Movin' right along...

I've been trying to make sense of my life, if in fact it makes any sense at all. The recent layoffs at the company (there have been more now) have inspired me to take a hard look at my present situation. I've always planned to move somewhere warm, but it's been a vague, long range plan with a lot of talk about "someday" and "somehow". My "THEN" plan was to stay at my safe, secure little job with it's benefits and yearly salary increases for another 8 or 9 years until I retire. At that point, if I was still of sound mind and body, I would move South.

While I'm still employed, we have been advised that there will be lower medical benefits for higher premiums, and no salary increases until the "economy stabilizes" (whatever the hell that means!). Bottom line, I could still be unemployed at any time at the whim management. I find it funny that this "reorganization" is not affecting upper level management, but that's another issue entirely.

While I would love to just say "fuck you, fuck you very much" to the mid west, jump in the old Ford and head toward Florida (the Destin area to be specific), I do not have the cojones to do such a thing. Plan #2 would entail withdrawing all of my meager (and getting even more meager by the day) retirement funds and hoping to find a job, etc before the money ran out. The down side to Plan #2 would be that it might be nice to have some retirement funds for the point in time I can't support myself. So it looks like my "NOW" plan is #3. Research the area for jobs, housing and relocation possibilities. Plan a vacation within the next few months to scope out the area. Plan #3 may eat into a little of the old retirement money, but hopefully not too much. I've already mailed for the Destin Chamber of Commerce relocation packet! I can feel that warm, white sand between my toes already!

So here's to dreams and dreamers! Someone I love with all my heart once gave me a card with a quote from Thoreau, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined." Sounds as appropriate now as it did then.