I’m sitting on a trove of triumphs over here. I got my driver license last month after having failed my previous 3 attempts.
Last week, I moved into a new apartment for work. It’s $150 more per month than my last place, but it’s a lot nicer. This building has better insulation, a thermostat, and heat is included in the rent. I’m not wearing a jacket indoors anymore. Someone took their last one bedroom apartment between the time I saw the ad and requested an application. I now have a second bedroom that’s probably going to stay empty for the duration of my stay. I actually bought my car about an hour before entering my apartment for the first time. Felt like a total baller.
The client I’m working with wasn’t fully prepared for additions to their staff so I’ve been sent home early every day this week. In total I’ve spent about 11 hours at the office over four days.
There’s only one setback: my movers. I saw that the company had bad reviews, but I decided to ignore what I read because I was pressed for time and I’m aware of the negative effect selection bias has on online reviews. People whose experience with a service was decent - pretty good keep quiet. Those who have horror stories love to share them. I’m in that latter category right now. My stuff got picked up on the eighth and won’t be returned any earlier than the 15th. My bed, desk, chair (I only have one. The nature of my employment rewards a spartan lifestyle.), kitchen utensils, speakers, and a good portion of my business clothes are hundreds of miles away from me in Chicago right now. It’s a small blemish on what’s been a pretty great few months.
The biggest triumph of all was meeting a neighboring family back in December. This job has required me to relocate twice in the past year. Both my current office and the old one were in places I had no contacts. The old area was especially tough because it was rural with no public transportation. I had been riding my bike to and from work. There were colleagues I could have asked to drive for me, but I didn’t find anyone I could rely on to get the there on time each day and also commit to driving me home. With the bike, I could consistently arrive on time as long as I woke up early.
One night a woman stopped me as I was riding (actually walking the bike up a hill because it was so steep and curvy). She had noticed me riding past her house in the mornings and offered to drive me home. Her husband’s pickup truck had space for my bike. He’s self-employed which gave him the flexibility to drive me to and from work for the rest of my time in that town. I got to know them pretty well. They have a daughter just one year younger than me finishing up her last year of college. The couple took me to a Christmas musical their church puts on every year and in mid-January the husband offered to let me use his car to take the road test one more time. All of my past driving lessons were with a private instructor. Each time I took the road test, I also had to pay to rent the car. After three failures, I resolved to start the process over by getting a new permit in the state I’m now living. My neighbor insisted that I try again and let me practice driving the pickup on the way home from work. We showed up to the exam location about a half hour early and drove around the area a bit. Eventually, I took the road test and just narrowly passed.
Spending time with that couple felt like having a second set of parents. I’ll never forget their generosity. For some reason I keep falling ass backward into good luck. I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I’m grateful.
