I'd like to move out to the west coast sometimes

[Tobin S.]

I've been out that way many times in my career as a trucker and I love it.

I get tired of my home town sometimes, especially during the winter. It snowed 4 days last week and the temperature stayed in the teens all week during the night when I work. I have to drive and unload freight in that shit. Right now it's -2 degrees F and I'm thankful to have the night off.

I love my family, but there are times when I'd like to get away from them as well. Right now is one of those times. We all seem to have issues and I'm the only one who is willing to acknowledge that and do something about it.

So the combination of those two things has got me wanting to bail out of here right now. There's something else, too. I work for a large multi-national company and they post job openings within the company on their website. Right now, just posted a couple of days ago, there is an opening in Seattle for a Class A CDL driver. Two thousand miles between me and Ohio sounds pretty good right about now.

[woo me with science]

1. Hmm....

Not sure if, by "family," you mean spouse and children or your parents. If the latter, and if moving is even a remotely possible option for your future, I say...

Apply for it!

You can always turn it down if they offer it to you and you have changed your mind by then. Just as an aside, I know several people who applied for "dream jobs" they never expected to get, just for the hell of it, and they GOT them....probably because there was absolutely no pressure on them during the interview because they considered it a pipe dream anyway. If you don't get it, it is just more experience for when you do have to go job hunting sometime in the future.

Who knows...this may be the start of a whole new, wonderful stage in your life.

If you don't have a spouse and kids or other serious commitments that absolutely rule this dream out, I say go for it!

[Tobin S.]

11. I'm single with no children.

[Tripper11]

2. I've been in the northwest for 16 years

And love it. I will never go back east. Originally from Ontario Canada, so I know of the weather you speak!
I will say that here in Seattle a light dusting of snow is cause for a level 5 panic attack, it's really quite funny.
Having said that, keep in mind, if you're trucking, the mountains can be a real son-of-a-bitch. I'm sure you're aware.
My brother was a long haul driver for years and would refuse runs out here from mid fall through mid spring because he just hated going through the mountains.
It's tough enough in a big rig, add a bunch of idiots in cars with some snow and ice and it's a deadly combo.
Having said that, it's certainly a different mindset here, one that some transplants have a hard time adjusting to.

[Capn Sunshine]

3. I'll second that

The mindset in Seattle is unique and that is part of its charm. As someone who does business there frequently I note a serious uptick of depressed sighs this time of year. There's a reason caffiene is so popular there.

And their latent jealousy of California knows no bounds :P

[Ikonoklast]

6. Nothing like going over Snoqualmie in the dead of winter and having to chain up

at three in morning in a howling blizzard.

Fun time, fun times...

[Tobin S.]

12. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt :)

This position would be a local deal. No mountain driving.

[seabeyond]

4. i grew up in the west and i miss it so. hoping i will make it back there too

this march am taking hubby and two sons on a trip out west. we are driving. drove east coast this summer. i like the energy and feel of the west best of all

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. My dear Tobin!

Seattle tends to be rainy and gray a lot of the time, but when the sun comes out, it is glorious!

And then you're not so far from California...

Go for it!

[GOPisEvil]

7. I moved out to the Seattle area in November of 2008.

I really do like it out here. Yeah, it's a little rainy and gray in the winter, but this past summer was awesome. And the last two days have been great. Sunny, 50s.

But as mentioned above, having to cross Snoqualmie Pass in the winter can be a bit, er, challenging. But there are other ways to get east. You can go down to Portland and cut across that way. Or, just take routes to the south during certain times of the year. :)

[Tobin S.]

15. I wouldn't have to worry about the mountains

The position I'm looking at would be a local deal. I don't think I would have to go east of I-5.

[GOPisEvil]

22. Well, you'd probably go a little east of I-5, but I understand what you mean.

I live a few miles east of I-5, South East of Seattle in the 'burbs. In fact, although we have never met, Tripper 11 and I live in the same town.

If you come this way, let me know. :)

[barb162]

8. I'm thinking like you are.

I can very easily deal with a lot of cloudy weather.

[madmom]

9. I've had this dream for years. My parents moved to Ohio when

I was 12, I've been trying to figure out a way out ever since ( I'm 55) One nice thing is my hubby loves the southwest as much as I do, so maybe as soon as houses start selling again......
GOOD LUCK on whatever you decide.

[XemaSab]

10. There was a 6.5 yesterday in California

:D

[Capn Sunshine]

14. yeah but it was a "smallish" 6.5

because no one was around up there

[XemaSab]

18. O RLY?

Please say that one more time, so I can be fully clear that I understand you.

[hippywife]

13. I'd consider it except for

the cost of living. Way too high for me.

I actually wish sometimes that I were still living in Ohio instead of Oklahoma.

[Tobin S.]

16. Oklahoma is just kind of boring, but I think you get more ice there than here

in the winter.

Why did you move to Okie?

[hippywife]

17. We do get ice but not very often.

It's usually pretty mild here during the winter more years than not. It;s when you combine the high winds that are common here that it can be really cold. When I lived in Columbus, we didn't get as much snow and bitter cold weather as the lake areas north or the river valley south.

I moved here when I met a man on the internet and married him. It was my decision where we would live. He had 8 acres of land and had built a cute little house, which we've almost gotten finished. His parents were much older than mine, and his dad has since passed away. Those were all my considerations. I love him very much and it was worth it for that alone. I was pretty apolitical at the time, and I had no idea how right-wing this place could be and has gotten since Bush was elected.

I didn't realize how fundamentally Christian it was, either. I was a liberal Christian when I moved here but now am agnostic/athiest.

Sometimes I wish I could pick up our whole property and move it somewhere else. LOL

[katkat]

19. be careful

and first checkout housing costs, rent or house prices and esp. property taxes in the area you'd move to. They may be astronomical compared to Ohio.

Otherwise, the north west coast is great.

[Tobin S.]

20. Yeah, I'm aware of the higher housing costs out that way

I'd definitely research the current housing costs out there before I made a move. I'm pretty sure the pay would reflect the higher cost of living there, but I'd still check first.

[AsahinaKimi]

21. I love San Francisco

But sometimes it too damn expensive