What do Neta and I do as it pertains to working remotely?
I work as a Web Developer for the Office of the Chief Technology Officer of the DC Government. I won't get into the specifics of the system I use (Drupal) and all that, but basically I help them keep all of their websites (supporting 104 separate offices) working. I'm an independent contractor, but I contract via a company called Confluence (in DC).
Neta is a Project Manager for RelevantCRM based out of Raleigh, NC. She manages CRM (don't ask me to explain it, just read the Wikipedia entry) implementation and customization projects for heavy equipment/material handling and office equipment companies. Since she just started in early July, parts of her first weeks have been spent in Raleigh getting up to speed on her job, but soon she'll be mostly working from home with occasional trips to client sites around the U.S.
Do we really love living in Georgia?
Yes!
What do we really enjoy about living down here?
The peace and quiet. Our closest neighbor is down the road and around the corner about 3/4 of a mile or so. We're in the middle of farm land, with cotton fields in front and in back of us.
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| The (panoramic) view from our front porch |
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| This is the (panoramic, again) view from our back fence. |
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| Cotton flower (with a closed red one to the left) |
Cotton flower |
The people. I could write an entire post just about the nice people we've encountered. Most people that we have met have usually been in the course of doing business; cashiers, wait staff, customer service people on the phone, etc. Just yesterday, in the local donut shop, a lady standing behind us in line started talking to us, recommending different items. After she left, she came back in and handed us her business card for a local dental office. Interestingly enough, Neta had just called them the day before. We mentioned we were new in town and that Emily and Robert were looking for jobs, she wrote ours and their names down and said she'd let us know if she heard anything.
One more thing that we love down here: the lack of traffic. If you see three or four cars in a row on the road...that's "traffic". While there is a "bypass" around Statesboro, there is no Beltway.
Is there anything we've had to "get used to"?
Yes. Selection at the grocery store. Certain items that we took for granted aren't readily available down here unless you head to the "big city" and go to Publix. We miss Trader Joe's.
The (sustained) heat. It's been over 90 every single day since we got here, with most days in the mid to upper 90's, and will probably stay that way through most of August. Though the last couple of days the humidity has been much lower and the evenings have been pleasant.
The gnats. No matter how fast you walk, or how fast the riding lawn mower goes, they seem to remain "in orbit" around your face and head.
40% of the "county" roads are unpaved. The road grader comes by periodically to scrape the road down and smooth it out. Our current rental house is on a dirt road and our farm (the one we'll be buying) is on one as well.
What's the place that we're renting like?
We are renting a 3100 sqft. one-story rancher on about 5 acres. We have really come to love it. The family/TV room is at one end and the bedrooms (4)/bathrooms (2) are at the other. In between there is the kitchen, dining room, and large living room that I use for my office. There is also a large bonus room on the back of the house with windows all the way around. There is also a two-car carport off of the family room. Carports are a necessity in the south, in case you were wondering.
The property itself is really nice. In the front there is a huge red oak tree (surrounded by very tall azaleas) that shades most of the front of the house in the morning. Out near the road are a few pine trees and a pecan tree with more azaleas in spots around the driveway entrances.
The property stretches about 250 feet or so behind the house down to the cotton fields that I mentioned previously.
There are about 25 or more pecan trees on the property (Come and get some pecans this fall!).
There is also a very overburdened pear tree, three very long grape vines (scuppernong), a couple of fig trees (Celeste figs, we think), several camellia bushes (which are huge and must be very old) and a few dogwoods round out the lot.
Have we seen any more snakes recently?
Yes, but no other venomous snakes. Last Sunday, Neta started to walk out the door and nearly stepped on a small rat snake. On Friday, while cutting grass, I saw another rat snake down at the very back edge of the yard. He was about a three footer.
How has the weather been since moving down here?
Aside from the aforementioned heat, we have gotten a lot of thunderstorms and rain showers. I guess that's par for the course, but we imagined it a bit drier this time of year. We feel as though we're living in Florida sometimes.
Any other critters besides snakes and turtles?
We do see a rabbit or two every now and then, and I did scare a bunny out of a bed of flowers one day. There are deer across the field that we see from time to time. We put up a hummingbird feeder the second day we were here and have had a male and two females (Ruby-Throated) ever since. There are other birds common to most of us: Cardinals, Blue Jays, Woodpeckers (Red-Bellied), Mockingbirds, Wrens, etc. Along the edge of the woods you'll see Brown Thrashers and in the edge of the fields and once in the yard I've seen a Bluebird. We saw a hawk dive into the cotton field one day and eat something, but we couldn't see what it was. We also see White Ibis flying over from time to time. And of course, on a daily basis we see the tree frogs and toads.
Are you ever going to end this blog entry or don't you know when to quit?
Point taken.
What's the place that we're renting like?
We are renting a 3100 sqft. one-story rancher on about 5 acres. We have really come to love it. The family/TV room is at one end and the bedrooms (4)/bathrooms (2) are at the other. In between there is the kitchen, dining room, and large living room that I use for my office. There is also a large bonus room on the back of the house with windows all the way around. There is also a two-car carport off of the family room. Carports are a necessity in the south, in case you were wondering.
The property itself is really nice. In the front there is a huge red oak tree (surrounded by very tall azaleas) that shades most of the front of the house in the morning. Out near the road are a few pine trees and a pecan tree with more azaleas in spots around the driveway entrances.
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| I think I've used this picture before, but for the sake of this blog entry, it bears repeating. |
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| The right side of the backyard |
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| The left side of the backyard. |
There are about 25 or more pecan trees on the property (Come and get some pecans this fall!).
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| PECANS! GET 'CHA PECANS HERE! |
There is also a very overburdened pear tree, three very long grape vines (scuppernong), a couple of fig trees (Celeste figs, we think), several camellia bushes (which are huge and must be very old) and a few dogwoods round out the lot.
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| How many more pears can it hold on those bending branches? |
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| Scuppernong - A grape I have no love for |
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| The Celeste fig tree. |
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| It's a Celeste as best as I can identify it. |
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| The camellias (with some stray dogwoods thrown in) |
Yes, but no other venomous snakes. Last Sunday, Neta started to walk out the door and nearly stepped on a small rat snake. On Friday, while cutting grass, I saw another rat snake down at the very back edge of the yard. He was about a three footer.
How has the weather been since moving down here?
Aside from the aforementioned heat, we have gotten a lot of thunderstorms and rain showers. I guess that's par for the course, but we imagined it a bit drier this time of year. We feel as though we're living in Florida sometimes.
Any other critters besides snakes and turtles?
We do see a rabbit or two every now and then, and I did scare a bunny out of a bed of flowers one day. There are deer across the field that we see from time to time. We put up a hummingbird feeder the second day we were here and have had a male and two females (Ruby-Throated) ever since. There are other birds common to most of us: Cardinals, Blue Jays, Woodpeckers (Red-Bellied), Mockingbirds, Wrens, etc. Along the edge of the woods you'll see Brown Thrashers and in the edge of the fields and once in the yard I've seen a Bluebird. We saw a hawk dive into the cotton field one day and eat something, but we couldn't see what it was. We also see White Ibis flying over from time to time. And of course, on a daily basis we see the tree frogs and toads.
Are you ever going to end this blog entry or don't you know when to quit?
Point taken.
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