I love maps.
I really do.
I can stare at them for hours.
I absolutely love looking at them.
But, sometimes, even when I look at these things for hours, some stuff doesn’t “sink in”.
Like, I know, the Twin Cites is way, way north of Detroit (where I grew up).
Way, way, north, meaning, if you drew a horizontal line from Detroit, moving West, Minneapolis would be way, way north of that line.
I mean, that’s the reason why it’s so frigging cold here, because we live “up north”, right??
(sometimes, it just seems like we’re living right next to the North Pole.)
(Obviously, I don’t mean today.)
Well, if you’re from Minnesota, living in the Twin Cities, you don’t live “up north”.
Know what I mean?
(Jelly bean.)
Because, we actually live in the middle portion of the state (vertically speaking, of course).
And I know Green Bay (and, by association, Appleton), is in the northern part of Wisconsin.
I mean, all of us have seen those Green Bay Packer football games, where the snow is coming down so frigging hard…with ice growing on the faces of those (idiotic) bearded football players.
What I forget is, truly how much “North” we are, here in the Twin Cities.
Like, it really puts it into perspective, when you take your finger, and draw a line East to Michigan, and you hit Traverse City.
Man, that gives one pause.
Like, when you think of Green Bay, and you think it’s more “northern” than Minneapolis.
But, it’s not. It’s actually a bit more southern.
(take that same line you drew from Minneapolis, to Traverse City, and you’ll see the Green Bay is below that line, unless my eyes are failing me.)
Which means, Appleton, is more southern of Minneapolis.
Which means, I could be working in a city where they just might have heat waves.
Just kidding.
Talking about heat waves.
Houston is another case.
When I think of Houston, I tend to think it’s more westerly than it actually is.
But, take your finger, and draw your next line, straight down, from the Twin Cities, until you hit the ocean.
What’s that you see??
Oh, that’s Houston.
Why are we talking about Appleton, WI, and Houston?
A couple of recruiters have submitted my resume today, for separate contracting jobs in those cities.
All things equal – dollar wise – I think Appleton is better: no weekly/bi-weekly flying, I can drive there once a week/bi-weekly (it’s only 300 miles), saving me the extra expense of flights, and car rental, as well as the frustration of flying in a cramped seat made for an average sized 5’10”, 200 lb male, as opposed to a 6’5″ 800 lb gorilla, like moi.
Which is really more to the point.
Flying isn’t fun for me.
I like to fly.
Really.
It’s the sitting in cramped seats that kills the flying experience for me. And, the waiting in bag check lines, the waiting in the boarding lines, and then the actual boarding, and the waiting at the baggage claim conveyor.
That, with the nausea. (no, just kidding, I got over that in my twenties.)
The other thing about Houston – it’s way, way too hot for me.
I’ll take cold any time, over hot.
You can pile on as many sweaters and coats to keep you warm.
But, once you remove that last layer (in Houston), there isn’t anything else you can do.
We’ll see how this goes – I’ve got a good feeling for both of these positions.
