Considering moving back to West Virginia (Morgantown, Man: rent, unemployment, university)

[harborlady]

NicaS- how rural you want to be? Can't get any fresher produce/ meat if it's growing/ walking in your yard.

Satelite service in mtn hollers is always pricey & dicey. Metro area internet wireless plug ins attached to a cell phone account were on average $120 month when all was said and done with fine print of contracts so that became a non option in my mind. When I was shopping around for a house I was using my cell phone bar signal as a criteria. Verizon just sold out regional service to a company called frontier... no idea what that means for the future. Verizon was more familiar to me.

WV isn't near as bad as dial up services in remote parts of western TX. I had a buddy who could only be online through dial up during certain times of day/ evening with the only game in town tower. Reminds me of rolling brown outs of third world countries making the simplest things like refrigeration uphill both ways. Made me far more grateful for all I took for granted in the states. We're all reading this screen somehow.

[CTMountaineer]

You could also use that Airbourne experience for a good part time
job at the Camp Dawson Special Forces unit near Kingwood. New
regulations raise the age for enlistment to the point where you
can enlist if you can get 20 total years in prior to age 60 counting
prior service.

Morgantown is one of the Nation's hottest job markets. Get the
Sunday Dominion Post and check for yourself. They are also
hiring at the prisons in Hazelton.

[snorpus]

HL,

Just FYI, when Verizon bought Alltel, the FCC made them divest certain local phone service areas. Frontier already had some operations in WV (and about a couple dozen other states). It appears they specialize in more rural areas that the big boys in telecomm don't want to bother with.

Here's a map of their properties in West Virginia.

[GottaHerdOn]

We currently have Verizon at my parents house, living just 10 miles outside of Elkins. But just 10 miles east is Harman with frontier service. From my observations, Frontier offered high speed DSL to a much larger percentage of their population. Verizon stopped the DSL service at the city limits of Elkins, and as many of you have heard me say, the city limits of Elkins are crap. So I'm actually ok with Frontier taking over Verizon's old space. I'm hoping they continue to offer better service than Verizon. Verizon refused to upgrade any of their lines, citing the cost. Yet, Frontier could... hmmmmm

[CTMountaineer]

I'm not at all certain this is the case, but could it be that Verizon has higher labor costs? I think they took over the old C&P business which, if I remember correctly, was a very generous company to its workers.

[Cebrowning1]

Hi everyone.. I recently hopped out of the Air Force after 11 years... I flew satellites for most of them and have a pretty good background in computers, not perfect by any means, and a degree in IT management that will be completed in Feb 2010. I'm reading all about this FBI massive hiring, is this still going on.. judging from the date of the posts I'm guessing it is.. I have a TS/SCI security clearance and to get back to Fairmont, or surrounding areas would be outstanding! and the fact they might take my 11 years of service for retirement.. Now does anyone have a link to click on and will these hirings be going on around next summer? My wife gets out of the Air Force then, So I have to wait.. She will have 10 years of service plus all the satellite experience that I have. Man this sounds exciting! Thanks to everyone for all the great information too..

[David Kennedy]

I'm sure you can do the preliminaries online...304-627-2125 is the Workforce number in Clarksburg.. Ask for the Vet Rep and register with him/her. Get an Email address from that person too.

[harborlady]

Off the OP for sure, but snorp & gho-- Bigger picture just got clearer. I kept getting ads for months from verizon to ditch suddenlink for an $80 month combo package, but when I inquired about the details they told me service wasn't available in my region of charleston. I found that mighty odd since the wire they use (pointed out by suddenlink) runs through my property. Meanwhile someone has wireless internet through verizon close enough for me to tap into through airport for free. Ideal world for me would link home wired internet and cell phone service but no such animal exists from any company.

Verizon playing half hearted here... best they go if that's how far from mission statement they're going to play it. The only reason I've maintained a cell account with them for years is due to reliability. Let that slide, I'd see no reason to keep them.

DK very good advice. Vet reps worth their salt will clue them in how many service points will be added to the competitive exams. Clearance process getting redone, it's best they update their reference lists and make sure they're all on the same page as well.

[NicaS]

Frontier, in my experience here in WV, has lousy service. Since they are a monopoly here, why should the company offer better? To note just a few problems: They make appts, & are no-shows w/o even a courtesy call. You can't be given any local phone numbers for customer service, only the FL-office contacts. Reps give out conflicting info, & since query & complaint notes don't seem to be filed consistently, each rep starts from scratch on any given matter. And when I try to view statements online, their techs tell me that it's a mystery. And on it goes ...

In PA over the years, I dealt w/ Bell, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, & several other comm companies. All have their liabilities, of course. Again, in my own experience, Frontier has been the worst.

Nica

[beverlysmithscott]

I wish that I could move back to WV myself. I was born and raised in Monroe County and moved to Charlotte to make money when I was 28. I would go back in a hearbeat if I could. I would think that moving more north in WV like Morgantown, Sheperdstown, etc... would be the better places to find jobs. (Ya know that WV has its own casino now) Plus you could always drive across the state line into PA for a job if you needed to.

I wish you luck!