Important

alright...so....this info is still pretty hush, hush...but since i really don't see ya'll face to face, except for a couple of ya'll...i feel like its pretty safe to spill the beans.

a few days ago i was offered a full time position in new york city as a technical manager of a theatre space/audition space. the position pays well, and has full benefits. something my wife and i have been scrambling to find/afford. its a crazy deal to even consider moving back to the east coast, but for our growth as a family...it might be necessary. its a huge decision...definitely the biggest one i've ever been faced with. my wife is completely fine with moving back there. im the one that needs convincing :) you can take crazy rocker, hippie, artist, hillbilly redneck out of the country...but you cant take the country out of the crazy rocker, hippie, artist, hillbilly redneck...here is what this boils down to for me

THE GOOD:
-potential for a six figure salary with benefits, just for myself. if the wife can make what she is now (which is considered a modest salary out there), we would clear six figures really easily. the base salary is good, and they would allow me to do theatre gigs and corporate work on the side with no issue.
-more time with the wife
-did i mention benefits
-enough money to rent a small place in nyc, while buying land/house in pa or nj
-less travelling
-paying all of our debts (besides student loans) off in less than a year
-oh and benefits

THE BAD:
-Melissa leaving her job...which although she says she is fine with, i know it will be harder for her company to lose her then it will be for her to walk away
-east coast living, and more time in nyc
-closer to ken stein...therefore the danger of fire and antics is greatly increased:gee:
-leaving my favorite state

all things considered, most of the reasons to stay are pretty selfish...however i've become very aware of how important quality of life is since moving back to iowa. it trumps a lot of things for me. the biggest draw will be benefits. we want kids...we don't have healthcare and will never afford it on our own with melissas cancer history. i've already looked into the possibility of buying a modest piece of land in pa or jersey and building a large shop with a heated living quarters to use as a get away from the city on weekends, days off and holidays. the eventual goal would be to build a house on the property...and maybe live there eventually and just rent a room in the city. i have a friend who is willing to transfer his month to month lease to us (its his job i would be taking since he is moving to spain to take another job). if i sell a few things, we could actually cash buy the property almost immediately. 5-10 acre parcels are fairly easy to find in certain areas out there that are under 2 hours to nyc. there are a lot more places to wheel out there...which may open up a door to me finally getting more serious about building my xj. i will continue to rent my shop in iowa as long as i need to store the j10, the boat and the mj. i may sell off one of the projects, but i'll definitely be keeping a lot of my stuff. we would also have plenty of room to store personal belongings that we wouldnt have room for until our storage/workshop building was finished. hell for $125 it would totally be worth it.

the bottom line is that i would be giving up the easy life for a slightly more complicated life...that could be pretty awesome in the long run. hell if in 2 years we are miserable, have our debts paid and have some money in the bank, we can always move back.

it just doesn't seem real to me when i think about it. i told myself, that i would never move back to the city unless i had a really good reason. this may just be the one. if it does happen, it could be fairly quick so i would probably have to drop a few work projects i have lined up and drop out of my competition that i am enrolled in at the gym...but if that were the case. i would seriously consider coming to winterfest :)

of course, i would still only ever read the mwc page on this silly site

alt "puttin on the big boy britches" rocker1

Don't forget about the retarded gun control legislation in New York........
 
I don't think there is a good enough job or good enough benefits to get me to move anywhere near NYC.

I'd have to agree, I don't think I could handle a very large city.

Salary compared to cost of living is something to consider. 6 figures in Iowa is going to be a lot different the 6 figures in NYC. I hope you have already don't that comparison, if you have not make a spreadsheet in excel for every expense...
 
I'd have to agree, I don't think I could handle a very large city.

