Patti O'Shea's Blog

I have a couple of first day stories from Atlanta.

First day in the condo. It was chaos. Pandemonium. Comcast came out to install my cable. This was the day my new mattress was being delivered. And the guy who was going to replace the window called and wanted to come out, too.

We had one lawn chair at this point. No other furniture of any sort. I was up and down off the floor multiple times, including lying on my stomach next to the Comcast tech as we tried to get my internet hookup to work. Late that night, after sitting on the floor chatting with friends and watching MLB Network, I tried to get up and felt my knee pop. The pain as excruciating for days afterward.

Not a great beginning in my new city.

First day at work. It was chaos. Luckily, I’d made a trial run to the office the day before and knew GPS was correctly guiding me in. What I didn’t know was that I’d arrive amid a mechanic shift change which meant hundreds and hundreds of people coming in to the Tech Ops area. I sat in line, waiting to turn in to the building.

I’m just grateful that I was down in December for a meeting and learned where my department was located. I even managed to find it again without getting lost. None of my boxes had made it from Minneapolis even though I’d had them ready to go ten days early. It’s tough to work without your stuff.

But people in my department came by to say hello and I even got a couple of welcome hugs. My boss came by to make sure I had everything I needed and my boss’s boss stopped by to thank me for relocating. Later that week, we were treated to a welcome to Atlanta lunch.

This was a great beginning to my new job location.

I made it to Atlanta, Georgia. I’ve been here two weeks now–one getting setup and one where I actually went to work at my day job.

Things still feel pretty unreal, you know? Like I’m on some kind of extended vacation. My parents are still down here and that adds to the vacation feel. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take before it sinks in that this is more than an extended stay in the south. Maybe once my parents have returned to Minnesota and I’m here alone for a while.

I can say I definitely like the weather here better than Minneapolis, although it’s been kind of bipolar. One day the high will be in the 60s, the next it’s in the 40s. I did wear short sleeves to work four out of five days last week. Short sleeves. In JANUARY! Wild!

The one thing I dislike–okay more than dislike, hate–is the driving. OMG, it’s like commuting through the middle of the Indianapolis 500! People, I have out of state plates, I’m driving in the right hand lane (a lane I rarely, if ever, used in Minneapolis), give me a break and stop tailgating me. I don’t know where I’m going even with GPS. To add to my fun, the commute is about double what I had in Minneapolis. Totally not cool.

On the plus side, most of the people I’ve talked to have been very nice. We’ll disregard the two mechanics I talked to in the elevator at work who pretended I didn’t exist. They’re probably not from around here anyway, right?

In other words, like anywhere you live, there are pluses and minuses in Atlanta. I’ll probably have more to say later, but so far, so good.

If everything went as planned, I should be in Atlanta, Georgia as you’re reading this. I’m writing this post 6 days ahead of my move and I’m torn between panic and excitement. Mostly panic.

I’m trying to look on the bright side about moving. The weather should be much, much better in Atlanta than it is in Minneapolis. I’m tired of the cold and snow. I’m tired of wearing hats and scarves and mittens and heavy winter jackets and boots. Although, wow, I saw the cutest pair of winter boots online last night and nearly ordered them–until I remembered that I won’t need them in my new home.

The other plus is that Atlanta is headquarters for my airline, so the odds of having to move again are incredibly low. Also, being our major hub, it will be more convenient for traveling. More non-stop destinations there.

Right now, though, I’m frantic about how much I have left to do and how little time I have to do it in. I’m worried about finding my way around a new city when I still get lost in the city in which I grew up. And I’m especially worried about leaving my parents alone in Minnesota. If they need me, it will take hours to fly home.

Future blog posts will no doubt talk about my adventures in Atlanta. I’m sure I’ll be doing lots of things y’all can laugh about.