Chapter n+1: A New Adventure

Given the "downturn" or "slowdown" or whatever you want to call it, Christie and I have been increasingly leery of returning to Bank of America. The question quickly became, if not BoA, where? We figured I'd have to move at least temporarily in order to find work. Well, if I'm going to move, it should be somewhere I'm already comfortable, so that means Chicago.

I have a ton of contacts in Chicago, and notification of my intent to relocate brought lots of interesting possibilities. The most interesting was at Sky Road LLC, a software company catering to small to medium sized trading firms and hedge funds. Their business model is to wrap up existing software and vend it as an ASP (Application Service Provider) which means their customers don't have to have a large IT department, like BoA or Citadel. The best thing about Sky Road is that I already knew 5 of the 20 employees, so I felt confident I would fit in. Also, with my 10+ years working on financial software they felt confident in my abilities.

Now it is the beginning of my third week at Sky Road. I am staying in an extended stay-type hotel and getting to and from work using their shuttle. I have been looking for apartments and found a nice place 1.3 miles away from the office. My next big thing will be buying a car. I figure we can get a halfway decent car for a few thousand dollars. My commute is short, and beyond work, I just need to get groceries and maybe go to a movie now and then.

At work, I definitely jumped right into the deep end, but was pleased to discover I am a good swimmer. My experience working for banks and hedge funds has already paid dividends because I understand what is being asked of me and can accurately discourse on many topics. My first task is a big one, slated to take 6-8 weeks. I understand how to do this sort of thing, but the challenge before me is to figure out how Sky Road does this sort of thing so that I don't have to throw away my first effort, or heaven forbid, reinvent the wheel.

Christie is holding up pretty well at the ranch. We've got people helping with the feeding right now so she doesn't have to do too much on a given day. It is my hope she can use some of this time to recuperate from the long and difficult winter. Spring is around the corner and with it comes foaling season. Christie has a long list of guests slated to visit this summer, so she will rarely have to handle the ranch all alone.

We've been apart like this before, but during the year I lived in Chicago before working remotely from the ranch, I was able to travel home every other weekend. This time around money is a little tighter so we are jumping into this new adventure not knowing how it will work. One thing I do know, even with so many miles between us, we will figure it out together, and that makes all the difference.

Tagged!

I've been tagged by PastorMom, so here goes!

1. Who eats more? That one is easy, me.
2. Who said “I love you” first? I think Christie did, I remember long conversations about the "L" word.
3. Who is the morning person? Me, by necessity.
4. Who sings better? Probably me, Christie has a great voice but feels she needs someone to follow.
5. Who’s older? I am, by a year and a half.
6. Who’s smarter? Christie is. We are both pretty bright, but her brain works faster than mine.
7. Whose temper is worse? Oooh, that is a tough one. I lose mine more easily, but Christie is more ferocious.
8. Who does the laundry? Christie does, but I'm better at folding.
9. Who does the dishes? Neither one of us. :(
10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? We are both on the right side for us. We tried the other way around and it felt wrong, so this way must be right.
11. Whose feet are bigger? Mine.
12. Whose hair is longer? Christie's.
13. Who’s better with the computer? I am, but then, I'm a software engineer. Christie is the resident webmaster of Wild Mountain Farms.

14. Do you have pets? We have 3 dogs and 4 house cats. Those are the traditional pets. We also have 28 horses, three goats, 4 geese, 2 ducks, and about 10 chickens, some of whom have names.
15. Who pays the bills? It used to be me, but Christie does it now.
16. Who cooks dinner? I probably cook a majority of the meals. There are some things we collaborate on, but I enjoy it more, so I do it more.
17. Who drives when you are together? I do, so Christie can save her energy for more important things.
18. Who pays when you go out to dinner? Usually me, because I have always have my wallet, but Christie doesn't like to carry a purse.
19. Who’s the most stubborn? My nickname growing up was The Negotiator, so that would be Christie.
20. Who is the first one to admit when they’re wrong? Most often me, but Christie is getting better at it.
21. Whose family do you see more? Christie's, her sister lives in town, less than an hour away.
22. Who named your pets? Joint venture.
23. Who kissed who first? She kissed me.
24. Who asked who out? She asked me out.
25. What did you do on your first date? We went to The Olive Garden for dinner in Kalamazoo.
26. Who’s more sensitive? I get my feelings hurt easier, if that is what you mean.
27. Who’s taller? I am, by 4-5 inches, which means her head fits right on my shoulder.
28. Who has more friends? Neither of us has a particularly wide circle, but I would say she does.
29. Who has more siblings? Christie has two, I have one.
30. Who wears the pants in the relationship? This is a partnership, we are in it together, so we make the big decisions together.