What a week it has been here in the DC/Baltimore area, folks. And damn, I should really be careful about wishing for experiences.
Just as we were all coming off of the collective "phew" from the earthquake that caused very little damage and even fewer casualties, the weatherpersons started to project a path of doom for the Hurricane Irene creeping up the east coast to finally hit North Carolina on Saturday, pounding the crap out of most of the eastern sea board up into Canada.
We don't often get hurricanes in this area--they usually fizzle out to minorly annoying tropical storms before they even cause us any rain--so we aren't particularly equipped to handle them well. The last serious hurricane here was when Hurricane Isabel found her way up the Chesapeake Bay eight years ago. I was in college down in St. Mary's, which is a low-lying area surrounded by water. I hunkered down for the storm a bit more inland (with my friend Amy, who is--interestingly enough--expecting her first child about a week after mine) and remember that the main effects were a loss of power lasting an average of 8-72 hours for most people, major flooding (I know some people who lost homes in Georgetown from that), and downed trees becoming projectile missiles that destroyed parts of homes, cars, and anything else they fancied smashing into.
The nice thing about a hurricane (and just about the ONLY "nice" thing about a hurricane) is that you usually have plenty of time to prepare for the doom. Which is great (because you can prevent a lot of casualties and some more severe property loss), but also sucks because you feel obligated to do a whole lot of things to prepare that may prove unnecessary because the path of the storm alters.
With the memory of Isabel in mind, after working my 8 hour shift at the crisis hotline on Friday (with lots of people calling to ask for info about the storm), I slept only a few hours and spent all morning Saturday prepping my folks' house for the storm and making some foods that wouldn't require the use of electricity to eat (pasta salad, anyone?). Since my parents are doing a lot of home repairs at the moment, by the time I finished, I was dripping with sweat and the garage was bursting with renovation supplies, trash cans, plastic bins, and assorted lawn things. Then it was time to shower and head back in to work.
The worst bit of the storm was predicted for this area between 10pm Saturday and 3am Sunday. Well... I work 4pm-12am on Saturday, so I just packed up the blow up camping bed, an overnight bag, plenty of food, and headed in figuring that I would wait to leave until after things had calmed down. I crashed in a co-worker's office after my shift ended and woke up around 7:30 am. We only lost power twice during the storm, and it came back quickly (within 5 minutes) both times.
As my drive home (and Sunday evening shift at work with many, many calls from people in crisis because of the storm) proved, we were very lucky. Every other neighborhood I drove through seemed to have some major property damage/power loss. The ones between were completely untouched. I'm grateful that my family's house was spared, but I know others, like Amanda, dealt with some major damage and long-term outages. School openings were delayed in Southern Maryland. People in Baltimore are still without power. The news is saying the property damage is reaching record highs and at least 31 deaths have been attributed to the storm.
My husband found the whole thing exhilarating, but he was definitely anxious. Korea is not a country that gets much in the way of earthquakes, thunderstorms (which DC has had plenty of in late summer), or hurricanes, so it was all new for him. He worried himself sick about me, even though he knew exactly where I was and that I wasn't doing stupid things like driving home in the middle of the storm.
Generally, the people who analyze this sort of thing (like my friend Sam who works on NOAA's latest hurricane weather computer modeling) say that the DC metro area got off pretty light, and I tend to agree. Although that doesn't really help the people who did lose a lot. (Side note--I'm really going to have to have a rant one of these days about how not opening storm shelters until after the storm is well under way in a county that has a significant homeless population living out of cars and under bridges and bleachers is unacceptable. Telling them to "stay in the basement" doesn't help, morons.)
Let's hope that was the last bit of "excitement" on the mother nature front for at least... say... the next three months. At which point I'm sure that the labor and delivery of my feisty child will be about all the "natural" and "disaster" I can tolerate.
Showing posts with label Southern Maryland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Southern Maryland. Show all posts
Monday, August 29, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Project 30: Cutting housing costs or We're moving!
