Thinking of working for the Pacific Northwest Lab and Richland (Seattle: home, to buy)

[MovinOutWest]

Originally Posted by Moon Waffle

I'm not trying to drive you away, just trying to prepare you for what the reality of the situation is here. I know several co-workers who are 20 and 30 something singles who know the exact amount of time it takes to get to downtown Seattle on a Friday night. When the weekend comes they can't leave fast enough.

The good news is, if you work a regular Hanford schedule you get every other friday off, so a three day weekend every other weekend for those trips to Portland and Seattle. And the "on" fridays you are done at 3:30.
I don't know if PNNL works that schedule or not though.

[Jason121]

Waffle,

Thanks for the data point. It is seeming as you describe more and more.

[nutleynut]

Well if you want "culture" like you might get in Seattle or Portland don't come to the area. But if you are an active outdoor person or a heavy drinker you have found paradise.
The "downwind" part of town is usually considerd to be North of the Hanford site. That is west Pasco and a lot of farmas in Franklin county. There are inexplicable cancer clusters which are being linked at least anecdotally to Hanford. I can attest to knowing more than a dozen people that worked in the area whose health is fine and a dozen mroe who are sickly. You can say it was the Nukes or their lifestyle.
I find the people who I knew in the area were very consciencious about their work and being safe. They take the work and their community very seriously. I worked out there and I think the Union workmen are as safe as it is possible to be, if there is any problem it is with a manager trying to make a name for themself pushing too hard. You have to work slowly when dealing with nuclear power and radiological equipment and some people just don't get that. I'm not suited to that sort of work as my temperment is not mellow enough to be so ponderous in my work.
You will find mostly accepting and open people there. They will take you into their homes and treat you well. Tri-Citians take pride in this hospitality.
At the same time they are rather politically and socially backward. There is an inordinbate amount of racism and there is no political vision for there being a concentration of 200K people. Things could and should be a lot better there culturally and educationally. They needed a four year college back in 1985, they desperately need it now. That will be all that is left when the vit plant is done with it's work in 20whatever. There needs to be fusion research done and there is no where better in the west to do it than there where the science community already exists to act as a baseline for the new research.
That's enough of me.... Go Bombers!

[BrokenGopher]

I live in the TriCities and work for Battelle. I've been here for about 2.5 years. I've lived in LA, Salt Lake, Albuquerque, Colorado (where I'm from), and I have lived overseas. For your place in life, this may be a place to park yourself until this economic crisis is over. My observations:

Good---

The living is cheap, at least housing. Richland was created by the government under the Manhattan project and near the Lab it shows. Richland for the most part looks like something from the 50s. If you get out towards Kennewick, and near Richland/Kennewick, there is lots of new construction and you can either buy a decent house or rent a decent apartment. The commute is about 25 minutes. If you buy a house, expect to live in it for five years because prices are stagnant and houses can take a year to sell. As a new graduate, I would rent.

The people at the lab are great. It's a great atmosphere to work in, and you can really work with some world-class people. This counts for something as you spend so much time at work. Decent benefits, and a pension plan. Where do you find that anymore?

IF YOU ARE INTO outdoor activities, this place has a lot going for it. Hiking, fishing, boating, nearby camping, etc. I am not, so this is not a plus for me.

BAD--

This is a provincial town with small town thinking. Don't let people fool you. As an example of the thinking here, my wife got a German Shepard with first generation East German bloodlines (from a kennel near Seattle). The stud was known throughout Europe. She walks with her neighbor who has a mutt. She puts an american flag kerchief around the dog's neck and brags about how proud she is that her mutt is pure USA. Like our dog is some Nazi. I've never seen such stupid thinking, and it is not uncommon here.

People like to brag that we have 300 days of sunshine. On average, it may be true. How many days are left? For the last three months I've seen the sun maybe 6 times. Otherwise it's just dreary and overcast. Today we had dreary and a fog that settled to the ground. Give me snow and sunshine anyday.

Give up your idea of culture and clubbing. I've been to world ballet, for example, and I pass by the ballet school several times a week, and I have to say, it is not world class. People who say this are delusional. The wineries are pleasant and have entertainment, but I would guess at your age you would be bored. I take jazz piano lessons from a fantastic pianist here, and he plays at the wineries. The only caveat is he caters to the older crowd because he wants to make a living. I've sat in on the "blues and rock stylings" of some guitarist singing in a microphone, and it is like some high school student playing at a coffee shop.

