Well, it has been around 2 months since I got myself moved to the Tampa area. My wife and kids have been here a month or so longer though. I won't speak for them here but I think generally everyone is happy.
The weather has cooled off and is beautiful. When first getting here it was hot but that was expected. It was bearable because we didn't really need to spend much time outside then.
The area is quite pretty around the northern / north eastern Tampa area. We are still house hunting and there are many pretty lakes and ponds along with plenty of Spanish moss. The hunting is going slow but we are hoping to find a house that is really good fit for our family.
The current apartment complex isn't bad overall; they keep it picked up and well groomed. I just don't like living in apartments though - just not enough room. Downside is one neighbor seems to yell a lot which is quite audible through the walls. Can only pray for them - haven't really met them. Otherwise, the complex is pretty quiet. I do wish there were washers/dryers in the units though - having to cart the laundry around is pretty inconvenient and expensive. I pray for my wife that it goes well since she is the one with the best availability to handle it.
The job side of things is ok but not quite as good as I hoped; at least not yet. I continue to hope that I can get involved in a way that I grow technically. I can only pray about that. It may just take time and patience on my part. With a totally distributed team, it is a bit awkward and even isolating at times. It is hard to justify a ton of interaction with those sitting around me when to a large degree our work isn't crossing much at this moment. That has changed a little bit (to the better) as I need some reasonable guidance on what direction cloud computing is moving in the organization. I am forced out of my quiet comfort zone some days and have to "spam" groups standing around to determine who knows the right person to talk to regarding various things. I'm starting to meet people that way which is a plus.
I think my biggest issue right now is traffic and travel time. It takes me about an hour to go ~15 miles. That is taking a few "short" cuts but not speeding like a maniac though. I think the traffic signs are there to taunt you - as in "he he, you could go this fast if there wasn't this much traffic and numerous accidents in front of you" Two notable days were: one where I was passed about 3 times by a guy on the sidewalk with a shopping cart. He was walking slow and had a limp too. A different day it was an older bicyclist that passed me on the sidewalk several times. At other places where traffic isn't heavy, you get people blowing by at 20mph+ over the speed limits. They like to weave around people. There are also tons of people who race down the empty lanes and then force themselves in front of people. I can only pray that people learn to respect others and give up some of the "life revolves around me" attitude. These types of attitudes explain why insurance is higher in our county - the amount of speeding and accidents is pretty outrageous. I will say that I can understand how the traffic can wear on you - especially when many of the lights are REALLY long. If you miss a light, you are generally going to be sitting there a while. I think this is why so many people run the red lights here. I don't know if they could time lights better or not but the overall effect is you sit at red lights and then you sit at green lights because the traffic on the far side of the light is backed up as well. Throw in some accidents and pedestrian traffic and it isn't a relaxing drive. I'm hoping I can do some work from home at some point.
We did find a great church (Idlewild Baptist Chuch) though and are hoping that we can find a house that keeps us close enough to do regular activities with along with make my work commute a bit shorter. We do miss folks at our old church - Staples Mill Road Baptist Church still in VA but the folks here at Idlewild seem to have the same heart for Christ and many opportunities to help people.
The church is much larger than we are used to which is good/bad. Trying to get/stay involved with a life group but struggling with other stuff (kids schooling mainly) right now. One more thing that I hope settles down soon.
Overall though, we are liking things. We still aren't settled enough to really enough the things around us - activities to do, places to visit, etc. Hoping we can enjoy those things soon.
I wanted to end this with a bible verse but I see my wife struggling to get laundry stuff around so I must go now. Hope God blesses you today though.
Scott
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