I like beer.

so I met up the district manager for anchorage last night. we talked for nearly an hour over a couple beers. he was drinking guinness, I had mac and jacks. it always impresses me when people drink guinness fast. it takes me three hours to finish one...

anyway, he made one hell of a sales pitch. and if there were no strings attached, I'd be flying up there today to take the job. but there are strings, and I have to factor in miyuki's happiness as well as familial obligations. makes it a tough decision.

we never talked numbers. I told him the decision will be mostly financial, but he said he'd need to clear it through the higher ups. he did say there would be more money for taking the position (more responsibility and a promotion) and a bit extra for going north. but I don't know how much he was talking about. ideally, it would be a thousand a month. it could very well be an extra hundred a month. but I doubt I'd even consider anything less than five hundred extra.

they are going to fly me up there sometime next week for a couple days. my first junket. airfare and hotel will be paid for, probably a rental car and maybe even meals. I also imagine some of the people from the branch will even do a little something. it's such a weird position for me to be in. I've always had to basically beg for jobs and take whatever was offered. they won't be flying miyuki up, but that may be better anyway. the logistics of getting her up there would be difficult...

oddly, my biggest concern if I do go up there is the cats. how the hell am I gonna get them up there? I've heard horror stories about flying with pets. but I also don't want to leave them behind... I know at least one person who would take them in for the duration of our stay up there, but I'd miss the little fuckers.

there are so many things factoring into this. one is miyuki's willingness to stay in the states longer than anticipated. we could be stateside for five years instead of two. if so, this is a wise move. it's also for the same position I interviewed for in BC, which would definitely strengthen my position when we do end up back there... two years of experience would go a long way towards getting a lot more money.

mostly tho, I just want to go somewhere different, see what's like to not live in the pacific NW and get out from under my parents' shadow.