Another chapter in this crazy life

[judecorp]

Jen just accepted a job in Amherst this morning. She went to two interviews which incurred a lot of rental car cost, so I'm excited that there will be no more rental cars. They originally really lowballed her offer with the promise of giving her $1500 raises at 3 months and 6 months, which was pretty much unacceptable because we would not be able to even think about paying bills. She told them that she couldn't take that low salary at a time when we would be buying a new car and living in two households, and they agreed to ditch the staggered raise thing. The salary is still really low and is a bare minimum of what might get her share of the bills paid, but it's not $9K less than she made last year (which was their original offer).

So it looks like she'll be moving out there in a couple of weeks and I will be here for an undisclosed amount of time. At the very least I will be here through the next two rounds of IUIs, and if one is successful, I will find out when the doctor says it is safe to realistically go (although I will probably want to boogie ASAP). Jen will be living on a friend's couch (THANK YOU, jadefu!) and I'm sure that is going to suck for her.

I'm scared at the massiveness of the expense of all of this. Thankfully she can couch-surf a little and save some "get a second apartment" expense... but there will be a ton of gas money for the back-and-forth and of course we now need to acquire a second car with our Boston address and pay Boston insurance for right now. This is the biggest, scariest expense of all. I'm confident we can get a car we can afford (we were making payments on Jen's car until my dad died, I think) but doubling our already skyhigh insurance is going to be a killer. I wish we had a fake address we could use in western MA and insure cars there. It's GOTTA be cheaper than Dorchester.

I'm hoping to be out there in November but I don't know if that will happen, because we'll have to find a place to live, too. I am REALLY not looking forward to not seeing Jen except on weekends. At all.

Maybe I can temporarily borrow my grandmother's car or something... I dunno.

Comments

[siercia]

Wow. That's an exciting (if scary) change for you both. Hopefully it'll only be a little suck on the way to really great things, though.

I'm not sure who you do your insurance thoug, but it might be worthwhile to talk to your agent and explain your situation, and see if you can get Northampton to be considered the primary location for the second car. They may be able to do something like that.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Well, the second car would likely live here with me while Jen drives the Focus around... especially since the Focus has the Fast Lane on it right now. But yeah, I guess when it happens we can ask about the "garaging" and all of that and see what happens. I'm just not looking forward to more bills!

[00solstice.livejournal.com]

Rent a Mailboxes Etc box in your new town... looks just like an apartment address. I'm assuming you would be paying Boston insurance rates (yes, city rates are more expensive than suburbs) because you'll have the car before the apartment. But if the car is to be primarily used and kept out there, you might as well register it with a local addres. You can always change the address when you get your apartment, without going through the hassle of rate changes.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

That's kind of tough because we won't be moving there together... Jen could get a mailbox and switch stuff but we still have renter's insurance on our current place. Also, I don't know if there is an MBE out there. Do we even have those here? I'm not even sure.

We're not planning on renting anything there. We're hoping to buy.

[wendywoowho.livejournal.com]

Oh, poo, I'm sorry I don't have a Western Mass address anymore! I'd totally let you use it.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

It's okay, I still love you. :)

[dch4.livejournal.com]

Shop around for insurance (check progressive, Geico, etc) to see what deals you can get. Also keep in mind that you do get a discount for having two cars on your insurance, so it won't be as bad as it could be.

[jadefu.livejournal.com]

Progressive and Geico don't sell insurance in MA. MA car insurance sucks.

[gimmeapony.livejournal.com]

That would be a lot more effective if we weren't talking about Massachusetts, where we have like three insurance companies, all of whom are rate set by the state. :(

Jude, we're planning to sell our car and buy a newer one because I'm sick of driving stick in the city, but I don't know if you guys would be interested. We have a (v. reliable) 95 Civic.

Also, guess who still has boxes!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, those companies won't insure in MA. I had Allstate for a million years in Ohio but that doesn't cover MA, either. While we will get some sort of "two car" discount, it's really not going to amount to much. We pay about $2K/year right now for the Focus.

[skatured.livejournal.com]

How far of a drive is it between the two places?

