5 posts tagged “moving”

That past couple of weeks have been the most stressful weeks that I have ever experienced.  Kaiser decided that they didn't want to pay for my dad to remain here in Louisiana so they sent a private jet to pick him up at the hospital here and transport him back to the hospital in CA.  I knew this would happen but I wasn't prepared for it to happen so quickly.  So now he's back in CA (so are my mother and grandmother) and he is slowly getting better.  They say that his case is very unique and they have been doing tests like crazy to find out what the growth is.  His file has been sent to a panel of doctor's and surgeons for review and we are hoping that at least one of them will come up with a way to solve my dad's problem. 

When my dad got sick, I knew that my moving plans would change because we would no longer be able to drive the RV back and therefore I would have no way to get my stuff back.  My parents assured me that everything would work out but I felt like I was doomed.  I ended up calling a friend in CA and asking him if he would be willing to fly to Louisiana and help me drive back.  He agreed so I immediately went online and purchased his ticket.  Over the next couple days he started coming up with excuses and eventually he backed out completely.  I think he realized that this wasn't going to be a vacation.  It was going to be a long and boring 32 hour drive across the country!  I guess it didn't sound so appealing after he had time to think about it. 

So naturally I started to panick because there was no way that I could make the drive by myself and I couldn't find anyone who could help me (everyone either works or is in school).  Anyhow, I started doing some research online and I found that I could ship my car and my belongings for the same price it would have cost me to drive.  The car transport picked my car up on Friday and I packed my POD today and it's going out tonight.  Both are scheduled to arrive at my parents house on Friday the 22nd.  I am also scheduled to fly to CA on Friday so I am hoping to arrive before my stuff does.  I am SUPER tired from packing, loading the UHAUL, unloading the UHAUL and loading the POD, then returning the UHAUL.   Now I just have to wait until Friday to fly back home.  I can't wait!

I am so tired right now but I can't sleep.  Maybe after I eat a hot meal and take a steaming hot show, i'll get sleepy. 

My prayers have been answered.

I talked to my parents today while I was on my lunch break and they agreed that it is OK for me to move back in August when they drive the RV back.  Words cannot express how happy I am right now.  My greatest fear was that the gas prices would go so high that I wouldn't be able to afford to drive a UHAUL back.  Now I don't have to worry about that because I am going to put most of my stuff in the RV and the rest in my car.  We might even tow my car behind the RV so that I don't have to drive it back. 

Everything is falling into place.  I thought that I was going to have to wait another 8 months to move but my parents helped speed up the process.  So this is the plan:

My dad arrives in Louisiana on July 16.  My mom, brother and grandmother arrive on July 30th.  We put my grandmother on a flight back home on August 19th.  We pack up the RV and start our cross country journey on August 20th.  I am hoping that I will have a a cell phone that is capable of sending pictures and updates to vox so that I can post messages while I am traveling.  Time is going to fly by so I am going to start going through all of my stuff because I don't plan on taking everything back with me.  I am a pack rat and I keep stuff that I don't need.  It's time to do a MAJOR purge!

My family and friends are going to be so excited!!

This past weekend I spent a lot of time hunting for jobs online.  I love the job that I have now but I am looking for a reason to go back to California......NOW.  In order to move soon, I need my parents on board.  I found that my parents would be much more willing to help me move if I already have a job lined up in Cali.  I started hunting last week and I found a couple of jobs that suite me.  1 is located in San Francisco and the other 2 are located in Oakland.  I sent of 1 of my application today via UPS overnight and I will send the other 2 later this week.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will at least get an interview. 

My parents are flying to Baton Rouge at the end of next month and they will be here for about 3 weeks.  The have decided to drive the RV back to California because they say they "miss it" and they miss being able to go fishing and camping and sleep in the RV.  The RV is 32 feet long and it has a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and shower.  It's like an apartment on wheels!!  Anyhow, the RV has a hitch which means that I could tow my stuff back in a UHAUL trailer!!!   Do you know how much money that would save me!  I was anticipating having to spend at least $2000 for a UHAUL truck and gas but if I could just rent a UHAUL trailer, all I would have to pay is $200 for the trailer and chip in on gas for the RV.  The RV took $1700 when we drove it down last year.  Now that gas prices have gone up, I would say it will take about $2000 worth this time around.  I am going to offer my parents $500 towards gas because towing the trailer will use more gas.  So that is $600 compared to the $2000 that I would have to spend if I wait and move later.  My parents don't know that I want to move this soon.  I had told them that I would wait until January but now that there driving the RV back, I don't want to wait.  This is my way out!!  So anyhow, I am hoping that I will get 1 of the jobs in California because that will force them to accept me moving back right away. 

I'm going to talk to them about it sometime tonight.  My mother isn't going to be happy because she doesn't want to leave the house vacant.  I completely  understand but I can't live down here for another year.  They should be happy that I stayed in it for as long as I did.  If I leave with them in August, I will have lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for 1 year exactly.  That is more then enough "southern hospitality" for me!!  So I am hoping and praying that they will allow me to drive back with them in August.  If they won't let me hook up a trailer to the RV then I will just leave my stuff here and pack as much as I can in my car and just follow them back.  They can't force me to stay here!  My mother is trying to convince me that I belong with my ex so that i'll change my mind.  She claims that we were together for a reason and maybe he's the man that I am supposed to marry.  I think that's her way of trying to get me to stay down here.  Well, that's not going to work.  I already know that my ex is not someone who I want to marry.  Even though he makes great money and he could take care of me (as my mother says), I want more out of a relationship and he isn't ready to give me what I need.  I'm tired of settling for just anybody.  I am getting older and I don't have time to waste. 

