askye - this is sounding like a 21st century version of "The Yellow Wallpaper" ... which I consider pretty scary. Best wishes for getting screen privileges soon.

askye, I hope you read this next week and are feeling much, much better.

flea, that is awesome and also a lot. If I had to make the call (which would be so weird, right?), I'd pull for Cape Cod. The part about Cincinnati not being your spiritual jam struck me. I mean, and I also feel like Cape Cod is pretty likable for most others, too, so mr. flea would be down, right? Dillo and the logistics of selling a place and buying a new one are the biggies. Well, even really, more Dillo. You can do the other thing even though not super fun, necessarily. Can't weigh in on moving with kids, though. Don't have any!

(I can say that back in the day, my parents wouldn't even have considered thinking about how we would feel about moving as a factor for consideration. Like, it wouldn't even have occurred to them -- not that they were mean or inconsiderate of their children. It'd be like me weighing how my cats would feel about a move. They're my cats; they go where I go. I love them dearly, but, uh, no.)

So, in short, taking children's feelings into account when considering a move is a huge sea change in the world from when I was a youngin. I like it. Kids are people, too, and all. I wonder how I would deal, though. Probably more carefully than with the cats. I'm guessing.

Like, they might have acknowledged that it wouldn't be easy for us and felt a little bad for us, but... we moved.

I need to not murder all the people who thought scheduling me for this on my first day back was a good idea.

I'm not sure about that, those people seem like they need a little light murdering.

Complete Brain Rest sounds kind of awesome but I know it must be hard to actually do. Do you enjoy solitaire with actual cards, askye? Not thinky and keeps your hands busy. Coloring sounds like a good idea. Are any of your cats cuddly?

Re: moving with kids in high school - my dad was transferred back to California from Louisiana the summer before my senior year in high school. My parents decided he would come out here and the rest of us would stay there for a year so I could finish and my brother could ease into moving out and everything would be more gradual for everyone. If they had asked me, I wouldn't have suggested it, honestly, but they made that decision without input. Was tough on my mom, I think, being the sole parent most of the time, and my dad is the least happy to be alone of all of us so living by himself for the year was not great for him, either. But in the long run it all worked out fine.

Yeah if he were a junior it might be easier—find a way to split the difference for a year then move. But doing that for 2.5 years would be really hard. I vote move but only if there’s no possibility of Mr Flea’s job requiring in person again? And as long as you’re pretty certain you’d dig the other job.

Wow, flea, that's a big jump! Where on the Cape, if I may ask? My oldest friend in the world lives in Falmouth/Woods Hole.

askye, I hope you don't read this, but I hope you can find some audiobooks to keep you occupied? I spent about a week flat on my back with nausea after inner-ear surgery, and all I could do was listen to audiobooks streaming on my laptop. Public libraries (or Hoopla) often have audiobooks to listen to for free.

(I can recommend the Retrograde series by LTLJ, which is a brilliant SG-1/SGA AU recorded all together as one big audiobook. Also Terry Pratchett does great audiobooks, and there are a lot of them.)

Housing would be relatively straightforward as my mother owns a house (in Woods Hole) and is willing to rent it to us at below-market rates. (It being cape cod, the housing market is insane.) The problem of course is that my mother is a lot, and being her tenant would be interesting.

(Edit: she also has a tenant until may so I’d be looking for short term housing. There are so many things to consider and I’ve moved so many times…)

Moving is always awful, but when I have made my pro/con lists on decisions that one somehow ends up not being that big a factor. Lifestyle, friends, family, work environment. Lots of intangibles, but the longer you make the lists and the deeper you dig into the abundance of deciding factors the right choice often becomes clear. So I say write it all down!

Holy shit I finally caught up. That'll teach me to pay attention to my family over a holiday weekend instead of this board.

flea, wow! I don't think I have anything more to offer that hasn't already been said, except that I am always in favor of more Buffistas in the Northeast.

Cape Cod sounds like a winner to me too, flea. Best of luck whichever way you decide.

I was Little Drummer Boyed last night in the last place I would expect, a Chinese buffet. Oh well, at least I can turn the radio dial without fear now.