New Floridian: The journey to two months in
It is a culture shock being down here, though. There's so much to do and see, I feel like no matter how long I'm down here, I won't see everything. Which is nice. Especially when you juxtapose that to all that Syracuse has to offer, being basically nothing. I've always said Syracuse has two things; A dome and a mall. That's it. I was never a band or live music guy, so when ever those acts blew through town, I couldn't have cared less.
I thought all I was really giving up was the time lost with my friends and family. Now, don't take that out of context. Giving up my time with the people I prefer to spend it with is nothing I take lightly. However, after feeling trapped in the same rut for so long, I knew something had to change. I was no longer happen and felt I wasn't fulfilling all I set out to do. Enough was enough. It was time for a change in scenery.
Enter the sunshine state.
First thing happens when we pulled past the Florida border? We get slammed by walls and walls of rain, rain so thick and sassy it laughed at windshield wipers and slowed us way down. This was only the middle of our conundrums we experienced getting down here. Let us go over everything shall we?
This is all for real, by the way.
So, I accept a position in Orlando somewhere in April, and instead of moving in August like I had originally planned, I was needed down as soon as possible. Thus, the moving date went from the beginning of August to June 1st. This shifted up my timetable drastically and apartment hunting went into full swing. At this time, I was also considering a relocation service to haul all our crap down to Florida, as I knew a U-Haul was going to U-Suck financially and physically. Not to mention Cate and I had no other option but to drive separately the whole way down. So, then a driver was an issue.
Now, finding a relocation service is no easy task and if you ever find one that is reliable, won't hold you up for more money, AND accepts payments in something other than cash, you let me know. However, I settled with a company that seemed about as legit as sketchy movers get. At least that was settled.
Fast forward a few weeks and the apartment hunting is going well and we seem to be narrowing down our search, although the ones we are looking at would really be stretching our budget.
Once May rolled around, it was defcon 5. I was responsible for the success (or failure) of the individual that was relieving me of my position in Syracuse. Stressful. And on top of that, I began second guessing my movers choice. So, in a last ditch effort I went with a mobile storage company (that shall not be named in this blogpost due to a binding agreement).
This is when the fun really ramped up.
We scheduled the delivery of the mobile storage unit on like a Thursday, so we would have a full weekend to pack it and have it picked back up. They didn't pick up on Sundays, so we pushed pick up for a Monday. No worries.
Except that on delivery day, our apartment complex refused to let the company drop the container on their parking lot, as they "damage" the asphalt. Can potholes be any worse though, really? So, after that hassle, the mobile storage container was left at their facility around the corner, ready for immediate loading. Eh, fine. Except now we needed an f'ning U-Haul!
We rented the U-Haul truck and what was supposed to be a very casual move over the course of a weekend, turning into throwing shit in a box and onto the back of a U-Haul truck to be driven five minutes away to an industrial park. Cool. That worked out well.
So, after moving everything well into the evening with the help of my parents, on the last of the two hauls, my mother smashed right into the back of the truck and punched a nice little hole right in the middle of her front bumper. Talk about a going away present.
After the fiasco that was moving after working most of the day and being forced to get all the major stuff done, we figured now, we had time to get the last remnants of belongings together and finishing packing the container over the next day or so. We went back the following night to put the final two car loads of stuff into our container, and lo and behold, it was no longer outside the facility.
Gone. No where in site. And it was midnight, the night before it was scheduled to be shipped out.
As panic set in, blinded by defeat and range, we decided that we were driving down to Florida with packed vehicles. Full of stuff. There was nobody to call, as it was way past business hours, and pick up was to be at 6AM. Either we try to call and stop it in the morning, or we drive back at 6AM and try to stop it in person. We chose the latter.
At 6AM the next morning, we finally finished loading the container as they brought it out from the warehouse facility for us to do so. Why was it taken in there in the first place? Still have no answer for that one. Would they have come to our parking lot and picked it up early before being ready to be shipped? Of course not, because that makes no damn sense. But whatever, the deed was done and our stuff was safe and on it's way to Florida about a week ahead of us.
