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Paul I have carried those bundles and I have to tell you that I am more satisfied when I look up at a roof that I did, then I ever was when I was at Prudential handling 401k, 457&403b retirement accounts. Your clients stress will and always does become yours over time in the financial arena. Your clients lose money, they start looking at you. Whether your responsible or not they will always look at you when it happens. I also make more money doing roofing and landscaping.
Did you work at the Prudential over near WNEP's studios? If so, what years were you there? My father worked in that same building a number of years as well for both Prudential and IBM, so you might have known each other.
I'm quite certain that accounting is a very stressful field, but it is a challenge I'm willing to tackle. At least this position would offer me stability. With the exception of "Enron book-cookers" Arthur-Andersen, I can't really name any major accounting firms that have gone under due to outsourcing, downsizing, relocation, scandal, etc. It's a very stable career path.
As far as the roofing job is concerned, home improvement is something I'll be learning to do on the side. I eventually want to own a fixer-upper with potential in Scranton and rehab it from top to bottom to restore it to its former grandeur. If and when the University of Scranton students vacate those unkempt-looking multi-unit homes near campus in favor of moving into the upcoming dormitories, I'd love to potentially restore one back into a duplex, in which my partner, myself, and our three future adopted children will live in one-half while we rent out the other half to another family for rental income. There's some jobs I won't touch (an electrician will be a MUST), but I've helped my father do drywall, spackling, painting, insulating, refinishing our hardwood flooring, etc. so I have a good idea of what to expect with most of the work. Roofing would be something I'd hire someone to do because I'm ghastly afraid of heights (I used to get woozy on the tops of the high walk-up ladders at work). Plumbing would be something I'd be willing to learn. I see no reason why I couldn't have a career in the financial field while also enjoying the reward of fixing up my own home in the future.
The wage tax is high in Scranton, but property taxes are in-line with the surrounding suburban communities. Scranton is a little "rough around the edges" in terms of having a nitty-gritty blue-collar atmosphere, but I think that gives it a sense of coziness and personality. As far as the corruption being "second-to-none" is concerned, I must respectfully disagree. Have you ever lived in the suburbs of Pittston? They make Scranton's elected officials look like saints! LOL!
LOL grew up in Wyoming. Pittston is as crappy as it gets that is true. I live in wyoming county now outside of Meshoppen. Life is good here we know each other watch each others backs. I dread the few occasions that I actually have to return to the valley. Its all changed and not for the better I am sad to say. Even sleepy little wyoming has a drug problem. I believe that comes with all the local low income housing Luzerne county opted into. Lots of section 8 housing etc.
And 1 more thing LOL I like oldforge Pizza..... Victory pig pizza too.
I read the article that stated that "a McDonald's manager can earn $100,000 or more", but it never said "per year" or even offered any basis in fact for that statement. It threw out a number, like a quarter pounder to go, you ate it up without thinking about it and spit it back out at us to prove some off topic point. It also isn't exactly from a Forbes Magazine article, either. What toy came in that Happy Meal, Dan? More importantly, what flavor kool-aid?
The point is, show me ONE McDonald's franchise in Scranton (to get back on topic a little) that's earning any manager, regardless of skill, anywhere close to $100K a year?
Honestly, you two need to just avoid each other. You're like an old married couple the way you bicker back and forth over the most assinine things.
P.S. Anyway, here's some love for the East Mountain.
Maybe not MCDonald's, unless you work your way up to owning your own franchise, but the big box chain stores can pay well if you work your way up to store manager or a regional manager. I worked at a big chain store while I was in college, and our store's general manager worked his way up from cart boy as a teenager to a store general manager and was making a six figure salary. But that's not to say that getting to that point didn't mean having no life, working long hours, and earning much smaller paychecks while working your way up. And even the manager making six figure was putting in ridiculous hours....12 hour shifts 5 or 6 days a week or more.
I could have followed that path, but I didn't want to sign my life on the line to a big chain store, and retail was grating on me by the time I graduated from college.
I would avoid living in scranton. They have high local taxes as compared to other towns close by. Taylor, Old forge, even carbondale are nice communities. Scranton is a dreary little city wanna be and the corruption is second to none in the area.
Carbondale? You have to be kidding me. Its run down and has the WORST schools in the area....not to mention its fairly isolated. Old Forge, while a nice town with great pizza, also has lousy schools. In rankings of local school districts by test scores, Carbondale is always rock bottom, and Old Forge is slightly ahead of them. Taylor wouldn't be bad, because yes they do have lower property taxes, but do you know the reason why Taylor has lower property taxes? Because the town hosts a LANDFILL. A landfill that fills the general area full of dirt, stink, and birds that follow the garbage trucks into town.
Scranton's taxes maybe in-line with the surrounding communities, but we get less services for our taxes..
Not true. Our garbage collection fee is less than most surrounding towns at $178 (I know Jessup pays over $300), and most of the smaller towns with private garbage haulers cannot put out half of the trash that we can in Scranton. I have out out furniture and all sorts old bulky junk for the trash here in Scranton, and they take it. In surrounding towns, you can't put anything but regular household garbage bags out, and if they're too heavy, they won't take them. In smaller local towns, you have Barney Fife police departments that are mainly staffed with low-paid part-time officers (in my case, I had my car broken into and was robbed, and they couldn't be bothered to help out...maybe because I wasn't a "good ol boy" from their town, they didn't care). Scranton's PD is professional and does a great job. Also, having a paid fire department makes me feel much safer than a volunteer department. Compare that to Carbondale, where I believe they had multiple cases of volunteer firemen setting fires intentionally so they can go put them out. No thanks.
