Gotta love articles like this:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2008/01/30/power-out.html

Ya, there's a PEI theme in my last few posts. It's not intentional, I've just had not much else to talk about. I'm not as fanatical about the island as I sound on here. Still waiting for word from Cavendish, but I've resigned myself to waiting a bit longer as they may very well be in the dark.

The

In the (literally) immortal words of Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez (Highlander, never actually watched the movie):

"...there can be only one"

In Calgary, you can be fairly certain that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other people with the very same job as you. In PEI, most jobs come with their very own "The". You're not A technical writer... You're THE technical writer.

This is great if you have a rare talent or skill, or were the first practitioner in the area. But this sucks if you are trying to get in.

The initial urge hit on December 30th. I started looking for jobs out there. It's now the 22nd of January and I have found ONE. There were a few false starts with the postings either disappearing or becoming more exclusive as time went on, but at this point I have actually applied for only one job. It's a great job (check out the description a few posts ago) but it means that this whole harebrained scheme of mine is resting on the shoulders of that one employer.

So ya, any definitive sounding language I've used over the past few weeks should be taken with a grain or two of salt. Yes, I still see myself in a little (or not so little) house on the island, but the variables of when and how remain to be seen.

At this point, I'm sure of only one thing. I want out of my job. My new boss is great, but I'm left babysitting my old boss who now shares a cubicle with me. I'm getting tired of waking up and not wanting to go to work. There has to be something out there that might actually excite me.

Where are you going, Jonny?

Obviously nothing is set in stone yet, but I figure I should offer some sort of explanation for my somewhat impulsive talk of an eastward move. This video says it pretty well (though it's not some "Anne of Green Gables" fanaticism that moves me, I had not touched those books before I went to the island). The island changes people.



I wrote this on my first night at the cottage this summer:

The sun sets earlier here, it is 8:40PM right now and it is well towards dusk. It was a cloudy day so the sunset is much more gradual through the overcast sky. The mood would be best described as soft, there is nothing harsh about what I am experiencing right now. There are many birds around; There songs seem different, they seem to carry further than they do at home, and with an inherent depth that seems to give an almost dream like quality to the sound. The faint scent of the sea is intoxicating in the cool evening air.

THAT is what calls to me. It's not like it was a one night thing, I'd have one of those moments almost every day


Only thing that worries me is this:

I like snow, and I'm sure it will be beautiful after, but I'm a wimp and I'm not sure whether I'd like to be sitting alone in a creaking home during a storm like that. I gotta hurry up and find me a wife that I can hold on to during those cold and dreary nights ("Baby it's cold outside" might actually have some meaning, unlike here in Calgary)

Portfolio

I'm in the process of updating my portfolio.
Check out the current photo set here:
http://jonharris.zenfolio.com/p890552588

I'd be glad for any comments and critiques. If there's something missing (those of you who know my work), or if there is something that ought not to be there, let me know.

Guidance

To whoever reads this blog, I would ask for your prayers.

What was a momentary whim has now become a semi-serious plan. Whether it is this job opportunity or another, I am seriously considering moving out to the island.

The idea of leaving the dangerous neighborhoods, traffic jams, and oil industry behind is very tempting right now. I crave the slower pace of life on the island. A province with a population 1/8th of Calgary.

I could afford to buy a house!
1300 square feet and an acre of land for under $120,000... I couldn't buy a shack for that here in Calgary.
But the question remains, could I live alone out there? Do I want to? Should I?
Could I stand the feeling of my family and friends being 5000km away? Could I handle the fact that it just isn't realistic for many of my friends to visit even occasionally? How often could I make it home to visit? Would I find a similarly loving group of friends and mentors out there?

I need some guidance from God as this adventure will be a waste of time and money if He isn't leading it. There are a number of obvious fleece - the job, a house, the funds - but I realize that the whole point behind the original fleece was that it was something out of the ordinary. I am praying that God will provide that unexpected fleece that will make this clear.


Please pray for me, that I might either be encouraged and pushed forward on this path, or find enough closed doors to accept the answer. If I'm to stay, I need an attitude adjustment to let help me appreciate this city and whatever job I am to do within it, because I'm certainly not enjoying either at the moment.