How I Deal With My Main Areas of Concern

Now that I've laid out my main problems associated with my move, I can discuss how I'm going to attempt to not make them problems.

Financial issues are my greatest concern and biggest unknown. I really don't know what kind of job I can/will get once I move to San Diego. I don't need some 100k paying job but I also want to make a good enough that I don't have to worry about money if I want to go out with some friends.

As far as finding a job, I don't think there's really much I can do while I'm still living in Pittsburgh. I do plan on getting my resume out to companies in the SD area that do work in my field. I also have a couple sources as far as headhunters and recruiting firms that I intend on tapping.

My current plan is to get really any job once I move out there. I don't care if it's a Walmart greeter, just something to have some kind of income. I do have 10 grand saved up as a safety, but I want to use as little of that as I have to early on. I can then look for that job that will allow me to survive.

With my second biggest concern of not knowing anyone in San Diego, it's all on my shoulders to change that. I'm normally somewhat shy, but that has got to go. That's easier said than done, but it's something I have to force myself to do. I'm not moving and leaving all my Pittsburgh friends to have zero social life in San Diego. I know I have a great personality and get along with just about anybody, so it shouldn't take too much effort for me to meet new people.

In respect to my third biggest concern of living situation, it's probably going to be a crap shoot no matter what I do. What I do plan on doing though is finding something short term with the possibility of long term. That way, if things don't work out, I'm only stuck in a bad situation for a couple months. If it's really bad, I can just eat a couple months rent and move out right away. I'm usually a very good judge of character and very easy to get along with, so I'm confident that I will pick a good situation.

Finally, my concern of not knowing San Diego at all, hopefully will change very soon. This upcoming weekend, March 1st through March 4th, I'm making my first ever trip to San Diego. I did have a ton of things planned, which is mostly checking out areas and getting a feel for things. However, I'm just going to go with the flow and let the trip plan itself out. I cannot wait to check out the sunset on Thursday though. I have a feeling I won't want to leave after I do that.

You're Moving, What's The Big Deal?

I'm sure some people might be thinking "People move everyday, what's the big deal about you moving to San Diego?" Well, it's a huge deal for me because there's a few unknowns in my move which could cause this move to be a complete failure.

First and foremost, my biggest concern with this move is financial reasons. I probably won't have a job set up when I move out there and I'm not sure if I can find a job in my current field. If I'm not able to find a job in my current field, am I going to be able to find a job that I'll be able to survive on or will I be working 60 hours a week just to scrape by?

Depending on what source you use, the cost of living comparison between Pittsburgh and San Diego differs but it seems like it's around 35%. So not only do I have to find a job, but I also need to find a job that will increase my salary by 35%. That doesn't exactly sound easy to do.

My second biggest concern is I know absolutely no one in San Diego. I will be totally on my own for the first time ever in my life when I move. It's sort of scary to know that no one will "have my back". I won't have anyone to call if I need help, whether big or small. I won't have any friends and it's not exactly my typical persona to be outgoing in meeting new people.

My third biggest concern is my living situation. I plan on at first renting a room while I get established. That means I'm going to be living with a total stranger and I'm going to have to trust them right off the bat. That's not exactly a problem with me because I am a very trusting person, but I've been burnt so many times in the past because of it. I've always lived with friends and never with a stranger (minus my one year in a dorm in college).

My last concern is the city in general. The only thing I know about San Diego is things that I've read about it. I've never been farther west than Dallas so everything is going to be new to me. I've never been in a situation where I don't know where things are at. At least when I moved to different parts of Pittsburgh, I'd still know where to find what I wanted in some part of the city. San Diego will be a completely different ballpark.

It will definitely be a challenge, but I feel like I'm up to it.

Where Are You Moving To?

The second question I get asked when I tell people I'm moving is "Where are you moving to?" and the followup to my answer of San Diego is always "Why San Diego?"

I wish I had this great answer to give to people on why I chose San Diego to move to, but I really don't. I've never been to San Diego or even California. Hell, the farthest west I've ever been was Dallas last May to visit a friend.

I knew I wanted to move, but didn't really know where until October. I was working a project where I'd work 10-15 hour days and 7 days a week for a little over a month. I stayed at my parents place during this time because their place cut almost 2 hours off my travel time to the project site.

During my stay, I came across my high school yearbook. I hadn't looked at it in years so I opened it up and started reading things people wrote in it. Almost everyone made some reference to me living in California. I then realized that this was something I've wanted to do for a very long time and now had my mind made up for where I wanted to move.

At that time though, I didn't have a specific place picked out. I started doing some research online when I came across San Diego. It seemed to have everything that I wanted in a place to live. The city atmosphere but not a huge city such as LA or NYC, great weather and close to the ocean. Cost of living is definitely more expensive than Pittsburgh, but from research I've done, it's not nearly as drastic as moving to the bigger previously mentioned cities. I've also been told of the women in San Diego, which I must say is a plus.

While it's not exactly the greatest answer to convince someone in my decision to move San Diego, it's all that I got.

Why Am I Moving?

Why are you moving?

This is one of two questioned I get asked when I tell people that I'm moving. The other, "Where are you moving to?", will be addressed in a future post.

I decided that it was time for me to move out of Pittsburgh several years ago. I felt like my life had hit a rut and I still feel like to this day, I'm still stuck in the same rut. I had plans a few years ago to move to Florida (Tampa) with a couple friends, but they backed out. It was then I realized that if I was going to leave Pittsburgh, it was going to have to be on my own.

Because of the rut that I'm in, I've started to gain a disdain for Pittsburgh. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Pittsburgh and I'm sure I'll always, but I feel like the city is a big cause of the rut that I'm in. I feel like a change of scenery will do wonders for getting my life back on track.