When making plans to move back to America, my parents very generously offered to let us live with them for as long as needed to get on our feet. Without that support, moving back to the U.S. at this time would have been possible, but extremely difficult and much more expensive. However, both of my adult younger siblings still live at home, so space is pinched. Also, some unforeseen setbacks on the parents' basement renovations meant that the room where we were supposed to stay was not ready. So for my first month back, I was without my husband, without a job, sleeping on a pull-out sofa in a high-traffic part of my parents' very packed and full home. Talk about stress: Looking back, it's a miracle there was no murder!
Luckily, my parents, siblings, and I have all grown up enough in our relationships that we not only survived this period, we actually had some fun. Min Gi and I considered staying there longer to save up some more funds before moving out even after I got a job. It might have been worth the temporary stress to be able to be on steadier financial ground.
Then I got a job offer about 60 miles one-way (80 minutes with no traffic around the heavy-traffic DC beltway away). The decision to move out made by the fact that I was unwilling to endure this commute. This gave us a week to find a house and move before my job began. Not much time to find the most economic options.
In my investigation of the area, the difference between a live-able 1 bedroom apartment and a 2-bedroom townhouse was about $200/month. So we went with the townhouse, although the rent was an uncomfortable 30% of my gross income (I hadn't gotten a paycheck yet...there was the mistake). I figured we could swing it for a few months on just my salary and then Min Gi would find a job and we'd be fine. We moved in, set up house, and were happy and optimistic about life.
When the paychecks began to come, the sticker shock for couples medical insurance premiums, teacher union fees, mandatory pension contributions, and taxes was overwhelming. Furthermore, teacher salary is complicated by the fact that we are 10-month employees. In my district, we have the option of spreading that to 12-month pay (which I took for my first year until we could put our own plan in place to save), but the way my district balances pay is that they don't take into account that the only deductions that will come out in the summer is taxes--so my pay is disproportionately smaller during the school year.
Although rent at the townhouse was 30% of my gross, it was a completely unacceptable 60% of my take-home. Then, there were utilities. Sure, we could survive on that (with no fun budget at all), but I want to pay off my debt, save for growing our family and emergencies, fully fund our retirement, and save for my husband's future business. We didn't even have the wiggle room in the budget to save up for a plane ticket for Min Gi to visit his family in 2011! I started to get stressed. Again. Stress like this is bad.
Back in November, when we realized this wouldn't work, and that just moving to a smaller apartment wouldn't solve the problem since it wouldn't make a big enough impact on our overall housing costs, we talked and decided we could handle a roommate. We sent out feelers to our friends in the area if any young person was looking for a room in the area so that we could move them into the extra bedroom and split some costs. No dice. We posted an ad on craigslist and got a few responses, but the cats were a dealbreaker for many people. I started to lose hope of getting relief for this situation.
Then, a friend of mine from theater, Dav (that's like Dave, but without the "e"), who lives in the same city as we do with a married couple in a small house, sent out an e-mail that his roommates had gotten jobs in Kansas and were moving out, but that he didn't want to leave the house and so was looking for new roommates. Min Gi and I met with him last night to check out the space (and then we all went out to a nice Mexican restaurant to chat) and decided we're going to take it. Our current lease requires 60 days notice and a fee (which is less than the discount we got on the rent when we initially moved in for being such awesome potential tenants, so it all works out), so we will move in mid-late February.
Financially, this is huge. Our rent will go from $1325/month to $875/month and Dav's share of the house includes all utilities, including internet and basic cable (which is more than what we have now... we currently use free wireless where we can find it). This is a savings of almost $600/month for us. The house is about the same size as our townhouse, but all one floor. It's a single family house with a small backyard (yes we can garden!) and since Dav's lived there for two years already, there are no huge quirky surprises you sometimes get with a new house. It's in a better location for living (walking distance to a grocery store and some retail areas), though about two miles further from my work. Even better--most of the furniture in the house belonged to the departing couple, so Dav needs furniture anyway!
