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My Life is Changing... I am moving

MTB_Rob_NC

What do I have to do to get you in this car TODAY?
Nov 15, 2002
3,428
0
Charlotte, NC
So for the past year or so I have been kicking around the idea of getting out of South Florida. Recently a very close friend made the move to Charlotte, and in the past year some riding buddies have moved to the Carolina's. I always told myself, self, if you ever come across a job offer that will allow you to make a move, you have to do it.

Well on October 10th I called a company and asked the receptionist if they had someone in HR or Recruiting I could speak with. She put me through to what ended up being the Director of Recruiting. I left a voicemail briefly introducing myself. Honestly I never thought I would get a return phone call. A day later, I did, we had a brief conversation and he told me to forward my resume. Off it went, and again I didnt think anything would amount of it. To my surprise a week later I got a call from a VP and GM of one of the subsidiaries. A few brief discussions and we set up a lengthy phone interview. The phone interview ended and they asked if they could fly me up to Charlotte. After a lengthy Hurricane delay I was off to Charlotte on Veteran's Day weekend. It was an 8 hour interview!

Well this past Wednesday I flew back up. My mission, get the details of what would be my employment offer and if so, find a place to live.

I arrived Wednesday night and went out to have a few beers in Huntersville (a suburb of Charlotte). It was COLD, the ICE STORM 2005 was coming.




Look closely you can see the outside temp 35 degrees. brrrrr


I woke up Thursday morning to some nastiness. I was told to stay in until at least 11am until the icey road conditions had subsided.




NO that is not water beading, from a nice wax job. That is ICE.




It looked like the ice was melting so I headed out house hunting. The weather was miserable making it hard to get around and the shortened day wasnt helping. I still had not heard from my prospective employer about the final final terms. Thursday was turning out to be a crappy day. On my way back to my friend's house I got a call from my prospective employer, my offer would be ready in the am. So Friday was looking to be a better day. Thursday night I decided I needed to concentrate my search on Apartments because finding a house on short notice was looking very difficult.

Friday AM, I woke up to a Chamber of Commerce day. 35 and not a cloud in the sky. I got on the phone to call my perspective boss to tell him I was on my way. He mentioned he would be in meetings all day but took a few minutes to go over what would be waiting for me. We headed over, I walked in the door, spoke to the receptionist, my package was on the way down. A few minutes later I was reading over my offer letter, signed it and then it sunk in.

Holy crap I am going to be leaving South Florida. I need to quit my job, find a place to live and move all my shiat to Charlotte by January 23rd! I have lived in Hollywood (withing a 3 mile radius of my current home) since I was 5! Only leaving the area for college. (go Gators)

There were a few minutes there where I was sure I was going to throw up all over the parking lot. Some how that didnt happen and I was off to apartment hunt. Searching for an apt in a city you are vaguely familiar with is not easy, add that you have an 80lb dog that might be/looks like he is a pitbull mix and it is near impossible. Luckily after being rejected by 1 nice apt complex the leasing agent was nice enough to give me the name & number of an apartment hunter. She referred me to 2 good leads. One of them was looking very promising, and I was pretty confident thats where I was going to be living at least temporarily.

So I got on the phone to call my folks. My dad got on the phone.
Robs_Dad said:
"Why are you going to rent? Why give that money to someone else, you are in the position to buy a house, go buy a house."
My buddy Mario who had been driving me all over Charlotte heard this and he gave me the death look. He thought he was done driving me around for the day. I told him, hey I dont think I am going to find anything, but at a minimum I can come back here tomorrow and sign this lease. Lets just drive around, it was nice out, and we had a few hours before it got dark.

We drove around the town of Matthews, then into Mint-Hill, we passed something that looked interesting and I asked him to turn around. He couldnt at the time, so we drove another couple hundred yards and pulled into another subdivision. I said wait a second lets check this out. We did and well ummm... There was this house, it was freaking beautiful, just a tad out of my price range. We looked at the house, I told the sales guy I really liked it, but it was just out of my price range. I was honest with him, told him I needed a place to live and my ability to close quickly if needed. The price started to come down, it was getting really close, my buddy Mario chimed in that it would be that much sweeter if they upgraded the appliances to stainless steel. 10 minutes later after some hymming and hawing they were included. The next thing I know I am shaking the guys hand telling him to get the paper work ready, I am going to go take some pictures.

