So many of our friends have written to ask how we’re doing here in our new home. I would have answered all those queries before, but I feel like there’s so much to say and there has been SO little time. I’m working longer hours than I’ve ever worked over any kind of extended period, and I’m only half joking when I say that at the beginning of an average day I have 10 things that have to be done. I manage to get 15 of them out of the way, and there’s still 20 more waiting for me. Warp in the space-time continuum? I reckon. In any event, I’ll pull a week’s worth of 16-hour days between school and the house, and when it’s over I still can’t believe how much is left to do.

You’d think by reading that first paragraph that things aren’t going so well, but the truth is just the opposite. Yeah, it’s a massive adjustment, but I find that I don’t really mind it when I look at the clock and it’s 11pm and I’m still at the office. I feel like I’m doing something meaningful, and that makes an incredible difference.

So, here’s how we are doing, with details, because my sister Cindy needs details.

WHAT WE LIKE

For starters, I’m loving the job. I’ve always thought, or at least hoped, that I’d one day get back into the academy. Teaching is probably the thing I do best and enjoy the most in life, and I have dived into the job head-first and am paddling for dear life. Not that there’s much choice – the amount of work that had to be done just to get started was massive.

As I type this I’m standing in front of my Mass Comm 101 class, and they’re quietly laboring over their first big test. Most are freshmen, and they’re trying to find their place in their new lives as college students. They seem like good kids. They strike me as hard-working and conscientious, and they’re respectful to a fault. Maybe a bit TOO respectful at times – these kids are of the Millennial Generation, and they’re a big change from the Gen Xers who populated my last class back in 1997. Xers are instinctively critical, taking damned near nothing at face value, and as such were perfectly suited for the kinds of free-flowing class discussions I like to build my courses around. This crew is less prone to challenge or argue (although maybe part of that is because it’s an 8:30am class), and I find myself having to work a lot harder to wake them up and fire them up. I’m not sure I’ve been terribly successful so far, but it’s early. Give me another month.

We like our house a lot, too. Or rather, we’re going to like our house a lot once we get settled. It’s a nice little place, with more room than we’ve ever had and a yard that’s about three times too big for my taste (I mowed all the yard I could stand when I was a kid), but the previous owners had very different ideas about decorating than we do, so we’ve been painting, ripping out carpet, painting some more, and now that the furniture has arrived, trying to get it all in the right place. When all is said and done, we’re going to have kind of a sea-foamy, beach-rentalish comfy room downstairs for watching TV; a bright, contemporary living room with lots and LOTS of color; an anitquish little Euro/farmhouse looking dining room; and a bold, wine-colored bedroom built around some classical European themes. The guest room and office will be stocked with whatever is left. We’ll send pics when we’re done, and may also send some “before” pics so you’ll know exactly how impressed you ought to be. If Trading Spaces needs more designers, we’re standing at the ready.

The house (which I’m thinking we’ll be calling “Villa Gorilla,” and ten bonus points to Griffindor if you can correctly identify that reference) sits in a foggy little valley that’s less than a mile from the Allegheny River. It seems like we’re way out in the country, and in a sense I suppose we are, although I’m less than three miles from campus. I guess the hills behind our house and across the road are probably mountains by Western NY standards, and they’re covered with this thick carpet of trees that will be on fire with color here in a week or two. Can’t wait for that – Colorado is a gorgeous place, but I’ve always been a fall person, and in an average year autumn lasts about three days out there. Here it’s a long season that lets you fully soak in the change.

Angela is still looking for a job – or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that she’s now getting serious about finding one. Given the structure of our lives – temp housing, so much to manage logistically with the moving in, etc. – it’s been nice that she’s had the time to devote to managing the affairs of state. She had a line on a gig when we first moved here, but it didn’t work out. Actually, I suspect they were going to offer her the position, but as much as she really liked the people, the job itself wasn’t right for her. There were a couple positions on campus about the time we arrived that looked like they might be right for her, but I think they were only advertised as a formality – it appears that the positions were pretty much filled by people from inside the university system before they were posted. The old due-diligence dog/pony show, you know. So she’s talking to a company today that’s supposed to be hiring for some jobs more up her alley, so maybe that turns into something.

Probably the best thing about the area is the people. My colleagues in the JMC School are not only nice people individually and personally, they represent the most extraordinary faculty I’ve ever seen. I’m used to organizations where there’s a good deal of politicking, backbiting, sniping, throat-slitting, etc., as the various camps/entities vie for power. This is part of the package in most corps, and it’s even worse in some university departments. I’ve always wondered at the level of treachery in a college setting – I can sort of understand people getting Machiavellian when there’s billions of dollars on the line. Sort of – and “understand” doesn’t mean the same thing as “excuse.” But in the grand scheme of things, the stakes in a college are comparatively small, and I don’t get people who are willing to put in a knife in your ribs for so little.

I’m sure there’s plenty of intrigue on the SBU campus, but as best I can tell there aren’t any intramural problems in my school. I’ve honestly never seen such mutual respect and collegiality in a college department in my life. I was struck by it when I interviewed, and understood up front that they placed a very high value on community. There’s a great deal of trust and a sense of teamwork that’s rare in any kind of work environment, and I feel lucky to be a part of it. They treat me very well and have been helpful above and beyond the call of duty, and I can only hope that I’m pulling my weight and justifying their faith in me.

WHAT WE MISS:

Denver is an awesome city, and I think everybody knows how much I love it and how hard it was to even think about leaving. The Greater Olean/Allegany Metropolitan Area (GOAMA), which is home to maybe 19-20K people, predictably has less of all kinds of things than we were used to in Denver. I’m not gonna lie – there are things we miss.

First and foremost is the food. Denver is an awesome city for food, and not just because there are a million restaurants, but because of the variety and the comparative healthiness of the places. GOAMA has some decent places, but there’s nothing like Chipotle here. (There is a Mexican place in Allegany, and it’s actually not too bad, but Benny’s it ain’t.)

In fact, the “quick casual” genre doesn’t exist here at all – nothing like a Swing Thai or a Noodles, for instance, although there are a couple solid pizza places and at least one or two places that serve up a great sub. There are a couple good steak places, and a nice sort of Euro-fusion/Mediterranean/Lebanese place called Attard’s. The Old Library, which is in an old library, is also really good. Since we’ve been living out of boxes since we left Denver, we’ve been taking the easy route over the healthy route a lot more than we’d like. I’ve eaten at Burger King more in the past month than I did the previous five years combined. Literally.

None of which is a huge deal long term – we don’t mind cooking for ourselves one little bit. But there’s also not a Whole Foods here, nor a Wild Oats, nor anything remotely like a health foods grocer. There’s a small local chain up in Buffalo –five stores, I think – so when I have to go up there to teach my IMC classes I’ll have to stock up the truck (if I hadn’t mentioned it, I’m also teaching grad marketing communication courses at SBU’s Buffalo Center; these courses will take me up there for 15 weekends during the academic year).

There’s also a microbrew deficit here. The Ellicotville Brewing Co., which is maybe 30 minutes north of here, is damned fine, but they don’t bottle their product. There’s a place called Southern Tier Brewing that sells their beer in the stores, but sometimes it’s hard to find. Past them, Sam Adams and Saranac are the closest thing to micro you’ll find here.

On the whole, I have to say we’re liking GOAMA so far. Winter hasn’t set in yet, of course, and as to the question of weather, you just accept that NO PLACE you move is going to compare to Colorado. But the people are great, the place is incredibly pretty and the job is actually providing me with a sense that I’m doing something that MATTERS. Been a long time since I felt that way.

Stay tuned for more updates….