From the Unarchive: *gasp*: 20 years since the Big Move
I'm heading back into the Unarchive, and into my LiveJournal once again, for an important set of anniversaries. August 1 marks 20 years of my first full day living in the St. Louis region, with July 30 being 20 years since my last full day as a Chicago resident. The move was somewhat chaotic, but ultimately necessary for my future life with L. You should be able to pick up some of the circumstances from the entry, but I'll go further into detail afterwards. Fair warning: the excerpted LJ entry and subsequent explanation will be long, so take your time reading both.
Note: Similar to last time, if a URL gets replaced from the original, the new link will be highlighted. If there's no sufficient replacement, the original link will be crossed out. Any edits for clarification will be in bold italics.
*gasp* (2005-08-03 19:28) - public
I’m up for air for a little bit, as I’ve been swimming rather furiously these last few days. Then again, look at my icon—I guess that’s what I do best.
There are a lot of people I need to apologize to for my abrupt departure last weekend. A lot happened in a short time, and I was not able to fit in some farewells as I would have liked to do. While I will be back up for the next few weekends in Chicago, my socializing time won’t really be able to kick in until all of my stuff is moved out of the apartment on Giddings. Along that line, here goes a quick rundown of all that has happened:
Fri 7/29--Job offer comes in amidst a flurry of phone calls and e-mails. My excuse at work, for leaving my desk with a cell phone glued to my ear, was that L. passed out on the job and was taken to a hospital for observation. She called her parents, my parents, and myself to explain what had happened, as well as to assure us all that she was woozy, but fine. By the end of Friday’s work day, I had accepted the offer of a one-year contract-to-hire job at SBC in their Desktop Help Desk department. I would be getting calls from SBC employees to resolve their problems, and if they could not be fixed, I would be responsible for routing them to the correct department. In effect, I would be doing a similar job to what N. deals with, except he is more hands-on with the laptops, and I would be troubleshooting over the phone or using various remote desktop tools.
L. was the first to know what was going on, followed by my parents. While L. was confused at how fast events were occurring, she said she would support me regardless of my decision. I was not clear whether I should take this job, since it is a contract-to-hire position and not a permanent one. At the same time, this was the first serious offer since the job search began in earnest in March, and I was not about to wait another few more months for another one to come down the pipeline. Both my father and K. had no such doubt about this offer; they told me, without any hesitation, to pack some clothes and call in sick on Monday. Having their assurance made me feel a bit more at ease with the position, along with the realization that even if this turns out to be a straight-up contract job, or one that only lasts, say, 6-9 months, I will have this experience here in St. Louis that could help in marketing myself for other companies. More importantly, I will be in St. Louis looking for jobs locally, as opposed to searching for jobs 300 miles away in Chicago. Some of this could be described as rationalization, but even with the risks involved, this offer sounded like it would be far better for me than spinning my wheels at Hostway.
That night, I went out with N. at the Horseshoe and told him the news, all while the movie Okie Noodling was being shown on one of their TVs. He was stunned by its quickness, and voiced some of the same concerns I laid out above, along with saying how tough of a situation this was for me. He also knew how I wanted to move to be with L. and not really wait around for another opportunity to come by. We left, and I went home early to start packing and planning. I believe the only other person I told that night was J., and yes, J., I won’t forget your tripod. :)
Sat 7/30--Woke up, started packing my shit. More people were informed as to what was going on. The big issue of subleasing my place came up, as I had to plan what to do with that. The now-obsolete ad was placed on Craigslist, which got its first response 10 minutes after it went up. Continued packing.
Sun 7/31--Woke up at the ass-crack of dawn, or about as close as to what I’ll see on a Sunday when I don’t stay out until the clubs close. Patty and Patrick came by to see the apartment, with Patrick being the winner for reasons explained earlier. This brings us up to the phone post; after that, nothing of interest happened until I made it into St. Louis around 8:15 PM. L. showed off her strength by giving me the biggest hug I can recall from her, and I can’t lie--we both teared up a bit once I stepped inside. I emptied out my car, cleaned myself up a bit, then walked to Cafe Brasil for a late dinner, followed by a really early collapse into bed.
Mon 8/1 to today--This is what I came down here for, after all: a job. Training started at 7:30am, with L. dropping me off before heading back west to her one-week assignment at the library branch in Clayton. I was dressed like an adult, no, make that a boring adult in my khaki pants and checked-patterned shirt. After many years of wearing whatever I wanted to at work, it felt nice to put on more mature clothes. Dave, the trainer, is an ex-Air Force guy that lives in Belleville, IL, and runs a Korean martial arts academy in Caseyville. I can’t remember exactly the style he teaches, but I know it’s not taekwondo. Whatever it is called, as he told me that day but I can’t remember now, it has an effect on him, as he is easily over 55 but looks at least 10 years younger. The only major disappointment of the early morning training session was that he said this assignment may last less than a year, and he really can’t say if there will be a flip to becoming a full-time–which, until I hear otherwise, means that it may not happen. I knew this was a risk when coming down here, but given how early I am into the training, I shouldn’t be making myself pessimistic already.
