Watch out Phoenix, here I come

Thursday morning Larry and I board a plane and head to Phoenix to buy a house.  We hope to put an offer in and sign the papers over the weekend (pending house inspection).  The City of Big Rapids is probably going to offer early retirement to anyone with 20 years and over 50 years of age and I am going to take it as soon as it's announced.  When I first found out about the offer, I contacted the fleet management software we use and found out they had a couple of openings.  One was in sales and one was a brand new job called cusomer retention manager.  I am thisclose to getting the CRM job.  They do a lot of hiring from their users because we know the program and believe in it and what it can do to save money for fleet maintenance.  The owner of the company wants me and almost everyone else does to.  The problem is that he doesn't do the hiring so I will interview and "sell" myself to the vice president who has the final decision.  He had already made the decision that I wouldn't be a good fit without even talking to me but after I sent a long email explaining how I thought I would be a very good fit plus a word from the owner, he has decided that maybe I'd work out ok but we need to talk.   I would have never considered leaving the city before having this surgery.  I knew I wouldn't be able to find another job out there since people always look at the size of the person, not what they have accomplished or how confident they are in themselves.  Well, that all is gone now.  Everyone now sees the confidence and understands how I enjoy challenging myself to try something new and it's growing by leaps and bounds.  I know I can do a good job for this company and I'm sure I'll be able to "sell" myself to them. Now, if the city council decided against offering the early retirement, I will move to Phoenix if I have a job to go to.  If I don't have a job, we'll find a good management company and rent the house out until I do retire in 3 1/2 years.  Either way, we'll be set. If the early retirement is offered, my last day will be October 31st.  My house will go up for sale on August 21st and hopefully sell before we go.  I can afford to leave it empty because it's paid for so I'm not out any money if we don't sell it quickly.   One little note on the side, the new person who would take over my job would start at a little over $22,000 per year and I now make over $37,000.  It actually pays the city to let me retire because they save money on salaries plus I have a defined benefit (pension) and the new person would have a defined contribution (401K) type plan.  Everyone tells me it's a slam dunk but I'm holding off until I know definitely about the job. I'll keep you all posted while I'm out there.  Keep your fingers crossed that I get the job and find a house.  Actually, I've found one via the internet, I just hope it's still available when we get there.

Living here is great. Well at least 9 and of 12 months Let us know what happens! And good luck!