Times are tough...

[Bullshop Junior]

I gotta let of a little steam here....starting to really get to me that I cant find a job. Ive been laid off since may. I was able to find some od jobs and haul firewood over the summer, but not much of that going on anymore. Gotta come up with $300 by tomorrow night or the bank is coming for my truck. Dont really see it happening since im out of stuff to sell, and we are out of heating oil and doen to 2 days worth of wood pellets. Trannys out on the back up car too and i havnt been able to afford to fix it....i have exactly no money left. Things are not looking good.,,its a good thing my landlord (FIL) is willing to work with me on the rent...im already a couple months behind...

Just really frusterated. Ive applied for hundreds of jobs, and the only ones Ive got calls back on are ones out of state and i cant afford to het there.....

Anyway, rant off. Thanks for listening.

[maglvr]

Times are indeed hard!
Now that the rant is behind you, it would be a great time for a prayer or two.
It has never failed me. Ask and you shall receive!
Best of luck.
maglvr

[Bret4207]

What works for some people is to find a local job you want and don't just go in for an interview or put in an online application, go back several times and let them see you REALLY want the job. That and prayer would be my suggestion.

[w5pv]

I hope and pray that you can reverse your plight,prayers are sent for you and family.

[Sweetpea]

Wish I could help, but times are tough here, too.

Prayers are all I can afford, so I will send some out.

Brandon

[Goatwhiskers]

Prayers going up for you. As has been said many times, there's never a door closes but another opens. Take anything you can get, even pumping gas at a station (do they do that anymore?) and work your way back up. GW

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

,,...

[trooperdan]

I'm not rolling in money ... But I'm willing to donate a little to help ... If 30 members sent just $10 it would get you by for now ... I'm willing! I don't know how to setup or start it ... But I know we have helped out others here in the past ... PayPal is the fasted easiest ...


Shawn has a great idea, we always come through for our family! I'll step up with a little help. BS Jr, are you willing to accept some help? Can you recieve funds via PayPal or.. ?

[jmort]

I'll help. Alaska does not seem to be the best place if you are short on money. If you have no kids, I'd pack up and head to South Dakota. There is a land of opportunity. Live in a trailer and work whatever job you can get and keep looking for a better job. Another suggestion is to get a Class A (what they call it here) license and hit the road and save up some money. If you and your wife did that for a couple/three years you would $$$ to buy a house for cash. Young, childless husband/wife over-the-road teams make sense. If you were frugal after three years you could have $100k put away.

[sparky45]

I'll help too. Has someone got it started? I could do Paypal to get you the money quicker.

[waksupi]

I'll help. Alaska does not seem to be the best place if you are short on money. If you have no kids, I'd pack up and head to South Dakota. There is a land of opportunity. Live in a trailer and work whatever job you can get and keep looking for a better job. Another suggestion is to get a Class A (what they call it here) license and hit the road and save up some money. If you and your wife did that for a couple/three years you would $$$ to buy a house for cash. Young, childless husband/wife over-the-road teams make sense. If you were frugal after three years you could have $100k put away.

Very good idea. They are begging for help in the oil patch. Lots of people are working making plenty to live on plus buy houses. If my back wasn't so buggered, I'd have been over there a few years ago. It's hard to do, but when you are young and getting established, sometimes you need to pull stakes and move with the work. I know I had to do it when I was your age.

[popper]

Times are tough... Yes. Looks like decision time has passed for you, take the good advice from others above. Personally showing up to get work is the best choice. You can make it if you want to. Desire is NOT a river in Egypt. Discipline is not just a dictionary word.

[felix]

It's common sense to move where you can at least maintain sanity, and hopefully be gainfully employed. That means you are doing someone else better than yourself. The pleasure in life comes from giving, not taking. This mode of operandi will take you much farther than you can possibly dream up. For example, I have taken 15 plus jobs within 8 different areas before retiring. ... felix

[300savage]

sometimes God says GO ! there is more work in texas for a young man than you could imagine, i could put you to work today if you were here.
but the oil biz is booming down here and finding a man who is available to help out on a ranch is almost impossible.

[merlin101]

This is the time of giveing and I'm able to toss in a little to help a friend out, just let me know how.

[Bullshop Junior]

Folks, thanks for all the advise. Ive been applying with te same companys over and over all the way fdom ancorage to prudhoe bay both paper and online applications, and havnt had much luck. Most bigger places will hire the guy older then me.

As for living it doesnt get too much simplier. Eating out isnt a option, as there just isnt really a place to do so here. Ive already sold every gun I could get away with, along with a lot of my mechainiching tools, my other truck, and some of the logging equipment I had, like chainsaws my log trailer and ect.

I guess I jus have to keep trying. I've been trying to save to make it down to the Dakotas or Texas for awhile, but everytime I start to get the gas money saved something happens amd plans fall out the roof.

[John Allen]

I feel for you. Times are really tough right now. My business is down by 40 percent. People are afraid to spend money if they have it and most don't

[smokeywolf]

There are hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people in your situation right now. Due to the bribery that corporate and political America like to refer to as "campaign contributions", our politicians have allowed big business to export many, it not most of the skilled and semi-skilled jobs out of America to 3rd world countries with virtually no financial penalty.

I've been looking for a replacement job for nearly 4 years. I'm a mechanical designer/maintenance engineer/machinist/draftsman, who for the last 33 years has specialized in motion picture film equipment. Surprisingly, that discipline does not easily translate into the food production, medical device industry, aerospace or much of anything else.
Used to teach AutoCAD to the other engineers at work, but that skill set is of little use anymore as mechanical and electrical/electronics engineering has migrated to other drawing programs and by the time I could accumulate the experience demanded by employers in those drawing programs, I'll be retired.

In all honesty, NAFTA was only partly responsible for my job disappearing. Computer technology would have ultimately eliminated 95% of the Cinetechnician-Machinists in the Motion Picture Industry. However, thanks to Reagan, Bush and Clinton, I was out of work 3 years sooner than I would have been had it not been for NAFTA. That has left me struggling to get by until I can apply for my official pension.
Fortunately I'm less than a 1-1/2 years away from that point. Unfortunately I'm at the point where I now have to start cashing in assets that I have over the last 30 years, painstakingly accrued toward retirement.

I'm thankful that I'm not facing this problem while still a young adult. There are few jobs or careers left that have any kind of security. Even civil service is no longer immune from cutbacks. I have advised my 2 youngest boys to earn at the very least graduate degrees and in the case of one, I've told him he will earn his PhD no matter what he/we have to do or sacrifice.
About the only career that has shown some immunity to the effects of the sabotaging of our economy has been the medical profession. For decades now, nurses have been in demand to the point of consistently being offered signing bonuses in the thousands, and typically pull down $60,000 plus in annual salaries.

Lots of good advice here, but I think jmortimer might have given the best advice that applies to your situation. I would seriously look into getting your license to drive tractor-trailer rigs. The demand right now is pretty consistent and it's one job that can pay a living wage that can't be exported to another country. With a tanker/liquids or flammables endorsement you can make very good money.

Venting on this forum has a dual benefit; relieve a little frustration and get some great advice. Also, you never know, networking is one of the most successful ways to find and/or secure a job there is.

smokeywolf

[groovy mike]

Here is your answer:

Sell the car that needs a tranny for scrap metal for $300. Pay the truck loan. Use the truck to pick up curb side scrap on trash days and sell it as salvage. Let anyone you talk to know that the truck and driver are available for rent hauling anything - AND that you will clean out garages and barns for free if you can keep the contents you haul away (sell scrap, sell funiture, etc. found there-in, ....). When a storm blows wood down - get paid to clean it up off people's lawns - then sell the firewood and wood chips....

