Its Monday night here in HI and Tuesday morning in MI.
Stephanie and the kids are on their way to the airport.
They are flying a direct flight out from Chicago.
I have one kiddo with special needs and trying to get
on several flights would probably have been a no go.
The direct one shot flight, boom here, was our best
option in this case.
Stephanie is txt'ing me the mile markers as they travel.
Her brother is driving.
I'm following along via Google maps.
They have made some awesome time getting there.
I have their flight tracker on one tab of Firefox and
Google maps on another. They are flying out on UA300.
This month long away from one another has been crazy.
We can not wait to finally get everyone together and start
trying to finally get our feet planted here.
Pics from the airport when they land later!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
August Update
Stephanie said to me today on the phone, "You need to update the blog. People what to know whats been going on." LOL
A lot has been going on.
I have settled into a routine to/from work and back home.
The University has a lot going on IT wise and I have my plate full
of project work so far. The only bad thing about starting a new job
at the University... They hold your first paycheck.
I'm not sure of the reasoning, but those new hires without anything
to fall back on have to be hurting in order to pay bills, keep the roof
over their head, and feed their families.
The way the pay dates are setup and because of when I started, I will
probably land my fist paycheck sometime the end of September.
So where is Stephanie and the kids?
They are wrapping things up in MI. Packing the last few bits up and
sending it over. What does shipping a family of 5 over to the island
look like?
Some of the box's have started arriving this week.
These box's have such a story to tell. They have traveled from Chelsea MI
to a sorting facility in PA. From PA they were loaded on rail car and
went all the way to California. From Cali, they were loaded on the boat
and waited around until the boat was completely full. Then after a high seas
adventure, they got off the boat. From there loaded into the mail truck
and delivered by the mail carrier here. The post office knows there are
more of these coming. Postage for the 12x10x10 box's is a lot less than what
a POD would have cost us to ship here. Each box was lined with a trash bag to keep the contents dry in case they were left out in the rain, wet on the boat, etc.
So when is everyone flying over?
September 4th is the day. They are all booked and flying over.
I am super excited and can not wait for them all to finally be here!
I only have one major concern...
Issac. This bad boy better be out of the way and not hold up any
flights on Tuesday.
I spent this evening getting rooms setup and beds made for the kids
for when they arrive. This will be awesome as they have been camping out
on the floor for a few weeks now. We sold all our furniture as the cost
to ship would be too much. And wouldn't you know it, the beds were the
first thing that people wanted.
You can see the lights of downtown Honolulu out the window from here.
Thats all for the moment. More adventure to come.
A lot has been going on.
I have settled into a routine to/from work and back home.
The University has a lot going on IT wise and I have my plate full
of project work so far. The only bad thing about starting a new job
at the University... They hold your first paycheck.
I'm not sure of the reasoning, but those new hires without anything
to fall back on have to be hurting in order to pay bills, keep the roof
over their head, and feed their families.
The way the pay dates are setup and because of when I started, I will
probably land my fist paycheck sometime the end of September.
So where is Stephanie and the kids?
They are wrapping things up in MI. Packing the last few bits up and
sending it over. What does shipping a family of 5 over to the island
look like?
Some of the box's have started arriving this week.
These box's have such a story to tell. They have traveled from Chelsea MI
to a sorting facility in PA. From PA they were loaded on rail car and
went all the way to California. From Cali, they were loaded on the boat
and waited around until the boat was completely full. Then after a high seas
adventure, they got off the boat. From there loaded into the mail truck
and delivered by the mail carrier here. The post office knows there are
more of these coming. Postage for the 12x10x10 box's is a lot less than what
a POD would have cost us to ship here. Each box was lined with a trash bag to keep the contents dry in case they were left out in the rain, wet on the boat, etc.
So when is everyone flying over?
September 4th is the day. They are all booked and flying over.
I am super excited and can not wait for them all to finally be here!
I only have one major concern...
