is a good day in hell better than a bad day in the city?

I'm not sure you can call this an adventure, but it certainly has been an experience so far.

Week 1:
Got to the new job where my new boss who is also new in the job wasn't expecting me because the guy who initiated the move forgot I was coming.  Good thing I had brought my laptop from Huntsville so I could at least keep up with emails from there.  Most of the first week was answering questions from the Huntsville office and trying to figure out what the hell I was supposed to be doing here.  Learned not to order the canolli from the delivery pizza place - diarrhea from hell.

Had decided on a condo to lease, and had a friend drop off 2 checks (deposit and May rent) along with the lease to the realtor who had helped me find a place.  Got a call from her the next day - "Lynn, I got the lease, but where are the checks??"  They were in the envelope - which left my hands sealed - with the lease.  They had disappeared.  I had almost 5 grand in checks floating around Chicago somewhere.

Drove to the realtor's office to drop off two new checks after stopping payment on the lost ones.  On the way back to the airport to fly home, had my first actual wreck ever (not counting the 360 on the icy bridge when the kids were preschoolers).  Totally totaled the rental car, and learned that you don't glance away from whatever is in front of you for 1/2 a second in this town, not even to check an exit sign or look in the rearview.

Just glad to make it to the airport in time to get on a plane home with nothing more than a few bruises and a determination that this move was NOT going to beat me, dammit.

Week 2:
Back to the city and the new job - still with no good clue as to what I'm doing.  Feel like I'm in a foreign country and I don't speak the language.  The only good thing is that there are so many other people in new positions, that we're all a little lost.

At least the move got scheduled, and things seem to be coming together.  Oh, and the lost checks that magically weren't in the envelope?  Someone found one of them on the street and turned it into the building manager where I'm renting the condo.  I had put the address in the "For" line of the check.  I was right!  The checks were there - the realtor evidently just dropped them and didn't want to own up to it...?  That dinner I promised her at Japonai?  Forget it - the stop payment fee just took care of that.

One good thing about this week - nothing horribly bad happened.  Found Chipotle in Elmhurst, didn't wreck the rental, and the hotel had my phone charger that I had left.  Except that I left it again.

Week 3:

The move.  Had a good yard sale, got rid of a lot of the things that needed to go and put some cash in pocket.  Sold the truck last week, but still no home for Rockie Horror kitty.  Got to spend some time with younger bro while the movers packed stuff up.  Had yet another (and final) farewell at West End Grill, home of the most awesome Brian, nachos, and chicken fingers (not to mention Jagerschnizel).  Spent my last night in Huntsville actually in Madison with Seth and Tine.  Stopped by the plant for one last "see ya" before hitting the road North.

The movers were a good bunch - my stuff actually made it here and in good condition.  The drive up was mostly uneventful and I managed to miss any traffic issues.  The only problem was when I actually got near Chicago - the GPS wanted me to go on a route that was closed, and it didn't really like me exiting when it was telling me not to.  "Make a legal u-turn at the first opportunity" is actually a GPS standard command.  Me yelling "I WOULD IF I COULD YOU DIM WITTED BITCH" is not understood by the GPS.  Being in an industrial section somewhere southeast of Chicago at dusk is not fun, but I do have to admit I would not have gotten out of there without my new friend, GyPSy.

Managed to get most everything unpacked and somewhat organized while working the last 2 days of the week.  And Rockie has a home thanks to my optometrists' assistant. Things are looking up.....

Then we get to Week 4:

Woke up Sunday with swollen feet, hands and eyes.  Figuring it's an allergic reaction to something that doesn't exist in the South since I did walk around town a bit.  By Monday, I had a hard time finding shoes I could wear to work, and the rest of the week followed suit.  Swollen feet and ankles in the morning, stuff them into whatever shoes I could, and by afternoon, the swelling was doubled and my cankles went from knee to toes with muffin-top feet rising out of the shoes like yeast bread.  Would go to the doctor, but I have no insurance due to the transfer.  How can HR cut your insurance off without activating at least the most basic coverage in the new plan???????  I think I'm now on the HR hit list because I've royally pissed them off this week (in return for being pissed off myself).

On top of the HR fiasco, I'm having trouble getting any response from the relocation counselor assigned to me, and I haven't received my "Area Differential" adjustment which I'm counting on to help offset the increase from mortgage payment to rent.  I've had all manner of inspectors, realtors, assessors, etc., parading through my house in Alabama and the feedback I'm getting is not what I was hoping for.  The house is appraising for a good bit less than I hoped, and the repairs are more than I hoped, so breaking even is becoming a greater probability than making anything from the sale.  Renting is an option, but that leaves me still with the liability for mortgage and repairs, which I had not planned for.

By the end of the week, the swelling is subsiding, the thought of breaking even is more acceptable, and I'm excited to know that my daughter and son-in-law will be visiting in 2 weeks, and my son in 3.  Work is coming together finally, and I think I might be on the verge of making it in the city after all.  At least instead of feeling like I'm in a foreign country, I now feel like I'm in an English-speaking country, but maybe the words don't always mean the same thing.  :)