Finding Home
After having the opportunity to live in seven distinct parts of North America, Mike grows weary of the nomadic transience of moving and reestablishing his social life every few years, now longing for the very thing he used to dread when in his twenties - to “settle down” in his home state of Ohio to focus on building something more everlasting and impactful for the communities and people he cares most about.
Good morning, happy Saturday! This is Mike George, coming at you live from Natchez still…
If you’d have asked me 4-5 weeks ago if I would still be in this town, I would have said, “absolutely not!” But here I am, and I have to admit, this town has charmed the hell out of me! It feels a little like I'm trapped in some cliché episode of “The Simpsons” or in some stage of a video game, but Natchez has been lovely to me.
Still, in the big scheme of things, I'm feeling like it's time to go. It feels like the end of the song now, the end of the dance…It has to end… and I gotta get the hell out of here!
I’m working on a plan to get back up to Ohio — specifically Columbus or central Ohio — by the 17th of March. That’s my birthday, and I need to have a good one this year, damn it! I'll be in Columbus, Ohio, hopefully getting wasted with some amazing hot boys and ladies et al…
It’s a gorgeous day in paradise, so while we look around, let’s give a comprehensive update on what I’ve been up to.
On the job front, I did get a sad “no” on a Pittsburgh job I was really vying for, but that’s okay. I have a bunch of other prospects in the works. I applied to some badass AEP jobs, actually, including a couple of Director positions! Honestly, I think I'm pretty well qualified for a Director spot; I would be a badass director. Those AEP boys have nothing on me! I am excited about a couple of the jobs I’ve applied for, and that kind of made up for the unfortunate "no" on the Duquesne Light Company position that I really, really wanted and thought I was going to get.
My ideal destination is Steubenville, but that city isn't big enough to have the major engineering outfit I'd be interested in. So, in lieu of that, I’m concentrating my search on Pittsburgh, Columbus, Cleveland, and maybe even Youngstown or Akron — pretty much anywhere in Ohio and the surrounding states.
That kind of brings me to the topic of “home.” I’m tired of the constant refrain around here: “Oh, you ain't from around here…” I’ve gotten that all the time for about two years now, including when I was in Alexandria. I guess I’m cute enough to play it off and turn it into a conversation, but you hear it so many times that it becomes a little trite. I am really looking forward to going back home, where I am “from around here.” That's a big motive pulling me back to Steubenville and back to Ohio.
It’s actually nice to see that, even in little towns like Natchez and Alexandria, people in our generation are coming home. There's a repulsion away from the cities, primarily because they are too expensive. Even though COVID somewhat flattened the real estate landscape, now even the small towns are getting expensive. But that's a rant just to say: I miss home, and I miss the people that make home, home.
The older I get, the less I tolerate people, and the harder it is for me to make new friends. I used to think I could just drift from city to city, and whatever friends I lost, I’d just make again in the next place. But that’s not how it’s worked out. Each time I’ve moved to a new city, I've made fewer friends. I’m realizing it’s something to do with me — I'm becoming a more stubborn bitch, and I’m just less polite about it. I’ll work on that, if nothing else, for you guys.
On a side note, I have WANDA available now for purchase, as advertised down there at the bottom. Thus now, you can experience the magic that is WANDA! I've also been archiving my old Facebook Live content, putting together my "greatest hits album" on this website, which includes all my old trucker videos with Matt. Going through all that was the equivalent of going through your attic of stupid, random stuff and reliving my whole life in time.
I really miss Matt. I miss having a partner in my random adventures. I’ll be honest, the fun of doing these things still outweighs the exhaustion for now. But no matter how you put it, it would be more fun with somebody who could endure this with me. Doing this alone just feels so solitary.
In fact, one of my motives for producing these “Open Mike LIVE” episodes is that otherwise, I feel so lonely.
I resist using the word "homeless," but I'll say this: the worst part of being “homeless” is not the exposure to the elements, and it’s not the constant paranoia of getting your stuff stolen — it’s the loneliness. Even when I was homeless in Portland, I remember finding like-minded souls, other homeless folks that I allied with, and there was a really neat social cohesion to that act of surviving together.
Call me a romantic, but maybe I’ve been looking for that same quality in a romantic partner. I want someone I could truly rely on to survive with, not just someone to live through the good times and with whom to enjoy all the nice fancy dinners. I want that partner that will be there for me even through the shitshow of it all.
Anyways… I've wandered onto musings, thoughts, and prayers that I no longer care to share, because it just makes me sad. I know I’ll find a man, but this whole notion of a Southern gentleman is a myth - at least among the gays down here.
On that note, Facebook, it's been Mike George. Peace out!. Have a lovely weekend, enjoy your Saturday morning, be good to yourselves, take care of yourselves, and take care of somebody else.
