So Ive mentioned it before in threads posted by others on the subject and honestly no one gave a sH*t. Glossed right by the statements written right there in black and white. Not important.Not important enough. Continue to better parts of the thread. I dont blame them .Who really gives a **** when a guy cant find work and loses his home? Lets talk cars. So after a year of no work Austin wins. I have to leave and return to SoCal where I originally came from. Where 15 years experience means something.Where I can try to save whats left of my busted world. However, inspite of its best efforts to completely break me and rub my nose in it I have kept my 51. I will drag it broken and dead all the way back to SoCal to give it, and me , a new life. SoCal will get another Hotrod and I keep the truck as a reminder of the one good thing that happened in a very ugly year. I may have lost it all but I kept the truck so really, I win. And I will remember. So, thanks to all the nice HAMBrs here that I did encounter. Wish it could have been different. But in the end as Austin taught me, it really doesnt matter........lets talk cars.....
Dude, it's HARD to find work in Austin... I've been there. There's no shame or whatever in moving where life might be a little easier. **** it. That's just being a MAN. Good luck. You'll have more time to talk cars when life mellows out more.
If Austin were easy I would be there...there are too many people with degrees and drives wages down cause they all want to stay and will take whatever job they can get...had a friend running a buisness and had 1 person with a masters and one reg degree...both making 8.50 hr. and happy as hell????? Then houses there are 300k plus..the math just doesnt work out. Its all about living where you can make it...I realize I have to live in industrial areas cause thats my work..****s, but thats just life, and we should all just be ok with it. Just visit once a yr at the Roundup.
Here's a lesson on HOW to not depend on one "career"...take note youngsters --get GOOD at two or three careers...learn two or three different, but compatible, jobs...that way, when you get laid off or fired from one job, you can land on your feet and keep right on going...with no interuption in your lifestyle. Do not depend on a company paychek...there is no loyalty anymore. Ya know Firetop, I feel for ya...and am sorry it happened to you...but, I think, in this day and age of illegals taking all the jobs...you need to have a fall-back job...something you can earn money at and keep what you've got...and it ain't just Austin, it's all over this country. I'd bet even SoCal has the same "lay-off" mentality. Good luck to you in SoCal... R-
If you like the idea of Austin, why not move to San Antonio or Houston, or even Dallas...there is more demand for graphic artists (guesing thats your job) in the larger cities, and cost of living is alot cheaper...I know Austin is super nice, but cost of living is the tradeoff
Holy ****.. If you're an artist you're in a seriously saturated area. Try moving around here rather than all the way across the southwest.
Thanks guys. Heres .02 more. I do have the ad degree. Did great in LA for 15 yrs. Did my homework before we moved here and according to the industry it was all great.My fall back plan which I did have was working in construction( my parents owned a construction company so I am not afraid of labor). Plan A was a bust and plan B just didnt cut the dollars needed. Remember all that lovely rain? My fiance is here to finish med school with a yr left so shes not going anywhere. Thats how we ened up here by default. Soooo...really its just a case of thats how life works. Met some great people (met some really big ***holes too) and I will be back for the round up and to visit. Still like the town. My sister lives here too but shes a lawyer so I guess I picked the wrong career. All in all I havent given up the life. I have fought like hell to keep my ride cause at the end of the day a man still has to have something to call his. I just will go where I can make some money, support my family and move forward a better person for it. Thanks for the support though. You are the good people I have met.
Austin ****s. I hate this town. Too many hippies, people riding bicycles in the middle of the ****ing road, hobos on everycorner. I work my *** off and live in a ****ty duplex. No one else will rent me a house because I have a pitbull. **** Austin.
Hey Firetop, come to the Anti-Donut breakfast. We'll be glad to make you feel welcome and you can network a little and see where it goes. Roger is right about having a fall back career. And 1low gave some good thoughts on a RR gig. I recently read that Americans change careers something like 12 times in their working lives. There's a really good bunch of car geeks here. You'll do OK, man. You're right that Austin wins. After following the Austin threads on the HAMB, it's off my short list of places to retire to. I'm glad it's been made so clear. Saves me the wasted effort and money to look at it.