We finished up our goodbyes in Syracuse the last week we were there, and it was kind of surreal. May happened so fast and it was already time to go, whether we were ready or not. I'll never forget how I felt leaving work, friends, and family behind for the unknown. Florida for me was uncharted, and so was my success there. There was a very real possibility I was going to hate my choice, but I decided that was preferable over regretting how I never found out. Life is about choices and chances, and I decided I was ready to make and take mine.
It was pretty cool of Cate to come along for the ride, too. Probably for Disney World more so than me, but I could live with that. So, June 1st, off we were.
Realistically, Syracuse to Orlando was to be about a twenty-four hour drive in total, so we'd stop along the way and see some family in Charlotte, NC for sure to break up the trip. We made it to Charlotte fine and the trip really seemed to fly by. No problems. We ate and got a decent night's rest.
The following morning I decided to check in with our mobile storage movers, as they'd had been very quiet and the status of our container hadn't changed on the app. Lo and behold, they never shipped the thing a week ago like they were supposed to! FUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKK!
The soonest they could get it down there was June 14th, almost two weeks after I was to start my new job. We were scheduled to move into our apartment we had settled on about ten days before that, too! So, to clarify, we were going to move into our apartment more than a week before we had our stuff. Not to mention, the apartment wasn't ready until a few days after I started my new job, so a hotel was in order for a few nights.
Stay with me now. Cue the rain storm and entering the state.
After a grueling second half of driving from Charlotte to Florida, after stopping at a few sketchy gas stations along the way, Cate losing cell service and having to call the cell company and stay on the phone for a forty-five minute delay, we made it Orlando after about twenty-six hours total. Lord.
We got to Florida and were penned to stay in the heart of International Drive, in a less-than-stellar hotel, come to find out. After a night or two, I was glad to move into our apartment with no furniture and did so happily a night early. One hurdle down, one to go.
After about a week and a half of chaos at work getting into the groove of things and sleeping on a god damn blowup mattress, it was time all of our stuff got to Florida. Finally. Though, it arrived a day later than quoted, of course. At least they were able to drop it at this apartment's parking lot, just not in front of our building. I knew items like the couch and the mattress without the help of parents was going to be a fun task of getting up to the second floor with just Cate and I, but screw it. We had our stuff.
After a day or two of hell, shouting all the way through the conundrum of being unable to get the larger, heavier items up the stairs, some nice gents came along to help us... Good thing, because there was no way it was getting up there otherwise. It sucked. And I was emasculated.
The cherry on top to all of this?
One of those good ole' sketchy gas stations stole both of our bank cards AND credit cards. Four cards in total needed to be cancelled and new ones to be ordered.
That being said, sign after sign after sign, had me questioning my decision to come down here in the first place. Was it all worth it? Really worth it? I didn't know, but I was hoping with this opportunity, I'd be opening my doors to others in the future. I was willing to move and do whatever needed to get done to advance.
This catches us up to about two months of being in Orlando. I've been to a few wrestling events, gotten to visit several attractions around town, and adopted a cat! Negatives on the way down turned into positives once we got our feet on the ground. I can't complain.
Our daily lives haven't really changed much, though. We're still living check-to-check, just at a higher standard of living in a nicer place on the east coast of the country. We're on the same schedule now, instead of working opposite hours, were working about the same. Which is a welcomed changed, as well.
In short, two months in, I don't mind Orlando. It is a welcomed change. Do I see myself living here for the rest of my life? I'd say, confidently, no. I hate the traffic, tourism, dirtiness, and ignorance. Let me tell you, southern hospitality must stop somewhere at the Georgia state line. They'll run you off the road just as fast as they rush you off the phone, without a blinker or a care for your well being.
Orlando is a very competitive city. A lot is expected of you once you're hear. And if you don't deliver, you'll hear about it... through a horn, a dirty look, or a sideways comment. Here I thought I was leaving that kind of attitude in New York State.
Am I satisfied with life now that we've left the armpit of America? Not as much as I thought I would be. I'm very impatient with life, what can I say?
I just try to keep in mind how much changed for me over the first half of my 2018. What the second half of the year holds for me, I have no idea. Who's to say we don't go through it all over again?
What's the worst that could happen?
Thanks for reading, wherever you are.
- Austin
Well said!
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