Salary compared to cost of living is something to consider. 6 figures in Iowa is going to be a lot different the 6 figures in NYC. I hope you have already don't that comparison, if you have not make a spreadsheet in excel for every expense...

i lived in nyc for 2 years...trust me we are taking all into consideration. the fact of the matter is i can do what i really enjoy doing and make good money doing it, or i can get a job that i dislike and make decent money. i have been very close to taking jobs lately that would have a fulltime salary and benefits...but i just couldn't bring myself to do it. my biggest issue living in the city the last time was the lack of consistent income. it was really tough to deal with the "lulls" that you have as a freelancer in a city like nyc. having a 2 full time incomes, rather than one part time and one freelance income at least allows us to know what we are dealing with every week. the fact of the matter is that i spend 1/3 of the year in new york anyway...and i make 75% of my money for the year in that 1/3 of the year. i cant do that in iowa...i couldn't do that in chicago either while i was there. when i was living in nyc, i was able to pull myself completely out of credit card debt and was starting to put money away. that was all on my salary...melissa spent the better part of one year not working. i thought i was going to be able to carry that trend to other places, but it didn't happen. it may only be temporary, who knows, but this time if i go back, it will a much different situation.

also the last time i was there i was doing 85% corporate audiovisual work and about 15% theatre work...now it will be flip flopped...that is very appealing. i am also not too far off from designing a broadway show. a lot of the directors i work with have projects on broadway or are getting really close to having a show there. broadway shows mean a large up front fee and a check in the mail for every week that a show runs

its still very much up in the air. the only bad thing about this is having to spend more time in the city...but right now i am not happy having to spend so much time away from my wife. i have my first conversation with them when i go back to the city on thursday...only time will tell
 
sounds kinda nice, and like you say if you dont like it you can always move back.

any good duck hunting in NYC lol :D

no...but where we are looking at land in pa and nj there is tremendous waterfowl hunting and an abundance of public hunting areas. iowa is considered one of the worst states in the country for waterfowl hunting, so in that regard...it would be an upgrade as well :)
 
I think in the next couple months I'm gonna get my Utah non-resident permit, been wanting to for a while.
 
What do you have to do to get it out of state?

Take a course(4 or 8 hours I don't remember) and send in some paperwork. I'll then be able to carry in all the states around me except Illinois until they figure out their crap.
 
alright...so....this info is still pretty hush, hush...but since i really don't see ya'll face to face, except for a couple of ya'll...i feel like its pretty safe to spill the beans.

a few days ago i was offered a full time position in new york city as a technical manager of a theatre space/audition space. the position pays well, and has full benefits. something my wife and i have been scrambling to find/afford. its a crazy deal to even consider moving back to the east coast, but for our growth as a family...it might be necessary. its a huge decision...definitely the biggest one i've ever been faced with. my wife is completely fine with moving back there. im the one that needs convincing :) you can take crazy rocker, hippie, artist, hillbilly redneck out of the country...but you cant take the country out of the crazy rocker, hippie, artist, hillbilly redneck...here is what this boils down to for me

THE GOOD:
-potential for a six figure salary with benefits, just for myself. if the wife can make what she is now (which is considered a modest salary out there), we would clear six figures really easily. the base salary is good, and they would allow me to do theatre gigs and corporate work on the side with no issue.
-more time with the wife
-did i mention benefits
-enough money to rent a small place in nyc, while buying land/house in pa or nj
-less travelling
-paying all of our debts (besides student loans) off in less than a year
-oh and benefits

THE BAD:
-Melissa leaving her job...which although she says she is fine with, i know it will be harder for her company to lose her then it will be for her to walk away
-east coast living, and more time in nyc
-closer to ken stein...therefore the danger of fire and antics is greatly increased:gee:
-leaving my favorite state

all things considered, most of the reasons to stay are pretty selfish...however i've become very aware of how important quality of life is since moving back to iowa. it trumps a lot of things for me. the biggest draw will be benefits. we want kids...we don't have healthcare and will never afford it on our own with melissas cancer history. i've already looked into the possibility of buying a modest piece of land in pa or jersey and building a large shop with a heated living quarters to use as a get away from the city on weekends, days off and holidays. the eventual goal would be to build a house on the property...and maybe live there eventually and just rent a room in the city. i have a friend who is willing to transfer his month to month lease to us (its his job i would be taking since he is moving to spain to take another job). if i sell a few things, we could actually cash buy the property almost immediately. 5-10 acre parcels are fairly easy to find in certain areas out there that are under 2 hours to nyc. there are a lot more places to wheel out there...which may open up a door to me finally getting more serious about building my xj. i will continue to rent my shop in iowa as long as i need to store the j10, the boat and the mj. i may sell off one of the projects, but i'll definitely be keeping a lot of my stuff. we would also have plenty of room to store personal belongings that we wouldnt have room for until our storage/workshop building was finished. hell for $125 it would totally be worth it.