On a personal front, I know Dav well and know he's an easy guy to live with and he knows me (he even reads this blog--hey, Dav!) so he knows our situation well. It's actually a big win for both of us as he finishes school to try for a promotion and we continue to adjust to life in America. Min Gi is excited to have someone else to practice English with and go drinking with sometimes.
People who are not us (like my parents and some of my friends) think we are crazy. It's funny actually. They think we cannot possibly "sacrifice privacy" as a young couple or live in a small space together, but we know this is the right choice for us. If you're going to get ahead in America, you really can't play by usual American rules. We have already eschewed many of the consumerist trappings of shopping as a hobby that is typical here. Now, it's time for bigger changes. Dave Ramsey likes to say "Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else," and I think this is what he meant. It's about making unusual cost-saving, counter-cultural choices in the short term so that you are not forever shackled to debt like typical American consumers.
So... I don't think I'll make much progress on the get out of debt goal in January or February with the early moving penalty fee and truck rental costs. But I would consider this huge decision to be a first step towards meeting my ambitious financial goal in the Project 30.
It's exciting for us. As Min Gi said, "Moving to a new place is like an adventure!" Onward and forward...
Luckily, my parents, siblings, and I have all grown up enough in our relationships that we not only survived this period, we actually had some fun. Min Gi and I considered staying there longer to save up some more funds before moving out even after I got a job. It might have been worth the temporary stress to be able to be on steadier financial ground.
Then I got a job offer about 60 miles one-way (80 minutes with no traffic around the heavy-traffic DC beltway away). The decision to move out made by the fact that I was unwilling to endure this commute. This gave us a week to find a house and move before my job began. Not much time to find the most economic options.
In my investigation of the area, the difference between a live-able 1 bedroom apartment and a 2-bedroom townhouse was about $200/month. So we went with the townhouse, although the rent was an uncomfortable 30% of my gross income (I hadn't gotten a paycheck yet...there was the mistake). I figured we could swing it for a few months on just my salary and then Min Gi would find a job and we'd be fine. We moved in, set up house, and were happy and optimistic about life.
When the paychecks began to come, the sticker shock for couples medical insurance premiums, teacher union fees, mandatory pension contributions, and taxes was overwhelming. Furthermore, teacher salary is complicated by the fact that we are 10-month employees. In my district, we have the option of spreading that to 12-month pay (which I took for my first year until we could put our own plan in place to save), but the way my district balances pay is that they don't take into account that the only deductions that will come out in the summer is taxes--so my pay is disproportionately smaller during the school year.
Although rent at the townhouse was 30% of my gross, it was a completely unacceptable 60% of my take-home. Then, there were utilities. Sure, we could survive on that (with no fun budget at all), but I want to pay off my debt, save for growing our family and emergencies, fully fund our retirement, and save for my husband's future business. We didn't even have the wiggle room in the budget to save up for a plane ticket for Min Gi to visit his family in 2011! I started to get stressed. Again. Stress like this is bad.
Back in November, when we realized this wouldn't work, and that just moving to a smaller apartment wouldn't solve the problem since it wouldn't make a big enough impact on our overall housing costs, we talked and decided we could handle a roommate. We sent out feelers to our friends in the area if any young person was looking for a room in the area so that we could move them into the extra bedroom and split some costs. No dice. We posted an ad on craigslist and got a few responses, but the cats were a dealbreaker for many people. I started to lose hope of getting relief for this situation.
Then, a friend of mine from theater, Dav (that's like Dave, but without the "e"), who lives in the same city as we do with a married couple in a small house, sent out an e-mail that his roommates had gotten jobs in Kansas and were moving out, but that he didn't want to leave the house and so was looking for new roommates. Min Gi and I met with him last night to check out the space (and then we all went out to a nice Mexican restaurant to chat) and decided we're going to take it. Our current lease requires 60 days notice and a fee (which is less than the discount we got on the rent when we initially moved in for being such awesome potential tenants, so it all works out), so we will move in mid-late February.