Issac. This bad boy better be out of the way and not hold up any
flights on Tuesday.
I spent this evening getting rooms setup and beds made for the kids
for when they arrive. This will be awesome as they have been camping out
on the floor for a few weeks now. We sold all our furniture as the cost
to ship would be too much. And wouldn't you know it, the beds were the
first thing that people wanted.
You can see the lights of downtown Honolulu out the window from here.
Thats all for the moment. More adventure to come.
Monday, August 13, 2012
So Far So Good
First week of UofH went smoothly.
Into the fire this week. The students are moving back in this week,
the faculty is back in, and its all hands on deck for support issues.
On top of that we have a vendor in helping install our cloud based
servers for web services, and file drop box functionality.
Lots going on.
The sand was really hot and the Pacific water was nice and warm. Felt good to finally make it down to the water. It was really cool to see a lot of families with huge tents and family cookouts going on in the park area. A lot of the younger kids had their surfboards and were out in the water waiting to ride that perfect wave in to shore.
I stopped off at a little cafe for lunch. My mind was saying to itself, this is awesome... But your missing something too.
This is true. The only bad thing about the UofH is when you first start, they hold your first check. So I'm here by myself trying to get a head start and get things going. Stephanie and the kids are still in Michigan until the end of this month. By the end of this month, the payroll stuff should be sorted out and everyone should be on an airplane sometime the first week of September.
So where are we all going to live when they get here?
Good question.
I am doing a home stay with one of the faculty of the U.
They are leaving on vacation and will need someone to house site and feed
Mr. Old Cat while they are gone. Just so happens it will be during the time
Stephanie and the kids come over.
By that time, I should have first and last months rent saved up,
be able to get us in a place, and good to go before the end of Sep
when they return. Is your head spinning yet? Mine is.
You don't know what a blessing this is. I am praying that all the
pieces of this puzzle fall into place one by one so we can get settled
and get the kids into school here.
We are trying to get the kids enrolled into the MI on-line school
program for the few weeks they will be shuffling around to keep them on task.
Then we have to work on transportation...
The Bus is good.... but has its issues. Another story for another post.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Touchdown
Today is Friday.
I have been here a little over 24 hours now.
This is a view from where I am staying looking out from the Lanai.
My flight from MI to HI was long.
I was flying on reward travel so I had a bit of a crazy long route.
I spent the morning at the UofH filling out new hire paperwork,
and taking a tour of the offices, server room, etc.
They are getting new carpeting put down on Monday so they had all the offices etc downstairs emptied out for the carpet people.
Its slow right now as school does not start until the 20th.
The sysadmin and I walked over to Coffeeline. What a cool
coffee shop. Dennis is really cool. I don't drink coffee but he had a huge
selection of Tea. Going to try some of the many flavors he has on hand in the coming weeks.
We spent the morning talking about all the cool technology
stuff UofH is working on and solved all the worlds problems before noon.
Had pizza hut for lunch with the team then I headed out to
Safeway for some shopping for food, laundry detergent, etc.
The place is just like Kroger's back home.
Prices were a bit higher for things but not crazy thru the roof.
They had a lot of deals on stuff if you have their shopping card.
Which I do now.
Came back home to veg a bit this afternoon.
I have been drinking water today. Not sure if its the jet lag, dehydration
from being on the flight for so long, adjusting to the new time zone or what.
Just feeling a bit blah.
Going to tackle The Bus tomorrow and venture out and see if I can get
around and out to the waters edge on my own.
Stephanie and the Kids are planning on another massive yard sale
tomorrow in MI. Any leftovers is off to goodwill.
Will keep you posted.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Countdown
Time is ticking down fast.
We spent Sunday with my dad and Stephanie's dad at dinner.
It was great catching up and spending time together. It may be a long time
before we get together again. Will always be in contact via the phone, etc.
Jenn L at the Ann Arbor Outback is awesome. We have come to know her
and her family for long time. Hope to see you and yours on a beach soon Jenn.