[trooperdan]

Daniel, some good advice here! Hope you've gotten some ideas. Mods, I'll volunteer to honcho a fund raiser for Bullshop Jr, if it is allowed.

[Bullshop Junior]

Selling the car with the bad tranny is a no no. Already tried. Its my wifes car lol.

[tomme boy]

Doesn't Alaska pay out a mineral rights payment? when does that pay off every year?

[starmac]

OK guys some good advise, but things to consider at his age, over the road driving is not an option, so that one is out.
Scrap is worth virtually nothing in the interior, you can't even give a car to a wrecking yard if it is over 10 years old around here, there is a crusher that will take it for free and crush it.
The town he lives close to probably has 300 residents or less in a 15 mile radius, and probably about the only odd jobs there would be this time of year is shoveling snow after a storm, or possibly cutting wood, but even then you have to have your own equipment, and expenses until you get it sold.

There has been some very good ideas, just not feasible for the area, maybe time to relocate, but that takes bucks too. The road permits (depending on the weather) should be coming out around the end of next month and the job situation up north should ease up though.

[starmac]

Doesn't Alaska pay out a mineral rights payment? when does that pay off every year?

LOL I always laugh at this, it has already paid out for the year, and is never even a half weeks wages. I have never even signed up for it. lol

[Dutchman]

Ive been applying with te same companys over and over all the way fdom ancorage to prudhoe bay both paper and online applications, and havnt had much luck.

Not a smartass answer but doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results = definition of insanity. You need to change the way you're going at this. I don't know how you can do that or what you need to do. Those are things you need to figure out. But you do need to change how you're going at this.

Go somewhere by yourself for a couple hours and ask yourself what you can do different. Even little things. Somewhere in the universe there is a solution for you. You have to find it. Accept the fact that all of life is a struggle, that all of life is hard. The great satisfaction of living isn't by eating whipped cream and sugar cookies. The great satisfaction comes from eating dirt and asking for more.

The golden rule: NEVER ask how much worse it can get. As soon as you utter those words the universe will set about answering you.


Dutch

[cbrick]

There is always a price to be paid for living where you really want to be instead of where earning a living is a better possibility. For earning a living and locking up my pension I was stuck in the sewer (Los Angeles) for years. I lived in SW Oregon in the early 70's because that's where I wanted to be & I loved it there. The reality though was 3 kids at home & there simply was no work anywhere in the area, every saw mill closed but one and it was operating part time. Once reality hit me I moved to where I hated being but could get work. Through my working life I took several jobs that I truly hated but there was groceries on the table & a roof to sleep under.

Sometimes ya just have to make tough choices.

Rick

[Bullshop Junior]

I would honestly take any work right now. It's not that I'm picky. I've shoveled plenty of cow dung, and would do it again, it's just that there is no work in this town..I've already sold firewood to everyone that would but it, and cleaned up every yard I was allowed in. it's just a small down, and i can never make enough money to get caught up on bills and then still have enough gas money to pack up the truck and move to a place where there is more work.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

City!

[BD]

You are young, and it doesn't seem that you are tied down to the area financially. It's time to go and seek your fortune in more lucrative locations. I've been there, and done that. When you can afford to do it without long term debt, build your house in the place you'd most like to live if all else fails. It makes it so much easier to travel for work if you know you can always bail out back to the homestead in tough times.
BD

[Bullshop Junior]

You are young, and it doesn't seem that you are tied down to the area financially. It's time to go and seek your fortune in more lucrative locations. I've been there, and done that. When you can afford to do it without long term debt, build your house in the place you'd most like to live if all else fails. It makes it so much easier to travel for work if you know you can always bail out back to the homestead in tough times.
BD

If I had enough money to leave Alaska and head to the oil fields, I would be gone already.

[Love Life]

If you are physically fit, have a high school diploma, a cleanish record, and are of sound mind and spirit, Have you considered military service? Even if just for a 4 year stint? Solid pay and benefits. If interested drop me a PM and I'll get you in contact with a Recruiter.

[garym1a2]

The military is a great start for many young men and women! Training, a paycheck and benefits plus you get to travel.

If you are physically fit, have a high school diploma, a cleanish record, and are of sound mind and spirit, Have you considered military service? Even if just for a 4 year stint? Solid pay and benefits. If interested drop me a PM and I'll get you in contact with a Recruiter.

[Bullshop Junior]

Ive thought about the army, but here I can't get in because I have flexable flatfoot. It doesnt effect me any, but I guess the army doent like that, or the fact that I shoot left handed and havnt been able shot right handed no matter how hard I try I just cant get my eyes to cooperate.

[plmitch]

Have faith. Times might look hard now, they will be harder as you go. You will be fine. Be positive. Stay focused.

[Love Life]

Did you try the other branches?

[Norbrat]

Can you apply online for jobs in the oilfields? Do these oil field companies offer assistance with re-locating you?

Are there services to help with your job applications; improving your resume, cover letters, etc?

Can you get a job in Canada? Maybe in the snowfields for the ski season?

How much would it cost to ride the Greyhound to Texas?

[BD]

Maybe the practical approach would be to raise a stake to get this lad to where the work is? He's young, he could pay it forward. What would it take? Anyone have a place to put him up there while he gets his feet under him?
BD

[starmac]

I don't think an ordinary oilfield hand could get any type of relocation help from any drilling company, unless things have changed big time since I worked it. You have to be handy the hour they need a hand to go to work.

As far as riding a greyhound out of Alaska, I don't think that is an option. I have seen them in Canada, but never here.

[plmitch]

Lots of construction work here in CA.

[fatnhappy]

Enlist.
Get all the education you can while in the service. When you retire as a Sgt Major or Master Chief you can look for a job wherever you like.

[Love Life]

^Fact. With the new and improved Post 9/11 GI Bill, when you get out they pay your tuition and pay you a stipend. The stipend is E5 with dependents BAH for where ever you are.

Take the family traveling. If you want to get real job skills while in avoid joining the infantry.

[AK Caster]

Sounds like its time to call a relative or two and borrow some scratch money to drive out of Alaska to the Dakota's.

[jmort]

I would.

[Blammer]

join the service, any branch, get an eduction while there, you won't be sorry.

[olereb]

This is just a suggestion based on my own personal experience. I started out of HS working as a no nothing rodman for a land surveying company making garbage money,over 12 years I worked my way up to a supervisor often making $50hr depending on what state government I was working for on a specific job. Once the market died that business where my company was based died out and I realized I needed a more stable career,i got into HVAC and it has been great!!. HVAC is a field that for the most part is very stable and well paying,you can very often get hired not knowing anything and get trained on the job. I can now go pretty much anywhere in the country and know I can get a good job doing either heating or cooling and both in a lot of states. If you like working with your hands fixing stuff and like a challenge figuring out whats broken HVAC is a field that I would recommend to anyone,it doesn't take long to be making $20hr and up in this business. Just thought i'd share that incase it might help.

[fatnhappy]

^Fact. With the new and improved Post 9/11 GI Bill, when you get out they pay your tuition and pay you a stipend. The stipend is E5 with dependents BAH for where ever you are.

Take the family traveling. If you want to get real job skills while in avoid joining the infantry.

Yep.

The fact of the matter as LL so succintly put: you can learn skills in the service courtesy of Uncle Sam that will qualify you to write your own ticket in the civilian world.
Every single resume that lands on my desk from a veteran or Eagle Scout gets an interview. Even if I'm not hiring I regulary interview perspective employees. People leave, people get fired.

I'll let you in on a secret. When I interview people their respective skill level for a given position is a nearly inconsequential hiring criteria. I'm far more concerned about their communication skills, common core beliefs, attitude, demeanor and attentiveness. I can teach skills, I can't correct attitudes. At the end of the day I need someone to act like they're part of a team and help row the boat in the same direction. I can't help but believe anyone that's worn a uniform in defense of the Republic brings that to the table.