A lot is being crammed into my head–the different departments at SBC that respond to issues, the format of the trouble ticket software, reviews on software, introduction to using Active Directory, how to use their phone system, and so on. Next week, my training moves to 10:30am-7:30pm, which is a relief from starting at either 7:30 or 7am. This does mean that when I do drive into the city, the thick haze of the early morning will be replaced by relentless sunshine. This also means that the $3 daily parking spot I found may be swallowed up by Cardinals fans, as it is located at 10th and Spruce, right under I-64 (or Highway Farty) and is about three blocks from both my work location and the baseball stadium. I have tried Metrolink once, and it will result in me having to take the train out to either Forest Park or the Delmar Loop, then switching to two buses. If I can keep the same parking location, I’d pay $3 to park all day, or $4 for round trip train/bus transfers.
Finally, the building, which was called One Bell Center when it was built as the headquarters for Southwestern Bell in 1986, but renamed One SBC Center a few years ago. The company relocated its headquarters to San Antonio in 1992, leaving behind what is now the second-tallest building in St. Louis, along with adjoining buildings on its east and west side off of Chestnut Street. The western building, the Southwestern Bell Building, was the original HQ until the rather dated 80s building was finished. The eastern building is the Data Center, which has some parts of its lobby closed off due to the lowered amounts of people there, though it does connect to the 8th & Pine Metrolink stop at some point in the lobby. The elevators in One SBC are very odd, as they stacked two cars on top of one another, and segregated elevator banks by even and odd floors. What this means is that you can be going to the 22nd floor, which is where I’m working, and be "stuck" at the 18th floor since the car above you is exiting on the 19th floor. I don’t remember any other elevator system being like this, and at first, I thought something was broken. The calm faces of everyone around me told me that I was wrong.
I called in sick on Monday and resigned from Hostway yesterday. My COBRA stuff is in the mail, and it will be sent to the new apartment, for which we finally received its keys this afternoon. I must go move stuff in it now, and I’ll catch up with you all later. EEP.
Twenty years later, I can still recall the mix of panic, excitement, sweat, and doubt during this blur of a weekend. My move was the third and final step in 2005 that brought us together, starting with L.'s own move to STL on January 1 to start a new job, then followed by our engagement on June 3. We had been together as a couple for a bit over 2 years, but once she had moved, I realized that dating was insufficient and a more substantial union would be better for us.
Once I made my mind up about marrying L., I examined what else was happening in my life. My job at Hostway was crap1, and its culture2 even more so. Any new job would have been an improvement! I loved living in the Lincoln Square neighborhood in Chicago, as it was a hidden gem of walkability and affordability in the early 2000s; sadly, only the former applies today. Deciding between Chicago and L. was easy, but between a new life in St. Louis and the family and friends in Chicago? That was tough. I’d give up the familiarity of a large network of family and friends, and in exchange, I’d be in a new city largely unknown to me, working at a new job, and knowing very few people besides L. Love may conquer all, but there are still practical concerns to consider, such as wondering what would happen if either of our jobs didn't work out, or we couldn't feel comfortable in our new city or even with each other. I can say with the hindsight of 20 years that those concerns have been alleviated, but I didn't possess that foreknowledge in 2005. I was too busy walking on the tightrope to think that far ahead, as my goal was simply to make it across to the other end and accomplish starting the new job. Then, time for another tightrope, moving into the new apartment. And so on.
Additional thoughts and follow-ups on the post:
The pessimism about the SBC job was warranted. I had joined SBC as a contractor to help with the eventual transition of SBC to what is now AT&T, so there would be no full-time conversion. The SBC-operated help desks would shut down on December 1, 2005 in favor of the help desks managed by IBM for AT&T. As SBC help desk employees received their buyouts or conversions, my fellow contractors were there to pick up the slack until IBM/AT&T fully took over. My last day was November 4, 2005, not because I was let go, but because I found a new job at the pre-buyout Anheuser-Busch on their Corporate Help Desk.