Hauled off carloads of old books, disks, cds, papers to the
recycle bins this weekend. I had to drive to the other bins last night
as our usual ones were overflowing.
Found more Sony 8 videos of the kids I had not
converted to DVD yet. That's going on now while I type.
I have all their video tapes converted to dvd then ripped to AVI.
Backed up in the cloud via BackBlaze.
Ever since the one flood we had that trashed tons of pictures,
I'm in scan and preserve mode.
HR is doing interviews today for my job. Last day is tomorrow Tue.
Need to compose my So Long, and Thanks for all the fish email to everyone.
Party later this afternoon. Final day tomorrow to turn in keys etc.
More purging and packing things up.
Stephanie might run another yard sale after I leave to see if she can
get the remaining things outta here. Whatever is left I think will have a date
with one of the various donation trucks that will come to your home and carry off
your stuff.
Thank you so much everyone for your help and support with everything.
We spent Sunday with my dad and Stephanie's dad at dinner.
It was great catching up and spending time together. It may be a long time
before we get together again. Will always be in contact via the phone, etc.
Jenn L at the Ann Arbor Outback is awesome. We have come to know her
and her family for long time. Hope to see you and yours on a beach soon Jenn.
Hauled off carloads of old books, disks, cds, papers to the
recycle bins this weekend. I had to drive to the other bins last night
as our usual ones were overflowing.
Found more Sony 8 videos of the kids I had not
converted to DVD yet. That's going on now while I type.
I have all their video tapes converted to dvd then ripped to AVI.
Backed up in the cloud via BackBlaze.
Ever since the one flood we had that trashed tons of pictures,
I'm in scan and preserve mode.
HR is doing interviews today for my job. Last day is tomorrow Tue.
Need to compose my So Long, and Thanks for all the fish email to everyone.
Party later this afternoon. Final day tomorrow to turn in keys etc.
More purging and packing things up.
Stephanie might run another yard sale after I leave to see if she can
get the remaining things outta here. Whatever is left I think will have a date
with one of the various donation trucks that will come to your home and carry off
your stuff.
Thank you so much everyone for your help and support with everything.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Yard Sale
This weekend was busy.
We got up early Saturday morning and decided to put everything we own
out on the front yard and sell it. Jeff Foxworthy has a funny skit about
people that do this every Saturday.
Woke up Sunday and did the same thing.
You meet a lot of interesting people when you have a yard sale.
We had a nice couple up from Georgia for a reunion that stopped by.
A guy from Alabama that had 15 months to go before retiring stopped by.
They closed his plant down south and said "come to MI for the rest of your time
or see you later". So hes working up here at the Chrysler proving
grounds crashing very expensive cars until hes done.
He kept telling everyone in the yard... They are moving to Hawaii!
We told him all our town & country mini van horror stories because of that.
He said he was very sorry. LOL
A very nice pastor and his wife stopped by. Hopefully they made it to
their shower in time.
All the furniture is gone from the house. We have some odds and ends
that didn't sell, but everything else is outta there.
Carload of household items that we were not keeping and did not sell, was
dropped off at Goodwill. I'm sure there will be more of those trips.
Spent Sunday evening at the lake with friends.
It was sooo nice to get in the water after toasting for two days.
We sold the grill and our cooler so we looked funny at the
picnic table with Mickey D's cups for our drinks.
Do what you have to do. :)
Came home and everyone crashed hard to sleep.
My days before I fly out are ticking down and I'm sure this will be
another jammed packed week.
We got up early Saturday morning and decided to put everything we own
out on the front yard and sell it. Jeff Foxworthy has a funny skit about
people that do this every Saturday.
Woke up Sunday and did the same thing.
You meet a lot of interesting people when you have a yard sale.
We had a nice couple up from Georgia for a reunion that stopped by.
A guy from Alabama that had 15 months to go before retiring stopped by.
