I remember the day my sister and her husband offered to bring me with them to North Dakota; it was In early July, 2008. I had just lost my job at Gentz Industries after accidentally omitting a zero (or two) from a machine offset caused my machining center to crash and scrap a very expensive jet engine block. Technically I should have gotten a warning for not asking another machinist to verify my offset according to standard procedure, but I’m sure they had other reasons for foregoing the warning. On top of that, I had less than two weeks to move out of the house I had recently moved into in order to help Chris and Gabby Moschina make rent, because it was too late already and the landlord came less than two weeks after I moved in and said he needed tenants who paid the rent.

So I was telling my sister this over the phone and naturally she offered to me for the umpteenth time the opportunity to go live with her out of state. First it had been California – several times – then Texas, and now it was North Dakota. What she didn’t seem to understand was that I wanted to stay in Michigan; I liked everything about the state except for the fact that it had gotten really hard to find a job since 2000. I hesitated for a moment. I admit now that I actually considered accepting – I mean, I had no job, no place to stay… I really had nothing to lose. But something in me wanted to stick it out, and I turned her down. Funny, she never brought it up again.

It’s been an interesting ride since then, but incredibly stressful. I ended up working at 7-Eleven for the fourth or fifth time since 1997 – the midnight shift, of course. I moved back in with my Mom for the millionth time. That always feels good, to be in your thirties, working in a convenience store, and living with your mom. That was sarcasm, if you couldn’t tell. That kind of thing also tends to have repercussions on the romantic life, too.

I just seem to have this problem reaching escape velocity in approaching the edge of success; if there was just one thing I could do to escape this rut, I wish someone would tell me so that I could do it already.

Today’s Daily Post prompt:
Pinpoint a moment in your past where you had to make a big decision. Write about that other alternate life that could have unfolded.

What stories do other bloggers tell?

• What’s Traveled is Traveled | Khana’s Web
• My Parallel Universe | Frances Clarke
• The Runaway | The Jittery Goat
• The Life of a Gumshoe | Cheri Speak
• Meeting a Chatmate | Just Another Outlet
• Not a Free Human | A Couple of Dollars