Financially, this is huge. Our rent will go from $1325/month to $875/month and Dav's share of the house includes all utilities, including internet and basic cable (which is more than what we have now... we currently use free wireless where we can find it). This is a savings of almost $600/month for us. The house is about the same size as our townhouse, but all one floor. It's a single family house with a small backyard (yes we can garden!) and since Dav's lived there for two years already, there are no huge quirky surprises you sometimes get with a new house. It's in a better location for living (walking distance to a grocery store and some retail areas), though about two miles further from my work. Even better--most of the furniture in the house belonged to the departing couple, so Dav needs furniture anyway!
On a personal front, I know Dav well and know he's an easy guy to live with and he knows me (he even reads this blog--hey, Dav!) so he knows our situation well. It's actually a big win for both of us as he finishes school to try for a promotion and we continue to adjust to life in America. Min Gi is excited to have someone else to practice English with and go drinking with sometimes.
People who are not us (like my parents and some of my friends) think we are crazy. It's funny actually. They think we cannot possibly "sacrifice privacy" as a young couple or live in a small space together, but we know this is the right choice for us. If you're going to get ahead in America, you really can't play by usual American rules. We have already eschewed many of the consumerist trappings of shopping as a hobby that is typical here. Now, it's time for bigger changes. Dave Ramsey likes to say "Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else," and I think this is what he meant. It's about making unusual cost-saving, counter-cultural choices in the short term so that you are not forever shackled to debt like typical American consumers.
So... I don't think I'll make much progress on the get out of debt goal in January or February with the early moving penalty fee and truck rental costs. But I would consider this huge decision to be a first step towards meeting my ambitious financial goal in the Project 30.
It's exciting for us. As Min Gi said, "Moving to a new place is like an adventure!" Onward and forward...
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Settled?
We unpacked the final box we'd shipped from Korea last week and attended an American Halloween party. Min Gi got his social security card and his driver's license. Tuesday, I have a doctor's appointment.
It feels like something's shifting. Like maybe I can start to relax just a little and move on with life goals--the ones I put on hold to accomplish this nightmare relocation. This move has been so all-consuming that I'd almost forgot I even had them. NaNoWriMo is helping a bit. As is the Couch-to-5K running program I restarted this week.
I marvel at how different life was six months ago--when we didn't yet have our visa or even tickets for the U.S. and I had no idea how I was going to find a job and get everything done I needed to do to wind us up on the other side of the world with our cats and without being completely broke.
Well... we did it.
I'm still not completely happy here in America. I don't know if that's the adjustment, reverse culture shock, or the shortening days (winter is never easy for me), but I do know that I'm starting to feel settled. That this house and this job are starting to feel like "mine" instead of just the place I live and the place I teach. It helps to have found places for everything; it helps that I've been able to plan out the quarter, rather than going day by day/week by week with my lessons.
As I enter the first American "holiday season" I've had in almost four years, I feel unwound. Like I've been a tight coil for a year and half of short-term, high-pressure goals--all achieved, all stressful, many fun (to name a few: completing grad school, planning a wedding and honeymoon, getting Min Gi's visa, moving to America and repatriating, dealing with a new chronic illness)--and now I have no bounce. But maybe I can use this flexibility and rest to my advantage. Use it to sift through my new identity as wife. As American-in-America. As high school English teacher (maybe, in the near future, drama teacher). Use it to work on my health, my career, and my writing.
Let's hope. I need some inspiration!
It feels like something's shifting. Like maybe I can start to relax just a little and move on with life goals--the ones I put on hold to accomplish this nightmare relocation. This move has been so all-consuming that I'd almost forgot I even had them. NaNoWriMo is helping a bit. As is the Couch-to-5K running program I restarted this week.