They closed his plant down south and said "come to MI for the rest of your time
or see you later". So hes working up here at the Chrysler proving
grounds crashing very expensive cars until hes done.
He kept telling everyone in the yard... They are moving to Hawaii!
We told him all our town & country mini van horror stories because of that.
He said he was very sorry. LOL
A very nice pastor and his wife stopped by. Hopefully they made it to
their shower in time.
All the furniture is gone from the house. We have some odds and ends
that didn't sell, but everything else is outta there.
Carload of household items that we were not keeping and did not sell, was
dropped off at Goodwill. I'm sure there will be more of those trips.
Spent Sunday evening at the lake with friends.
It was sooo nice to get in the water after toasting for two days.
We sold the grill and our cooler so we looked funny at the
picnic table with Mickey D's cups for our drinks.
Do what you have to do. :)
Came home and everyone crashed hard to sleep.
My days before I fly out are ticking down and I'm sure this will be
another jammed packed week.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Nut House
The house purge has been going slow and steady.
Of course all the beds sold right away.
Anything we owned with the Ikea brand name on it went first.
Its like a camp out at home right now. hahahaha.
The kids rooms are almost completely empty as we
have gone thru clothes etc. The things they are keeping
have gone into a few box's, clothes into Space Bags.
(Sucked the air out) Helps even more if you walk on the top of
the bag to smash it down more while taking the air out.
We still have bookcases, dressers, lawn mower, lawn tools,
bikes. I need to box/purge more of my IT stuff this weekend.
Gotta figure out how to get my Lionel trains packed and ready to ship.
If I'm keeping anything from my youth to take over, its my trains.
Time is flying and running out fast before my flight out.
Going thru new hire paperwork.
I need to snap a nice head shot pic for new hire announcements.
I need a TB test to start working.
County health department in MI offers them on Mon & Tue's for
a lot less than the doctors office does.
CT scan and final MI doctor checkup next Friday.
Geeeesh.
We put an all call out at the University for a place to
stay for a few weeks while I'm working and looking
for a place for the family. I now have a room
at a professors home while I search for a permanent
place to live. Nothing beats a home stay to absorb everything
that's going on locally. I just have to figure out the bus
lines to get to/from work. I'll have to switch
bus lines one time from where I'll be staying.
More updates as we can squeeze them in...
Thanks for checking in with us.
Of course all the beds sold right away.
Anything we owned with the Ikea brand name on it went first.
Its like a camp out at home right now. hahahaha.
The kids rooms are almost completely empty as we
have gone thru clothes etc. The things they are keeping
have gone into a few box's, clothes into Space Bags.
(Sucked the air out) Helps even more if you walk on the top of
the bag to smash it down more while taking the air out.
We still have bookcases, dressers, lawn mower, lawn tools,
bikes. I need to box/purge more of my IT stuff this weekend.
Gotta figure out how to get my Lionel trains packed and ready to ship.
If I'm keeping anything from my youth to take over, its my trains.
Time is flying and running out fast before my flight out.
Going thru new hire paperwork.
I need to snap a nice head shot pic for new hire announcements.
I need a TB test to start working.
County health department in MI offers them on Mon & Tue's for
a lot less than the doctors office does.
CT scan and final MI doctor checkup next Friday.
Geeeesh.
We put an all call out at the University for a place to
stay for a few weeks while I'm working and looking
for a place for the family. I now have a room
at a professors home while I search for a permanent
place to live. Nothing beats a home stay to absorb everything
that's going on locally. I just have to figure out the bus
lines to get to/from work. I'll have to switch
bus lines one time from where I'll be staying.
More updates as we can squeeze them in...
Thanks for checking in with us.
Friday, July 13, 2012
On your mark, Get set...
Let the crazy stuff begin.
I have turned in my formal acceptance letter to the dean at UofH Manoa.
I have turned in my letter of resignation to my current employer effective end of July.