the bottom line is that i would be giving up the easy life for a slightly more complicated life...that could be pretty awesome in the long run. hell if in 2 years we are miserable, have our debts paid and have some money in the bank, we can always move back.

it just doesn't seem real to me when i think about it. i told myself, that i would never move back to the city unless i had a really good reason. this may just be the one. if it does happen, it could be fairly quick so i would probably have to drop a few work projects i have lined up and drop out of my competition that i am enrolled in at the gym...but if that were the case. i would seriously consider coming to winterfest :)

of course, i would still only ever read the mwc page on this silly site

alt "puttin on the big boy britches" rocker1
I would rather make 20k a year for the next decade than ever go back to NYC, but if you make the move you're always welcome at my place, as are jeep projects that need to live somewhere. So long as they have plates on them...

If I were you I would look at picking up a place in PA or southwestern MA, Mass isn't really the bastion of freedom and gun rights but at least we aren't NY, and CT looks to be falling next. There's a ton of space in northwestern CT that might as well be NH or upstate NY though, in geography at least.

Just sold the 98 for $3200. The same jeep I paid $1500 for.

I like profit.
Nice.

So far in the last few months I'm doing pretty ok on wheeling/dealing... sold a $100 nv4500 for $600 a few weeks ago, hopefully selling a $100 ford balljoint 60 for $400 monday, down to $270 on the parts truck I got for the blue MJ 5.9/nv4500 swap before all the parts I took from it are free, etc.
 
I would rather make 20k a year for the next decade than ever go back to NYC, but if you make the move you're always welcome at my place, as are jeep projects that need to live somewhere. So long as they have plates on them...

If I were you I would look at picking up a place in PA or southwestern MA, Mass isn't really the bastion of freedom and gun rights but at least we aren't NY, and CT looks to be falling next. There's a ton of space in northwestern CT that might as well be NH or upstate NY though, in geography at least.

thats kind of the plan. i can tolerate the city better than most...and the idea of being property owners in another state that work in the city makes it easier to swallow. to be honest, the place that we would move into if it happens is $150 more in rent than our current place...and that includes all utilities.

alright...im sick of thinking about this for one day.

tomorrow is bacon day...count me excited
 
I ask for pictures so that the seller has to prove that they actually have what they're selling. If you can't snap a cellphone picture and put it on photobucket or send it to me, I won't bother. The seller has to want to sell something as much as the buyer wants to buy it.

for me if it doesnt have a picture it shows they really dont want to put forth the effort to sell it....people who dont need to sell shit are terrible to negotiate with.

i like to pick off the ones who are ready to get rid of it...best deals

i have no money so i have to rely on tactics ;)
 
I overprice my shit on CL and list it as negotiable, need to sell, and then meet them in the middle at the price I wanted in the first place :D

had that NV4500 listed for 750, would have taken anything over 400, they go for 1k-1500 on car-part so I knew it was just a matter of time. I'd already agreed to sell it for 500 twice and had people flake when some dude called me up one night, said he could be there with 600 tomorrow if I still had it. I owned it for less than 3 weeks and even after splitting the profits with a buddy who helped me pull it at the JY, quadrupled my money.
 
of course because you know how to sell shit :D youd be surprised how many people dont know how to price something
I got screwed on a plow I sold a while ago, had it listed for $600, wanted $400, ended up taking $200. It was a lot rustier than I had realized, was a homeowner grade Meyer that everyone hates, and the guy knew I needed money bad so he lowballed the shit out of me on top of that.

Learned my lesson there.

It was part of the truck I have $270 left of, so it still didn't hurt too bad. If I'd gotten what I asked or wanted I would either have made money (plus the $1k in parts I'm keeping out of the truck for my own project) or broken even on it w/ all my parts being free, though.
 
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