Enabled directly by circumstances created by the pandemic, one year ago I (a heretofore lifelong Californian) moved my household from VHCOL San Jose CA to an M/

Enabled directly by circumstances created by the pandemic, one year ago I (a heretofore lifelong Californian) moved my household from VHCOL San Jose CA to an M/LCOL semi-rural area in AZ. Had my move not crossed a state line (impacting payroll processes which my direct management was required to sign off on), my management chain would not have noticed at all. The pandemic's normalization of remote work enabled this move (which otherwise would have been deferred until retirement) to occur with minimal risk to my existing W2 income stream, which made what would otherwise have been a somewhat fraught transition largely worry free. I am also grateful that the pandemic in its first 9 months also removed one of my primary pre-move daily-life stressors: a heinous twice-daily commute on massively oversubscribed south bay roads and highways (which was far from being the worst possible).