Well, I finally managed to get myself transfered! We're moving from St. Louis back to the land of sweet tea and college football, or Huntsville, AL to be more specific. Okay, it's not the same magnitude as Lee's move, but it's certainly significant to us. I'm sure STL is fine for people who grew up here, but neither my wife or I did, and it is very difficult raising kids when you're 12 hours away from your parents. We're cutting that separation down to 1.5 hours now. So I move at the end of April, with my family following a month later (my son needs to finish the school year first). It's going to be a very frantic month, but all of our family is practically bouncing off the walls!
Of course, it certainly doesn't hurt that this comes with a promotion and pay raise!
B.J. (Rocket City bound!)
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Ahh, Huntsville, Huntsville Alabama. The very name is cloaked in Cold War Space-Race mystique. What beter reason could there ever be to go to Alabama? Indeed, what other reason could there possibly be to go to Alabama? I jest, of course. Good luck!
And welcome to the wacky world of free familial childcare. If such a thing is possible at a separation of 90 minutes' travel. . . My wife's parents are 10 minutes away so we see them all the time, whereas my parents live two and a half hours away, and we maybe see them once a month.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Apparently they're going to use a Stargate to move our stuff.
Seriously, though, a rep from the moving company came by today to survey our house, and I swear he was Rodney McKay's doppelganger. He even had the same body movements. Wierd.
B.J.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
That's impossible. You can't operate two Stargates on the same planet at the same time...
Sheesh.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Well, there's no trace of them, sir.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Hey, I had an internship in Huntsville last summer! Nifty. What line of work you in, BJ?
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Aerospace structural design engineer.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Cool! I've got a couple friends going into that when they graduate in May. You don't work for Sverdrup, by any chance?
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
What happened in Huntsville during the Cold War... all I've heard about the place is that they have large Trek/Sci-Fi conventions there don't they?
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Huntsville is home to, among other things, the Marshall Space Flight Center and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command. Or, in other words, a good place to be if you were interested in rockets in the 1960s. (Or indeed today.)
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Or if you wanted to be at ground zero of some of the first nuclear strikes by the USSR?
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Fourth most important Soviet target, according to Wikipedia.
Posted by bX (Member # 419) on :
D.C./Pentagon, NORAD, ______, Huntsville?
I attended Space Camp/Academy in Huntsville during highschool. I pretty much didn't have any use for math until that visit where other kids my age were heavy into Trig and I was limping through Algebra. It was an intensive week I'll never forget. They have it for many grade levels and they hold it on the grounds of the US Space & Rocket Center. It was like the coolest and should your children show the littlest interest in space sciences, BJ, you'd be doing them a great service to send them. Certainly visit the museum.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
New York.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Actually, I work for Boeing. I've been working on fighter jets and other stuff here in STL. I'll be helping design the P-8A mods in HSV, at least at first.
Since I grew up in North Georgia, I've been able to visit HSV several times. Believe me, the Rocket Center is one of the first places I'm taking my kids.
B.J.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
Just remember not to tell us anything that might get you shot. Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
I was never meant to be a trucker. We just got back from our house-hunting trip in Huntsville, and my right knee is screaming at me for keeping it going for practically five days straight. The 9+ hour trips to and from were the worst (especially with a 6 year old and 2 year old in the back seat), but even when we were there, we had to drive all over looking at places. I've got to drive the stretch between St. Louis and Huntsville five more times over the next month, but at least it's going to be worth it. Our kids will get to see their grandparents at least once a month now, compared to once or twice a year before.
BTW, we went to the Space & Rocket Center on Friday. My son loved it. My daughter (the 2-year old) played in mud puddles.
B.J.
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
Ah, the joys of family. Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
You, sir, need cruise control.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
For his kids? They generally just sorta "go" in a given direction already...
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Yeah, but the kids rarely go in a straight line.
As for *actual* cruise control, I no longer use it. Considering the length of the drive and how boring it is, having to consciously control the gas helps keep me a little bit more alert. I'm pretty sure I would have found myself in the ditch several times if I used cruise control.
B.J.
Posted by bX (Member # 419) on :
quote:Originally posted by B.J.: BTW, we went to the Space & Rocket Center on Friday. My son loved it. My daughter (the 2-year old) played in mud puddles.
I seem to recall there being some amazing mud-puddles there. Especially between the hab complex and the shuttle with booster monument thing you can walk under. I guess you'll just have to go back. I'm sure your son would just hate that. Do they still have the remote manipulator arm with the blocks? And the MMU?
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
bX: I don't recall seeing those, but we only had an afternoon, and didn't see everything. Of course, a lot of it had changed since the last time I had been there.
Anyway, I'm now in Huntsville, living temporarily in a hotel. Unfortunately, my family has to stay behind for a month while my son finishes out Kindergarten. Because of this, I have now gained a whole new level of respect for those serving in the military. I've been an emotional wreck the last couple of days since I have to leave my kids behind. My son can grasp the situation somewhat, but my 2 year old daughter just won't understand, and that's what makes it worse. I've had to be away from my wife before, and we could deal with that. With kids, it's a whole new level. Trust me, unless you have young kids, you really can't understand. At least I know that the end result will be worth it.
B.J.
Posted by bX (Member # 419) on :
Sounds like a rough month, but it also sounds like it'll be worth it. Grandparents are important. Plus, I mean, ROCKETS!
The last time I set foot in the SRC was decades ago now. I'd be curious to see how it's changed/grown. That's like the only occasion I've had to spend any time in the South. First time I saw fireflies. Lightning storms. Hot rain. Many memories.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
And then a voice came out of nowhere telling you to build a baseball diamond?
Posted by bX (Member # 419) on :
It was a cricket pitch, actually.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Woo hoo! I'm in Huntsville permanently now, and have no reason to go back to Missouri. I'm still in a hotel for a few days until the movers arrive with our stuff, though, and my family's in Birmingham with my father-in-law. I very much enjoyed having the moving company come in, box things up, and load it all into the truck. Never realized we had so much crap, since we filled over half a trailer packed tight! You gotta be careful that you put what you need aside, though. I realized today that my nice "work" shoes are in a box somewhere. Also, we were cleaning up the doghouse to take with us and we turned around for a second, and suddenly it was gone! What's really odd is that doghouses are on the moving company's "inadmissible" list. Anyway, they should arrive to unload at our new house on Wednesday.
One very telling thing about this is that when my wife and I moved to St. Louis 8.5 years ago, we both nearly had a panic attack at the realization of the reality of it all. This time, we both are very calm and very happy about the whole thing. Definitely the right thing for us.
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