I feel as though if I stay in Pittsburgh, I will remain in the same rut. One of the biggest problems is me not having a degree. I can't really go back to school in my current situation either. If I'm living in Pittsburgh, I can't possibly leave my current job. As much as I may complain about it, it pays the bills and I make good money with benefits for someone without a degree. My work schedule, and me being available to leave town at any point, is the reason why I cannot attend school while in my current job. I cannot survive on my own without my current job. It's a real catch 22.

I finally decided it was time to leave while working a project in October '06. This project I got put on lasted a little over a month, working 7 days a week with 10-15 hour work days. It absolutely killed me working such long hours with no days off. This was my breaking point, which led me to finally come up with a plan to move out of Pittsburgh.

Looking back, the only thing that hasn't led me to hitting my breaking point earlier was my lease's were always up during summer. I love Pittsburgh during the summer and I'm really not sure there is a better place to be. However, the winters have absolutely killed me over the last couple years. This will be my last winter in Pittsburgh, and thank God for that.

Meet Iggy!

Who is Iggy?

That's a pretty loaded question, but hopefully I can answer that to give readers an insight into my life.

My real name is Matt, but almost everyone calls me Iggy. Iggy is a nickname I got from friends when I was really young and it just stuck. I'm 25 (I turn 26 in February) and I was born and raised in Pittsburgh. Most of my life was spent living in the suburbs of Pittsburgh but over the last 5 years I've lived in the city.

I was a good kid growing up. I never really got into any serious trouble but like any kid, I didn't listen too well. I loved playing baseball and roller hockey with video games thrown in there when not doing something athletic.

I did good in high school graduating within the Top10 percent of my class with pretty good SAT scores. I was too smart for my own good knowing that I could do pretty much nothing at all and still coast through high school with good grades. Had I applied myself just a tiny bit, I would have set myself up greatly when it came to college.

I really wanted to take a year off before going to college but my parents were having none of that. I procrastinated my admissions form for Penn State, which lead me to not get into their main campus. I was stuck going to an off campus which I absolutely hated. It was like 13Th grade for me as my first semester was taking all classes I had during my Junior and Senior years of high school. I eventually dropped out before my first year was over.

I was lucky enough to get a job as an office clerk at a Civil Engineering firm my mother worked at. It wasn't good money, but I had a steady job and health insurance so I couldn't complain much. This job made me realize though that as much as I hated school, I had to get my butt back and get a degree. After a year of being "bitch boy", I got myself back to school.

This time around, I went to the University of Pittsburgh. I had grown up as a Pitt fan my whole life and it just seemed right to go there. I started off majoring in Computer Science and did great my first semester. Soon after starting school though, I realized that Computer Science just wasn't for me. It wasn't that I couldn't do the work, I just didn't have the dedication that was needed.

When I first started, I found out that Pitt had a dual major in my department with Business. It was just general Business, and instead of taking electives, you'd take random Business classes. Since I started taking those classes and I hated Computer Science, I decided to change my major to Finance. I then found out that Finance "wasn't me" either and I was in a state of limbo when it came to school.

This really killed all ambition I had, not only with school, but life in general. I "thought" I knew what I was going to do with my life, and when that all came crashing down, I had no backup plan. I lost interest in any classes I was taking and stopped going to them, which lead to my eventual failing out of school.

During my last semester at Pitt, the above mentioned Civil Engineering firm relocated to a new building just a few miles away from campus. This move led to them needing a lot of extra hands moving, unpacking and organizing things. I got a call to see if I was interested in working part-time and since I wasn't attending my classes anyways and needed money, I went for it.

My main duty was to unpack and organize our equipment room because the girl who ran it was 8 months pregnant at the time. When she went on leave and shortly after her boss left the company, I turned into the "equipment guy", even though I really knew nothing at all about this equipment. When not taking care of equipment duties, I was doing general office clerk things. I was only hired for 15 hours a week, but as long as there was work, I could stay as long as I wanted. This pretty much led me to working 40 hours a week but still as a part-time worker.

One day my boss, who is also head of the Environmental department, needed an extra body to go out in the field. He asked me if I was willing, I said yes, and soon after I had the title of Environmental Field Technician with full time status. I've now been in that role for 2 1/2 years and have gained a ton of experience and training. I'm now finally making a wage that I think is reasonable for the work that I do.

I do a lot of the same work that people with degrees do because of my training and experience. While I'm almost always complaining about my job, I haven't even tried looking for a new job. Since I don't have a degree in something like Environmental Science, Civil Engineering or a related field, I'm not sure how valuable I am in the open job market.

I hope to one day get back to school and finish up a degree, but I still don't know for what, which is why I haven't gone back yet. I do know that I need to though or else I'm going to be struggling to survive on crappy jobs for the rest of my life.

Although I have had my down times over the past years, I am a very happy person and love life. When I'm not working, you can catch me watching sports, listening to music or hanging out with friends. I love all Pittsburgh sports teams, especially the Steelers and Pitt basketball. When listening to music, my tastes range depending on the mood I'm in, but R&B and hiphop are my bread and butter. When with friends, I love going out to bars and clubs and enjoy a beer or two. Miller Lite is my staple beer, but I'll drink most beers. You can catch me drinking a Jack & Red Bull from time to time also.

Here are a couple pictures of me :

Purpose of This Blog

My purpose in creating this blog is to document my adventure in moving from Pittsburgh to San Diego in June 2007. I plan on going into as much detail as I can and as time allows on everything I'll do up to moving and then give updates on how the move has worked out.

Progress early on will be slow because the real activity won't start until probably April. I will go over everything I plan on doing beforehand which hopefully, others reading this can give me advice on things along the way.

When my move is complete, I hope that this blog can be used by others as a reference for a possible move.