Thursday, February 23, 2012

Wherein I word vomit about moving

This week has been an emotional week from hell. I won't go into specific details: we'll just go with hormones and depression. I hate being a girl sometimes.

Today also marks less than 100 days until our move to Connecticut. I'm excited to be moving, again. While South Carolina will always be where I'm "from" and "home" none of my family lives here. I don't live in my hometown, so I don't see people I know. I really have no desire to see people I went to high school with (excluding a few). Plus, I really dislike big cities. We live about 20-30 minutes from downtown Charleston. There are 3 pretty major universities within spitting distance. There are just too many damn people. And, while I enjoy the company of individuals, masses of people everywhere give me the hives and make me all ChibiSMASH. (Shout out to my homegirl, Chibi!) Again: too many damn people in an area not meant to accommodate them. Swamps, marshes, beaches and riverfront property are NOT meant to be built upon.

Ok, so back to the topic: Moving. For those not in the know, military moving is a big game of hurry up and wait. Example: We went to the Housing office to apply for housing in CT (we're currently living off base and will be moving into base housing in CT). We fill out the paperwork, the Housing office here faxes it to the Housing office in CT. The CT Housing people contact us and say: "Thanks for applying. We'll send your paperwork to Privatized Company in charge of assigning you a house when you're 60 days out from needing keys. And there might be a waiting list. But we won't know until you leave your current command." Basically, we're hoping they have a house in the area we want when we show up for keys. If not, we have to take what they have. The house we want: 1600-2000 sq ft. House we could end up with: 1100 sq feet. FOR THE SAME PRICE. I think that last bit is what really gets me. When you live in military housing, your rent is equal to your Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH). Your BAH depends on rank. So if you live in a duplex, your neighbor may be paying hundreds of dollars more or less than you. For the same house.

Now, don't get me wrong: I'm grateful for this life. I'm grateful to everyone who pays their taxes so my husband gets paid. I'm grateful for a housing allowing. Sometimes, I really hate the hoops and red tape we have to jump through to do something that seems so simple. 

Wow. So that was some word vomit. I'd apologize, but it's my blog and I'll do what I want. I'm just really frustrated with the whole process. You go to one department and get one story. Another department, different story. It also changes every day, so what you remember from moving last time, doesn't apply to moving this time.

Update: The waves are still there. Today more of a constant push and pull than crashing down around me.

2 comments:

  1. I love you, gor what thay's worth.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oy. I can't imagine. Would you like some Saltines made out of glitter? 

    ReplyDelete