I marvel at how different life was six months ago--when we didn't yet have our visa or even tickets for the U.S. and I had no idea how I was going to find a job and get everything done I needed to do to wind us up on the other side of the world with our cats and without being completely broke.
Well... we did it.
I'm still not completely happy here in America. I don't know if that's the adjustment, reverse culture shock, or the shortening days (winter is never easy for me), but I do know that I'm starting to feel settled. That this house and this job are starting to feel like "mine" instead of just the place I live and the place I teach. It helps to have found places for everything; it helps that I've been able to plan out the quarter, rather than going day by day/week by week with my lessons.
As I enter the first American "holiday season" I've had in almost four years, I feel unwound. Like I've been a tight coil for a year and half of short-term, high-pressure goals--all achieved, all stressful, many fun (to name a few: completing grad school, planning a wedding and honeymoon, getting Min Gi's visa, moving to America and repatriating, dealing with a new chronic illness)--and now I have no bounce. But maybe I can use this flexibility and rest to my advantage. Use it to sift through my new identity as wife. As American-in-America. As high school English teacher (maybe, in the near future, drama teacher). Use it to work on my health, my career, and my writing.
Let's hope. I need some inspiration!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Min Gi Arrived! New Job and Townhouse...
On Thursday, my lovely and wonderful husband arrived in America to begin the U.S. chapter of our life together. He is now an official permanent resident of the United States, on his way to citizenship in a few years (if all goes according to plan, which it rarely does).
I have to say that for the last month, I've been in a major funk. Most of this is attributable to my job struggle and stress (which I absolutely must blog about, but felt very uncomfortable doing as it unfolded for a variety of reasons--not the least of which was what might happen if potential employers discovered my blog) and not having my own place for the first time in my adult life without a definite plan for obtaining (and affording) one soon. With Min Gi here again, I realize that a big part of it was also missing him. He calms me down from my often irrational and uptight self and brings me back to reality. So, it's good to have him back. He has also promised to start blogging (mostly in Korean, some in English perhaps), so I will be linking that blog soon.
As I mentioned, I have been offered and accepted a full time English teaching position at a small high school in the same county where I worked before going to Korea. The position is for ninth grade regular level and an inclusion (half special education students) class, but my schedule is not completely definite at this point because the long term sub who I will be taking over from has been teaching a history elective that will be moved back to the social studies department, leaving me one class short. It's A-day, B-day style block scheduling, but the ninth and tenth grade classes that are not honors level meet every day to prepare for the Maryland High School Assessment (HSA) which occurs at the end of English 10. This is good for both the students, who get extra practice, and for me, who will have a smaller overall student load.
I took this job for many, many reasons beyond the fact that it was the first full time, contracted teaching position offered to me (though it was that, too). In fact, before accepting, I had been very excited by a long term sub position in another county with an offer to move me into contracted as soon as a spot opened up--a county with a much better reputation for both education and for teacher support than the one I'm working for (again). However, this school impressed me. First off, I ran into the woman who trained me in the Resident Teacher Program I took to become certified six years ago while waiting for my interview. We caught up, and since she works there as an Instructional Coordinator, she was, as always, very straight with me about the good and bad things about the school. In the interview itself, one of the Assistant Principals (about five minutes in) said, "I'm not supposed to say this at this point, but I'm going to: I like you. I want you to work here." It's flattering, but more importantly, being desired as a teacher at a school goes a long way towards winning administrators over to your side, which is absolutely necessary as a teacher new to a school. Finally, they all but promised me Advanced Placement classes next year (which I LOVE teaching) and that they would support me in establishing a school theater program (this school has none). I was sold.
