Thursday, October 06, 2005
Crossed Fingers
Mr. Chick had a job interview yesterday. Yay! It was for a firm in Bend, OR. We LOVE Bend and would welcome the opportunity to move there. It would mean being an hour further away from my family than we already are, but it's not so far away that's it's impossible. Instead of a 2 hr drive it would be a 3 - 3.5 hr drive. Living 2 hrs away for the past 3 years has proved to me that it's doable.
We all went to Bend for the interview. We left the afternoon before and drove out during naptime. Along the way we encountered a few bad omens:
Bad Omen #1: Mr. Chick forgetting his credit card (it was not handed back to him and he spaced asking for it) at the gas station in the middle of NOWHERE on the drive to Bend.
Bad Omen #2: The keybox code at our friends' condo not working. We all went along the day before the interview because we had a free place to stay for the night - this condo our friends own. Only we couldn't get the lockbox that contained the key to open. We tried every conceivable combination of the code, but nothing worked. We don't have cell phones (gobbled up by the student budget we have), so we had to drive to a pay phone to call our friends and make sure we had the right code. We did, but there was another possibility. We drove back to the condo and tried code #2. That didn't work, either. It was nearly 7pm at this point and I had brought groceries to make dinner, etc. at the condo, but since we couldn't get IN the stupid condo we found a small pizza place to eat and hole up while we tried our friends AGAIN. Still no luck. Crap! So we had to find a hotel for the night. Money we weren't planning on spending, but had to.
Bad Omen #3: Mr. Chick had the wrong time for the interview noted. Let it be known that *I* had the correct time, but he didn't listen and insisted his interview was at 10:30am, not 11:30. It was 11:30. Ha! No big deal, really, other than the embarrassment of arriving an hour EARLY for your appointment. Better than arriving an hour late, I suppose...
Mr. Chick said the interview went really well, all things considered. They took him out to lunch and everyone seemed to get along fine. They do have a need for an attorney in the field of law he wants to pursue, but experience may be a roadblock. He said he was able to explain how his business and financial background actually provide the experience they're looking for (and they do!), but it still may be a stumbling point. Time will tell. They also said the timeline for this position would be to start in January. That's a ways out. Why bring him in to interview if you don't need someone until January?? That was frustrating for him. BUT, it went well and he thinks he has a chance. So please please please keep your fingers crossed that he gets this job!!
While he was interviewing I was exploring. I've been to Bend many times (Sunriver, a long favorite vacation destination for us, is just outside of town). I knew they had a childrens hands-on museum in a new part of town, so that's where I went with the kids. Only it was closed. Bummer! So we walked around some and then drove to a cute new park where there were quite a few kids all around Lauren's age playing. I was able to chat with a few of the moms about Bend and was told where the "hot spot" area of town is. Bend real estate is even more expensive than Portland, people. It has a higher median home price than Portland, the biggest city in the state. Real estate in Bend has gone up 43% in the last year alone!! So I figured we couldn't afford the hot area of town but wanted to check it out anyway. Bend is growing so fast that there is new construction everywhere you look. There are approx. 200 families moving into the area a month, so they are building like crazy. I found a very nice, HUGE, development in the part of town I was told is one of the better ones. I really, really liked this area. All new (which in my mind can actually work against an area) with planned open play areas, some retail areas, the brand new elementary school - and the houses were all unique and lovely. Not cookie-cutter with 5 plans to choose from. BUT, the lots were the size of postage stamps. No yards hardly at all. Instead you get the open community areas, I guess. Anyway, most if not all of the homes under construction were sold or sale-pending. ALL of them. We did find ONE house that was still for sale and pulled the flyer: 2200 sq. ft, 3 bdrm/2.5 bath, blah blah blah - standard stuff. Some really nice features, of course - top of the line new construction. Guess how much? Just guess. $469k!! Unfuckingbelievable. And that's one of the less expensive homes, apparently. If Mr. Chick gets this job we're going to be in a world of hurt trying to find a house we can afford. But I still want to move there!!
