Thoughts about applying for a potential job transfer/relocation

In My Humble Opinion
21

One thing I don’t hear being mentioned is your/ your wife’s extroversion levels. You describe a loving family life but not much about any friends that you will miss.

Sometimes a geographic change helps to boot introverts out of our doldrums and force us to make new friends. But sometimes we get to a new place and just sit in our living rooms waiting for them to drop out of the ceiling.

If you two are not the type to take a pie over to the neighbors or start a chat with another couple while golfing, then you will probably be lonely and isolated in a new place at this stage of life. A good test - do you currently correspond or keep up with anybody you have met on your travels?

The other concerns I might raise have already been discussed. I recall in the early 90’s a problem with Navy officers assigned to Hawaii being on food stamps there. It was not an assignment people wanted for that reason.

Do you see yourself moving to a smaller home even if you stayed in the Chicago area? If so, I’d say sell the big one now and get rid of the furniture. Be realistic about the possibility of getting a condo in a retirement village upon your return. I def do not recommend retiring in Hawaii where you have no family to check in on you.

The last thing I will say is this: T’were it me, I would not leave my Grandkids during the formative years. They will never again need/enjoy you as they do now. In the end, happiness is all about relationships. Weather has very little to do with it.

22

Caveat - I have no kids or grandkids.

In your shoes, I would be tempted to take it. Since you can afford to bring the grandkids out to visit somewhat frequently, can you imagine the fun adventures you all can go on in Hawaii? What a unique experience and an opportunity to create some amazing memories.

I would keep the house and rent it out, using a local property manager to handle finding tenants, repairs, etc. You get to Hawaii and hate it, or your new boss makes your life miserable? Leave and come back - worst case, you need to rent a house or apartment for ~6 months until the current tenant’s lease ends.

How plugged into your current social circle are you and your wife? How outgoing are you and are you comfortable needing to create a whole new group of friends from scratch? I’m assuming your wife doesn’t work since you didn’t mention her job - what does she currently do to occupy her time and how difficult will it be for her to fill her days in a completely new location with no support? edit - ninja’d by TrueCelt and they put it better than I did!

23

Simple question: How does rain effect you?

24

Personally, I’d jump at the chance. At our age (I’m 63) we sometimes need a shakeup. (and it’s easier now than it will be in 10 years) Regarding the grandkids, there’s no guarantee they won’t move somewhere in a year or two. We have four, and only two live near us, the others moved away. We adjust.

Hawaii is one of my favorite places. Not so much Honolulu, but it’s close to everything else the state has to offer. You’re used to the Chicago winters, but if it were me, I’d not miss that. (I spent two winters in Chicago and survived, but I don’t need to do it again).

On the other hand, if you don’t want to, you don’t want to. No shame in that.

25

A place like 800-got-junk will completely empty a 1BR apt for less than $1K. Be sure to somehow segregate everything you want to keep. IME those folks are not gentle, and they move very fast. If it’s not nailed down, it’s gone.

IME any attempt to sell any of your stuff won’t pay even half of minimum wage for your effort, but you will get to meet some very dubious and flaky people while trying.

26

This is what my wife and I did (more or less - we rented a furnished house on a short term lease) when we kicked our life in Seattle to the curb and moved to the beach. Best decision we ever made.

Now I don’t have grandchildren so can’t speak directly to that experience, but I was a grandchild whose grandparents moved to more exciting locales. What had been a series of stuffy, Sunday dinner visits where I was bored out of my skull suddenly became fun, week or two summer trips with all kinds of activities wildly different from my daily home life.

I vote for do it, obviously.

The seeds of this kind of thinking were planted when I had to empty my parents’ giant house of stuff after my mom died. They really bore fruit when we moved from Seattle. I got rid of SO MUCH CRAP. It was really freeing.

I got to do a small version of that this past winter. We refinished our floors and had to move all our stuff out so the workers could do their thing. 10 years in one spot led to some, ahem, re-accumulation. It was good to actually look at what ended up in our closets due to inertia.

27

Stop thinking and analyzing for once and JUMP !

Just do it. How many more grand Hawaiian adventures do you think will present themselves?

You’ve lived a safe and well considered career and life. And reaped the rewards. Shouldn’t that include being able to truly take a risk on an adventure when it presents?

Good Luck!

28

I live on Hawaii Island (aka “Big Island”) not Oahu, though I have spent a lot of time in Honolulu, as have numerous family, friends, and acquaintances.