Lets just say your money goes far in NC. 2400sq feet, Hardwood Floors, tile, Corian counter tops, Stainless steel appliances, crown mouldings, 9' ceilings, bay windows, the list goes on and on. All for ~ 90 per sq foot.













Inside we go






















No matter how old you get, listen to your folks! They know what's best!


The next day we got up, since there was no house or apartment hunting to do we headed over to Lowe's MotorSpeedway






We took the $5 tour, literally it was $5.





It was kinda fun doing 90mph in a 15 passenger van on 24 degree banking.





This place is HUGE.







We were hungry so on our way out we stopped at Hooters. Ah yes Hooters, they are every where. Lucky us it was Calendar signing day. My buddy Mario bought one. Another $5 well spent







Our waitress was nice.



Actually EVERYONE up there is nice.

We headed back to my new house where there were a few things to finish up and then of course...






Holy crap, anyone know a good mover???

I am excited to get to Charlotte and start riding up there. Is there a :monkey: that can show me around?

Can a Mod change my user name to MTB_Rob_NC in about 2 weeks? :)
 

hooples3

Fuggetaboutit!
Mar 14, 2005
5,245
0
Brooklyn
wow .. that is an aweful lot to go through and it seems like you did in such a short period of time. Your house looks very nice, I like it a lot. Best of luck with your move and with your new job.
 

Greyhound

Trail Rat
Jul 8, 2002
5,065
365
Alamance County, NC
Wow!

......just, wow!

Holy have-the-balls-to-move-your-whole-life-in-an-instant Batman! We're glad to have ya.......We're holding it down up here in the Triangle(RDU)and would be glad to show you some killer stuff up here anytime. Congrats!
 
J

JRB

Guest
Good job, mang. Now you are in a position to make biggins move to AZ. :D
 

MTB_Rob_NC

What do I have to do to get you in this car TODAY?
Nov 15, 2002
3,428
0
Charlotte, NC
loco said:
Good job, mang. Now you are in a position to make biggins move to AZ. :D

Did you see that set of stairs? Who do you think I was planning on helping me move my crap up them?
:rolleyes:
 

corey_rideDC

Turbo Monkey
Sep 1, 2004
1,368
0
DCmetro
wow, i'm jealous!! charlotte looks like a great place to live, we're hoping to end up in raleigh at some point. just waiting for a posh job offer.

congrats, that took a ton of courage.
 

MTB_Rob_NC

What do I have to do to get you in this car TODAY?
Nov 15, 2002
3,428
0
Charlotte, NC
douglas said:
Did you ask any of thse ladies if they wanted to live in a nice new house ??
No, but on the plane ride home (which was FULL of people relocating) I sat next to a very nice older couple who were very excited I was moving to Charlotte (they just moved a few months ago). She works in a Hospital as a case manager and already had all kinds of plans to set me up with nice souther nurses. :drool:
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Awesome, congratulations!

Hey, if I had seen those girls at the Hooters I went to in Greenville, I might have actually enjoyed the experience a little more :think: :mumble:
 

zod

Turbo Monkey
Jul 17, 2003
1,376
0
G-County, NC
stosh said:
I wish I could express how jealous I am of you.
yeah ole' stosh has been talking about NC for a good while now..... :nuts:

Congrats on the big move Mtb_Rob_NC.....we'll be sure to show you some good Southern hospitality and take you on a tour of all the good riding you'll be living around...even the underground stuff :cool:

If you haven't already get over to the forum on PASA - http://www.bikepasa.com and introduce yourself to the riff-raft on the local cycling community.
 

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
I am shocked!


$90/SF..????

That is $20 LESS than our cheesy market here. I am wondering if they have slightly over built the market up there.

FWIW, I have been hearing that RIGHT NOW is a great time in a lot of hot markets to but a house since sales have slowed and a lot of home builders are wanting to get rid of their existing inventory because 2006 is supposed to be a slow year. I have a friend who is getting an awesome deal on a newly built place just north of Denver for this reason.
 

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
Andyman_1970 said:
Good luck and nice house..............the front is a bit Craftsmanesque.....I like that.

