First: I'm not sure which forum this belongs in best. Second: I apologize for using an accurate, albeit excessively catchy thread title; I thought some would find it, under the circumstances, a bit amusing, or at least a bit cute.
My spouse's company has been harping on my spouse to move to the Alpharetta GA area. We live north of Boston, and we both work on the same street (so we carpool) about ten miles from home, though that still means 25-35 minute commute each way. However, my spouse works in the corporate headquarters, which is here, while all my spouse's co-workers are located in Alpharetta.
I earn substantially more than my spouse - about 55% more. (Wow, I had to do the math twice to verify that. Spouse's*1.55=Mine.) I'm a key member of our organization, and I'll remain so conceptually as long as this well-paying job exists there. (If I'm not this valuable, then they really don't need me, specifically, and given that I'm so well-paid, I have every reason to think that they'd find a way to do away with me, perhaps a little more readily if I was remote, but do away with me all-the-same.)
I've been generally frustrated with the ridiculously slow pace by which my organization is realizing what it needs to do to move forward. We're a small part of a very small part of one of the largest companies in the world, so it isn't like the issues regarding our organization are such that corporate headquarters would be concerned, one way or the other. Our profit/loss is so small in their terms that they're lost in the truncation they use in their financial reports. This frustration bleeds into our marriage a bit. My spouse hates to see me frustrated. The move won't change that of course - unless the move is accompanied by a change in mindset, making the decision to, effectively, care less about certain (work-related) things, perhaps caring more about making our lives better.
In a discussion with my boss about this marital concern, he indicated we need to do what is best for us. No one is irreplaceable, but some folks are less readily replaceable than others, and he indicated that I'm a key member of the team and that he sees no reason I could not work remotely, should we decide to move. (It is worth noting that my boss works at home two or three days a week; and his boss does as well. There are a number of remote employees, including one of my three primary co-workers, and my counterparts in two other departments.) My spouse feels that the assurance we've gotten from my boss is sufficient, but what do you think? I don't want the act of trying to pin my boss down to cause a negative reaction, but of course, eventually, if we decide to move, he'll have to be pinned down.
The move would be from Boston, three and a half hours from my closest family, to the Atlanta area, thirteen hours from my closest family. We're not very close, though we have seen each other a few times a year. Atlanta is three and a half hours from my spouse's closest family, though again, same story - not that close - visits every year or two.
We are very active at church. It is the closest thing we have to family. We would be moving with the context of living near (within a mile perhaps) of the local church of our denomination, with an eye toward making it our new family. Heady expectation, I know, but an essential part of the plan imho.
I'm accompanying my spouse on a business trip in a few weeks. We'll be there for a week, arriving Saturday morning so we can attend the church's coffee house Saturday night and worship Sunday morning. We'd also spend time over the weekend getting to know the area a little, and perhaps have a realtor show us homes. There appear to be a great number of them that are precisely what we're looking for, precisely where we want to live.
We have no real attachments to Boston, except that we're here now, it's driving distance for visits to my family, and my spouse has a cousin an hour away.
This part is key, I think: We don't really like the Boston area. We like the people, but we have no real love for snow. (We don't like oppressive heat and humidity either, but wouldn't that just be a wash?) Everything is so crammed together here in the Boston area; I'll see it in person in a few weeks, but it seems like there is more room for everything down there - the roads line up down there instead of being jammed in wherever there was empty space up here; there is even more spaces between cars in the parking lots; etc.
I do need to be clear: As ridiculously silly as it sounds, I would be moving for love - because my spouse wants to spend the last five or six years of my spouse's career working with co-workers face-to-face. I'll probably work another five or six years after that. (I'm ten years younger.) Ideally, I would glide into retirement supporting the product that was my personal vision, just like my predecessor, who even today works part time providing his expertise and insight into the product that was originally his personal vision.
What considerations would you factor in? What information would you gather to make a better decision?
My spouse's company has been harping on my spouse to move to the Alpharetta GA area. We live north of Boston, and we both work on the same street (so we carpool) about ten miles from home, though that still means 25-35 minute commute each way. However, my spouse works in the corporate headquarters, which is here, while all my spouse's co-workers are located in Alpharetta.
I earn substantially more than my spouse - about 55% more. (Wow, I had to do the math twice to verify that. Spouse's*1.55=Mine.) I'm a key member of our organization, and I'll remain so conceptually as long as this well-paying job exists there. (If I'm not this valuable, then they really don't need me, specifically, and given that I'm so well-paid, I have every reason to think that they'd find a way to do away with me, perhaps a little more readily if I was remote, but do away with me all-the-same.)
I've been generally frustrated with the ridiculously slow pace by which my organization is realizing what it needs to do to move forward. We're a small part of a very small part of one of the largest companies in the world, so it isn't like the issues regarding our organization are such that corporate headquarters would be concerned, one way or the other. Our profit/loss is so small in their terms that they're lost in the truncation they use in their financial reports. This frustration bleeds into our marriage a bit. My spouse hates to see me frustrated. The move won't change that of course - unless the move is accompanied by a change in mindset, making the decision to, effectively, care less about certain (work-related) things, perhaps caring more about making our lives better.
In a discussion with my boss about this marital concern, he indicated we need to do what is best for us. No one is irreplaceable, but some folks are less readily replaceable than others, and he indicated that I'm a key member of the team and that he sees no reason I could not work remotely, should we decide to move. (It is worth noting that my boss works at home two or three days a week; and his boss does as well. There are a number of remote employees, including one of my three primary co-workers, and my counterparts in two other departments.) My spouse feels that the assurance we've gotten from my boss is sufficient, but what do you think? I don't want the act of trying to pin my boss down to cause a negative reaction, but of course, eventually, if we decide to move, he'll have to be pinned down.
The move would be from Boston, three and a half hours from my closest family, to the Atlanta area, thirteen hours from my closest family. We're not very close, though we have seen each other a few times a year. Atlanta is three and a half hours from my spouse's closest family, though again, same story - not that close - visits every year or two.
We are very active at church. It is the closest thing we have to family. We would be moving with the context of living near (within a mile perhaps) of the local church of our denomination, with an eye toward making it our new family. Heady expectation, I know, but an essential part of the plan imho.
I'm accompanying my spouse on a business trip in a few weeks. We'll be there for a week, arriving Saturday morning so we can attend the church's coffee house Saturday night and worship Sunday morning. We'd also spend time over the weekend getting to know the area a little, and perhaps have a realtor show us homes. There appear to be a great number of them that are precisely what we're looking for, precisely where we want to live.
We have no real attachments to Boston, except that we're here now, it's driving distance for visits to my family, and my spouse has a cousin an hour away.
This part is key, I think: We don't really like the Boston area. We like the people, but we have no real love for snow. (We don't like oppressive heat and humidity either, but wouldn't that just be a wash?) Everything is so crammed together here in the Boston area; I'll see it in person in a few weeks, but it seems like there is more room for everything down there - the roads line up down there instead of being jammed in wherever there was empty space up here; there is even more spaces between cars in the parking lots; etc.
I do need to be clear: As ridiculously silly as it sounds, I would be moving for love - because my spouse wants to spend the last five or six years of my spouse's career working with co-workers face-to-face. I'll probably work another five or six years after that. (I'm ten years younger.) Ideally, I would glide into retirement supporting the product that was my personal vision, just like my predecessor, who even today works part time providing his expertise and insight into the product that was originally his personal vision.
What considerations would you factor in? What information would you gather to make a better decision?
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