Watched today as they posted my job. I know where you can find
some IT work in MI right now. ;-)
We talked to Stephanie's dad today and told him about our plans.
My dad knew we were going to be moving soon, just not how far west.
Friends, Family, FB, its all out there now on the table for the world to see now.
We are officially moving.
We started going thru all the kids clothes tonight, too small in one pile,
winter another pile, keeping - into the boxs for shipping.
Spent time on the phone trying to work out a temporary place to stay
for just a few weeks for me. I'm heading over, going to work, and
checking out places for all of us to live.
Stephanie will ship over the keepsake things we are keeping, and then
her and the kids will venture over.
I have a boatload of frequent flyer miles saved up.
My flight from MI to HI. 20,000 miles and $5.00. Nice.
Booked, seats picked, done.
I will have enough left over for 3 more people and will only need to
purchase one ticket.
My new colleagues at the UofH are amazing.
They have been working hard with me to help me with the transition over.
Ride from the airport - Check
Temp use of a car to get around - Check.
And a ton of other stuff right now.
Good people all helping one another...
I have turned in my formal acceptance letter to the dean at UofH Manoa.
I have turned in my letter of resignation to my current employer effective end of July.
Watched today as they posted my job. I know where you can find
some IT work in MI right now. ;-)
We talked to Stephanie's dad today and told him about our plans.
My dad knew we were going to be moving soon, just not how far west.
Friends, Family, FB, its all out there now on the table for the world to see now.
We are officially moving.
We started going thru all the kids clothes tonight, too small in one pile,
winter another pile, keeping - into the boxs for shipping.
Spent time on the phone trying to work out a temporary place to stay
for just a few weeks for me. I'm heading over, going to work, and
checking out places for all of us to live.
Stephanie will ship over the keepsake things we are keeping, and then
her and the kids will venture over.
I have a boatload of frequent flyer miles saved up.
My flight from MI to HI. 20,000 miles and $5.00. Nice.
Booked, seats picked, done.
I will have enough left over for 3 more people and will only need to
purchase one ticket.
My new colleagues at the UofH are amazing.
They have been working hard with me to help me with the transition over.
Ride from the airport - Check
Temp use of a car to get around - Check.
And a ton of other stuff right now.
Good people all helping one another...
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
June - Yes/No/Maybe? YES!!!!!
April/May
I'm sitting on pins and needles right now. I'm typing this post but not publishing
it until I get the final word.
I have applied for a Systems Administrator position at the University of Hawaii.
Its been several weeks now. I made it thru Round 1 and Round 2 of
interviews. I was one of 3 final candidates. They finished the last candidate
interview. Now its all about the waiting.
Stephanie and I have done a great deal of prep for this if its a yes.
This adventure will not only be a huge undertaking, but a great
lifestyle change for our family as well. All for the better.
If its a yes, I will have two weeks with my current employer to wrap things
up. Not only that, I have to find an initial place to stay and get my flights
ironed out.
Its been hard keeping the kids hush hush about all of this.
They know whats going on, but I'm not sure how well the little ones are keeping the
cat in the bag at school. Z is a tween and is like, but I will miss all my friends.
I know its going to be hard for her being the new kid in a new school.
The answer from the U of H was No.
=====================================================
June Update: It turned from a No to YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm confused now. lol
We were at Sights and Sounds the other evening.
The kids all wanted to toss a penny into the fountain in the square.
I said a prayer and we all tossed one in.
All I can say now is WOW!
Their first candidate turned down the position. What? Really?
I got a phone call yesterday morning asking if I was still interested?
Are you kidding me? YEEEEEEEEEEEES!
Back to waiting again.
I'm waiting for the official offer from the school in my hand.
It may take 3-4 weeks as their HR takes a bit to move things along.
The official offer is the key for the moment.
A firestorm of posts to follow once their offer is in my hands.
=====================================================
June Update #2:
31 Days to Ship a POD from MI to HI
Not too too bad.
$8000.00 for a 16 Foot Container.