[oxlahun.livejournal.com]

12 miles, give or take. There are occasional buses and quite a few carpools going that direction, though, so (assuming the schedule and a couple other things work out), it's maybe not quite as dire as it could be.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Which two places? It will be a short drive from the place she'll be crashing to her new job. But it's about a 1.75-2 hour drive from our place to there.

[jadefu.livejournal.com]

Ok, here's you're wake up call: IT'S AN HOUR AND A HALF TO GET TO BOSTON. Yes, really. :) (Ok, not counting if you hit rush hour traffic, but I've made it to wgbh in 1.5 hrs before.) There's a reason western MA has so much hostility toward Boston, and that's 'cos Bostonites think to get out here you have to drive to South Dakoka first.

Look at the big picture. How long is this, a few months? To be a few hours away? For a better living situation in the long run? Sounds like a small sacrifice to pay.

So, yeah. No whining, no complaining. It's all positive. If *I* can deal with a harder situation with still no end in site, you sure as hell can handle this.

That's my wake up call of the morning. Love you both. :)

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Ditto the 1.5 hour thing. Matt had to go out there on Tuesday and he left at 3 and was back by 6:30 and he had to transact business in Northampton. So.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I don't think I really need a wake up call. I know it's temporary, I know it's not so bad... but I also know I will miss my wife and I don't think there's anything wrong with saying it. I mean, I'm sure you can relate - yes your situation is livable but it's not ideal. Our situation will be less severe than that (closer distance, shorter duration) but I can still say I'm going to miss her, can't I? Because I will.

I don't really feel like I was whining. Except about the extra bills.

[oxlahun.livejournal.com]

Um, why can't the car be registered and/or insured at the address where she'll be sleeping and keeping it at night? :)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Well, for such a short time I don't know if it's worthwhile or more of a hassle to change and then change again. I mean, I'm sure we'll be talking to insurance about the whole "garaging" issue but I don't know if it makes a difference with registration.

[afullmoon.livejournal.com]

I wish you luck. I hope it goes well.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

[jadefu.livejournal.com]

Btw, our insurance makes me list J's car as being garaged (ha, funny) in Philly, not MA, even though our official residence is MA.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm sure the "garaging" bit will come up. :)

[aminahfiddler.livejournal.com]

Yea crap Yea crap.

It's good to get a new job. This is one step closer to your goal... A scary step but a step all the same.

For me it would be the being apart that would suck the most. That and having to go to the darn doctor with out your support system with you.

I hope this time goes fast and you can get to her and you all can find a uber cool place to live in the new town.

Have you check out the doctors in the new place?

Here's hoping that this is THE month!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not looking forward to the being apart thing. I mean, as it is we don't get a heck of a lot of time together with her work schedule (retail sucks) so the idea of having LESS time... sucks. But hopefully it will be a quick thing and work out better in the end.

I haven't looked at doctors yet. I think it will be good to get in a little break if we are unsuccessful before the big move. Also, I don't know if I will have insurance right away.

I hope this is the month, too! But I always hope this is the month. ;)

[sassywoman.livejournal.com]

*hugs* I'm thinking of you and sending lots of baby vibes and good luck moving vibes your way!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I am sending you lots of stop being nauseous vibes!

[vorpalbla.livejournal.com]

My parents live in Amherst. You can probably use their fake address. Could probably even crash at their place some time if it would help.

I will be in Amhest at Chez Dubin Thanksgiving weekend. Want to hang out?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yes, I want to hang out!

Thanks for the offer of crash action - I will keep you posted if it is ever needed (and hopefully won't be)... but if your parents have any advice about homebuying out there, that would be cool. :)

I don't really want to use a "fake address" because I like to be legit and stuff. Especially since we have a renter's policy, the insurance company would be on to us.

[tea-soaked.livejournal.com]

Big changes.

I'll be thinking of you tomorrow and Saturday by the way.

:)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much. I am thinking of you tomorrow when you go for more monitoring.

[snack.livejournal.com]

OMG! well yay and WOW! congrats and lots and lots of patience and good things!

*hugs*

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, talk about quick! We sure know how to get stuff done around here!

[rachelmichellek.livejournal.com]

oh. my. goodness. so many changes.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

SRSLY.