Starting over, need advice on new job / life

[alikair]

Been in the commercial HVAC business for over 20 years, last 12 self-employed.

I am certified to work on Trane centrifugals but haven’t seen one since I started my own small business. Also I’m no stranger to refrigeration.

I’ve lived in a beautiful, but extremely small town where the weather is always hot and the women (if you can find them) are fairly cold. House prices have just recently gone up so high I can’t afford even the cheapest termite infested house.

I don’t want to throw a dart on a world map and just move, but I really have no idea where to go.

Ok, so here’s the question.

Any of you fellow HVAC guys recommend a great town / job?

I’m a somewhat partial to Seattle and Miami because I have some friends there.

So come on folks, if you found paradise share the wealth!

[coolwhip]

I live in S.E. Mich. Sometimes the weather is not the greatist but there is alot of wealth around these parts and alot of HVAC companies. Good luck.

[alikair]

Thanks for the input Coolwhip, brrrrr it most be freezing over there now.

PS money is'nt my biggest concern, but no mater how friendly the town folk, if i cant afford a home its a pass. I also dont care for nightclubs either if that helps.

[air1]

Just don't move to Oregon.

[Linden Swanson]

One mans heavan is another mans hell! Kinda sounds like you're in the south now (just a guess). Do you have a preference on equipment type? What kind of weather do you hate? San Diego has a great climate but the cost of housing is high. I love Virginia if you don't mind the humidity.

Take a look at the Trane employment web site. Maybe you'll get some ideas.

[alikair]

Air1,
you say not to move to Oregon,how strange. Oregon
is voted best state to live. More $$ in your pocket and low crime rate. Plus the people who I met from there (tug boat crew) think it many times more easy to meet women there. what is there not to like but Oregon?

Linden Swanson,
I enjoy working on VAV rooftop package units, chillers, recip stuff. I dont know what its like to live in snow, only played in it twice in my life. Wouldnt mind getting away from year round hot weather. I once saw a job offer in the florida keys, the pay was low (8/hr) but one of the bennies was the free diving / boating with the crew.

Ever wonder what it would be like to work on the a/c for Disney World? oh and I worked at Trane for 7 years. Great company.

I have a friend who use to work for me. He now works in seatle making almost union pay but hates his job. likes seattle but he is now a full time filter / heat pump checker.

[ch47mech]

Well, forget most of CA. I live in Port Hueneme, just north of LA. Here the home are very high. This is from the paper today, "Ventura County's median sales price for existing single-family homes was $595,910 in November, up 25.5 percent from a year ago and 1.9 percent from October's $584,950 median".

I am ready for a move or better job myself!


Good luck

[Linden Swanson]

I daydream about being a tech at Disney World fairly often. It's gotta be a fun job.

So you prefer the heavy commercial. That will keep you close to the larger metro areas. Seattle is a nice area. People I've talked to lately claim work is slow, not a lot of jobs right now. You have to like rain and gray skies for Seattle. Ch47 is right about Cali. The price of housing here is much higher than where you are now and it doesn't matter where you are now. Jobs are real tight in Oregon. Always have been. Oregon is a very liberal kinda place. They hug trees and shoot republicans LOL. Aside from that Oregon is an inexpensive and nice place to live.

Have you given any thought to the Caymen Is. I don't have any first hand info. There's a poster with the handle Carnak that might be able to give you some info.

[stockfleth]

Southern oregon here, beautiful scenery, decent weather, nice people. houses start at 165 thou. for a cardboard shack, 250 thou. for a shack big enough for a family 300 for a decent home in a decent neighborhood. More hvac contractors than pizza joints and average wage is 15 an hour for experienced hard workers though 20 an hour can be found at a couple good companies, but obviously they dont have a high turnover rate. Now if you head up to portland area the average wage goes up to 20 an hour, cost of living is about the same, but it rains A LOT more and is much colder climate, but more to do and see.

[air1]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by alikair
[B]Air1,
you say not to move to Oregon,how strange. Oregon
is voted best state to live. More $$ in your pocket and low crime rate. Plus the people who I met from there (tug boat crew) think it many times more easy to meet women there. what is there not to like but Oregon?





We try to discourage people from moving here to maintain our quality of life. Republicans are especially discouraged.

[stockfleth]

maybe that is our problem. These republicans are wanting out of this highly taxed, badly schooled state.

[air1]

I'll help them pack.

[alikair]

stockfleth,
I'm glad to see there's a least one friendly person in Oregon : )
Any towns in particular?
And I havnt see many jobs out there.

[aircooled53]

Hot town would be Austin Texas, the business is booming and the babe's are (hot). There is one thing you would need in Austin is a Texas Driver License and a truck,and a pair of Wrangler jeans.

Cost of living shouldn't be quite as high as say Oregon or northern Cal. But, the women there are the best in the country.
Good Luck and happy holiday ..