As a former Texan and having a family with deep roots there I can say- Don'y give up on Texas. There are more kind hearted true to their roots folks there than anywhere else I have ever lived. I just happen to be a surfer and that's a tough go in texas, if I wasn't I would still be eating Blue Bell and fishin' on a daily basis. Give Dirty a chance or hell move to Brenahm or the area closer to Houston or Dallas. There is alot of work there and if you get near Brenham give me a pm and I'll try and get you an interview with the biggest contractor in town who is also one hell of a great man. Tim
This honestly disheartens me a little bit. The plan for me and the girl was to move to Austin in a few years or so once we had enough for a down payment on a house. The numbers looked OK from here. Cost of living, average cost of a home, average property tax. I even put the feelers out for a job for when we get down there. This kind of makes me rethink, Is it really that bad? I feel I have 2 careers I can work with, both related. One, being a truck/auto mechanic, is always in demand, but maybe not down there? I see available jobs that I qualify for on the internet sites, but maybe its a false reality?
Techs in Austin dont make as much as bigger cities...most equipment techs are in the 21-26 hr. range.
The cost of living thing... I moved from So Cal... LA area... It costs MORE to live here in Austin than it did in LA. That's based on my personal experience.... BUT 4 of my coworkers came from the Bay Area and say the same thing. Housing's cheaper (the difference is getting smaller and smaller every day) but the actual cost of living is more here. Food at the grocery store is surprisingly more costly here... Just an FYI for the movers.
I find that REALLY hard to believe. But, I could be wrong? Try Houston or Dallas. It's actually cheaper to live there than here in Little Rock, AR.
Low pay is okay as long as the cost of living & real estate is low (e.g. Norhwest Ohio), but if wages are low and expenses are high -- GET OUT OF DODGE (or Austin or wherever you are). To cheer you up, remember ol' Nietzsche: "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
Austin is a great place to visit. I have a relative there and used to go a lot. It's a party town to a certain extent. Lots of college students and professionals. I'm not surprised you found it hard there. Did you try Dallas or Houston?
Firetop Sorry to hear you're leaving Texas. I respect your decision to move and seek a different avenue. I'm a firm believer that the end of something is always the beginning of another. You'll make it wherever you move to because of your tenacity. Lots of luck, and see you at the Roundup. RGV
The unemployment rate in Midland TX is 2.8%. Housing is kinda scarce but we are booming. There are people working here now don't even want a job. Oil field is hiring good overtime play especially at 60+ hours a week. CDL is a big plus. Construction is going gang busters. It is hard to even get ANY knid of contactor to give a bid. You call 6 of those guys and only 1 shows up. Almost every place in town has help wanted signs. Midland to Austin is about 45 mins on Southwest Air. www.mrt.com for cl***ifieds Hang in there dude people do care.
I lived in Houston for close to 2 years when I went to trade school. I really liked it, so much so that when I finished trade school and moved back home to Vegas, I started casually searching for jobs back in Texas! I think you should look around a bit more before you give up on the state. I've spent a little time in San Antonio, Dallas, Spring, and Galveston, and I liked them all. Try one of the bigger cities, I'm sure you'll find something. Nick, May be back in TX next year...
California and Florida got the Disney parks, Texas got Austin. Try another city where things are a lot less goofy. You just want to visit Austin, the go back to where you live. Best of luck wherever you land.
Man. Anyone who bases an opinion on the rest Texas from an experience in Austin is missing out. I love Austin...but I'm not moving there. It's far from ruined but its success as a mid sized town is hurting it. Everyone wants to move to Austin from out of state. I live in Spring, Texas. It's not "Austin" but it's less than 30 minutes from everything I/we like to do. By '29 Ford I'm 20 minutes from the Heights. By daily driver I'm 30 minutes from the baseball park downtown. Maybe 35-40 (today) to a sold out football stadium south of downtown. There are houses all over these neighborhoods up here for sale. If you want to work...and you can't find a job in Houston...you didn't look very hard. ...and I'm still 3-3 1/2 hours from Austin if I want to go.
I hear ya bro!!! ol stinkys been thinkin bout getin outa Austin too all them damb artist movin inta town,, steelin all the good carboards!! Laters hambs!!! stinky out
No ****! Heard some guy on the radio here in Seattle saying how DSHS (welfare - all us taxpayers...) owed him to pay med bills so he could get his wife pregnant. It wasn't his responsibility to a) make more money, b) dump the house for a smaller one, c) get rid of the car payment, or d) all the above. Since you had the stones to move somewhere and make a try of it, and have the sense to know when it ain't working... **** it, I gotta' give ya' some respect. At least you ain't like that bleeding man-gina I heard on the radio; you're doing better than somebody! Got my fingers crossed for ya', man. -bill
Yeah Austin blows! Things are much cheaper and better down here! The only reason I go up there is to go see Arlo and Jason
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