This place is for being married, having kids, and knowing they are safe in school (although crime is creeping in as in everywhere). I feel sorry for a single guy here. If you are LDS (Mormon), they will find you a wife in a heartbeat. I'm married and older, so I don't care about this. You will be going to Seattle to date (probably), and don't expect her to come here. You will move to her.

I don't want to dissuade you from accepting the position. These are hard economic times, and know that PNNL is a great place to work. It is a good place to hunker down and save money. At this point in your career and in the this economy, you may not find what you want, and you may just have to compromise a bit. If you don't have any other prospects on the horizon, I would not put them off too long. Some people would kill for a job offer at this point. Just know that you could love the place or it could be a transitional point in your life.

[nutleynut]

to Broken Gopher:
The woman expresses pride in her animal, a mutt and calls it pure American, it is by the way, we are a nation of mixture not a pure race, and youy take it as a slight! I think you're the provincial. BTW her remark sounds like a repost to you or your wife bragging on your dogs heredity, people there are not pretentious and don't take to those who are.
Also pure breds are the most genetically defective of any animal breed. Get your nose down, you're blocking ther light.

[BrokenGopher]

Nutley,

Sorry if I offended you. I did not mean to. It wasn't that I was bragging that our dog is purebred, but that she looked down on us that ours isn't pure USA. She has a good dog, I like the dog. But wouldn't you get offended if someone slighted your dog because his ancestors were not from generations in the US? Especially coming from a person who was born overseas and immigrated to the US? If that makes me a snob, then so be it. I can still recognize wine from swill.

[ABK]

Originally Posted by nutleynut

to Broken Gopher:
The woman expresses pride in her animal, a mutt and calls it pure American, it is by the way, we are a nation of mixture not a pure race, and youy take it as a slight! I think you're the provincial. BTW her remark sounds like a repost to you or your wife bragging on your dogs heredity, people there are not pretentious and don't take to those who are.
Also pure breds are the most genetically defective of any animal breed. Get your nose down, you're blocking ther light.

Jason121, if you are going to move here than read this post a few times and prepare to deal with people like this on a regular basis here. They don't think out of the box, they can't have a civilized discussion without name calling and insulting anybody with a view different than their own, and they are so ignorant that don't even notice how they contradict themselves in every sentence. Nutleynut, I bet you were born in TC, have never been anywhere else and proud of it Broken Gopher was too nice in his reply to you.

So you agree with the mix's owner to be proud of her mix but refuse the same right to the BrokenGopher's wife to be proud of her own animal. Are you a vet, a biologist, or have you ever owned a pure bred animal or maybe bred one to be so knowledgeable in their genetic defects? You are talking with PNNL scientists here, get a grip, pick up a book and try to start thinking, thinking doesn't hurt.

[BrokenGopher]

Nutley,

What is odd to me is you focused on our dog when the thread is about living in the tricities. I gave the good and bad of this area, and I think I was fair in my assessment as I see it. Some people love this area, others hate it. As for being a snob, I grew up in a steel town with a teacher as a father. We grew up lower middle class, and I know what it means to grow up in a village atmosphere. Nothing wrong with it. But you have to understand that some people are not suited for this area. In the earlier threads, this person listed himself as liberal and wanting to have a nightlife. Do you honestly think that exists here? I got out of my hometown, but I still care about my friends there. Do you really think that floating down the river and drinking beer serves the person who started this thread?






























mod interpose: Actually, it's an interesting discussion going on here but we're getting into the realm of personal attacks and not focusing on necessarily helping or responding directly to the OP's initial inquiry. Please do not bait each other into getting into flame war. Thanks. --'r

[bigbobbadoobob]

I'll ignore the dog-related spat going on. I'm new to Richland - just arrived two weeks ago and started at PNNL. Here's my reasoning... since you describe yourself as young, you are likely at an early stage of your career (like me). Therefore, perhaps you need to make this the priority. PNNL is world-renown and will no doubt be great for your career. And after a couple of years of 'suffering' in this lonely desert, you'll have even greater opportunities elsewhere. I'm pretty impressed with PNNL so far (apart from the mind-numbing training that you have to do) and doubt you'll be making a mistake by coming here.

[BrokenGopher]

I agree with the previous person. You will advance your career with PNNL, and if your social life suffers somewhat, so be it. You're young, you can drive to Seattle and Portland. Work here, save money, make a name for yourself.