Oh, and one of the things I like to ask near the end of the interview is "tell me about myself." Given the pictures in my office, anyone that interviews for half an hour and doesn't have the observational skill to determine I'm a father, hunter and veteran is too damn stupid to hire.

[AkMike]

Have you talked to anyone at BlackGold in FBX yet? Jim has a bunch of work in SD and I'm sure that being the guy he is he's looking for good solid long term help.

[starmac]

LOL I am sure that Jim being the guy he is, he is looking for any kind of help if he has anything going on. I have heard other than the man camp he built down there, he hasn't got a lot going on and was looking at TEXAS too.

[Bullshop Junior]

I talked to Jim once. He didn't need any extra help at the time. I may go talk to him again next time I go to fairbanks.

[MaryB]

MN has low unemployment and jobs also. Even rural areas have something but pay is not high at $10-12 hr.

I can do an auction for 2 cleaning mats again, long as the winner can wait for 2 weeks for me to get to it. This concussion headache is killing me. All money goes to the donation. Whoever is setting up a paypal account for this let me know.

[AK Caster]

Can't create money from jobs when the jobs are simply not there. Met a lot of dreamers in my life time that wanted to live off the land but few realized how much money is required to do that. Unless a person has a steady flow of cash it is a tough road to hoe.
I can really feel for what you are going through and realize its a hard choice but you need to move to an area where you can be employed.

[AkMike]

There's a new guy that just moved into your neck of the woods that is a semi retired taxidermy guru. Drives newer brown toyo PU. Seen him? He might take on an apprentice?

[Love Life]

You've gotten some great advice. If there is no work, and I mean long lasting work, then it's time to pull chocks and pop smoke.

Translation: Pack you kit and move to where the money is. Sell whatever you can, as most material things in life are replaceable, save up some money, use a credit card, and move. Especially if you have a family to provide for.

Sometimes life sucks and you have to do things you don't like, but sometimes life sucks. I wish you the best of luck in whatever choice you make.

[bruce drake]

https://alexsys.labor.state.ak.us/

The Alaska Job Bank. Apply for EVERY Single Job.

The military will train you to shoot left handed. I had fellow recruit with a walleye on the right side. We taught him to shoot from his right side with his left eye! Your flat feet. wear very good arch supports for several days before you do the physical exam. It will raise your arches temporarily until the exam is over. Yes, I was a military recruiter for the Marines. You could easily pass a Navy or Air Force physical if that's the least of your worries.

Bruce

[NWPilgrim]

We were in tight straights the first few years of our marriage. That was in the early 80s when the Recession and lack of jobs was in full swing.

I totally agree with the prior advice here: dig deep into your gut and forget all previous concepts of what you need to hold on to. Be willing to sell or abandon everything if necessary. Find either the job or the place with the best prospects and get there. Then worry about other things like where you will live and how you will get around. Without a job NOTHING else matters.

My interior gut check is " Clear the decks and prepare to repel all boarders!" It is a battle for survival and you best get your head in that game. This is not, what should I try this week?

If you come up with a game plan and are totally committed to it (Texas/South Dakota or Bust!) and have immediate next steps figured out then go to family or friends and explain you are seeking one time help to make a lifetime change. Several guys here have offered advice on opportunities in their area and experience. That is freaking GOLD. Take one of these gentlemen up on their advice and see if he will help guide you into that type if work. Don't think about your debts or expenses until you have a job in hand. Focus on that job.

Once you have a job lined up then work out how to get there and where to stay. Stay in a weekly motel if you have to get started. We did that once. Get paid every week and save up to move into an apt. Carpool with others or live near work.

Believe me, the easiest thing will be getting out of Alaska if you have a job in your pocket. Come back here with your plan and see how much help you can get.

Remember, NOTHING ELSE in the world matters until you find that job. If I could find a $20/hr oil field or trucking job in your situation I would damn well walk out of Alaska in my underwear. Your wife should get behind your efforts, and if not, sometimes you just got to say Honey, we may disagree but right now but I have to do what must be done to provide for you and I will move heaven and earth to get it done. After I have a paycheck coming in and a place to stay then I am willing to discuss our best options from there.

[waksupi]

Can't create money from jobs when the jobs are simply not there. Met a lot of dreamers in my life time that wanted to live off the land but few realized how much money is required to do that. Unless a person has a steady flow of cash it is a tough road to hoe.
I can really feel for what you are going through and realize its a hard choice but you need to move to an area where you can be employed.

There is a whole pile of wisdom.

[Bullshop Junior]

I have nothing against leaving Alaska. I would in a heart beat if I had the money. Infact it has been the plan for quite a while, I just can never get enough cash to go. Ive already sold just about everything I own.

[jmort]

Well you have an opportunity right now to move out. Something tells me you will not capitalize on it.

[Bullshop Junior]

If i had the money I would be gone.

[jmort]

Where do you want to go? I have no doubt we can get you there.

[Bullshop Junior]

Anywhere im the lower 48 would be good. Preferably a place that has farms since I have a lot of experiance with that kind of work and it would give me something to hold me steady until I could find a better job. North Dakota or Texas has alwas been my goal.

[gmsharps]

sometimes God says GO ! there is more work in texas for a young man than you could imagine, i could put you to work today if you were here.
but the oil biz is booming down here and finding a man who is available to help out on a ranch is almost impossible.

Looks like this may be an offer worth sending a PM and see what he has.

gmsharps

[jmort]

How about we get you to Gonzales Texas and it appears 300 Savage can give you an opportunity. Just work your **** off if we do it and make us and 300 Savage proud. He has the type of work you are seeking. Google Gonzales Texas it is far better this time of year as opposed to the Dakotas. Start planning for the new year.

P.S. Unload everything left except clothes and mementos and leave the broken down car and give the truck back to the lender and make for day light. You will succeed

[possom813]

sometimes God says GO ! there is more work in texas for a young man than you could imagine, i could put you to work today if you were here.
but the oil biz is booming down here and finding a man who is available to help out on a ranch is almost impossible.

Perhaps a viable option

[Gelandangan]

I have uprooted when I was 18 years old with $65 in my pocket.
Have to live in my car for a few weeks, cleaning up and taking shower in beach (public) toilets.
I have a car but no money to buy petrol for the car, so I use public transport.
Lucky I land a good job after 2 weeks of searching.
Slowly I rebuilt myself up.

You can made it mate, it wont be easy but with proper planning you can get back on your feet.
First, get a pencil and paper, and budget the hell out of your expenses in the near future.. down to every meal and phone calls.
I find most people fail financially because they fail to plan and budget.
I believe in USA there is government welfare system, if you budget and plan and get all your waste off, what you got should get you off to the next step.
You are lucky some forum friends are passing hat for you, so you are not in too bad a situation.

Believe in yourself and plan hard!

[possom813]

:drinks: brilliant minds think alike, I see

[jmort]

Yes indeed Brother possom813

[possom813]

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1701-Waco-St_Outside-Area-Outside-Ca_TX_78629_M71745-45914?row=1&source=web


Found this condo/apt for rent in Nixon, about 25 miles from Gonzales(I couldn't get anything to pop up, as a rental, in Gonzales)


May be worth contacting, they may have other properties that aren't listed there for a little bit cheaper.

[Bullshop Junior]

I actually have already contacted 300savage and he said he probably has a few weeks worth of work down there, which would be enough to get me started. The wifes car would stay with her parents, but I would have to take the truck with me, since I need transportation once I get there, and I owe the bank way more then what they would be able to auction the truck for since Ive put dings and denta in it working, and I would still end up owing the bank a few grand..

