Wipro Quo

So it seems that relocating to Connecticut may be out of the picture as I was set up to talk to a Senior Manager from Fort Lauderdale, which would not have been so bad if I were to relocate there (who doesn't want to live near the beach?) but it appears that he would like me to talk to a manager he is considering having me work under ... who so happens to be based in Memphis, Tennessee. Now I don't know much about Memphis, aside from the fact that the King was born there and the blues ruled, but I do know that moving to that part of the South is definitely not on my top list of places to relocate to.

So it appears that I have a dilemma, here I said I was flexible and adaptable in regards to relocation, so I must have to come up with a good reason why Memphis is at the bottom of my places to move to list and that I absolutely cannot live there - which is certain, as I would rather reject the job than accept it if it were to be in Memphis. So going through my list of reasons that would not convey that I am inflexible and unadaptable, I finally stumbled on some concrete "I don't want to move to Memphis" research that bypasses all others. Memphis is the second most dangerous metropolitan city in the US, right after - yep, you got it - Detroit. I think that is substantial enough. Me, a lone female, Asian (the lack of cultural diversity is not something to brag about), and miles from anyone that I know - the attraction and the safety of the city are definitely big minuses. How can I be productive in a city that I cannot live in and feel uncomfortable in? Especially after having lived in Toronto for all my life? If Wipro feels that this shows that I am not flexible and adaptable, well then I guess it is not the company that I would like to work for and it is better that we part ways now before I get sucked into the world of IT. One would think that a company of Wipro's size would be able to find a place where it would be mutually satisfactory - does not have to be my top three places to live, but the bottom 3? I am not looking for a place exactly like Toronto, but neither am I looking to be mugged, raped, shot or killed. Granted, that may be a big generalization, but when the US average for crimes is at 345 and Memphis more than doubles the average - at 937 - it's something to be concerned about. No income tax and low cost of living are attractive, but not enough to persuade me to start a life in Memphis. At least in Detroit, they have great sports teams - in Memphis -- the what? Nashville Predators? No thanks.

...update

So much have happened...

1. Raptors didn't make it pass the first round - but I thoroughly enjoyed the first two games. Whoever was in charge of the 'red sea' marketing for the Raps should get a spankin since red is what the Nets wore to the ACC...so it seemed like we were cheering for them..........not good. They should be pretty good next year...

2. Suns didn't make it either, so that officially ended my basketball season. Nash played amazing, but there is only so much one man can do. He had an accident and started bleeding and didn't really make it back for the rest of the 4th period since the trainer couldn't stop the bleeding. At the end of the game, one of the commentators (I think it was SportsNet) said something to the point that "there must have been a woman in the stands with a sewing kit to help patch Nash up and stop the bleeding." EXCUSE me -- did we just take a step back from the 21st century?!. I don't know about you, but I sure as hell don't carry sewing kits with me in my purse. Perhaps a MAN carried one. Jackass. Anyhow, and another incident with the Suns -- 2 players got suspended (Stoddemire and Diaw) and the Organization (or whoever) said "It's not about being fair, it's about what is correct." I thought the point of having a rule or a law is to ensure fairness. I guess what is right may not be fair -- so what's the point of the law/rule?

3. So I got a job in the States...it's yet to be decided where, but now I have to understand all this mumbo jumbo about declaring non-residency, the US-Can treaty tax and residency exemptions, how much tax should be paid, what exemptions I'm qualified for. So far I have spoken to a manager in Connecticut (3 and 5 per cent state tax) and will be speaking to another manager based in Florida (no State tax!) according to his area code, which I looked up. Seems to be in Fort Lauderdale. Amazing, how I said that I wanted to work in the States, be relocated somewhere warm...it might actually come true! And with the salary that I aimed for! It is much cheaper to live in FL than CT - it seems like I can get a pretty amazing 2 bdrm place in FL for the price of a studio in CT!! Still have to work things out with the bf though. But perhaps he'll feel better about FL than CT...better golf courses...lol.

4. I'm going to Varadero, Cuba!!! Sun, fun, beach...wowowowow. I've never been before and I was told that I should bring stuff for the people there since they are really poor and things are really expensive there...so I will bring markers, crayons, coloured pencils and the like as well as soap and toothpaste. I can finally get rid of all the colouring stuff!

5. Corey went to his first dog park!! Here are the pictures :p

Corey, sniffing out the place...

Corey...checking things out...

Corey, making new friends -- sniffing Potroast...yes, that is his name...and that is a 5 month old Irish Setter.