From my experience, all points made above are correct to some degree, even when they directly contradict each other. I’ll just add my two cents, hopefully not overlapping too much with what’s already been said:

  • Overall cost of living increase is not necessarily a big deal. Sure, you’ll pay more for a gallon of milk, but lots of other expenses can go down. You won’t have heating bills or winter clothing to pay for. Overall, the dress code is much more casual, so you won’t need to invest in stylish, formal clothing, whether it is for the office or for a night out at a concert. If you like spending time out of doors, your recreation costs may drop; a plunge in the ocean or an invigorating hike is free, and good for your health, too.

  • But housing costs are insanely high, and there is a housing shortage. So that could more than wipe out any savings costs from lifestyle differences.

  • Foodies may love or hate it here. Contrary to popular belief (a few years ago I argued this a length in a SDMB thread), there is plenty of high-end dining to be had; there is an episode of The Splendid Table based on cuisine in Hawai’i that can serve as a guide. We also have access to a stunning variety of tropical fruit and fresh vegetables. And my impression is that most exotic ingredients are available on Oahu; here on the Big Island, for my own cooking I frequently purchase non-perishables like masa harina, Demerara sugar, regular and Israeli couscous, etc., on line.

  • I’m always vaguely puzzled at those who bemoan the lack of culture in Hawai’i. Sure, NYC it ain’t, and if you are addicted to Broadway shows you’ll hate it. But lots of musicians pass through Hawai’i; why wouldn’t they? And there is a rich tradition of local music influenced by Native Hawaiian traditions, Portuguese music, and more. Even here on the Big Island, this past month I went to a David Sedaris reading and a flamenco dance performance. Plus - and this is reflective of my own preferences, not necessarily yours - modern technology makes a range of cultural experiences available to anyone with Internet. Personally I am just as happy downloading a Kindle book or listening to music I’ve downloaded as going to most live performances.

  • I am not a fan of Honolulu, but that’s because I live in East Hawai’i, which is far quieter and less congested. By comparison, Honolulu is just another big city and I really don’t see the appeal. But I am sure if I were moving from Chicago, LA, or Philly, Honolulu would seem like a dream.

  • There is a severe shortage of health care workers throughout Hawai’i State. Unless your position gives you access to Tripler (I don’t know if it would, based on federal employee status), prepare for the friendliest, most patient doctors, nurses, and health technicians you’ve ever encountered … when you can get to see them. They’re an overworked bunch remarkably imbued with the Aloha spirit.

Anyway, assuming you are offered the job and have the option of deciding, I can’t imagine that either choice would be terrible. Although I ultimately spent most of my work life in Jakarta, mixed in with that I bounced around wildly different locations (Somerville, MA; Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia; Cairo, Egypt; and Maputo, Mozambique), for 2-5 year stints. My attitude was, “I can do anything for two years!” (Which was a fortunate attitude, since Maputo was pretty awful.)

29

Thanks again, guys.

Had a nice visit w/ our daughter. Her immediate reaction was, “Go for it!” Further elaboration: “I and the kids would miss you, but we’d also love to come visit you in Hawaii.” So, that remains a concern, but not one that will necessarily outweigh ALL other factors.

Wife and I are not terrible extroverts. I play golf with the same guys weekly, and rarely see them outside of golf. I know my way around golf courses enough that I’ll always be able to find a golf league I can enjoy.

We both play music - some together, and I play without her. Same as golf - I don’t really see my music friends outside of music. I’m comfortable that I could find people to play with pretty much anywhere I go, and she and I can always play together.

Will have to discuss more with my wife how she would envision spending her time over the next few years - whether in Hawaii or here.

Other than that, one thing that kinda stumps us is that with so much around Chicago we are, “Been there, done that.” So instead of deciding what to do, we end up doing nothing. Just being comfortable in our home. We are not big on eating out and we dislike crowded attractions, so we prefer taking walks at times/places where the crowds aren’t. We are generally early to rise and early to bed. Being in a place as different as Hawaii would provide many such opportunities.

I think the job would involve some periodic travel to the other islands, which she could accompany me on for the price of her airfare.

Re: our current house. It is paid off and it isn’t huge. We already downsized from our 5 bedroom to a 3 bedroom split-level. We could likely stay here for some time, tho I imagine at some point we’ll end up either in a very small ranch or a condo/apartment. So we could either rent the house out and store our stuff (we have already purged SO MUCH stuff and generally like what we still have), or we could sell, bank the cash, and when we return, approach where and how we want to live in retirement as a blank slate. Having options is not a bad thing.

One thing I want to avoid is just not giving this a good think, and then when the opportunity is past, thinking, “Gee, I really ought to have at least considered that further…”

30

Thanks, CairoCarol. BTW - we LOVED the Big Island. Perhaps my favorite trip ever. Tho IIRC, when we were in Hilo there was a record setting rainfall one day and we NEVER saw the mountains! I remember being in a gift shop seeing a postcard with a sunny view and commenting, “Wait - there are mountains?!”