As for the others, im gonna start listing the rest of what I have fore sale on wensday and start looking for a set of used tires for the Truck I think will make the trip. Plan on leaving as soon as I can.

[Bullshop Junior]

My wife will probably stay up here with her parents until I get settled in with a job down there. So Ill be livin out of my truck for a bit. I can handle that since its not 40 below in texas

[jmort]

I like it, we have a plan. Prayer and some $$$ and a year from now you should be a happy camper. Great opportunity.

[possom813]

Does 300Savage have a spot you could park a camper/rv?

We might be able to track down a 'cheap enough' camper for you to crash in somewhere in the area.

[Bullshop Junior]

Thanks guys. It helps a lot. Everytime I mention leaving to my inlaws they think I am crazy and that Ill never have any luck down there and ill be worse off then now. For now, im gonna start to plan on leaving first week of january..

[jmort]

The high for tomorrow is 85 and the low is 61. Should work just fine. I'm sure you in-laws mean well, but they don't want to lose their daughter, and I don't blame them. They will probably join you. Your plan is sound. We will make it happen.

[Bullshop Junior]

Lol, i just mentioned the idea of a small camper to my wife.

[possom813]

http://austin.craigslist.org/rvs/4214039898.html

http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/rvs/4205098277.html

[Bullshop Junior]

That 16' camper would be more then good. The last camper I had here for work wasnt near that nice. Wishing i had kept it now but it went down the road to help with bills

The pop up campers dont really work for me as I am 6'9" and i took the ceiling out of one...twice.

[merlin101]

Yep.

The fact of the matter as LL so succintly put: you can learn skills in the service courtesy of Uncle Sam that will qualify you to write your own ticket in the civilian world.
Every single resume that lands on my desk from a veteran or Eagle Scout gets an interview. Even if I'm not hiring I regulary interview perspective employees. People leave, people get fired.

I'll let you in on a secret. When I interview people their respective skill level for a given position is a nearly inconsequential hiring criteria. I'm far more concerned about their communication skills, common core beliefs, attitude, demeanor and attentiveness. I can teach skills, I can't correct attitudes. At the end of the day I need someone to act like they're part of a team and help row the boat in the same direction. I can't help but believe anyone that's worn a uniform in defense of the Republic brings that to the table.

Oh, and one of the things I like to ask near the end of the interview is "tell me about myself." Given the pictures in my office, anyone that interviews for half an hour and doesn't have the observational skill to determine I'm a father, hunter and veteran is too damn stupid to hire.

Gee, F&H if I wasn't happy where I am I'd be dropping by with a job app!

OK Hijacks over.

[AkMike]

This may still be a sore subject and if so I'll apologize in advance Daniel, But have you bounced this idea off your folks? They might have some insites into this also. Sometimes the old folks have some good ideas also.

[Bullshop Junior]

I havn't talked to my folks in quite a while actually. They got rid of the phone, and dont answer my emails, although the last time I asked them for help trying to get moved, they turned me down.

[jonp]

Here is your answer:

Sell the car that needs a tranny for scrap metal for $300. Pay the truck loan. Use the truck to pick up curb side scrap on trash days and sell it as salvage. Let anyone you talk to know that the truck and driver are available for rent hauling anything - AND that you will clean out garages and barns for free if you can keep the contents you haul away (sell scrap, sell funiture, etc. found there-in, ....). When a storm blows wood down - get paid to clean it up off people's lawns - then sell the firewood and wood chips....
I've made good money and got my winters firewood for free doing this.

[jonp]

Since September I've gotten a letter from the irs wanting $1800, had a tree fall on my pickup to the tune of $6500, ran over my galaxy smartphone and crushed it and sprained my ankle so have been out of work 3 weeks. Sometimes things go in cycles like this.
The Salvation Army helps people that need it. You might ask them.

[jonp]

There is always a price to be paid for living where you really want to be instead of where earning a living is a better possibility. For earning a living and locking up my pension I was stuck in the sewer (Los Angeles) for years. I lived in SW Oregon in the early 70's because that's where I wanted to be & I loved it there. The reality though was 3 kids at home & there simply was no work anywhere in the area, every saw mill closed but one and it was operating part time. Once reality hit me I moved to where I hated being but could get work. Through my working life I took several jobs that I truly hated but there was groceries on the table & a roof to sleep under.

Sometimes ya just have to make tough choices.

Rick

There is indeed. I want to live in far northern New England where I grew up but when the mill closed 5yrs ago and there was not a job to be had the idea of living on welfare did not sit well with me so I hitched up my belt and moved 900 miles south for work. Don't care for it here but I have a job. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and do what you don't really want to get by

[NWPilgrim]

Since September I've gotten a letter from the irs wanting $1800, had a tree fall on my pickup to the tune of $6500, ran over my galaxy smartphone and crushed it and sprained my ankle so have been out of work 3 weeks. Sometimes things go in cycles like this.
The Salvation Army helps people that need it. You might ask them.

Very good idea. Both Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul Society will provide help or get you connected with resources to help with food, jobs, basic furniture, rent/utilities assistance, etc. check in with a local church, most have active outreach and assistance programs. Everyone enjoys helping a go getter make a new foothold toward success.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

in TX!

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

in TX!

[groovy mike]

I wrote this a long time ago for someone else - everyone's situation is different - but you may find something ion here useful:



I keep hearing about people who can’t find work. I know that it is more difficult to generate an income when the economy is sluggish but I have been blessed to find work pretty quickly when I needed it, so I thought I might offer some tips to anyone who is having a hard time making enough money to survive.

I am sure that there will be some replies that disagree with me so I am going to put my most controversial idea out front.

If you want to work, there is work to be had. This does not apply to you if you feel that you are too good to work for under $XX,000 per year or $XX per hour. My advice will do you no good if you are too lazy to WORK.

Some will argue that they make more on unemployment than taking a minimum wage job. Shame on them. They are thieves stealing from you and me because they are taking aide when they don’t need it. They can get a job and just choose not to while we are forced to pay their bills. That is wrong.

My advice it to take the first job you can get and start supporting yourself with dignity, WHILE you look for a better job instead of taking welfare. Welfare is not intended to keep you at your comfy lifestyle. It is supposed to be a bare safety net to keep you from starvation, that’s it.

If you are out of work, your FULL TIME job is finding a job.

Assuming that you WANT to work, I’ll proceed. If you disagree with what I said above, just stop reading now and go to another thread.

Ideally you can find work in your chosen field at a convenient location for the hours that you want and for more money than you earned in the past.

To reach that goal you need to be better than you were at the last job. Brush up your knowledge of the field and especially the employer(s) you hope to work for. Study for the interview even before you have one.

Look for job postings in the printed classifieds and online. Ideally your future employer is so desperate for help that they are willing to advertise for strangers to come in and apply. But this is not always the case. If there is a company that you want to work for, ask everyone that you know connected with it if they are hiring. Express an interest. Ask who to talk to about any potential opening.

If you don’t get any leads at all bring a copy of your resume and references to the work site and ask if you can leave it with their Human Resources department or other appropriate contact. Thank them for their time and ask them to call you if anything comes up. To the extent possible in the brief meeting, try to make friends with whoever you meet. If you do, they will call you when they have an opening.

Put out DOZENS of resumes. I figure 12 resumes might generate 1 interview. 12 interviews might generate 1 offer. So that’s 144 resumes to get an offer. It might take more. Don’t stop trying.

When you get an interview, show up 15 minutes early. Be clean. Wash and brush your hair. Consider getting a hair cut if needed. Wear clean clothes. Be honest. Don’t try to fake knowledge or experience that you don’t have. Never lie on your resume or in the interview.