It's a shame they didn't apply some of that style to the rear elevation. But considering the cost, I can understand why.
 

antimony

M.N.F. Beer Wench
Nov 21, 2005
1,019
2
North Carolina
Congratulations, and (early) welcome to NC! I love the house pictures...the place looks beautiful. I cannot wait to be a homeowner. Good luck with the move up here; I hope it all goes smoothly for you! :)
 

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,212
17
Blindly running into cactus
Greyhound said:
It's getting hard now to find anyone in NC that's actually from NC! :p


....Damn carpetbaggers! :mumble:

:blah:
hey! i resemble that remark!! :D

welcome home mt rob! you'll love it here. we're looking forward to showing you around the area. you've got some great riding near you and all of our stuff is about an hour away...not too bad for a day of riding in actual hills :thumb:
 

MTB_Rob_NC

What do I have to do to get you in this car TODAY?
Nov 15, 2002
3,428
0
Charlotte, NC
N8 said:
I am shocked!


$90/SF..????

That is $20 LESS than our cheesy market here. I am wondering if they have slightly over built the market up there.

FWIW, I have been hearing that RIGHT NOW is a great time in a lot of hot markets to but a house since sales have slowed and a lot of home builders are wanting to get rid of their existing inventory because 2006 is supposed to be a slow year. I have a friend who is getting an awesome deal on a newly built place just north of Denver for this reason.
Being able to close before the end of the year knocked 10k off the price as soon as I said I could do it. A little more negotiating and I got stainless steel. Neighboring houses closed a month earlier in the 250k range, building to your spec will cost you about 250k as well.

Cash talks, thank you South Florida housing market.
 

Salami

Turbo Monkey
Jul 17, 2003
1,784
118
Waxhaw, NC
Rob,

First off, you suck!!! Second, congratulaions!! :cool: I am glad everything is working out well. Nice house too!! I thought you said Mint Hill wasn't a good place to look for home. :nuts:

I hope everything works as smoothly for us as it has so far for you. Hopefully I will see up there in the next 6-9 months.

BTW Are you going to post this on FRS?

Damn. $216? ****!!
 

MTB_Rob_NC

What do I have to do to get you in this car TODAY?
Nov 15, 2002
3,428
0
Charlotte, NC
Salami said:
I thought you said Mint Hill wasn't a good place to look for home. :nuts:
I dont know, could be, I just happen to come across it. When you start asking there is a battle between what is better N vs S up that way. My buddy is a city planner for a neighboring town, was able to look some stuff up and said I did very well. The houses that closed around me very recently were for about 40k more. I am very close to work, not to far from Uptown, my friends and I am sure I will find the riding.


Salami said:
BTW Are you going to post this on FRS?
I have been trying, but its kinda broke and stuff. I have been getting login errors
 

Andyman_1970

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2003
3,105
5
The Natural State
N8 said:
It's a shame they didn't apply some of that style to the rear elevation. But considering the cost, I can understand why.
Yeah I agree, the back if a bit plain but oh well. I wish I could find some plans for some of those Craftsmanesque homes........the wife and I have been talking about building one. When I was in Bend a year and a half ago I saw all sorts of new homes with that look.......but narry a one here in Little Rock........all I see here for new homes are the same cookie cutter high roof pitch massive garage blah blah blah.
 

BigMike

BrokenbikeMike
Jul 29, 2003
8,931
0
Montgomery county MD
Westy said:
Are you going to change your name MTB_Rob_NC?
Did you READ his post?


Rob, you have WAY more balls than I do! I could never just up and move like that. Mad props for following your dream, and getting a really nice house too boot! So what is this job?
 

vinnycactus

Monkey
May 27, 2004
636
67
Matthews, NC
welcome to NC. my wife and i moved to Matthews about 6 months ago from massatwo****s and love it down here. like zod said, be sure to check out www.bikepasa.com. let me know if you want to ride too since we're relatively close.
 

MTB_Rob_NC

What do I have to do to get you in this car TODAY?
Nov 15, 2002
3,428
0
Charlotte, NC
Snacks said:
Dude, your friend is hot:)
My god you are horny. Are you having some kind of e-3some fantasy at the moment?


vinnycactus said:
welcome to NC. my wife and i moved to Matthews about 6 months ago from massatwo****s and love it down here. like zod said, be sure to check out www.bikepasa.com. let me know if you want to ride too since we're relatively close.
Ya man, I will be all over Bikepasa before and when I get up there. I cant wait. My place is right off of Pineville-Mathews, between Lawyers and Idlewild.
 

Snacks

Turbo Monkey
Feb 20, 2003
3,523
0
GO! SEAHAWKS!
My goodness..just because I think he's hot doesn't mean I'm horny...I'm just stating a fact :) :p

So when do you start your new job? Have you talked to your current boss? I was kinda shocked at the ice storm. I didn't think it got that cold in NC.