Our “culture” tastes run towards folk/bluegrass/community classical in music, and funky, off beat, and intimate overall. Not big on big concerts and festivals - either rock or classical. So I don’t think that is likely to be an issue. My overall impression is that there is no shortage of creative generous folk sharing their art in your state. More than any such “culture”, our strongest interests skew towards the natural.

We also tend STRONGLY towards the informal in matters such as dress. It was odd, when musing over packing, to realize how much cold weather gear we would not need to bring! :smiley:

Re: food - we eat VERY simply. Well preferred simple fresh food, leaning towards plants. We will often sit across the table from each other eating a dinner of soup and/or salad and call each other “Peasant!”

Re: health - we both seem to be in pretty good health - tho we each take a couple of meds regularly. Of course emergencies occur. Would have to figure out what our current doctor woud be willing to do via telehealth, and possibly an annual visit.

31

One final thing (for the time being) - one thing about my work that has always bugged me is that I could apply for this job, and whether or not I get an interview, if I am NOT selected, they will NEVER let me know. No matter that I am a 40 year, pretty high ranking, consistently high producing, non troublemaking employee with a pretty decent work record. It would be too much effort to send a BS form email to the unsuccessful applicants - ALL of whom will be current employees - saying, “Thanks for your interest but we chose someone else.” The only way to find out that a decision has been made is if you happen to hear or find out that someone else was selected.

Just one of those crazy things - they are always so insistent about how much they value their employees. But they consistently refuse to take this incredibly minimal step to show basic decency towards longtime employees… :roll_eyes:

32

One question given what’s going on in the federal government (and I don’t know if you’re a federal employee); despite your long tenure, would accepting this offer turn you into a probationary employee subject to rapid termination? Because I’ve heard of that sort of thing happening to people.

33

My take as well. Retired and a grandmother of 3 (as of Wednesday). Being close to you will mean more than they will let you know at the time. According to my now grown up daughter, much more than she realized at the time when she was growing up with grandparents she saw 2 or 3 days a week.

Now that she has kids herself she treasures those relationships and memories and mentions how important she now realizes they were.

34

So much that has been going on is unprecedented, makes little sense, and is of questionable legitimacy. And - at least to this point, our Agency has not been firing probationaries. So, that’s possible, but not something I need to try to nail down before tossing my hat in the ring. And, I’m in the fortunate position that, should they fire me, I’ll just start my retirement.

But thanks.

35

It’s good that starting retirement early would be an option, but it’s still wise to manage the risk. If it does reach the point where you get an offer, get something in the contract about a severance package if the job doesn’t last some minimum duration. You want to be able to cover the expense of moving back or finding another job if they lay you off after a week.

(And I think you should go for it.)

36

Sounds to me like you’d be perfect candidates for a stint in Honolulu.

ETA: If you want to get a feel for daily life in Honolulu, I suggest tuning into HPR1. (HPR2 is also nice but it is mostly just classical music.)

I don’t have any basis for comparison, but my sense is that HPR compares favorably to many local public radio stations; at any rate, when they do their fundraising drives they always tout the high level of local content they broadcast. My only complaint is their coverage is extremely Oahu-based; they don’t always say much about what’s happening on the neighbor islands. But that wouldn’t be a problem for someone contemplating Honolulu!

Anyway, you can hear a lot of the local music scene by tuning in to “Mauka to Makai” and “Kanikapila Sunday.” For info on the issues that are affecting daily life for Oahu residents, listen to “The Conversation.” (WARNING: I consider myself something of a policy geek, and still that show can be boring. But for sure you’ll know what’s preoccupying folks locally.)

37

Some specific thoughts on that:

Here’s this week’s Safeway ad from Honolulu. (Safeway is about on par with Jewel-Osco.) I’d suggest the OP go through it carefully (not just the specials on the first page) and compare them with what he’s currently paying for comparable products, and project the difference out every week for the next three years.

Do the same for an apartment here.

Try that for a couple of other basic needs/wants (e.g., the cost of electricity is 3x higher in Honolulu than Chicago, although you’ll obviously spend less on heating) and see if the price difference will make a significant dent in your current salary. Now add in the cost of flying your grandkids to Hawaii and yourselves back to Chicago at least once a year.

I don’t mean to disparage Hawaii as a great place to live. But as someone who is retired, I would rather see someone take those last few years of full-time income and put as much as possible in savings than start spending more money.

38

When I went there it said, “Viewing Ad for: 5100 Broadway Oakland, CA 94611”.

39

Those groceries are damned expensive once you calculate shipping costs from the mainland!

40

Click on “View Weekly Ad”