Bring a resume and written references plus a list of phone numbers to reach at least three references. Make sure that the phone numbers still work! Bring multiple copies – you may interview with 2 or 3 people in one sitting. Make sure that nothing is spelled wrong! I have had candidates bring in resumes with spelling errors. They are immediately out of the running. If you can’t be careful enough to have a resume spelled right, I don’t want you making mistakes with my equipment or books! Spelling errors on resumes and references sends the message that your work is sloppy and that you are lazy.

Ask your references ahead of time if the potential employer can call them. The best references are former supervisors. When I hire someone I want to hear that they are a hard worker, show up on time, and are pleasant to work with. Their last boss is the person I want to hear it from.

Be prepared to explain why you no longer have the job you are leaving.

Thank the interviewer(s).


If you get offered a job, take it. Don’t try to leverage a better deal. Be grateful for the offer. You can work your way up the ladder from inside.

What if you are doing all of the above and still can’t find work? Enlarge the area. Be ready to commute a little farther and start again. Shut up, I’ve been commuting over 100 miles a day for 18 years. It’s worth it. If you can’t handle it, move closer to wherever you land the job.

What else can you do? Lower your expectations. If you can’t get that job you had last or the next promotion up from there try for the level one step down. If you can’t get work as a supervisor, hire on as a laborer. Seriously. Then work your butt off and get promoted within 6 months.

Ok what if you can’t find anything in your industry? And you just need income to put food on the table. Again – check the help wanted adds in the newspapers, online, and on bulletin boards at the unemployment office. Answer ALL OF THEM. Tell every restaurant within 50 miles that you’ll clean after hours, prep cook at 4 AM, or wash dishes during the day.

So you made $75k at your last gig. Big deal – go deliver pizza to put food on your table while you keep looking for the next big thing. Deliver newspapers at 4 AM to free your days up for looking for work.

If NO ONE is hiring, the help wanted ads are empty, and unemployment is 25%+ in your city – put up signs on every free bulletin board in town offering to SERVE your neighbors as a babysitter, dog walker, handyman, trash hauler, landscaper, errand runner, painter, etc. etc.

Then knock on EVERY door on EVERY street and ask if you can mow their lawn, walk their dog, clean the garage, paint a fence, rake the leaves, bathe the cat – whatever they need done – for minimum wage or less. Offer to haul away junk / clean out garages and attics etc for FREE. Sell what you haul away as scrap metal or in classifieds to folks willing to buy it for half the retail value. One old book or plate of the right kind can sell for $100 if you connect it to the right buyer.

If you knock on 144 doors and offer to do yard work, painting, dog walking etc. (and don’t look like a thief trying to get in to rob the place) you WILL get work. If you do good work they will ask you back and refer you to their friends and neighbors. ALWAYS deliver more than promised. Come on time or early WHEN YOU SAY YOU WILL BE THERE, and charge less than expected. Be honest. If you do this, in a month you will have more work than you can handle.

If you need more money to keep the lights on, look for things to sell. Chances are good you have stuff someone will buy if the price is right. Put it on Ebay or Craigslist or both. On trash collection day look for big metal items on the curb for free that you could haul to the scrap metal buyer.

If a storm blows down a tree, offer to haul it away cheap, then sell it as firewood. Heck if there’s a big trunk make a chainsaw sculpture and sell that!

Even if you are not in top physical condition, there are services that you can offer. Day care for kids is an issue for some folks. When I was a toddler my Mom cleaned businesses after hours and took care of elderly people and I went along. It can be done.

I hope that I have offered a tip or two that helps you. If you try any of the above and it helps, let us know to encourage others who are still looking!
Good luck and thanks for reading.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

[/url]

[trooperdan]

Sounds like Daniel has a plan! Getting down to Texas sounds like a darned good start on getting back on top. I'm excited about the suggestions and opportunities mentioned here! Takes some initiative but when you are down, grab that branch!

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

better Texas than the the Dakotas oil fields IMO.
there are good jobs there, but housing is a major, major issue

[Bullshop Junior]

I cant let the truck go back to the bank. Ive already looked into it. The issue is, I paid bluebook value on a Mint loaded 05 GMC sierra HD with 48,000 miles on it a year a half ago. Said truck now has 130,000 on it, and has sole dings and dents from working it hard tryig to earn a dollor. So even though when I was woeking a good job and all and paid off half the truck, it no longer bluebooks at what I still owe. If the bank took it and auctioned it, I would still owe them in the area of $5000 after they auctioned the truck. When the bank takes the truck the amount owed does nut just disapear. They auction the truck, and whatever they get gets taken off the loan amount, and the rest goes to a debt collecter. So id still be in a hole, since the payments im making now are less then the calculated payments would be to the debt collecter, and I wouldn't have a dependable rig or anything to show or the money still owed.

Also, there isnt much for cheap trucks in texas. I looked. Nothing that would pass inspections and be dependable in my price range.

As for not working...its not that not willong to work..I am. I have worked every single small job I was offered since I lost the job on the pipeline in march. Its not a issue that im not willing to shovel cow dung for $5 a hour. i am, and I habe, and I would do it again if someone offered it to me. The issue is, any work with im reasonable distance, I have done. There is only so much work in a small town. Everyone that burns wood, already got sold all the wood thy could afford. I was hauling up to 6 cords a day at times. Made good money. But thats gone until next year. There is 2' of snow on the ground, so not much farming or outdoor or construction work goin on. Its not a matter of not being willing to work. its a issue of there being no work.

I also have nothing against leaving this place. Amanda and I have talked about it several times, and if we had the money over the summer we would have left.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Housing is the big problem down in the Dakota oil project. My neighbors son went out there as a heavy equipment operator. Had to finally rent a 12x60 trailor in Montana and commute to his job in N. Dakota, that was the closest he could find near to the job. He is getting an allowance for driving so far from the company he works for as well as an allowance for his rent. He is getting close to $2K a week before taxes then add the perks on to that. He is putting in 7 day weeks and 10 hr. days.Robert

[Beagle333]

'Just signs o' the times..... I got shoved out of my cozy little Autocad job drafting for surveyors/engineers for the last 28 years by the housing market bubble bursting. Now I draw maps part time for the utility deptartment of a university and drive a school bus the other part. If ya cain't get one big job, get two or three little 'uns! (it aint much, but it buys eats and lead.):mrgreen:
I did have 3, slappin' together burgers in the back of kitchen..... but health took me off my feet for that long at one time, so it's back to two.

'Best of luck to ya!!!! Keep looking! I was out of work two years myself, before I scraped these two little jobs together.

[snowwolfe]

After living in Alaska for over 30 years my wife and I recently moved out about 8 months ago. I am continually amazed at how much cheaper everything is down in the lower 48. I was paying $250 a month for electric and another $250 a month for natural gas when living close to Anchorage during the winter months. Even though our house in Colorado is 30% bigger our electric and gas dropped almost 60%. I could go on and on but hopefully you get the picture. We will miss some of the hunting and fishing but are excited at the prospects awaiting us.
Move south young man, move south.

Someone offered some advice about looking for a job in person and I'll second that. My son tried to apply for a job at Costco online for years and never heard a word. Finally he walked in and talked to the HR person and was basically hired on the spot. Within a few years of working part time he is making over $20 an hour and has outstanding medical and vacation benefits.

Good luck in your new journey and may the employment gods smile on you.

[EMC45]

Join the Seabees! They will teach you a trade (carpentry, welding, plumbing, electrician, surveying, equipment operation, mechanics) and you get the GI bill and get to travel. I was at a point where I couldn't get ahead and wanted something different. Joined the 'Bees and traveled the world. Was a learning and growing experience for me too. Don't mention the flat feet to the recruiter. Depending on numbers and time of the year he/she might just let it "slide" anyway. My arches went flat in boot camp. They didn't kick me out. Had to get a larger shoe size due to my arches falling. Even after that I still got in the Air Force Reserve in 05. Try talking to a recruiter and see what they say. You may be surprised.....First, pray for the next move you are to make. Pray for guidance and direction.

