Reflections on One Month in Raleigh

...and one week at work

Friday was my official monthiversary of moving to Raleigh, although it took another week to get back to Mass. to retrieve the cat and get him to the new home. So, naturally, I've been evaluating my life post-move.

First, I should say how thankful I am to have a job. There are a lot of people out there who do not have the opportunity to choose their preferred home locale, not to mention be able to get a job within a month of getting there. So no matter how much I may moan and bitch in the weeks and months to come, I am very grateful to have a job, be drawing a real income, and be able to come home to an apartment and neighborhood that I chose on my own free will.

Late July is a difficult time to fall in love with Raleigh; actually, I'd guess that late July is a difficult time to fall in love with anything, anywhere, besides an air conditioner or swimming pool or ice maker or something. I don't know a lot of people who visit Boston in late July and August and leave feeling... refreshed. Maybe the Cape, several decades ago. But, yes, Raleigh is hot right now. Do you know that there's no such thing as a heat wave down here in late summer? No one can keep count how many consecutive days it gets above 90 for a high. The newspaper says that last Saturday was below 90, though I can honestly say I don't recall that. But certainly no meteorologist is saying "and now were on to an unbelieavable seventh straight day of heat wave!" It just is hot every day. Don't get me wrong--it doesn't affect me. I have central A/C in the apartment, at work, in the car, at the gym, in every restaurant, bar, library, bank, and supermarket I go to. I am rarely uncomfortable. But it does make it difficult to get doey-eyed about the city/region itself. So don't expect me to be shouting acclaim for my new home just yet.

That said, I still sit out on my patio when I get a chance. I'm contemplating another night of White Trash Outdoor The-A-tur on my patio if we avoid thunderstorms and I remember to put on bug spray. I'm thinking of ways to make the patio cat-escape-proof so that Fenway doesn't have to wear his leash but can still see all the birdies and squirrelies in the yard. So, if it's tolerable to sit outside with a coffee or a Mike's Lemonade in 95-degree heat in August, I'm very encouraged about patio-sitting straight through the fall. I am, in fact, optimistic about having a long, comfy fall and equally long, comfy spring. With a tiny but seasonally appropriate winter somewhere in between.

Now, the job--the job that I am so grateful to have. Well, it's never as good as the first day, right? Actually, that's not true. For me, work experiences tend to peak at about the end of the first year. For this job, though, commute traffic instantly became worse the second day. My first assignment was ambiguous enough that my level of expectation was far in excess of my assigner's, which resulted in great undue anxiety that persisted until Thursday (and could continue to some degree for at least a few more weeks). It's been hard to acclimate, and compounding that has been some really shitty nights of sleep. So week 1 at work was not a shiny beacon of hope. The project I'm working on is interesting, though, and actually an apt project for reintegrating an urban designer-type person back into the world of architecture. So once I get better control over the expectations of myself and my supervisors, it shouldn't be as bad. That drive, though... it's not wicked long, it's not crazy big city rush hour, but it is an unnecessary complication on life that must be phased out after a year, I think. One way or another.

Some things are great. I'm doing laundry now, and don't have a pocket full of quarters emptying itself every time I sit down. I have DVR and can watch Comedy Central Presents anytime I want. I go to the Y every day except Sunday and have lost over five pounds since I got here (though I'm not sure if it's my self-imposed poverty diet that did the weight loss thing). I play volleyball Tuesday nights at the Y and I'm actually one of the good players. Only complaint about the Y: old naked guys. Brand new YMCA locker room; same old naked guys. I can't imagine a mindset where walking around with my old withered peepee hanging out in front of a bunch of other naked men is an attractive prospect. I certainly don't get naked at the Y... I'd rather walk home sweaty and use the bathroom I pay rent for and keep my damn pants on in the presence of strangers. So, aside from the old naked men, though, the Y is great.

So, after a month: the jury is out. It hasn't been an easy transition. But one thing I realized today: I can actually contemplate doing things here I never could in Cambridge, foremost: buying a house. I can actually afford to toy with the idea of owning property here and being upwardly mobile. And the time I spend at this job is going to look really good on the resume. So I'm optimistic. I think once autumn breaks things are going to look real nice here.