Still, when the clock struck midnight, I stepped out onto the breezeway of my third floor apartment, and I could see some of the large fireworks to the east, which I assumed were along the waterfront.
When I moved here back in July, it was not my first time to the city. In January of 2005, I spent a month in Miami on business. I remember that I stayed in a hotel with a number of University of Oklahoma fans. Oklahoma played in the Orange Bowl that year for the National Championship of college football.
In 2005, I made a point to visit South Beach. I remember that the clubs did not close until 5 or 6 in the morning, and I saw some things that I have not seen anywhere else.
Among them was a beautiful woman in a bikini, walking down the street with an albino python draped around her. At another juncture, I saw a tiny Japanese woman in a kimono, leading a huge woman with a shaved head down the street by a dog collar and leash. In addition to the dog collar, the large woman wore black combat boots- but she was otherwise scantily clad in only black leather.
Inside the clubs themselves, some of the women were even more uninhibited, and I probably should not describe here a few of the things I witnessed.
I like the city of Miami, but my experience here over the past six months has been somewhat different than when I made the trip in 2005.
My current job in Miami provides me with a wonderful opportunity to make money and for professional growth, but it is more stressful than I anticipated. For some reason, I am lacking the confidence that I possessed in the courtroom as a trial lawyer (the job that I held just prior to this one).
Maybe the confidence is something that I can gain, and over the next six months I will do my best to reach a level where I feel like I am competent. I think part of the problem is that I hoped running a business would come more naturally to me than it has. In fact, though, knowing what the right decision is to make one dollar turn into two is something I struggle with, while I watch others in the company who instinctively know what the right business decision is. As one person in management said to me, "I know the right business decision in almost every situation, like the tip of my nose."
That is not me, not yet. I hope it can become me. I enjoy working with the students whom I come across in my job.
As I said, I like Miami and the people here. The women of this city are probably the most beautiful of any city that I've ever lived in.
Living in Miami is not like spending a month on business in Miami, though, with your hotel and food being comped. There is plenty to see and enjoy, but you need a lot of cash to do it.
It is like there are two different Miamis, the one for the super rich and celebrities, and then the one for the common people. On my trip in 2005, I got a glimpse of the former. Having to budget my expenses for living here over the past six months has exposed me to the latter.
I will try to see more of the city over the next six months and write about it. But keeping my head above water in my job has been my concern of the previous six months. I have not explored the city much outside of the Dadeland area where I live and go for jogs.
And traffic is incredible, to say the least. Highway 826, also know as the Palmetto Expressway, is the main road I use to go back and forth to my work locations. I've had to change the way I drive to not get run over here. Very often, after having driven all week, I just don't feel like battling traffic on a weekend and struggling to find parking to get to see some place new in the city. Instead, I'll just walk down the street from my apartment to the local Chili's Bar and Grill.
Miami is a beautiful city with beautiful people, though, and the weather is unbeatable this time of year. I am more fortunate than most to be where I am.
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