[Ickisrulz]

Join the Seabees! They will teach you a trade (carpentry, welding, plumbing, electrician, surveying, equipment operation, mechanics) and you get the GI bill and get to travel. I was at a point where I couldn't get ahead and wanted something different. Joined the 'Bees and traveled the world. Was a learning and growing experience for me too. Don't mention the flat feet to the recruiter. Depending on numbers and time of the year he/she might just let it "slide" anyway. My arches went flat in boot camp. They didn't kick me out. Had to get a larger shoe size due to my arches falling. Even after that I still got in the Air Force Reserve in 05. Try talking to a recruiter and see what they say. You may be surprised.....First, pray for the next move you are to make. Pray for guidance and direction.

The recruiter doesn't medically clear people. The doctors at MEPS do. But, if you don't look into it you will never know. The military is a great opportunity.

[Love Life]

Flat feet? What flat feet [smilie=1:


Funny thing is I didn't have flat feet at MEPS that any of the doctors noticed. 1st check up at boot camp and I had flat fleet. The drill instructors took all of us newly flat footed recruits to the recruit PX to pay out of pocket for insoles. Good times.

The military is a perfect place to spend 4 years figuring out your life. Get a skill, see the world (maybe), get paid, get benefits, etc. Who knows. You may even like it and make a career of it.

Funny story: Years back as I was shipping to the Island. All my buddies were laughing at me and talking about how much tail they would be getting in college followed by the huge paychecks they'd be getting after they graduated. Now they have no jobs or are underemployed. The ones who got jobs in their field don't make as much as I do, and their benefits don't even begin to scratch mine.

The military has jobs ranging from cooks, to grunts, to mechanics (auto, tank, HE, Tiltrotor and fixed wing airframe mechanics), to ATC, to clerks, to electricians, to water purification, to law enforcement, to welding, to heavy equipment, to combat engineers (bad ***), etc.

In the military, if you can deal with being treated as a non human for your fist year or so, the world is your oyster.

[ShooterAZ]

There is a lot of generosity being offered here. Now is the time to make a real plan, and execute it. I for one would not like being stuck in Alaska in the winter, with no job and no money. Please don't let material things such as a vehicle get in the way of your plan. Some times it's better to cut your losses and move on. Now might be that time.

[300savage]

daniel just called me and it looks like he will be here sometime mid january.
i have a few weeks work for him on some projects on the ranch i have had to put on hold while i am recovering from breaking my pelvis.
in the meantime i will be inquiring into some other options to help keep him out of trouble and gainfully employed.

[MaryB]

In between jobs in my main career as an electronic technician I have picked stones in the spring and weeded bean fields, flipped burgers at a McBarf, spent 3 years working for a kitchen cabinet plant... whatever it took to live. So even if you do get down to the states be willing to do whatever it takes until you find a good job.

[RugerFan]

Ive thought about the army, but here I can't get in because I have flexable flatfoot. It doesnt effect me any, but I guess the army doent like that, or the fact that I shoot left handed and havnt been able shot right handed no matter how hard I try I just cant get my eyes to cooperate.

I don't know about the flat feet part, but shooting left-handed isn't a problem. The Army has nothing against southpaws.

[Love Life]

Dogfaces...

[jcwit]

Heck I went in with a guy that didn't have a trigger finger, he used his middle finger and was one of the better shots. Can't remember where he placed as that was 48 years ago believe it or not I forgot.

[North_of_60]

Hang in there Bullshop Jr. I know you are trying. A year ago last June I got laid off my job in construction that I thought was going to take me into my retirement years. You know what the construction business is like up here. Things looked pretty bleak but God kept us going. I prayed about leaving Alaska but didn't feel that was what God wanted. We got by one day at a time. A little here and a little there and little deeper in debt. Almost 1 year later a friend called me about a job opening he heard about. I applied and a week later I was in training and on the payroll.

I have read a lot of good advice in the previous posts. We can all give you our advice and tell you what we would do in your situation but you have to follow your heart and go where God calls you.

I'll be praying for you. If you get up to Fairbanks give me PM. I'd like to buy you a cup of coffee.

Al

[starmac]

Just thinking, when I was your age, I was all bent on getting out of Texas and getting to Alaska, and here you are going the exact opposite. lol

[RoyEllis]

Dogfaces...

And to think.... some old dogfaces are even proud to be friends with a jarhead! :bigsmyl2:

[Bullshop Junior]

Just thinking, when I was your age, I was all bent on getting out of Texas and getting to Alaska, and here you are going the exact opposite. lol

Why did you want out of texas? Lol

[starmac]

Why did you want out of texas? Lol

Don't get me wrong, Texas was good to me, I just always wanted to live in Alaska. I basically started working in a round about way to Alaska when I was 20. I got as far as washington and found out we had a kid coming so beat it back to Texas, where I knew I could always make a living. It took a lot of years before I finally made it to Alaska, and sometimes wished I had never turned around.

[Bullshop Junior]

Yea. I hear that. I dont mind it here, its just a pain to find work. If i could find work I would stay.

[starmac]

Well if you wind up working in the texas oil patch, work a year or two, To get the experience and a good work record, then start applying for a slope job. Half the slope lives in Texas, Ok, and NM. lol I know lots of guys that live in Texas and come work construction here in the summer, then go back home and coast through the winter.

[AkMike]

BUT you're gonn'a hate that flatland down there next summer! You've never felt heat and humidity like they have.

Not to mention the fact that you're going to need to learn to talk 'southern'. :roll:

[Superfly]

To talk southern just don't move your lips and mumble you will blend right in LOL






JK relax

[AkMike]

When I've visited down that way I had a hard time following a conversation when they kept talking about a yawl right in the middle of something..

What's a sailboat have to do with saying "Hello, How are you doing?" ;) :D ;)

[Bullshop Junior]

I can talk southern lol. I worked for a southern fella for several years and pick up accents pretty quick.

[Bullshop Junior]

And it cant be much worse then north dakota at 117 last time i was there

[tommag]

And it cant be much worse then north dakota at 117 last time i was there
Daniel, 100+ degrees is one thing... The humidity in the oil patch areas wouldn't be so bad, but down around Houston, the heat combined with the humidity is something that can't be described to someone who hasn't experienced it.
One other bit of advice... If you land a good job in the oil patch I would suggest renting. Oil booms are always followed by busts. Sure would hate to have a mortgage with falling real estate prices in an area that USED to have good paying jobs.

[Bullshop Junior]

If everyone else can handle, so can I. And yea, not planning on buying for a good while yet.

[Ickisrulz]

If I were a young person knowing what I know now, I'd get some education and/or training in something that enables me to work anywhere in the world. Health care pops into my mind, but there are lots of other things for sure. I would not want to be having to chase work all over the country or wearing myself out at an early age.

[North_of_60]

BUT you're gonn'a hate that flatland down there next summer! You've never felt heat and humidity like they have.

l:

Then the winters can be nasty too. I was sent to San Antonio in December 18 years ago to cover for a pilot who was in training far a week. I didn't take a hat or gloves along. I thought I was going to bask in the heat. It was a week of freezing rain. I think I went to three different stores before I found a stocking hat and some light weight gloves. But, with global warming and all that should never happen again. :wink::wink:

[starmac]

You get colder down there because you can't buy the cloths we do at all, but it usually only last a few days.
I was loading in midland one time when the foreman ask if I would bring back enough gloves like I had to outfit his crew. lol He changed his mind when he found out what they cost though. lol

[bayjoe]

Have you ever tried for a government job?
If not try usajobs.gov then type in Alaska for location. They got some opening in TSA and the forest service as fire fighter

[Bullshop Junior]

You get colder down there because you can't buy the cloths we do at all, but it usually only last a few days.
I was loading in midland one time when the foreman ask if I would bring back enough gloves like I had to outfit his crew. lol He changed his mind when he found out what they cost though. lol

Lol. It still aint no 40 below. I can handle freezing rain.