The good news/omen? On our way back home we stopped at the gas station where Mr. Chick left his credit card, and they had it for him with no additional, unauthorized transactions! So maybe, just maybe, there's hope yet.
We all went to Bend for the interview. We left the afternoon before and drove out during naptime. Along the way we encountered a few bad omens:
Bad Omen #1: Mr. Chick forgetting his credit card (it was not handed back to him and he spaced asking for it) at the gas station in the middle of NOWHERE on the drive to Bend.
Bad Omen #2: The keybox code at our friends' condo not working. We all went along the day before the interview because we had a free place to stay for the night - this condo our friends own. Only we couldn't get the lockbox that contained the key to open. We tried every conceivable combination of the code, but nothing worked. We don't have cell phones (gobbled up by the student budget we have), so we had to drive to a pay phone to call our friends and make sure we had the right code. We did, but there was another possibility. We drove back to the condo and tried code #2. That didn't work, either. It was nearly 7pm at this point and I had brought groceries to make dinner, etc. at the condo, but since we couldn't get IN the stupid condo we found a small pizza place to eat and hole up while we tried our friends AGAIN. Still no luck. Crap! So we had to find a hotel for the night. Money we weren't planning on spending, but had to.
Bad Omen #3: Mr. Chick had the wrong time for the interview noted. Let it be known that *I* had the correct time, but he didn't listen and insisted his interview was at 10:30am, not 11:30. It was 11:30. Ha! No big deal, really, other than the embarrassment of arriving an hour EARLY for your appointment. Better than arriving an hour late, I suppose...
Mr. Chick said the interview went really well, all things considered. They took him out to lunch and everyone seemed to get along fine. They do have a need for an attorney in the field of law he wants to pursue, but experience may be a roadblock. He said he was able to explain how his business and financial background actually provide the experience they're looking for (and they do!), but it still may be a stumbling point. Time will tell. They also said the timeline for this position would be to start in January. That's a ways out. Why bring him in to interview if you don't need someone until January?? That was frustrating for him. BUT, it went well and he thinks he has a chance. So please please please keep your fingers crossed that he gets this job!!
While he was interviewing I was exploring. I've been to Bend many times (Sunriver, a long favorite vacation destination for us, is just outside of town). I knew they had a childrens hands-on museum in a new part of town, so that's where I went with the kids. Only it was closed. Bummer! So we walked around some and then drove to a cute new park where there were quite a few kids all around Lauren's age playing. I was able to chat with a few of the moms about Bend and was told where the "hot spot" area of town is. Bend real estate is even more expensive than Portland, people. It has a higher median home price than Portland, the biggest city in the state. Real estate in Bend has gone up 43% in the last year alone!! So I figured we couldn't afford the hot area of town but wanted to check it out anyway. Bend is growing so fast that there is new construction everywhere you look. There are approx. 200 families moving into the area a month, so they are building like crazy. I found a very nice, HUGE, development in the part of town I was told is one of the better ones. I really, really liked this area. All new (which in my mind can actually work against an area) with planned open play areas, some retail areas, the brand new elementary school - and the houses were all unique and lovely. Not cookie-cutter with 5 plans to choose from. BUT, the lots were the size of postage stamps. No yards hardly at all. Instead you get the open community areas, I guess. Anyway, most if not all of the homes under construction were sold or sale-pending. ALL of them. We did find ONE house that was still for sale and pulled the flyer: 2200 sq. ft, 3 bdrm/2.5 bath, blah blah blah - standard stuff. Some really nice features, of course - top of the line new construction. Guess how much? Just guess. $469k!! Unfuckingbelievable. And that's one of the less expensive homes, apparently. If Mr. Chick gets this job we're going to be in a world of hurt trying to find a house we can afford. But I still want to move there!!
The good news/omen? On our way back home we stopped at the gas station where Mr. Chick left his credit card, and they had it for him with no additional, unauthorized transactions! So maybe, just maybe, there's hope yet.
// posted by MP @ 2:09 PM 
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