$6295.00 for a 7 Foot Container.
No. Not Happening.
Time to sell sell sell.
I'm sitting on pins and needles right now. I'm typing this post but not publishing
it until I get the final word.
I have applied for a Systems Administrator position at the University of Hawaii.
Its been several weeks now. I made it thru Round 1 and Round 2 of
interviews. I was one of 3 final candidates. They finished the last candidate
interview. Now its all about the waiting.
Stephanie and I have done a great deal of prep for this if its a yes.
This adventure will not only be a huge undertaking, but a great
lifestyle change for our family as well. All for the better.
If its a yes, I will have two weeks with my current employer to wrap things
up. Not only that, I have to find an initial place to stay and get my flights
ironed out.
Its been hard keeping the kids hush hush about all of this.
They know whats going on, but I'm not sure how well the little ones are keeping the
cat in the bag at school. Z is a tween and is like, but I will miss all my friends.
I know its going to be hard for her being the new kid in a new school.
The answer from the U of H was No.
=====================================================
June Update: It turned from a No to YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm confused now. lol
We were at Sights and Sounds the other evening.
The kids all wanted to toss a penny into the fountain in the square.
I said a prayer and we all tossed one in.
All I can say now is WOW!
Their first candidate turned down the position. What? Really?
I got a phone call yesterday morning asking if I was still interested?
Are you kidding me? YEEEEEEEEEEEES!
Back to waiting again.
I'm waiting for the official offer from the school in my hand.
It may take 3-4 weeks as their HR takes a bit to move things along.
The official offer is the key for the moment.
A firestorm of posts to follow once their offer is in my hands.
=====================================================
June Update #2:
31 Days to Ship a POD from MI to HI
Not too too bad.
$8000.00 for a 16 Foot Container.
$6295.00 for a 7 Foot Container.
No. Not Happening.
Time to sell sell sell.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
March Update
Hello Readers!
I am still plugging away with the resumes etc.
I'm still on the mad search for technology work in Hawaii.
I had one project close shop which stinks.
There are a few other irons still in the fire right now, waiting to hear whats going on.
In the mean time, I have come across some other amazing blogs of other people
that have packed up and moved off the mainland.
http://howtoliveinhawaii.com
Michele is awesome and a great resource for this adventure.
http://entersandland.com
Chuck and Kirsten's story of moving with their kiddos.
We have been in the process of scaling waaaaaay down and purging "Stuff" from the
house. Lots of trips to the Salvation army, recycling bins. Lots of posts
on the local e-cycling and for sale msg groups. Its a lot of work getting rid of stuff you have had for a long time and no longer need or want.
People have way too many material possessions. Its not what its all about.
The adventure continues... More to this story as things unfold....
I am still plugging away with the resumes etc.
I'm still on the mad search for technology work in Hawaii.
I had one project close shop which stinks.
There are a few other irons still in the fire right now, waiting to hear whats going on.
In the mean time, I have come across some other amazing blogs of other people
that have packed up and moved off the mainland.
http://howtoliveinhawaii.com
Michele is awesome and a great resource for this adventure.
http://entersandland.com
Chuck and Kirsten's story of moving with their kiddos.
We have been in the process of scaling waaaaaay down and purging "Stuff" from the
house. Lots of trips to the Salvation army, recycling bins. Lots of posts
on the local e-cycling and for sale msg groups. Its a lot of work getting rid of stuff you have had for a long time and no longer need or want.
People have way too many material possessions. Its not what its all about.
The adventure continues... More to this story as things unfold....
Monday, January 9, 2012
Happy New Year 2012
Happy New Year everyone!
Its 2012. Things are going to change... I hope.
So I have been plugging away and networking a bit with the people that
are looking for good people. A lot of applications have been sent and a lot of
letters have been sent back saying they have filled the position.
I am still trying to find a position on the island before I can move any of
my family.
Here is to positive energy as this adventure continues.
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