The move from SBC to A-B can best be summed up by my favorite Far Side comic. Any of my complaints about the work and culture at Hostway paled in comparison to my 18 months at A-B. Wanna talk about chalk and cheese? That's how well I fit in there. It was a mess of entitlement, of people in charge who did not warrant respect, far too much performative loyalty towards a crappy beer brand, and plenty of running to stand still. Plenty of STL folks both in the region and elsewhere were thrilled for me when I worked there, as they claimed I "made it." What little did they know....Out of all the jobs I've worked at since my move, I can say with full confidence that A-B was the real bottom of the barrel.
August 2005 was the month of moving. I made a couple repeat trips back to Chicago, one to clear out the rest of my apartment so the sublessor could move in, then dumping my belongings at my parents' house for the time being. When I returned from this trip, L. and I moved apartments within our complex, leaving behind her studio for a one-bedroom unit. With this larger living space, we could better assess what items I could bring back with me from my parents' house on our second and final trip. Oh, and in between all of these moves, L. and I went to a friends' wedding, and we grieved the loss of the family dog. I'm too old now to have a similarly-packed month of travel and physical action.
2005 was also my first real exposure to how different summer is in STL compared to Chicago. The 2005 me would have likely melted had he dealt with the high humidity of the 2025 summer (so far).
The sublessor, Patrick3, turned out to be a real prick. He ditched the apartment in October, one month before the lease was to expire. The landlord tried to blame me for Patrick's actions(?‽‽‽!‽?), but after he spoke with the neighbors, he realized I had no role in Patrick's departure. He left behind a lot of the furniture I couldn't move out, so the landlord spent a lot of time clearing out the place for a future tenant. As a result I never got the security deposit back, but even had Patrick been a model tenant, I'm sure there would have been a lame rationale for why the landlord kept it.
Given my short time at SBC, I didn't fool around too much with public transportation. I think I took Metrolink a couple of times, but it was far easier for me to drive. Public transit worked well for me in Chicago, but St. Louis wasn't Chicago and I had to adjust my expectations. I mentioned this in passing during the last Unarchive excerpt, but it bears a fuller explanation now: my first few years in STL were somewhat wasted by my efforts to make my new city experience have equivalents to my old time in Chicago. If there's a regret I have from the move, it was spending fruitless hours upon solving the equation, "When Chicago has X, then STL has Y." I had to learn with the passage of time how this equation couldn't be solved. My adjustment to life in STL would have been smoother had I accepted this region for what it is, and not tried to apply that equation to everything and everyone I met during my initial years here.
Parking at SBC was occasionally affected by baseball games, and I think there was one football game that impacted where I could park. In 2005, Busch Stadium II was a few months away from being torn down, and the Edward Jones Dome was still hosting the St. Louis Rams. Neither exists today, as Busch Stadium III has been open since 2006, and the Rams high-tailed it back to Los Angeles in 2016. The Dome hosts random events and concerts, and for the last two springs, the St. Louis Battlehawks of the UFL, who keep setting attendance records for the league. KAW KAW.
One Bell Center now holds the dubious distinction of being the second-largest vacant building in the United States, and eighth-tallest vacant building in the world. The adjoining Southwestern Bell Building and the Data Center are still occupied.
The double-decker elevators that freaked me out at One Bell Center can also be found at Sears Tower in Chicago, mainly for the offices within the building. You won't step onto a double-decker elevator if your goal is to visit the Skydeck on the 103rd floor.
I returned to working in downtown STL during my 4-year stint at Peabody Energy from 2007-2011. Since I was once again a contractor, I had to pay for lot or on-street parking during the daytime. When I worked split shifts, I was granted access to the building's parking garage at a discounted rate, though oftentimes the parking attendant left before my own shift ended, thereby giving me free parking!
Cafe Brasil was a great restaurant that was within walking distance of our first apartment in Rock Hill. Its owner has bounced around the STL region, as he's now on his second Brazilian restaurant after Cafe Brasil closed in 2008. Based on the reviews of Brasilia, it looks like he's figured out his formula.
And with that, I'll close the Unarchive. Until next time.
At the time I worked there, Hostway was still living its best dot-com bubble life: Catered food once a month, complete with booze! Ping-pong tables! Affairs between managers and subordinates! Brothers in charge of the company dueling it out in public! Hipster gatekeeping! Permanently souring me on the University of Chicago! It's a good thing these folks have long since left the company, and it's been reinvented in all but name.↩
My feelings towards U of C were lukewarm to begin with, but after working with some of its more recent graduates...ugh. It's not just a place where fun comes to die, it's a place where the architecture has more warmth and character than its students.↩
The rule I have for myself is this: I abbreviate the first names of people I know and care about, until they grant permission for me to spell it out. I spell out the names of folks who won't ever read this, or whom I don't care for, such as Patrick.↩