I was born and brought up in India and have brown skin & dark eyes, and had black hair (what's left of it is mostly gray now).
I lived in Orange County, So Cal for 22+ years; a few miles from Buck. Decided to move back to India for good. Didn't like the way things were going with respect to the economy, federal and trade deficits, politics, and what not. We have our own set of problems here, but despite the sucky environment for business, the economy is growing. I figure India is now where the US was in the early 1950's - take-off stage.
My dad passed away here when I was there, and my mom is 82 now. I swore I wouldn't be too far away from my mother. When you get older, relationships begin to matter more. Most of my siblings are here, and my only child was growing up lonely there. I felt guilty depriving her of a childhood. Wife's entire family is here. These are only a few reasons for moving back. I still have an American passport.
I'm not dirt-poor; I've been in the top tax bracket so far and will do ok. The reason for not upgrading my PC earlier was that it met my needs just fine. When I decided to upgrade, things didn't look good on the job front, so as a matter of caution, decided to postpone building the new PC.
I wasn't fired or laid off; things have been pretty static for the last 2 years. It took the first 2 years to clean up the mess I inherited, then the promised growth in revenue and company size just didn't happen. It's a career dead-end, and I got sick of coasting along for so long. I asked to be relieved, and it took about a year for them to find a not very good replacement.
I was diagnosed with diabetes in August 2010, but it appears to be in remission for the last month. If I take my pills, my blood sugar goes dangerously low, so I've stopped taking them. Periodic checks indicate sugar is at "normal" levels. I figure the stress of being underemployed in a sucky work environment caused stress diabetes. Have to see the doc next week for a professional opinion.
Am looking forward to moving on. Whether something will materialize, I don't know. My experience gives me an advantage, but my age is a handicap. We'll see. Worst case, I'll probably start a small business.
Thank you all for the concerns expressed.