How quickly things can change

Shortly after I published my last post, I received a call from the Hyatt in Rochester, NY offering me the job that I had Skype interviewed for.  I had only ever briefly seen this property in person once 22 years ago, so I decided to travel to Rochester to check the property out.  The hotel was kind enough to put me up for two nights and after observing the staff and really checking out the space, I had decided to accept the job.  I will be moving to Rochester, NY the first week of July.

Now, Ireland is not completely off the table. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I've wanted to move to Ireland for quite some time.  My original plan was when my daughter turned 18 (which is now 3.5 years from now).  I just thought with me being laid off/made redundant, that this would be a good time to try.  My ultimate long term plan is still to move to Ireland. It may be in a year or two, or it may be a little longer. This job will allow me to pay down some bills and save up so that making the move will be easier. 

I will likely not be updating this blog very often until the real possibility of moving is in sight.  I appreciate everyone who has been reading it it, and I hope to see you all again in the future.

Slainte

just a quick update

Time for a quick update.  I had two more interviews since my last post. I interviewed with a Marriott in Fairfax, VA and a Hyatt in Rochester, NY.  I went to university in Rochester, so that would be my first choice between the two.  I felt the interview for the VA hotel went better, though.  My interview for the VA Marriott was over the phone while my Hyatt interview was via skype and that was with the General Manager and Operations Manager.  The GM did state that he was happy with my interview.  It's another wait and see game.

However, I'm still pining for Ireland, and it's still at the top of my list.

I had a yard sale this past Saturday and sold quite a bit of stuff. None of it was big ticket items, so the cash that came in was not huge, but I did manage to get rid of a LOT of stuff. Just before the yard sale ended, my neighbour and his dad came over and said they'd be interested in the contents of my shed. They went to take a look and came back and said they'd take everything  Wow!  After the yard sale, I laid everything out on the floor and asked my neighbour to take a look again just to make sure he did indeed want everything. He said yes, and he said to come up with a price and don't make it low. :)  This just may make it possible for me to purchase my airline ticket!  Excited!

When it rains, it pours

Well, it certainly is not a soft day here in North Carolina.  I've continued to look for and apply to jobs stateside, just in case something amazing came up and my plans to head to Ireland didn't work out as planned.  Last week I received a call from the Biltmore Estate asking if I would be able to interview for a position I had applied to. For those not familiar with the Biltmore (see link), it is an amazing place.  To work their would be a great opportunity.  The Biltmore is located in Asheville, NC in the mountains.  It's a really beautiful area of the state.  I decided that it's worth a shot, so I drove 4 hours out to the estate on Tuesday. I arrived about 30 minutes early so I sat in the car in the parking lot. As I waited, I received an email from a hotel in Middletown, CT asking when I could set up a time to interview.  Late last week I also received a call from a Marriott in Fairfax, VA asking if I was still interested in the position I applied for there. To top it all off, just two days ago I received an email from a Hyatt in Rochester NY asking if I'm still interested in that position. Holy cow!!

So, I have interviewed for the Biltmore and have decided it's not for me - one down. I emailed the Hotel in CT and told them I was not interested.  I was not impressed with their facility after I had done some research - two down.  I interviewed with the Fairfax Marriott via ph9one today and they said they "will be in touch". I've heard that many times before with no response, so we will see where this one goes.  I tentatively have an interview scheduled for Monday with the Hyatt.

On Wednesday, I sat at the Brickhouse Sports Bar playing trivia with my friend George.  I was thinking a lot about this whole situation trying to decide what I should do. On one hand here in front of me I now have two very real possibilities of employment. On the other hand, I can fly to Ireland where I do not really have any opportunities and take my chances (oh, the job in Omagh in NI may not work out, as they are looking to fill the role ASAP). This is such a tough decision for me to make.  I have wanted to move to Ireland for years; this is not something I just decided a few months ago.  As Erin pointed out to me, when else would I get this opportunity to just pack up and move to another country?  I've sold almost all of my possessions already. This just might be my one and only opportunity.

I'm still waffling, though. I've pretty much decided I am going to Ireland, but there are just a few logistics holding me back from committing 100% quite yet. The main one being paying for an airline ticket.  When I first thought about doing this, I based the decision on the fact that if I made enough money from the sale of the house, I would go. Well, I am making enough money, but it occurred to me early this week that I don't have that money yet, and I don't have the money to buy a plane ticket.  I did however make reservations for 15 days lodging through Airbnb, I was able to afford that. I've also been in touch with the two recruiters I've been working with so they both know my arrival in Dublin (which is scheduled right now for July 2nd).  I'm hoping I can sell enough of my other possessions to at least get me a ticket.  I have a car to sell yet, but of course I need that until the very end. Do y'all see my quandary here?

So, no final decision yet, but yay, I have more interviews. I still wonder if they are worth my time and stress.  I wasted 12 hours and about $60 worth of gas going to Asheville.  Oh well...

The great sell-off!

Well, the time has come to really start downsizing. I can't take much with me, so it (almost) all needs to go. I posted a few things on Craigslist (I haven't had much luck with Craigslist lately) and I also posted on Facebook and tagged a bunch of my local friends. I have to tell you, the whole Facebook idea (thanks Erin) was the best yet. I had sold several things within 10 minutes of posting. I just found out that the town I live in has a Facebook page for buying, selling and trading goods, so I just sent in a request to join that group. My Neighbours (thanks Kevin and Jess) highly recommended the group, so hopefully I'll have some good luck with that.

Under Contract

It's official, my house is under contract! I received a due diligence check yesterday from my realtor and closing is scheduled for 27 June. In other news, I received an email from a recruiter I've been working with in Ireland. He emailed me to let me know of an opportunity in Omagh which is in Northern Ireland. Omagh is in County Tyrone, which is where my Grandfather emigrated from. In fact, when I looked at the map of where this hotel is, I saw Castlederg, which is the town he lived in. Now, I'm not against living in N.I. at all, it's just that all of the research I've done thus far has been for living in Ireland. I just need to do some investigating on living there. I actually think it would be really nice to live so close to where my family originated from; coming full circle, in a way. I've emailed the recruitment agency asking for more details on the position, and I will post more information once I have it myself.

Still waiting

I am still waiting for a contract for the sale of the house. The buyers agent is not being easy to work with. There is a clause in the contract that states if the buyers house does not close they can walk away from buying my house. My realtor feels this is not needed. However, the buyers were supposed to close on the sale of their house this past Friday and it got pushed back to this Friday. Something just seems odd about the whole situation. So basically I'm just waiting for the wording to be changed by the buyers realtor and I'll be all set to go. I just want some reassurance that this is actually going to happen; Dublin's been on my mind quite a bit the last few days.

Possible (hopefully) good news

Well, I finally have an offer on the house! There was a showing when I was visiting my Mom in Connecticut, and this is the couple who has put an offer in. There was also a showing on Sunday, and according to their realtor, the couple was very interested, but we have not heard anything back. I was hoping for a bidding war. Anyways, the first and only offer came in 12k below asking, so I obviously counter offered. They have since counter offered again, and so I did as well. I'm now just waiting to hear a response from my latest counter offer. Keeping fingers crossed they accept it, although I have a feeling they will counter offer yet again. If they accept my offer as is, I'm in a good financial position. I'll keep everyone posted.