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The Sultan of Sippystan was a...unique....tyrant.

So I've been talking with my uncle's fiancee (again, someone who's been helping me for ages).

She says I should have a job and place already set up before I leave and that I maybe should take a bit more time, in lieu of trying to leave on October 2nd.

My issue is I can't really move into a place I've never been to and should probably not get a job that's too far away from my house. Like, if I rent a room in Brooklyn, would having a job in Manhattan make any sense? I mean like just a minimum-wage job. Literally just a job to pay my rent and bills.

Also, with Roomi I can message potential roommates, so I can ask them about the area, including the job market.

So, when should I start looking for a job and place to rent? My idea is to look for places while I'm still here, reach out to potential roommates in the coming weeks and keep up on potential employment, sending out resumes and so on.

Also, if it seems odd that I'm looking to leave so soon, it's because my jobs are starting to cut back on my hours. Duck Donuts went from 16-20 hours a week to 8-16 hours a week, while Food Lion bumped me from 35-40 a week and now this week I managed to get only 26 hours (two 6-hour shifts and two 7-hour shifts). Also, while they're trying to keep Duck Donuts open year round, there's no guarantee and a best-case scenario is getting more than 24 hours' notice before closing for the season. And at Food Lion, one of my supervisors and I keep butting heads. He tries to act like I'm doing something wrong, and considering that literally no one else has similar issues with me I'm sure he's just giving me shit. But if he isn't then there's a good chance that I'll end up "on the sheet", meaning that they'll test my ability to do my job in a certain time frame and way, and if this supervisor has a point I could get fired.

And despite making less money, I'd still have to pay the same amount of rent and bills, but with less money coming in I'd have to dip into my moving money. And the longer it takes me to leave the harder it'll be to have the money to leave. And if I don't leave soon enough I'd have to put it off until business picks up. But in that time I'd have to save up more money to replace the money I borrowed from my moving funds.

And I still have so many things to figure out. It seems like that many of my answers have so many questions and I don't know which ones are the right answers. And it also seems like I've got so much going on so I can't figure which questions to ask and which ones aren't that important (I know questions about 3am cheese fries are not that important).

Just leave. It’s basically now or never, and there’s really nothing for you where you are now. Dedicate all of your free time to finding a place to stay and a job in NYC. And, once you get there, dedicate yourself full time to a job search.

My biggest question is what's your plan if you just go and don't find a place to rent quickly? Even if it's a short term arrangement, it seems like you ought to have SOME place to go before you just go.

Agreed. He should line up a place to stay. The sort of job I think REPO’s looking for, however, is not the sort I think you line up in advance, though. I think it would be fine for him to line up accommodations and plan on finding a job once he’s there. The labor market’s relatively tight, and I don’t think he’ll have trouble landing a job in NYC.

Mainly, I don’t want him to talk himself out of achieving his life goal and finding well-deserved happiness. Likewise, I don’t want someone else to talk him into talking himself out of going. Moving is tough. Finding a job is hard. It will not be easy. The alternative, however, is working dead-end, part-time jobs and struggling to make ends meet in a remote part of NC for the rest of his life. Make preparations, REPO, to the best of your ability, but the main thing you need to do is get on that bus on October 2. Stay in a hostel if you must, but be sure to get away from where you are now.

My concern is that it will be SUPER hard to live IN NYC and work a low-wage job. I mean, people live out in Jersey and commute in on the train to work low-wage jobs. I cannot imagine finding a place in the city, even with a roommate, that you can live on low wages. Just doesn't work.

Well, I've found a handful of decent rooms for rent for under $700 a month. And my budget includes the first month's rent and deposit, along with a second month's rent, and the remaining $900 is set for a Greyhound ticket and emergency cash.

Is minimum wage high in NYC? I heard it was $13.50 to $15. If my research is on the dot, that's enough to pay my rent and bills and whatnot.

I got married today. There is officially a Mrs. Ack.

Congrats!