The school is a bit out in the country, but I like that. Yesterday (with the great assistance of my brother and good friend Michelle), Min Gi and I have moved to Waldorf, which is in Southern Maryland, a five minute commute from my new job and about 30 minutes from DC. We took a two bedroom townhouse for us and the cats, ensuring plenty of space for any family members or friends from Korea who would like to visit. Fortunately for me, Waldorf is also an area where I have a number of friends, thanks to my previous work with a community theater in neighboring La Plata, the Port Tobacco Players. (As a welcome home present for Min Gi, I got us tickets to their production of Arsenic and Old Lace, which was fantastic, although it closed this weekend.)
So now, other than the insomnia from drinking too much caffeine to help with moving yesterday and the fact that the cats and a few boxes are still at my parents' house (hopefully this will be resolved today), we have accomplished my major goal for the year, which was to move us all here and find a good job. I start teaching Monday, and while I'll do some prep work this week and attend back to school night this evening, I don't intend to stress any more about jobs until after I've begun working!
And that's what's been going on.
I have to say that for the last month, I've been in a major funk. Most of this is attributable to my job struggle and stress (which I absolutely must blog about, but felt very uncomfortable doing as it unfolded for a variety of reasons--not the least of which was what might happen if potential employers discovered my blog) and not having my own place for the first time in my adult life without a definite plan for obtaining (and affording) one soon. With Min Gi here again, I realize that a big part of it was also missing him. He calms me down from my often irrational and uptight self and brings me back to reality. So, it's good to have him back. He has also promised to start blogging (mostly in Korean, some in English perhaps), so I will be linking that blog soon.
As I mentioned, I have been offered and accepted a full time English teaching position at a small high school in the same county where I worked before going to Korea. The position is for ninth grade regular level and an inclusion (half special education students) class, but my schedule is not completely definite at this point because the long term sub who I will be taking over from has been teaching a history elective that will be moved back to the social studies department, leaving me one class short. It's A-day, B-day style block scheduling, but the ninth and tenth grade classes that are not honors level meet every day to prepare for the Maryland High School Assessment (HSA) which occurs at the end of English 10. This is good for both the students, who get extra practice, and for me, who will have a smaller overall student load.
I took this job for many, many reasons beyond the fact that it was the first full time, contracted teaching position offered to me (though it was that, too). In fact, before accepting, I had been very excited by a long term sub position in another county with an offer to move me into contracted as soon as a spot opened up--a county with a much better reputation for both education and for teacher support than the one I'm working for (again). However, this school impressed me. First off, I ran into the woman who trained me in the Resident Teacher Program I took to become certified six years ago while waiting for my interview. We caught up, and since she works there as an Instructional Coordinator, she was, as always, very straight with me about the good and bad things about the school. In the interview itself, one of the Assistant Principals (about five minutes in) said, "I'm not supposed to say this at this point, but I'm going to: I like you. I want you to work here." It's flattering, but more importantly, being desired as a teacher at a school goes a long way towards winning administrators over to your side, which is absolutely necessary as a teacher new to a school. Finally, they all but promised me Advanced Placement classes next year (which I LOVE teaching) and that they would support me in establishing a school theater program (this school has none). I was sold.
The school is a bit out in the country, but I like that. Yesterday (with the great assistance of my brother and good friend Michelle), Min Gi and I have moved to Waldorf, which is in Southern Maryland, a five minute commute from my new job and about 30 minutes from DC. We took a two bedroom townhouse for us and the cats, ensuring plenty of space for any family members or friends from Korea who would like to visit. Fortunately for me, Waldorf is also an area where I have a number of friends, thanks to my previous work with a community theater in neighboring La Plata, the Port Tobacco Players. (As a welcome home present for Min Gi, I got us tickets to their production of Arsenic and Old Lace, which was fantastic, although it closed this weekend.)
So now, other than the insomnia from drinking too much caffeine to help with moving yesterday and the fact that the cats and a few boxes are still at my parents' house (hopefully this will be resolved today), we have accomplished my major goal for the year, which was to move us all here and find a good job. I start teaching Monday, and while I'll do some prep work this week and attend back to school night this evening, I don't intend to stress any more about jobs until after I've begun working!
And that's what's been going on.
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