Relo to Amarillo, Lubbock or Mid/Odessa (Houston, Dallas: rent, unemployment)

[Eliza08]

Thanks Cobolt. All good things to keep in mind when I get closer to move date. I think the Am area looks beautiful, but I'm still keying on a job with decent salary, so I'll keep in mind the hospitals and the employ ofc. Wow things seem to be booming to the south in M/O. Though I read an article posted about Texas going through a boom for 25+ yrs, I would hope that includes the Am area. I suppose if I move to the wrong area, I can move a few hours to where the jobs are. Man, Tx is such a big place, can't wait to get lost in the sunsets! Ya know speaking of friendly Texans,
I was living in CO and was travelling back to San Anton for a wedding over springbreak in Mar '99. Well our little car tangled with a Tx size suv in a panhandle snow storm. When we were filling up in Texline I told my daughter to make sure she was buckled up. Well the next thing I know it was airbag city in the freezing snow. My side of the car took the worst of it. It was so surreal. Locals driving by were so nice, got my daughter and I back to the hosp in Texline. Wow, never thought I'd be considering moving back near an area that changed my life. For such a time as this...so enough of the mushy stuff, thanks to all of you out there in a little bit of heaven!

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by Eliza08

Thanks Cobolt. All good things to keep in mind when I get closer to move date. I think the Am area looks beautiful, but I'm still keying on a job with decent salary, so I'll keep in mind the hospitals and the employ ofc. Wow things seem to be booming to the south in M/O. Though I read an article posted about Texas going through a boom for 25+ yrs, I would hope that includes the Am area. I suppose if I move to the wrong area, I can move a few hours to where the jobs are. Man, Tx is such a big place, can't wait to get lost in the sunsets! Ya know speaking of friendly Texans,
I was living in CO and was travelling back to San Anton for a wedding over springbreak in Mar '99. Well our little car tangled with a Tx size suv in a panhandle snow storm. When we were filling up in Texline I told my daughter to make sure she was buckled up. Well the next thing I know it was airbag city in the freezing snow. My side of the car took the worst of it. It was so surreal. Locals driving by were so nice, got my daughter and I back to the hosp in Texline. Wow, never thought I'd be considering moving back near an area that changed my life. For such a time as this...so enough of the mushy stuff, thanks to all of you out there in a little bit of heaven!

I left Amarillo because I couldn't find a good-paying job, and after completing my graduate degree, I felt I deserved that much, thus the move to WA state. It's been good for my career but bad in other ways. People here are the absolute pits. Last April I flew into DFW to visit a friend in Dallas and then drive to Oklahoma to visit another friend. As I was driving on the freeway, I noticed all the beautiful wildflowers (bluebonnets, Indian paint) in bloom, so I pulled off to the side to take a few photos. 4 cars, I kid you not, 4 different cars pulled over and asked me if I was okay. Was my car broken down and did I need any help? One was a young man in his early 20's, dressed in jeans and a polo. How refreshing to see a clean-cut kid with polite manners and not some long-haired, pierced, tatooed, goth kid or the metros here who dress as though they pulled their clothes from the bottom of the hamper (I kid you not). I thought to myself "This never would have happened in Seattle. No one would stop but would rather leave you for dead." You just have no idea how friendly Texans and Southerners are. There are real jerks out there too, but for the most part, people are great!

[Eliza08]

I'm with you on that Cobolt, sound like you get home sick and rightly so. Ohio is one state that is going down. High taxes on those that work, and then we have the crackheads and goths walking around with their entitlement attitudes. People who have always lived here don't really understand how taxed they are, I think the assumption is - this is the way it's suppose to be. Well it's not for me, I'm going to effect a vote of dissent by leaving! Yeah there are jerks everywhere but I still love Texas and the culture. So glad you had company for your wildflower viewing. LOL!

[cobolt]

seriously, let me know if you need any help or have any questions. DM me if you want and keep us posted. Who knows, we might be neighbors one fine day.

[NOTAM]

Amen Cobolt! that is exactly why i am so proud of this area of the country. yes both Texas and Oklahoma.....
by the way, your story reminded me that my only "real big wreck" i have ever had was in the panhandle area-Shamrock Texas, during an ice storm. i spun out my diesel 4x4 truck doing 360s on the ice on the highway and totalled a poor gentleman who was driving a small economy car, moving from Michigan to California.
stories like yours are very common, not isolated . i hear about them all the time. it's wonderful.
and hey! you need to just move back here! money aint everything. you cant put a price on friendly! i could make a lot more money in California, or on the East Coast, but no way!
and about young folks dressing-yep, my friend is from Oregon and she mentioned that when she first moved here, how it was so refreshing to see young men wearing starched Wranglers, ironed button down shirts, nice cowboy boots, clean cut....compared to the pierced goth punk grunge rock styles that many wear esp in urban areas where she's from

