I have called you home for all my life, but today it is no longer so. This morning a Californian boarded a plane. Whether or nor a Californian got off that plane remains to be seen. Monday morning is my first day of work toward a paycheck that will be taxed by another state. On Tuesday, I get the keys to my first home, a townhome in Leesburg, Virginia. Sometime soon after that, the moving truck will belch forth all my worldly possessions into the empty home. Then, finally, on the 14th, the rest of my family will join me and help me transform the house into our new home.

I learned a very interesting musical fact recently: There are plenty of songs about being in California or returning to California, but it's really damn hard to find any about leaving. So I'll just have to plahy my California mix backwards.

Good bye, good luck, and Godspeed, my friend.

Congrats on the new job and new home! Change isn't always a bad thing, for life is all about change. Best of luck to you my friend.

Make sure you tell those movers to handle those Axioms as if they were the baby Jesus. lol



Sutter

Peter, it is NOT easy to pull up stakes, leave an area that has been your lifelong home, and transplant your family to a new area. It hurts. The differences will not only be geographical, but cultural as well. I was stunned by the different behavioral dynamic when I lived in Hartford, CT for a few years. It had a much different pace than Cleveland. You'll actually enjoy some of these differences. Others, you won't. Until you can acclimate yourself to the new area and people, just cling to the fact that "home" is wherever your family is. You're a bright, personable, fun guy. You'll do fine. I'll be thinking of you, and I wish you all the best in your new venture.

Yeah Peter,when I checked a bit for your "changes" thread, Leesburg looked good from the standpoint of being a short commute to Ashburn. Family and Axioms will arrive safely and soon all will be well. How is Sunny traveling?

After moving from New York City, to Cincinnati, to Nashville, it doesn't seem to get any easier. Good luck.

How many songs about moving to Virginia?

Sunny is taking the same flight as the wife and kids. The three cats will be coming by plane as well at a date soon after that. My brother will crate them all separately and deliver them to the airport. They, and Sunny, will be drugged for their trips.

Good idea, chess. I suspect that "Leaving California" by "Afroman" isn't exactly what Peter had in mind.

Peter, your opening post made me sad. As a native Californian myself, there are a multitude of things I dislike as well as a multitude of things I love about this place. All in all, it is tough to dislodge oneself from a place called home for some thirty-odd years and start anew.

There are plenty of good people in the world, and moving gives you a better opportunity to meet more of them. Good luck.