LOL grew up in Wyoming. Pittston is as crappy as it gets that is true. I live in wyoming county now outside of Meshoppen. Life is good here we know each other watch each others backs. I dread the few occasions that I actually have to return to the valley. Its all changed and not for the better I am sad to say. Even sleepy little wyoming has a drug problem. I believe that comes with all the local low income housing Luzerne county opted into. Lots of section 8 housing etc.
.
And if you don't think there is a drug problem in the rural areas, you're kidding yourself. You're not far from Bradford County, which has been named the nation's "meth capital."
I've lived in NEPA since I was in 7th grade between Lake Wallenpaupack to Dunmore and in Lake Ariel now.
I've been considering moving my primary residence to the Scranton area and utilizing my Lake Ariel house as a second home. I've been looking and even contacted a realtor and the realtor told me to be careful because people don't like to move in to Scranton due to the taxes. Why won't they change our taxation and try to get working people like myself into Scranton? Everyone wants to move just outside of Scranton because of this and me too. If they changed the tax rate to 1% of wages like everyone else they'd have so much new construction and rebuilding and would bring so much more in due to the realestate taxes and they wouldn't have a city full of broken down homes.
I want to live in Scranton and love some of the homes but the wage tax is really something that brings Scranton down!
I've lived in NEPA since I was in 7th grade between Lake Wallenpaupack to Dunmore and in Lake Ariel now.
I've been considering moving my primary residence to the Scranton area and utilizing my Lake Ariel house as a second home. I've been looking and even contacted a realtor and the realtor told me to be careful because people don't like to move in to Scranton due to the taxes. Why won't they change our taxation and try to get working people like myself into Scranton? Everyone wants to move just outside of Scranton because of this and me too. If they changed the tax rate to 1% of wages like everyone else they'd have so much new construction and rebuilding and would bring so much more in due to the realestate taxes and they wouldn't have a city full of broken down homes.
I want to live in Scranton and love some of the homes but the wage tax is really something that brings Scranton down!
Just my 2 cents...
john
You're only looking at the wage tax, which is only part of the taxes you pay. Property taxes are not high in Scranton, and are either about the same or lower than in surrounding areas. Plus, you can get more house for the money in Scranton. That, combined with good schools, and not having to burn $3/gallon gas to drive far to stores, entertainment, restaurants, churches, schools, etc, erase the sting of the wage tax, in my opinion.
Well, all this information is rather conflicting. From what I've gathered about Scranton by these posts I've seen that it is: corrupt, has drug problems, high taxes, virtually no walkability unless you're living by some very busy streets, and low income problems. I have to say that I am kind of reconsidering. I like to think that if given the chance Scranton will get better and possibly become a desirable place to relocate to. But, I think I'll have to do some serious research and driving around the whole city for long lengths of time to find that "good nitch" in the city.
Oh and I wanted to say that I think ScrantonWilkesbarre is right about the education. Some people in Scranton obviously don't view the higher education there as much value. This is probably why the income level is so low there. However, it would probably be more valued if the Univ. of Scranton wasn't so expensive. I don't know how they expect anyone that makes $30 grand a year to send their kids to college without much trouble. But, he is right about getting an education. It isn't just Scranton that proves that income levels are generally higher when you have a college education. It is everywhere in the U.S. Also, yes, you can have a high paying job without a degree but you are usually working longer hours and more days a week . Also, it generally takes longer for you to work your way up the ladder to actually earn a good living. If not, you happen to be one of those lucky people that had parents with enough money to "set you up" for life.
So, back on topic, would Clarks Summit or Wilksbarre possibly be a better choice to live? Or maybe there is another city in PA that could be recommended. I'll be going there for three weeks in December and January to do some serious searching so if anyone has any suggestions let me know
You are right and I have done the math so to speak. Remember it was the realtor that told me this but never mentioned what you just did. This realtor is a seasoned business manager and unless you think like you just did you're automatically going to not look for homes in Scranton.
My point is that Scranton needs to change the taxation model because it's not working and if this was a business it would have not been heard of for years. I love Scranton and I would love to be involved in Scranton and as a business owner, past treasurer for a community and with some knowledge in accounting I don't aggree with the taxes and the way they are administered.
I have some knowledge of what has been selling here in Scranton and from my perspective people are buying up old homes and making rentals. The people who rent really don't pay taxes here in Scranton because they do what they can to get out of it.
The model needs to work toward single family home, home ownership. These are the easiest to collect taxes from.
With regards to myself I would consider a house in Scranton if I found the right one and I would move here and be very happy. We are however looking more at south of Scranton like from Moosic to Pittston.
As for the math it works out that I will pay more in Scranton than living in Lake Ariel and my taxes in Lake Ariel are kind of high because of the property I live on.
john
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There's some jobs I won't touch (an electrician will be a MUST), but I've helped my father do drywall, spackling, painting, insulating, refinishing our hardwood flooring, etc. so I have a good idea of what to expect with most of the work. Roofing would be something I'd hire someone to do because I'm ghastly afraid of heights (I used to get woozy on the tops of the high walk-up ladders at work). Plumbing would be something I'd be willing to learn. I see no reason why I couldn't have a career in the financial field while also enjoying the reward of fixing up my own home in the future. 
LOL!
Nepa
