Editor's note: the following is an entry based off of an email volley I've been involved in, with a woman I know through my actions in SWE. She's an industrial engineer like me, and she and I have been swapping stories since she went through what I am going through now: moving out and far away, on your own.
I decided to customize the email to keep her name out of it, and instead turn it into a funky piece where I have a conversation with my own blog.......a little too much like Tom Hanks vs. Wilson in Cast Away, perhaps?? Sorry! Read on......
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Dear Blog,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you - I've been working 2nd shift at work, so my sleep schedule is all off and any free time I have, was spent sleeping......probably a little too much. :-)
But I wanted to thank you for your kind attention with swapping relocation memories. I took a lot from it, just as much as I saw myself in some of the experiences you shared.
One of the memories is the day of my on-site interview with Honda. I remember being a Daddy's Little Girl and calling my dad right after I finished my interview out here in Ohio, where Honda got me a rental car and hotel room. He and I thought it was so cool, and tried coming up with nicknames for the rental car. It was a white Honda Accord. I remember settling on calling it "Rhonda the Honda."
I also remember plunking down at the local Arbys to make this call to my Dad, wolfing down a sandwich because I was starving and my appetite had finally come back, after my stomach had tied itself into knots for days leading up to the interview. Hee hee. I have a little moment to myself and think back on this experience every time I drive past that Arbys, even to this day.
I have a similar situation to this woman, where she moved out and did the relocation thing as part of a group: for me, 5 of us engineers all moved here from out of town, to do a job together. We're all new, a little lost, and an awful lot forlorn. As I've grown used to it, I am the ONLY girl in this group of five. :-) The boys are all nice to me and they treat me with respect - no snickers, no condescending comments, which is great! We've tried to hang out by all going out to eat at a restaurant, or doing a Round Robin each Wednesday night by one of us hosting all the others for supper. I only did it once so far and it was sooooo stressful, trying to learn how to cook and prepare for a dinner party.......let alone a party for 4 fully grown men that eat three times the portions I'm used to for myself! Ha ha!
The only disconnect I feel is that my interests are so vastly different from these guys'. They like to talk about racing and stupid videos on You Tube, while my alleged internal body clock must be ticking because I focus my time on cleaning house, watching "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" on TLC, and reading Motortrend magazines. :)
I fit in very nicely with my immediate coworkers at Honda, though. They're so nice and very approachable to work with. I think I have taken more comfort in them than they'll ever know. :-) One guy, who eerily looks like Mario from the Super Mario Brothers, might as well be my cool uncle or something; always looking out for me.
The latest gig for me is that I found out my dear 12-year-old VW Beetle has a gashed radiator. About a month ago I took it to a dealership here, and being a young naive-looking girl out here all alone, the dealership was trying to charge me $711 to replace it. I turned them down and took the brave step to set out on my own and order my own radiator online and have it shipped to me --- and now I'm looking for a nice coworker to sit down with me on a sunny Saturday and help me replace my own radiator. :-) I even went out and bought the complete car care manual for my particular car model! I'm set........just a little skiddish. :-)
Hey, thanks for your advice too about saving money, taking classes, and traveling. I am *also* already taking after your other piece of advice, by pegging a pretty aggressive 401k contribution for myself. I've had a Roth IRA in full swing since 2007 that I keep feeding, too. But yes, I have been stashing my new income as best as I can - when $711 radiators aren't in the picture, that is :-). I do have the bug to travel, both inside and outside of the U.S. I'm thinking about taking a summer trip out to see the west coast, since the farthest west I've been so far is South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore. :-) Until then, I make the most of my weekends and make day trips around the area to learn the new country I dropped myself into out here.
Thanks again for being there - it's neat, pulling memories up from the deepest depths in me that no one else has ever really known so far. :-) It's cool to share them with my 'IE sister.'
Take care of yourself and enjoy the gradual warmup that spring brings for us.
Keeping in touch,
Ashley
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