Well just 48 hours ago I learned that my job is being relocated to the South Bay Area. While to many in the corporate world this type of transition may seem ordinary or commonplace, Nintendo is a company that grew to consider, 'conservative'. I mean, they have pension plans for those who stay on long enough. What kind of public company still gives employees pensions? At any rate this seems like a gutsy decision, one that I never in a million years would have seen coming. One that seems to follow a string of corporate decisions and frankly one that that I am becoming more and more excited about each day.
After I get past all of the fear, anger, resentment, and bitterness, I find that I'm pretty excited at the opportunity to help build a 'world-class Sales and Marketing office' in one of the hottest places to work, Silicon Valley. I know it's not what is was before the dot-com bust, but still, places like Mountain View and
Cupertino are tough nuts to crack if you're looking for work. I've got the work part down now it's just a matter of housing... well, and the fact that Christine would have to uproot at a time when she feels she is in a groove after 4 years with
ICVF. But so far she's been optimistic and willing to realistically consider the move.
As of Friday the 4
th, I've submitted my resume for my boss's job, Channel Marketing Operations Manager. If I got the job I'd be managing one or two employees and have an opportunity to see a noticeable increase in my paycheck, (money/cost of living in the Silicon Valley being the biggest pain point in making a decision at this point). Although when considering housing in the Valley either Christine or I would still have to make a considerable amount more to afford even a townhouse, (right now visions of a 1 bdrm condo are dancing in my head), and given that we wanted a place big enough to have kids in, a condo would be a tight fit.
Another reason that money would be tight is that we just bought our house a little over a year ago with our friends Phil and Ellen Hoffman and there is a good possibility that we would keep it for at least two more years. So even if we had renters living with the Hoffmans we'd still be making a
sizable four digit mortgage payment in Seattle. So not only are we looking at a situation where we might not make much in equity, but we also committed to be co-owners with the
Hoffmans for at least three years. So if we actually decide to relocate then we need to discuss with them whether or not they want new roommates or if they want to sell the house, (Nintendo would actually pay the closing costs and I think we could claim
'unforeseen circumstance' to avoid Capital Gains tax). Wow. I can't imagine someone paying $535,000 for this 100 year old house, but then again we paid $485,000 a year ago and there was someone right behind us with a higher bid.
Whew. I can't believe I'm writing a crazy post like this.
So where was I? I have no idea. Anyways, I have to write a follow up post to fill in the cracks that I've missed. I think I covered all of the important details. Oh yeah, we have to decide by June 1st, otherwise my employment at Nintendo will end on Sept 27th. There are some options in Seattle, but right now he most compelling option from a career standpoint is Nintendo. I really want to be a part of this 'world-class' vision and get a foothold in one of the most competitive job markets that I can think of. Our company president said that this move is aimed at getting Nintendo on par with trademarks like: Apple, Google, etc. Tech companies that have a eye towards user interface and how people interact with the tech rather than tech for more performance sake.
Until next time, please comment away with questions and we'll respond to them.
Thanks all for your prayers.
