Four Years a Kansan

I think I'm finally getting used to life in Kansas.

As of August 10th, we will have been here for four years.  Since we moved here just to go to school and wait out the Great Recession of 2008, I never really considered this my home.  Home was always Chicago. Whenever we talked about going to Chicago for the holidays or just to visit, it wasn't "oh, hey, we should go stay at my mother's"; it was "hey, are we going home this year?"  I didn't even bother to register to vote or change my license until I absolutely had to.  In my mind, I was going back home as soon as I finished my degree.  No point in changing anything, right?

Four years later...

I think part of the reason it's taken me so long to assimilate to Kansas is that I honestly haven't been giving it a fair chance.  I haven't exactly tried to learn anything about what makes it unique or what it has to offer.
And it does have a few positives.  I mean, the cost of living is ridiculous cheap (when compared to Chicago). Gas prices are considerably lower.  It's located in a nice in-between spot, giving me an equal distance between my family & Halbastram's family (both trips take roughly 8hrs).

But then there's the problem of having to drive everywhere.  Seriously- people who bitch and moan about how gross and crowded and whatever their public commuting options are: I will trade my commute with any one of you.  Sometimes, when the weather gets bad, as it does in Kansas between December-March, and you can't(won't) dig your car out, it'd be nice to have that bus as a back up.  Let someone else worry about trudging through the snow.  I've got nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.  Bad weather in an exceptionally hilly location (yeah, Kansas has hills.  It's not the total flat barren wasteland pop culture has lied to us about) ain't nothing to fuck with.

And so there I am, in my tiny economy-sized automobile, struggling to keep from spinning out on the icy highway, while Toby McPickupTruck whizzes by doing 80mph, spraying gunk in my direction, partaking in general dickery as he is usually wont to do.  And even though the weather is treacherous, I make sure to take at least two seconds out of my busy commute to give him a nice Seasons Greetings!, courtesy of my middle finger.

I do this about three times a day.  Year-round.

Sure, sometimes the train cars smell like New Year's Day and their on-time rating is somewhere in the negatives, but I will surely take that option over the Snowy Hills of Death.

Some days, I will look out the window and think, "take the risk or sick day?  What's that?  Ice storm?  I suddenly don't feel well..."

But it's not all doom and gloom.  August more than makes up for the aggravation of a Kansas winter commute. Which is not a bad month to celebrate a 4-yr moving anniversary.  I'm not sure how many more of these winters I can take but while we're here, I'm going to make the most of it and enjoy the cheap gas.

Until we meet again...