The great attorney Vincent LaGuardia Gambini once said, "You know, when you rebuild a carburetor, the first thing you do is you take the carburetor off the manifold? Supposing you skip the first step, and while you're replacing one of the jets, you accidentally drop the jet, it goes down the carburetor, rolls along the manifold, and goes into the head. You're fucked. You just learned the hard way that you gotta remove the carburetor first, right? So that's all that happened to me today. I learned the hard way. Actually, it was a good learning experience for me."
That pretty much sums up the past several months. I didn't really know what I was doing when I opened up the hood and started messing around with things, but I saw possibilities and just went for it. I'm not saying I regret it - not all of it anyway - but there are consequences to that learning style. I've got some parts I have to repair or replace in order to get back up and running reliably again, but I'll get there. Now I know where I'm going, and having this really great destination in mind is the best motivation to just keep at it, even when the wrench slips and leaves me with one more thing I have to deal with before I can sit back and call it a job well-done.
I guess this is my roundabout way of announcing that I'm not going to be staying in California much longer. I'm not saying I regret coming here, but it just turns out that it's not right for me after all. There are people I love here - friends who have stepped up and stuck by me and shared good times and hard times alike, but this isn't geographically where I need to be. I didn't end up finding a job, and the pace of life just doesn't agree with me in the long-term. I'm going back home. I miss my family and lifelong friends, I need to recover financially, and there are a few other things that'll agree quite nicely with a return to the east coast.
I can't tell you at this moment exactly when I'll be moving, but if I'm given my druthers, it'll be in about a month. There's a contract job I can do if I can get there, and a friend of mine is getting married, so both of those are motivating factors. There's more, but I'll wait until things are a little more certain before I elaborate. Suffice it to say that while I will miss the people I leave behind, I'm going to find it extremely hard to contain my excitement in the coming weeks, and I'm hoping to have some extraordinary things to share to balance out the recent negativity.
7 comments:
I'm in your corner no matter what, or where. :)
A lot of people wouldn't have taken the chance in the first place. Be proud of that, because I'm proud of you for it.
...and you know what I've learned? That airfare has absolutely nothing to do with how far the flight is. So I'll still get to come and visit you sooner or later!
Thanks for all the support, seriously. It really means a lot.
So, did you manage to fix your carburetor?
Wait, what?
It was very brave of you to pack up and change coasts the way you did. Elwood's right--you should definitely be proud of that! It's equally brave to realize that this adventure has reached its natural conclusion, albeit sooner than you had imagined at the outset. :) I'm happy to hear you excited for the future, and hope it all goes exactly the way you want it to. You definitely deserve it! And if you're still on the east coast a year or so from now, I'll be joining you for a little life reboot of my own. What IS it about that place?
C'mon, Paul - I don't get at least a LITTLE respect for seamlessly fusing references to both My Cousin Vinny AND Phantom of the Paradise?
Jeez.
Tough crowd.
Lindsay - I'll either be in Virginia or NC when you get out that way, so either way, visiting will happen! In the meantime, we gots the internets!
I loved your adventure, and I'm glad you are coming home. Coffee, martinis, and running partner awaits.
I just thought about the carburetor. You should take that off first anyway. Those things are expensive. O.o
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