Western NY Recce

With our move quickly approaching, Katie and I flew out to Western NY to check the area out. First, there are no direct flights to Buffalo. I emphasis this point because layovers were designed by the devil himself to pit man against one another. Our first leg was from LAX to Dulles (5 hours) with a 2 hour layover, then to Buffalo (1 hour). Normally this wouldn’t have been so bad, but we thought we’d gain extra time in NY if we took a red eye. We quickly learned this was a mistake as you really don’t get that restful sleep while flying. Between turbulence, the what felt like foam-less seats.. just an uncomfortable time.

We made it safely in to Buffalo, and man was it snowing. Like full on blizzard snowing. As a matter of fact, we were one of the last flights allowed to land, the rest were being diverted. We rented a Suzuki Grand Vitara which turned out to be one of the nicest rental vehicles we’ve ever had. From the car rental lot, we scooted over to the hotel (Crown Plaza) in downtown Niagra Falls. While the hotel was very nice & comfortable, downtown Niagra Falls is a dump. The city has clearly fallen on hard times as several streets had nothing but boarded up shops and “For Lease” signs. We immediately discounted living in Niagra Falls and toured our first choice, Lewiston. Lewiston is a very quaint community, very ‘Norman Rockwell’. So far we are sold on Lewiston, but the lack of retail outlets and basic signs of life had us starting to rethink our decision to move.

A few days later, we met up with our friend Mike who lives in Niagra Falls for a grand tour of Western NY. Wow, what a difference. You how when you go to LA, you have certain assumptions about areas you think would be nice, but in reality are just awful. Turns out, Western NY isn’t so different. Mike’s tour helped us fall in love with the area. We now know of at least 3 areas where we want to look for houses to rent for at least 1 year before we think about buying: Lewiston, Amhurst or Tonawanda.

Overall, this trip proved invaluable for us. Seeing winter at it’s worst, getting to know the area, seeing how we could drive in snow… invaluable.

We’re Moving to Western NY

So back in August of 2009, during a department meeting, my manager informed us that they would be shutting down the NOC (Network Operations Center) in India and moving it to Western NY area. India’s contribution to our NOC is the graveyard shift for our corporate NOC, not my department, Search Marketing’s NOC, so no real impact to us. The team in Western NY will be 100% new hires, mostly new college graduates but they will want at least one seasoned vet to join that team.

Now, it’s no mystery how much Katie and I both dislike LA. We’re very vocal about it and while we have no real avenue out, we talk about moving to Seattle or San Francisco often. When I told Katie about this opportunity, she exploded in excitement. We really didn’t think we’d get it, but if we didn’t try, we’d never know. So the very next day, I talked to both my manager and my director, putting my hat in the ring.

Fast forward to a few days ago. I was working on a Saturday and my director came in. When he works on Saturday, he usually buys us lunch. While ordering I cracked a joke about how cold Western NY is and how I would need a steak lunch to keep warm… and he made a comment back that made me think that I got the position. I mean, it was a joke/comment in passing, but it was something. We hadn’t heard anything this entire time, so this comment was… something.

Yesterday I was called over to the director’s office and my heart was pumping. I mean pounding. In my world, you don’t get called into his office unless you are in for an ass-chewing! The whole Western NY thing never crossed my mind while walking over to his office… but he pretty much laid it all out to me:

• The facility in NY isn’t done, so I will be going to corp HQ in Sunnyvale first.
• There is no date on when the facility will be done, but July/Aug is estimated.
• In Sunnyvale, I will be living in corporate housing.
• I will be joining the rest of the NY team for training in Sunnyvale.
• I will be granted weekend travel vouchers to come home and visit.
• The company will be packing & moving us in March, when our lease ends.
• I start in Sunnyvale on Feb 1st.

And that’s pretty much all I know at this point. It’s wild and exciting but at the same time, a very safe adventure. We are in the process of planning a bon voyage party for the middle of March, so mark your calendars!