[alikair]

Anyone got any knowledge of the a/c industry in Vancouver Washington? I here the fishing is really good in the lakes there.

[stockfleth]

I have no clue about Vancouver. We are in Medford Or, 1 hr. to great fishing on a good day and great scenery on a bad one. Plenty of jobs available, just not a lot of pay when you pick one. High cost of living, but it is living in an outdoorsmans idea of paradise.

[R12rules]

Originally posted by aircooled53
Hot town would be Austin Texas, the business is booming and the babe's are (hot). There is one thing you would need in Austin is a Texas Driver License and a truck,and a pair of Wrangler jeans.

Cost of living shouldn't be quite as high as say Oregon or northern Cal. But, the women there are the best in the country.
Good Luck and happy holiday ..

where did you "read that?" Are you IN TEXAS? I live just below Austin. And people are leaving there to come HERE jst because of the high cost of living.

I used to live in Eugene Oregon. The costs probably have changed since I lived on Friendly Street, but only from locals jacking up the real estate rates ....

And there really arent that many liberals up there. Unless you count a few transplants from California who were jerks and snuck in.
The majority of Oregonians are God fearing men and women.

To the residents there, the name Oregon means "God's Country"!


Oregon has dry lands, wet areas, mountains and some flat lands. Tremendous variety. Almost like a micro California. Almost .... but not quite.


When I lived there, no sales tax. Nada!
Every one friendly.
A guy I worked for even carried his fishing pole in his service truck, all the time.
Cause you could stop and drop a line in so many places!!!

They say that Louisianna is the Sportsman's Paradice. But those who claim that either never been to Oregon or they are liars!



To give any good advice on where to live and work, I would need more info about your personality and such.
And that would maybe change once you got to a new environment and started a new lifestyle.


Why did you move to where you currently live? What motivated you?
What do you like aboit it?
What dont you like about it? Is it just the cost of living? Can that be overcome with a better job, higher wages, etc?


I could sugest moving to Los Angeles. Plenty of the kind of work anyone could imagine. And you dont live downtown just because you cover the whole county. You may end of living outside the county itself.
Never the less, you can live and work inside LA county. You just have to know where to look.


Awhile back, I was invited to interview for a position which would require my family relocating to Santa Rosa California.
The homes in that area start at over 300K!!!

But I knew something about the area from many years ago. So I went looking online and found an area lesser expensive to rent/buy.
And it wasnt far from the center of Santa Rosa either.
You just have to know what is around.


Here in Texas, there are not that many people, per square mile, as there is in much of California.

I live near Austin, the State Capitol. I leave Austin driving north and have small to medium sized communities all the way up to Dallas/ Ft. Worth. And THEN there is some serious population density!!!
But below Dallas .... it's just a corridor of small towns.
The below Austin, it thins out drastically!
If I drive to Houston, 145 miles away, there is hardly ANYTHING between here and there.
Just an occassional wide spot along the freeway.
Then going towards San Antonio .... the same thing. 60 miles of hardly a place to stop and buy gas .... all the way there.

And once you pass the last outer loop of freeway networks inside San Antonio ... your in the country once again!

What I'm saying is your service areas in Texas are quite small. Your opportunities to drive and service a large tonnage system are going to be within a single metroplex. And you can write down the names of those areas ... on the back of a business card .... for the entire state!!!

But in Los Angeles, you have urban sprawl built upon urban sprawl.
You have sizeable county backed up against sizeable county, etc, etc.

[air1]

Originally posted by alikair
Anyone got any knowledge of the a/c industry in Vancouver Washington? I here the fishing is really good in the lakes there.

Vancouver is a nice community with good access to the outdoors. Most people who live in Vancouver work in Portland OR. If you plan to live in Vancouver and work in Portland, expect a long commute. There are only two bridges crossing the Columbia in the Portland area causing a bottleneck. The rent is less in Vancouver and there is no state income tax. But they do have a sales tax. Car registration fees are expensive also. If you could live and work in Vancouver, that would be the best situation. Access to the outdoors, the City and less traffic. Fishing is great in Oregon. No real good bass lakes but we have good trout, salmon, steelhead and sturgeon fishing. Top industrial techs in Portland can make up to $32/hr.

[alikair]

Air1, what do you consider as a long commute? Where I’m from it always takes 45 mins to get to work, but the funny thing is the distance to work is only about 13 miles. If it weren’t for the winding mountain drive to distract you we’d go nuts!

Also I haven’t seen many jobs in Vancouver, or for that matter, I’ve haven’t heard much of anything bout Vancouver. Is that town a dead zone for nightlife? It sure isn’t Seattle I bet. I guess they all just go to Portland?

[alikair]

R12rules, I also agree, I miss R-12.

It will take me a while to formulate a reply to your post.