[starmac]

LOL It is a whole different cold though. You will be bundled up down there at temps you would be out in a t shirt here. It is hard to explain and it is ususlly only a day or two at a time there. I can remember an interview back in the 70's where the reporter ask a guy that had just come back from working on the pipeline if that had been the coldest he had ever seen. His answer was the coldest he had ever been was on a deer stand in llano Tx. lol

[onceabull]

Stood in formation one morning at Fort Sam.Houston winter of 61-62..12 d F. No issue of any winter clothing(no Field jacket liners),ordered in Barracks 24/7 for 48 hrs aside from the march to mess Hall...Colder then after making it to bank after dropping through river ice @ -24 d.F.here. Proper clothing makes a telling difference.. Onceabull

[slim1836]

I too pray for the best for you, have been in the same situation in the past 3-4 years. Working now, but at half I used to make. The money is tight.
May you get the job you're hoping for.

Slim

[trooperdan]

Another "heads up", isn't Canada really hard on guns and even ammo passing through? Might want to sanitize that truck well for stray rounds and be sure you are covered on any guns!

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

I figured I would try to help and throw in my two pennies. As a manager of a nursery (tree and shrub) I do hiring all the time. These hints may have already been stated, but I will tell you what I look for when hiring.

1.) If you email or mail me a resume, it immediately gets deleted or thrown in the trash can. I know you are out in the middle of nowhere and dropping off resumes may not be feasible, but it helps immensely if you can. Gives the employer a chance to see you.

2.) If you drop off resumes or applications, do not look like a schmuck. This means no hats, no exposed tattoos, be clean shaven, and wear NICE clothes (dress shirt, slack, maybe even a tie). Make sure you have several copies of resumes on nice, clean paper and preferably in a nice folder with your name on the outside of it.

3.) Expect to answer a few questions and have your answers already thought out. They may ask questions like, "What kind of experience do you have? How much education did you receive? Do you have a way to and from work everyday that is reliable? Do you have a clean driving record? Can you work weekends/night/holidays? Are you willing to work part time?" These are just a FEW questions you may be asked. Have answers thought out so you don't fumble over words, because you WILL be a little nervous. Keep your answers short and simple. Employers don't want to hear long drawn out answers.

4.) If you get an interview, try to schedule it for a Monday or Tuesday (but don't be too picky here). Seems like the normal "stresses" of the week can make some employers "edgy" towards the end of the week which can have negative effects on you success. But I am NEVER edgy by Friday, just for the record LOL!

5.) Sometimes when you drop of resumes and you look like a good clean cut kid they may give you an interview on the spot. That's why it is important to always look your best. First impressions are lasting impressions.

6.) In interviews, sit erect in your chair, make eye contact when answering questions, and don't say "Uh" or "like". Just a pet peeve of mine.

7.) Don't make it sound like you are desperate for a job and will just take anything. Make it sound like you are genuinely interested in working for the company. Do not mention that you are behind on rent and have a truck with a broken tranny.

8.) Yes sir, No sir or Yes ma'am, no ma'am.

I hope my suggestions have not come off as arrogant. I wish you the best with your endeavors and I am thinking about you and your wife.

Tony

[jonp]

6.) In interviews, sit erect in your chair, make eye contact when answering questions, and don't say "Uh" or "like". Just a pet peeve of mine.

That's one of the reasons I can't listen to Glenn Beck. Constant Uh...Um...Uh....

[shooter2]

Much good advice given and I cannot add anything of value. However, you have to go where the jobs are as they do not seem to be coming to you.

[mhat]

I don't have any advice that hasn't already been told, but I can and will do some praying for you.
God bless.

Mark

[Suo Gan]

Life eventually catches up with a young person. Sometimes through no fault of their own. But it does not make a difference. No one owes you anything, and no one is going to give you anything that will change your life more than temporarily.

You are in the same boat many of us have been in. You are going to have to figure it out. Stop whining about it and suck it up, and figure it out. Be tough. If life hands you this sort of ****, be tougher. It will end up getting the best of you if you do not have this attitude. Do not take a hand out. Hand outs are for sissies, and people that take hand outs are forever bound to be losers in life.

Make your own way, and only YOU can do that. I have been there, and felt like a real wimp, and whiner, and complainer, and it never did me a damn bit of good.

You gotta go do it yourself. Figure it out.

Here's to that long road, it took me almost four decades to figure that out young man. This is all hard won advice. Don't be rash. Make calculated decisions, but there is something to be said for being just dumb enough to get your tit in a wringer where you have to make it work. A lot of wealth is made that way. That is why the smart folks work for the dumb folks. They were dumb enough to take a risk, while a smart one always thought of a way out.

The Lord will see you through. He has never let me down, though He has taught me and it was HARD.

I am HARD. If you have a problem with that that is your problem and not mine.

[300savage]

i dont see any handouts, i see a hand up.
nor have i heard any whining.
this young man is making a major change in his life, its a big step he is making and i am sure he understands it will be hard.
but as my grandfather used to tell me "it aint no step for a stepper, if yer a stepper" and he was seriously the hardest man i have ever known.
i believe daniel will hit the ground running, and if i can help him i intend to, as i have had good people help me in my life.
and how i am sure daniel will help someone else someday.
sometimes we dont have to be so damned hard to be tough.

[starmac]

I had to go back and read the original post, and I just didn't see where Daniel ask for any handout. I know he has been here several times and hasn't ask for anything.

I really think (and hope) that sounded way more bitter than you intended. I have helped people Unknowingly that didn't deserve it and that has probably kept me from helping some that did, but I hope helping someone never turns me bitter.

Just so everyone knows Daniel is a clean cut Kid, not at all what you see on average these days. I told him tonight that I am trying to get some things taken care of and may have a couple of days work for him. I also told him he could stay here, it just wouldn't be worth it to drive back and forth, and he said he would just sleep in his pickup. My critchety old woman would probably make me sleep outside, so I hope he doesn't insist on it. lol

[waksupi]

Life eventually catches up with a young person. Sometimes through no fault of their own. But it does not make a difference. No one owes you anything, and no one is going to give you anything that will change your life more than temporarily.

You are in the same boat many of us have been in. You are going to have to figure it out. Stop whining about it and suck it up, and figure it out. Be tough. If life hands you this sort of ****, be tougher. It will end up getting the best of you if you do not have this attitude. Do not take a hand out. Hand outs are for sissies, and people that take hand outs are forever bound to be losers in life.

Make your own way, and only YOU can do that. I have been there, and felt like a real wimp, and whiner, and complainer, and it never did me a damn bit of good.

You gotta go do it yourself. Figure it out.

Here's to that long road, it took me almost four decades to figure that out young man. This is all hard won advice. Don't be rash. Make calculated decisions, but there is something to be said for being just dumb enough to get your tit in a wringer where you have to make it work. A lot of wealth is made that way. That is why the smart folks work for the dumb folks. They were dumb enough to take a risk, while a smart one always thought of a way out.

The Lord will see you through. He has never let me down, though He has taught me and it was HARD.

I am HARD. If you have a problem with that that is your problem and not mine.

I think I traveled the same road. And I'm still alive.

[gmsharps]

Another "heads up", isn't Canada really hard on guns and even ammo passing through? Might want to sanitize that truck well for stray rounds and be sure you are covered on any guns!

