartbreaking as well as infuriating. Bret Michaels is still alive and should be on Trump's final tonight. Lee and Crystal will face off on Idol. And that's about all I know.
So, I hope you're enjoying late spring, looking forward to summer, and getting a break where you deserve. I'll write from Houston in a few weeks, god willing, whichever one you praise, lol.
FADE OUT... BUT FADING BACK IN SOON!
On this house, of course the work and things to move becomes three-fold before your eyes once into it all. Fortunately, I was able to recruit an eighteen year old guy I met at Starbucks to help me with the work. Unfortunately, this brought to light what a pain in the ass I must have been when I was also a mouthy eighteen year old! But, we're getting it done and exterior window painting continues this week.
The new house, which I have yet to see in person, has a 2nd floor addition of 500 square feet -- the same size as my old classroom in St. Louis -- so I plan to teach art again, out of that space. This helps me avoid a lease and a pesky landlord, as well as the fact that I can check in on all of our pets during breaks. The economy is slowly creeping back so I hope for a few students.
Just a few weeks and it will be a roll-out with six cats and a dog for 1000 miles, one overnighter. Last time we did 700 miles with three cats and I'm hoping this goes just as well.
Beyond the prep, not much, been sort of living in a bubble of reno. I catch world news when I can and the BP oil ordeal is heartbreaking as well as infuriating. Bret Michaels is still alive and should be on Trump's final tonight. Lee and Crystal will face off on Idol. And that's about all I know.
So, I hope you're enjoying late spring, looking forward to summer, and getting a break where you deserve. I'll write from Houston in a few weeks, god willing, whichever one you praise, lol.
FADE OUT... BUT FADING BACK IN SOON!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
MOVING TO HOUSTON - CRIME
I've spent the past few days not packing, not looking over the RELO package, not on completing home renovations... instead I've been researching Houston with a lot of help from "the Google", especially "Google Maps" with all of its satellite imagery.
Why? Because I don't want to "get my ass shot off", as we urbanites say in commonspeak. Like in St. Louis, my prior stomping grounds, "don't go north of Delmar (Avenue), might get your ass shot off!"
Well, Houston being the 4th largest U.S. city (as every damn Houston website touts, as if I could care!), I don't know where their "Delmar" is but I'm sure they have plenty of them, and it's my job to learn where that is and to keep my family away from it. Keywords which will help me:
"An up and coming neighborhood" -- this moniker is usually applied to an overpriced loft in a "shoot 'em up" part of town. It seems artsy, until you're on the phone with 911 constantly!
"Revitalized" -- same as above.
"Affordable housing" -- even in this down market, I see nothing good is affordable in Houston. As always in America, the level of cash you lay out is your ticket away from poverty, gunslingers, and late-night frat parties (just not cool once you're over 40 and married).
Other key signs --
Closely knitted new construction in a very old part of town, which usually means they bought a bunch of crackhouses, tore them down, and then built. That means your neighbors the next block over might be crackheads.
Cars parked in front and backyards, visible on satellite imagery from the google.
Bail Bond shops up and down the street -- another google shocker.
I'm a bit overboard about this but I always pride myself on learning a lot about a city before I move there. I have a trusty flood plain map (seems 80% of the town floods during hurricanes) and a crime map on a website (half as bad as the one I saw for L.A., so that calmed me a bit). My motto is "safety first", things can happen anywhere but it pays to be up on things.
FADE OUT... but not forever!
Why? Because I don't want to "get my ass shot off", as we urbanites say in commonspeak. Like in St. Louis, my prior stomping grounds, "don't go north of Delmar (Avenue), might get your ass shot off!"
Well, Houston being the 4th largest U.S. city (as every damn Houston website touts, as if I could care!), I don't know where their "Delmar" is but I'm sure they have plenty of them, and it's my job to learn where that is and to keep my family away from it. Keywords which will help me:
"An up and coming neighborhood" -- this moniker is usually applied to an overpriced loft in a "shoot 'em up" part of town. It seems artsy, until you're on the phone with 911 constantly!
"Revitalized" -- same as above.
"Affordable housing" -- even in this down market, I see nothing good is affordable in Houston. As always in America, the level of cash you lay out is your ticket away from poverty, gunslingers, and late-night frat parties (just not cool once you're over 40 and married).
Other key signs --
Closely knitted new construction in a very old part of town, which usually means they bought a bunch of crackhouses, tore them down, and then built. That means your neighbors the next block over might be crackheads.
Cars parked in front and backyards, visible on satellite imagery from the google.
Bail Bond shops up and down the street -- another google shocker.
I'm a bit overboard about this but I always pride myself on learning a lot about a city before I move there. I have a trusty flood plain map (seems 80% of the town floods during hurricanes) and a crime map on a website (half as bad as the one I saw for L.A., so that calmed me a bit). My motto is "safety first", things can happen anywhere but it pays to be up on things.
FADE OUT... but not forever!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
HOUSTON
That's right -- we're Houston-bound!
Did I sell my script, find a job, or what? Nope. My wife was offered a lead position at the new headquarters in Houston, and I strongly encouraged her to take it. It's the next best step for her career, and we were set on getting out of this rural nowhere at any cost, so why not get paid for the move? Yep, includes relo pay and benefits.
Mind you, we just went through this less than two years ago, to get from St. Louis to here. It wasn't an easy task on such short notice and believe me, as far as what they pay you to do it, you're lucky to break even.
I've been to Houston, once, must've been about 12 years old. I don't know much about it -- don't care -- as long as I don't have to drive ninety minutes to get to a TARGET anymore. Plus, they have IKEA. And, we'll be even closer to the ocean.
And, they have a movie scene! Yep, prodcos and all. In fact, a screenwriting friend just had her script requested by a reputable prodco in Houston (shout-out to Sarah, good luck!)!
One thing is for sure -- before you move somewhere, you see everything that is good about the place. The people seem different in a good way. Once settled in, you start finding out about all the bad things -- in the local news, from neighbors, etc. And what was different about the people starts to be irritating. I've lived all over the U.S. and a few places in Europe and this never fails.
To keep this in check, I won't learn too much about the place too quick, I'll ride that naive wave a bit... and make sure I change the channel when "COPS" comes on!!
FADE OUT!
Did I sell my script, find a job, or what? Nope. My wife was offered a lead position at the new headquarters in Houston, and I strongly encouraged her to take it. It's the next best step for her career, and we were set on getting out of this rural nowhere at any cost, so why not get paid for the move? Yep, includes relo pay and benefits.
Mind you, we just went through this less than two years ago, to get from St. Louis to here. It wasn't an easy task on such short notice and believe me, as far as what they pay you to do it, you're lucky to break even.
I've been to Houston, once, must've been about 12 years old. I don't know much about it -- don't care -- as long as I don't have to drive ninety minutes to get to a TARGET anymore. Plus, they have IKEA. And, we'll be even closer to the ocean.
And, they have a movie scene! Yep, prodcos and all. In fact, a screenwriting friend just had her script requested by a reputable prodco in Houston (shout-out to Sarah, good luck!)!
One thing is for sure -- before you move somewhere, you see everything that is good about the place. The people seem different in a good way. Once settled in, you start finding out about all the bad things -- in the local news, from neighbors, etc. And what was different about the people starts to be irritating. I've lived all over the U.S. and a few places in Europe and this never fails.
To keep this in check, I won't learn too much about the place too quick, I'll ride that naive wave a bit... and make sure I change the channel when "COPS" comes on!!
FADE OUT!
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