Originally Posted by cobolt

I left Amarillo because I couldn't find a good-paying job, and after completing my graduate degree, I felt I deserved that much, thus the move to WA state. It's been good for my career but bad in other ways. People here are the absolute pits. Last April I flew into DFW to visit a friend in Dallas and then drive to Oklahoma to visit another friend. As I was driving on the freeway, I noticed all the beautiful wildflowers (bluebonnets, Indian paint) in bloom, so I pulled off to the side to take a few photos. 4 cars, I kid you not, 4 different cars pulled over and asked me if I was okay. Was my car broken down and did I need any help? One was a young man in his early 20's, dressed in jeans and a polo. How refreshing to see a clean-cut kid with polite manners and not some long-haired, pierced, tatooed, goth kid or the metros here who dress as though they pulled their clothes from the bottom of the hamper (I kid you not). I thought to myself "This never would have happened in Seattle. No one would stop but would rather leave you for dead." You just have no idea how friendly Texans and Southerners are. There are real jerks out there too, but for the most part, people are great!

[Eliza08]

Well bellestar I envy your truck ownership. I bought a Ford F150 10 yrs ago in Sa, sold it and bought a Camry last year. I know I know, I'd rather a big diesel, but hey I'm getting more practical as I get older. Hopefully not too practical! Yeah I'm ready to head back to Tx, you're right, can't put a $ figure on life. I'm sure you could make a whole lotta dough in a big city, but it's not worth the cost. My hub is an engineer working for a gov contractor, but I'm ready to kiss that security goodbye. Too many issues that are affecting my health. Just not worth it....

So thanks for the support cobolt. At some point I gotta quit over thinking this move and do it. Though it would help if I could pick an area right? Just have someone pack up a uhaul and trailer my car behind. Probably no different going across state or country, just head for the sunset. You're right too, never know who we'll cross paths with someday....

[GayleTX]

There is a lovely story in the northern Panhandle about a group of people (several carloads of them) that got stranded many years ago (maybe 20-30 years ago?) on Hwy 287 during a snow storm. The roads were closed for a few days and the people were all rescued and taken in to a home in the country near there.....the only house within miles. They were all stragers traveling through a 'foreign territory' but the locals took them in, and they slept and cooked and ate together in that home for days.....the people had a freezer full of beef and deer and homegrown vegetables so there was enough food to feed all of them very well the entire time.

This group of people have all stayed in touch with one another all these years, and every so often they have a get-together and a reunion and spend the day with that farm family who took in strangers and fed them and sheltered them. There's usually a feature story in the Amarillo paper when they have a reunion, and the people talk about how that one experience influenced their attitude toward life and people and how it changed their lives.

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by bellestaroftexas

and hey! you need to just move back here! money aint everything. you cant put a price on friendly! i could make a lot more money in California, or on the East Coast, but no way!

I'm working on it, don't ya know? I'm looking at Tx and NE OK, along with areas of KY. I want out of WA and out of the west coast. You're right. You can't put a price on friendly. When I was living in Tx, I had people invite me over for dinner, holidays, whatever, just as if I were family, and that's what I became in a sense. Best friends I made, ever. Many have since moved away but a few are still there. Here in WA, people don't even greet you. If you say hi to someone, they avoid eye contact or even walk around you. I was walking out of a grocery store around Christmas and said hello to a woman and she said "I don't KNOW you!" at the top of her lungs. IT was really embarassing and sad. You get so used to people treating your waves or greetings with avoidance or suspicion that you find yourself becoming the same way. That's when I know it's time to leave. I have a time frame of when I hope to be out.

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by Eliza08

Well bellestar I envy your truck ownership. I bought a Ford F150 10 yrs ago in Sa, sold it and bought a Camry last year. I know I know, I'd rather a big diesel, but hey I'm getting more practical as I get older. Hopefully not too practical! Yeah I'm ready to head back to Tx, you're right, can't put a $ figure on life. I'm sure you could make a whole lotta dough in a big city, but it's not worth the cost. My hub is an engineer working for a gov contractor, but I'm ready to kiss that security goodbye. Too many issues that are affecting my health. Just not worth it....

So thanks for the support cobolt. At some point I gotta quit over thinking this move and do it. Though it would help if I could pick an area right? Just have someone pack up a uhaul and trailer my car behind. Probably no different going across state or country, just head for the sunset. You're right too, never know who we'll cross paths with someday....

I work for a defense contractor as well. That's the hardest part is looking at the income and job satisfaction and knowing you may have to give that up. I'm still struggling with that but I think the quality of life thing is winning.

[JamesAbilene]

Originally Posted by cobolt

I work for a defense contractor as well. That's the hardest part is looking at the income and job satisfaction and knowing you may have to give that up. I'm still struggling with that but I think the quality of life thing is winning.

When I moved back to Texas, I left a corporate job with an excellent salary and benefits to move back here and teach. My salary was less than 1/4 what I made in Ohio. It took awhile to adjust, but I have no regrets. The quality of life I have found in Texas trumps that salary any day.