Sunday, September 11, 2011

Rethink the gameplan?

After talking with one of the computer vendors in Hawaii I have learned
a few things,

If you have a serious desire to find a job in Hawaii, they strongly
suggest you move there first.

The reason is that most employers have had many bad experiences hiring
people from the mainland to come there. One of the many reasons why it
doesn’t work out, the mainland folks have a hard time getting acclimated
to the business culture in Hawaii. It costs the employer time and money.

o Though it has about 1 million people, this is geographically a small island.

o Good and bad – you’re surrounded by the ocean, meaning no
long drives. (You can drive around the entire island in about 2.5 hours.)

o If you’re white, then you’ll be a minority there. Their observation is that
many have a difficult time with this issue.

o Every aspect of life, including business, is more laid back.
Bad for the “fast lane” folks.

o You’re far from your mainland relatives, another major factor for the
non-working spouse.

o Higher cost of living than most of the US. Average house
here ~$600K, average condo ~$300K.


After a lot of rejection applications I now know why now.
I need to get to the islands, let employers know I'm there,
than pray I can get a job.

So what does that mean... I'm going to have to leave my current job,
go on blind faith to the island to look for work.
I'm not sure I'm in financial shape to do that yet.
Gotta start squirreling away some cash to see if I can make this happen.

Keeping you in the loop...

Thursday, August 11, 2011

So far no new news. I'm looking for IT work on the islands.
Lots of resumes going back and fourth right now.

Still plugging away at it....


Saturday, July 16, 2011

After Surgery

Welcome back...

So I had surgery this week on 7/14.
The surgeons were going to go in and see if they could re-inflate my right lung.
They went down the airway and discovered that the airway was massively and
completely scarred closed. A few attempts at trying to open it failed.

Under recommendation from some of their other colleagues,
they decided to leave everything just like it is. The airway is completely closed
so no germs are going to get to it. The lung is getting blood flow so its not causing a
massive infection. If they were to go in and remove the lung completely, we
are talking 8+ hours to remove it. So this is how I am.

I am now walking around with just 1 lung working, the other one is doing nothing
but sitting in my chest.

I need to touch base with my surgeons office here and I guess that's it
for all of that.

I got a letter back from the University of Hawaii on a job I applied for.
Just waiting to hear any word back from them at this point.

Time to crank up the resume writing now to see if I can land any good
positions over there.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

So What Are You Waiting For?

I was a preemie at birth and have lived with respiratory issues all my life.
The doctors have recently discovered I have an extra ring in my airway.
Probably there since birth. The ring has caused tissue to scar my right airway closed.
Not good. From what they can tell the lung is getting blood flow but just sitting there
deflated. The doctors are going to try and open up the airway and see if the lung will re-inflate.
(Where is that can of fix-a-flat when you need it)
If so... great... then they can go in and take that extra ring out.
If not... I'm a one lung wonder.

Next issue I have is no job yet on the island.
But I can't be applying for jobs and doing interviews just yet until
we get the lung stuff out of the way. I want it done and over with already.
Stephanie has been doing an amazing job pulling up so much IT work
there its incredible.

What to do with all our stuff?
We have been massively purging stuff we don't need.
Our kiddos have way too many toys that they don't even play with.
I have way too many computer parts-is-parts in my collection.

If we can purge down to fit everything in to one pod or something similar
that just might work. Taking the car over... $900-$1000 to ship the car over
in a shipping container if we decide to do that.

More drama than you can shake a stick at... soon to come...

Sunday, June 26, 2011

What is it all about... its complicated.

This is my first post on a grand adventure....
My name is Chris. My family and I live in Michigan.
The summers are warm and humid, the winters are freezing cold.

We have been in MI since my oldest daughter Z was born in 2000.
Y2k was a joke and the tech company I was working at in Ohio laid everyone off.
I had like 3 pagers and 2 cell phones and was on call for the end of the world.
Nothing happened. Not even a phone call.

So we packed up the UHaul and moved to MI for better opportunities.
My wife's family was in MI and was a huge help with the kids.
M, B, and E were all born here in MI.

E went to be with the Lord after 66 days. That's on another blog:
http://23weeks.blogspot.com

So we jump ahead to 2011...

Stephanie's mom passed away several weeks ago. My mom passed away in 2001.
My dad and Stephanie's dad are acting very weird now. Must be a dude thing when their spouses pass away. So why should we stay here in Michigan? Really... why should we?

Several years back Stephanie and I met Mike, Amanda, and Billy.
They pulled up everything to take a chance on making a film on their own in California.
Project Pedal has been coming along and is almost finished.

This life is not about how much stuff you have, or about how big your house is.
Its about getting out there and meeting new people, exploring new places, and helping
people along the way.

Don't get stuck in a rut... Take a chance on some new adventure.
We are only here for a short time then we are gone.

So why Hawaii?
Stephanie and I were talking the other night about just getting out of the state for
a change. Joking around Hawaii came up. Ok so why not?
It has great weather all year long.

Florida has good weather... Why not Florida instead?
One of my friends Lil that does consulting in Florida told me...
"Florida is Gods waiting room... There is nothing exciting going
on here. Head to Hawaii!"

I though I was going to fall off the chair from laughing so hard.
So Hawaii it is...

I started looking around for other blogs about people that have just picked up and moved
to Hawaii. I learned a few bits and pieces here and there. Most of the sites I ran across tho
were more about the vacationing traveler. Not much at all about trying to move off the mainland and making a life on a group of islands out in the middle of the pacific.

So here I am.... This is our story of a Family of 5..
taking a chance on a new adventure. Wish us luck!