Interested in WY from out in Iowa.

[vonu]

hello,

I am originally from Texas, but moved to Iowa 9 years ago.  I was looking for a less oppressive state and came across the FSW Web site.  I was interested in the free state project, but when New Hampshire was chosen, I dropped the idea.  Well, my desire to move out west combined with the FSW project have made Wyoming the leading state.  I am 35, married and 3 children.  I am a homeschooler.  I work in electrical and electronics trades. My wife stays home with the children, therefore we have no money. 

I guess first off, to convince my wife to make the move, I have to have a pretty darn good job waiting for me.  So, who's hiring and for what.  I guess I'm not extremely picky about what area of Wyoming to which I move, but I guess I'd like some scenery...something nearby at least. 

I'm just tired of taxes and taxes and laws and taxes and more laws.  I've had enough, and want the best for my family.

Depending on which electrical and electronics trades you have experience in, you could find work in the energy business in Gillette, although I think you said something about the gas fields around Pinedale.
I don't know what it is, but one of the local companies is looking for an I&E technician. The railroads are looking for help, maybe a signal technician?
I used to be a broadcast engineer in the 80s, but transistors, then ICs chased me out. Few things break, and many can be replaced by a DJ at RadioShack:-) Now that there are high power solid state FM transmitters, anyone who can replace a module with a red LED on can do broadcast engineering, on the day to day level.

[Pumpkihn]

Hmm, sounds pretty close to my old stomping grounds so to speak.  So I guess you are used to small towns,
the next phase would be crazy hicks. Fairly close to Ames is a place called State Center, on what was
old highway 30 just a short ways from the town is a gun shop/skeet range/target range.

If it's still in business, chat with the loons running the place. I doubt in all this time they have become
any less insane, they also have a nifty collection of exploded gun barrels, and probably a pack of hunting
dogs raising hell inside of their business.

I figure those guys are the acid test for rural craziness. If they don't phase you in the least, going
farther west will probably pose no challenges. 

Seems like Ames had a fairly small but diverse army/navy surplus and camping gear store, wonder if its
still there. Kind of funny thinking back, Ames to me now is just a tiny little cow town, but way back then
it was kind of a "big" city. Of course when I was around 8 Mason City and Ankeny were major metropolises
, you couldn't even walk all the way across them without stopping somewhere for a snack. 

I live in Colo, IA just a few miles from State Center.  I know the place you're talking about, but have not been there.  That store in Ames is still there.  The problem with ames is that it's very liberal and thinks sh*t don't stink there.

[vonu]

You might get in touch with Adecco.
I signed up with them this morning, when I found out that they now place CDL holders.
They place a lot of technical professionals, so they might place your niche.

[Michigan Escapee]

I dunno about your opinion about Ames, personally I never confuse stoned and hung over with being
simply liberal.  And really, if you'd ever been to the left coast you'd appreciate the fact that you can
drop half a dozen N bombs inside of ten minutes in Iowa and not get kicked out of your average bar.

I think if you want really right wing, try Newton, Ia. But to be honest, Newton is dismally small. Marshalltown
is pretty centrist, and also pretty clueless. Waterloo is probably going to be your version of a gang infested
urban warzone.  These days I see it as hillbilly infested and backwards.

Cherokee is probably a good place if you want to be left alone. I suspect they might even leave the
vultures(probably only turkey vultures) to nibble on your dying body while you were injured on the side
of the road.  So maybe that makes it a reasonably libertarian type of place.

Parkersburg, well, I suspected it was a den of socialism and people with wrecked trans ams up on blocks
in front of their trailers. But, from what I can tell from the news its gone now. And probably people I knew unless they had the sense to duck and cover.

Ah well, time rolls on, and maybe someday Iowa will progress enough that it won't seem so impossibly small
and stuck 30 years behind the times culturally. 

[Pumpkihn]

Ah well, time rolls on, and maybe someday Iowa will progress enough that it won't seem so impossibly small
and stuck 30 years behind the times culturally. 

Jeez.  I'd hate to hear your opinion of Wyoming.

[Sean_Galt]

Don't sweat it, Pumpkihn. I'm a current DesMoiniac (eww.) and can't wait to get moved myself. We are headed out WY way for a few days next week to visit a couple of places and do some more legwork on our purchase out there.
Colo isn't so bad; I drive though there at least twice a year on my way to a buddy's that lives towards the SC rose garden. The Mrs. & I  just moved back down to DM from Perry about 18 months ago...if ya wanna talk small & 30 years behind, that's Perry.
Glad to see another Iowegian on here.
PM me & maybe we can grab a chat sometime.

Michigan Escapee; you must be referring to the blue building with the old MTA bus out front- it is still there and you can still pay to shoot.
Polk City is a MUCH nicer range, though.
http://www.olofsonrange.com/

[vonu]

So, I talked to my wife again tonight about the move.  She thinks we should plan on moving in about five years.  That may be more reasonable than my one year, but I'm impatient.  Maybe gas'll go down by then.

Gas is a very tiny component of such a decision.
Why is five years more reasonable then one year?
If we knew more about your line of work, we might be able to help you find something now.
I'm a truck driver, but Adecco is looking into putting me back into electronics, as a computer repairman, at $17-20/hr.
Given the shortage of technicians in the oilfields, that is pretty interesting.

[Michigan Escapee]

Not sure what they called the range in State Center, it was cheap though, and fairly close to
where I lived at the time. Their big thing seemed to be the skeet/trap range behind the main
building.

I might sound a little down on Iowa, but for me the place grew too small too fast. When you
seem to know everyone in a smallish city of 26-28 thousand, its time to bail out.

Now ramp that up to a city of 110,000, maybe 250,000 in a three county area. After 15 years
you run into people you know all the time, and that can get annoying fast.

Up in the northwest however, there's plenty of turnover, always something new. 7-8 visits to Bellevue
inside of 2 years, and even the skyline changes between visits.  Maybe now and then a crane falls
over and kills a microsoft lawyer, but I can totally live with that.