The last time I went through Canada you need to stop on the US side and get your firearms (no handguns) checked through with US Customs meaning they will give you a customs form with your firearms listed and that is proof that you own them .They run the Serial numbers to see if they are on the stolen list. Then you procede to the Canadian side and be prepared to pay a $25 fee to get a temporary permit to transport your long guns through Canada. Things may have changed it was 2007 the last time I was through.

gmsharps

[starmac]

Yup it is 50 bucks now.

[Bullshop Junior]

I only have one gun i bought new. Do i need to do something with the other two before i try to cross? I wanna run the serial numbers with the troopers, but havn't had time yet. I ran them on hotgunz.com when i bought them and nothing showed up.

[gmsharps]

You need to stop on the US side and get the customs form for each gun. They will run the numbers there. It will fine unless one of the numbers comes up hot and then you are a tthe mercy of the folks on duty. It should not cost you anything on the US side to get the customs form but you will need to show them to the Canadian side when you get the permit to cross the country and the canadians may want to see the guns as well so have them where you can get at them without to much trouble. On the US side make sure you havbe written down the make model and Serial number to fill out the forms. If you know someone that can run the numbers that could possibly stop any issues you were not aware of.

gmsharps

[gmsharps]

When I moved my daughter to Alaska in 07 I was driving a U-Haul truck and had to go through an interview process when crossing from the lower 48 and they asked questions about if I had enough money for the trip and emergencys if any came up and how long I thought it was going to take me to cross the country and what route I was taking. Something to take in consideration is knowing what route you are going to take and make sure you arefull of fuel when you cross the border. The fuel goes up quite abit in Canada and buy only at the biggertowns. When you get out in the middle of nowhere and you have to have fuel they really get you on price if you find any. Don't rely on small towns to have lodging and be prepared to spend at least $100per night for a so so room. Make sure you take enough food with you to eat part of your meals on the road to cut down on costs. I remember getting a Hamburger fries and a coke for $16. It was good but wow. It took me 5.5 days in a 26 foot u-haul to get across Canada. With a pickup you should make better time but then again you have the weather to contend with also. The Milepost really helped me see what towns still exist and what services were available but I bet some of htem shut down for the winter also.

gmsharps

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

days"

[flyer1]

Daniel,

I noticed your signature line. I had my wife translate it for me. Interesting turn of phrase. By chance are you married to a Russian speaking gal? My wife is Ukrainian. Maybe they know each other from the Za okeahom forum?

Mike

[Bullshop Junior]

No. I used to go to a russian church and tried to learn how to speak it for awhile. I honestly dont remember what it says as i put it up two uears ago. And with how bad my russian was it may not have been what I wanted it to be. Lol

Ita suppoaed to say cast bullet shoot i believe but as i stated my russian is bad so its probaby wrong

[starmac]

LOL I would have never guessed that was russian, or any language for that matter. lol

[Bullshop Junior]

Flyer, what did your wife say it said? Lol ifa its something bad i should probably remove it

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

No. I used to go to a russian church and tried to learn how to speak it for awhile. I honestly dont remember what it says as i put it up two uears ago. And with how bad my russian was it may not have been what I wanted it to be. Lol

Ita suppoaed to say cast bullet shoot i believe but as i stated my russian is bad so its probaby wrong

from Google translate:
cast bullet shooter
"стрелок пули бросания" from Russian

[Bullshop Junior]

Thats what ita supposed to say lol

[flyer1]

The exact translation shooter bullets throw. The way she explained it to me was an English phrase translated to Russian and now translated back. The intent is cast bullet shooter but word for word is shooter bullets throw. The other thing that clued me in was the husband is the head and the wife is the neck that you mentioned in Another thread. I never heard that until I was in eastern Europe. Now I hear it from my wife from time to time.

[gmsharps]

If you are taking a credit card make sure you call your credit card company and tell them your traveling dates so they do not flag your credit card and then you have to call them to get it unblocked.

gmsharps

[Bullshop Junior]

If you are taking a credit card make sure you call your credit card company and tell them your traveling dates so they do not flag your credit card and then you have to call them to get it unblocked.

gmsharps

Was planning on that lol

[Bullshop Junior]

The exact translation shooter bullets throw. The way she explained it to me was an English phrase translated to Russian and now translated back. The intent is cast bullet shooter but word for word is shooter bullets throw. The other thing that clued me in was the husband is the head and the wife is the neck that you mentioned in Another thread. I never heard that until I was in eastern Europe. Now I hear it from my wife from time to time.

Lol. That saying comes from my sicilian backgrounds. As for the russian....im
Not surrprised that its wrong lol

[AkMike]

My wife is Ukrainian. Maybe they know each other from the Za okeahom forum?

Mike

My wife used to be Ukrainian also. Now USA for 6 years. She's from Cherkassy, south of Kyiv about 2 1/2hours. Where's yours from Flyer?

For that matter where are you from? You haven't completed your bio stuff.

[Adam10mm]

Life comes at you hard. I've been so low that I was looking up at rock bottom and wishing I were there as it was an improvement from where I was. Took 3 years to get back on my feet and we are still living paycheck to paycheck with both of us employed and two kids. Not out of the woods yet by any means.

If you put your mind to it, you're going to pull through this. It takes time.

Once you get back on your feet and settled in, start saving everything you can for an emergency fund to last minimum 12 months worth of expenses; 18 is better. Cash is king. Get rid of those credit cards. If you have to use credit to pay for something, you can't afford it.

[MrWolf]

Credit cards can be used to your advantage if you know how to use them. Do not bother with cards that charge an annual fee. If you have a Discover Card, American Express card, or any other that pays you back a percentage, make sure you have the cash to pay and pay the balance in full every month. You would be surprised at how much you actually can get back for free with diligence applied on your part.

[flyer1]

AKMike, I am from SW Michigan near Kalamazoo. My wife is from Kharkov. She became a US citizen about 18 months ago. It is a very long process and a bit expensive. Almost 5 years. My (her) son is now 19 and got his citizenship just before he turned 18. He is now in college at MSU's Air force ROTC program. He likes it very much and is doing well. He is not on scholarship. With the economy, the scholarship program has been cut way back.

Is your wife possibly in the banking industry? My wife participates on the forum I mentioned earlier with several other Russian speaking gals. It is a small world.

[flyer1]

Daniel,

I know you can make it through this. Most all of us have been through difficult times at some point in our lives. Mostly what it takes to make it is to never quit. Do not give up,do not lay down and remember tomorrow is a new day. For me there were times that I really had to look for very small things to be thankful for. For example, I woke up this morning, car started, I didn't have an accident, I am still healthy enough to work. You get my drift. Things do get better with time and hard work. Remember, you are not alone in this. Your wife can be your rock. The wife's can have a different perspective on situations. Use it. Many times I have gotten myself wrapped around the axle and it was my Ukrainian wife that put things back into their proper perspectives. I am a bit east of your route to Texas but my door is open.

[Bullshop Junior]

Thanks guys. It helps a lot to hear im nit the only one this happened to. Things are really really really starting to look up. And it just seems everywhere I turn texas turns up
And it seems to the land od opertunity. I really do
Apprieceate the help of everone who has offered. It has been a huge help and blessing for us.

[NWPilgrim]

Thanks guys. It helps a lot to hear im nit the only one this happened to. Things are really really really starting to look up. And it just seems everywhere I turn texas turns up
And it seems to the land od opertunity. I really do
Apprieceate the help of everone who has offered. It has been a huge help and blessing for us.

Just remember us little folk after you strike crude oil on your Texas ranch! The way the economy is going some of us may be in the same boat and come knocking next year. :D

Godspeed, Daniel.

[Bullshop Junior]

I always help when I can.