My ex and I are on good terms but I don't see us getting back together.  I keep trying to tell my mother that but she still think there's hope.  So I have to come up with something to tell her so that she'll back off.  So you guy's pray for me and send good thoughts my way.  If all goes well, I will be back in California by mid August. 

I have to get serious about saving now!  I have been buying makeup like crazy and I haven't been saving like I need to.  I have so many hauls to do.  I am going to get started on my YouTube Hauls and picture hauls so that I can post them here on vox. 

I'm sitting at work and I'm bored so out of curiosity I checked the UHAUL website to see how much it would cost to rent a "one way" UHAUL Truck to drive from Louisiana to California.  When I moved here in August 2007, we rented a 12 foot trailer and my Dad towed it on the back of his Ford Expedetion. Well if I decide to move back, I won't have a truck to tow a trailer so I would have to rent a Uhaul truck.  I wanted to rent a Uhaul truck the first time around but it was going to cost about $2500 so I opted for the $1100 trailer.  Anyhow, I did some fake quotes on the Uhaul site and the results are as follows:

From California to Louisiana:

26 Foot Truck $4,186

24 Foot Truck $3,924

17 Foot Truck $2,616

14 Foot Truck $2,512

10 Foot Truck $2,433

12 Foot Trailer $1100

From Louisiana to California:

26 Foot Truck $711

24 Foot Truck $683

17 Foot Truck $569

14 Foot Truck $546

10 Foot Truck $529

12 Foot Trailer $307

Can you believe the price difference!!!! California prices are EXTREMELLY inflated.  I feel bad for my parents because they will have to move a 2-story house in December and it will probably cost them close to $10,000 just to move to Louisiana.  It's good for me though because if and when I decide to move, I will actually be able to afford it!  I was afraid that it would take me forever to save enough money to move back to Cali but since the Uhaul is so cheap, I can pretty much move back at any time.  OMG, you guy's don't realize how happy I am right now.  There is hope!!!!!!

Do I regret it?  YES!

Back at the beginning of 2007 my parents decided that they wanted to purchase a second home in my mother's hometown Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  The spent months and months searching for the perfect home but they still hadn't found anything and the year was almost over.  My mother was getting frustrated and my father was losing hope so they stopped searching and accepted the fact that they would have to remain in California after retirement.  Even though my parents had officially stopped looking for a new home, the real estate agent continued to send my mom e-mail full of pictures of home for sale in the BTR area.  Apparently there was 1 house that caught her eye but it was currently in the "sale pending" faze so it was technically off the market.  She kept and eye on it and low and behold, about 4 months later, the house was up for sale again.  The first buyer couldn't secure a loan so the house was placed back on the market.  My mom booked 2 plain tickets that same day.  When my parents came home from viewing the house in December of 2006 they informed me and my little brother that they had bought it.  I was so excited! The first thing that popped in my head was "I should move down there and live in the house for a couple years".  I thought it would be a fun experience. 

That thought turned out to be a huge mistake.  It wasn't long before I had found a few schools to apply to so that I could finish up my degree.  I applied to my top 3 and I got accepted to my #1 pick.  After I recieved my acceptance letter, I started planning my big move to the south.  At the time, I was living in my own apartment in a nice quiet town near my parents home and I loved it.  I gave everything up to come to this backwards a** place.  My parents wanted to move some of their belongings when I moved mine so we decided to drive from California to Louisiana in the summer of 2007.  I will NEVER EVER do another cross country road trip.  It was aweful.  It took us 4 days to get to Baton Rouge and by the time we arrived at the house, everyone was to tired to do anything.  The truck didn't get unloaded until several days later.  Anyhow,  I liked it at first.  New city, new people, new enviromenent.  Everything was new to me so I spent several weeks taking everything in and learning everything I could about my "new home".  Things didn't start to go downhill until I started school.  That's when I realized that I had made a mistake.  It hit me all at once and I nearly had a nervous breakdown.  I was also having trouble with my new boyfriend so that added to the stress. 

I don't like the people here (not all but most), the customer service is TERRIBLE, traffic is bad (everywhere!!), there is nothing to do (accept watch sports or eat......that's why people in the south have the highest obesity rate), and there is still racial tension almost everywhere I go.  I though most people were over the whole "black white" thing.  Guess not.  There is such a huge difference between California and Louisiana. It has been a huge culture shock for me and i'm not sure if I can get used to it.  I'm still going to school (but only part time) and now I work full time at the same school I am attending.  People have this misconception that is is "so cheap" in the south but that is a lie!  The only thing that cheaper are the houses (and those are starting to go up).  Everything else cost the same, if not more.  I would much rather go back to expensive California and live out the rest of my life happy and content.  At this point, I am stuck here.  I get depressed just thinking about it.  It cost nearly $6000 to move here and unfortunately I don't have that kind of money so I can't move back, at least not right now.  I miss my family and friends so much and it get's harder everyday because I still don't have any friends.  The only people that I hang out with are my cousin Eric and my boyfriend Tong (at the rate things are going now, he may not even be my boyfriend for much longer).  Sometimes I just cry.  I cry because I feel alone, I cry because I miss my family & friends, and I cry because I want to go home.

F*CK........why did I move here.  I love change but this change wasn't for the best.  I made a hasty decision and now I am paying for it.  All there is to do now is work my a** off in the hopes that I will be able to save enough money to move back.  I really wanted to like this place but I hate it.  I absolutely hate it. *Sigh*.

The 2 things that are keeping me sane are my boyfriend and my cousin.  If I loose either of those, I don't know what I am going to do.  I don't think I would be able to take it.