It never fails...

mcholar911 · 03-18-2006, 04:53 PM

Like the song says " just when you think it's going good, it all seems to go bad"...
I'd been looking for another 911 for over a year and finally! found a good deal on a 993 in January. Brought it home, stuck it in the garage and started doing all the little fix up's that you do when you get a new ride. Licensed it,drove it twice, and WHAM...
Owner of the company I worked for decides the new reorganization is not "working" and decides to eliminate one of the management group ..me..ouch..
So here I sit with a 24K toy in the garage, do I sell it?
Wifey says NO.
We are looking at blowing this popcorn stand and seeing what Phoenix has to offer, any AZ guys out there that can tell me about that area?
Especially after we were missed by two, yes two, tornado's last weekend by less than 4 miles...Yikes!

On a global scale that considerably closer than a ...hair, must be a sign...

Hugh R · 03-18-2006, 05:21 PM

Mike

Sorry about the job thing, but OT, what kind of old british race bikes do you have?

Go to Phoenix in August before you make any moving decisions, its oven door hot, for example 105 at midnight!!

Moneyguy1 · 03-18-2006, 05:57 PM

"But it's a dry heat"..

Phoenix is noisy, crowded, a heat island; in summary, an eastern City located in the middle of a desert and not aware of its surroundings. According to one study, 3 of every 5 people moving to Phoenix leave within two years. I cannot remember the source of this information, so I cannot stand by it. Residential real estate has become insane (but not as insane as our neighbors to the west). A decent house will probably cost you multiples of what you will sell your home for in Illinois.

Although I do live in Arizona and think of it as a beautiful state, it is not for everyone.

Best thing to do immediately is find a newsstand that carries the Phoenix newspaper, buy the Sunday edition and scan the employment and real estate sections.

Good luck. As for losing jobs, been there, done that and it ain't pleasant. Just remember it wasn't something you did and for that you can begin to look forward and not relive the past!! THings will get better

P.S. What is your line of work?

mcholar911 · 03-18-2006, 06:08 PM

Thanks guys,
I'm an ex southern California guy, left in the 70's and I know "you can never go back"...Real estates so strange, it was crazy in Seattle, some what nuts in Minneapolis and Denver, cheap here in Illinois (but no jobs..) I like the desert, the wifes from British Columbia, so she may have a hard time..As for work, I've been running the distribution side of a family owned supplier of medical and industrial gases, along with welding equipment and supplies. Handled the all the retail locations, purchasing departments,pricing, logistics..yada, yada, yada...Prior,worked for an outfit called AmeriGas, managed Missouri for them, before that First Interstate Bank of California...had the gypsy's life, no kids, got a good dog and a great wife..

Moneyguy1 · 03-18-2006, 06:24 PM

Like it says in the "Hitchikers Guide" on page one:

"Don't Panic".

Sounds like you are a reniassance man, highly adaptable. With all the emphasis on NG exploration and on alternative fuels research and development, sounds like that would be one direction in which to search.

AS for desert, you have a number of possibilities (I love it too). THere are two lovely cities in the northern part of AZ that have four seasons, a varied topography and such: Prescott (pronounced Preskit) and Flagstaff. Flagstaff is not far from the Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Monument Valley and other very picturesque places with enough to keep you interested for a lifetime. And Flagstaff is growing. There are nice places in New Mexico, although pricey, and there is always Nevada but that is beginning to go nuts as well. UNless you like humidity, I would not recommend the coastal area of Texas, although there are some interesting Cities along Rte 20 that are really heavily into fuel production and distribution. Ain't quite as humid (up nawth) in Texas.

If I were independently wealthy my first choice for the most beautiful state to live in would be western New Mexico, but I know little about the employment section of the area.

mcholar911 · 03-18-2006, 07:35 PM

Ahh, if I were independently wealthy, I'd have a house on the beach near Santa Barbara, but I'm afraid that's not in the cards at this point. I'm just like the majority of us, have to go to work to put the food on the table, got a few bucks in the bank, try and avoid the big potholes as much as possible. Not a big humidity fan, sticky nasty stuff, it gets bad here in the summertoo. Anywhere west is good for me right now, Phoenix looks better than Vegas to me, I won't spend 500k for 1000 square feet in LA or SF, lived in OR and WA already..I think I'll start selling off a couple of my bikes, there are a couple that I rescued from the scrap yard, it would be good to get the count down below 10...

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

I am aching to get to Phoenix and am about to start getting serious about a job search there or near Vegas. Phoenix real estate is dirt cheap compared to this area. From what I saw driving around western NM in Jan., it doesn't look like a hotbed of great job opportunity. It was pretty sad visiting Gallup for the second time since I was 10 yrs. old and seeing it hasn't changed at all in 24 yrs. Beautiful state, but I don't think I could live in NM.

BTW, if you only have $24k into a 993, you are doing very well.

cardsrule · 03-18-2006, 08:37 PM

Well i can't add anything on losing your job but i can help out with moving to AZ. I grew up in Prescott (5th generation) and then moved to tempe (basicly phx) for college. After living in Tempe for 6 years I got a job in downtown Chicago.

About the dry heat, its sooooo much better than a hot HUMID Chicago summer day. 105 only really sucks when you are getting in to a car than has been sitting in the sun. Other than that it really not bad. Traffic is pretty bad in phx. But other than that its a good place to live (don't have to worry about snow). I think the housing market is cooling off, it was red hot there for a few years

I agree with Bob, flagstaff is nice. Its a small town but you still have some of the stuff that a big city might have. I love prescott but unless you want to retire there is not much there for people under 55.

In my business i travel to every major city in the US and i think you can't do much better than Denver (Chicago is up there too)

bigchillcar · bigchillcar's Garage

move to arkansas, 'land of opportunity'..i love it here. (goddamn ****ing ****hole)..
ryan

Joeaksa · 03-19-2006, 01:20 AM

Mike,

Sorry to hear about your job. Had the same thing happen to me last August. Been so busy doing contract work out of the country that I am going to take the rest of the month and part of April off to enjoy life in Arizona for a change. Things happen for a reason and hope that this works out for the best for you and the family.

Mid June to first week in September is hell in Phoenix, just no other way to describe it. You just walk from the car to the house, house to the pool and so on.

From Sept to June we have heaven on earth, and BBQ on Christmas day in shorts and tee shirts. Ride motorcycles for 9 months, take the top down on the car and enjoy life.

Yes, its a dry heat but it is hot. The rest of the year is wonderful. If you can put up with 3 months of hell versus 5 months of being frozen then Arizona is for you. I love it and would live almost no where else in the world.

Joe A

mcholar911 · 03-19-2006, 06:55 AM

Thanks for all the input! I'm glad to hear the real estate has chilled off a little in the Phoenix area, I'm looking at grabbing a flight out there and checking it out. I was going to drive until I checked out the flights, it's 1200 miles one way, so a $250..00 r/t flight from STL is a smoking deal, even if you figure the rental car into the trip. Any tips on good real estate agents or company's with a good rep?
Thanks