[Techno Duck]

Dave, you do bring up good points regarding option 1. I am putting alot of faith in them and my sister thinks i am a fool for doing so. Admittedly she is right, but i think my chances are good (but still chance at best). My friend who hooked me up with them is good friends with the HR admin and gave me a great reference and talked to him after the interview.. he said he is almost 100% sure i will get picked up, its just a matter of time waiting out the hiring freeze. A big plus side in my situation is that i have a unlimited horsepower license which is what the company is moving towards in terms of ships personnel (all new ships being constructed are unlimited class)..so people with my background are sort of the 'future' of the company as the HR admin put it. Still, nothing is 100%.

Option 2 is a very stable company, i am pretty sure they handle almost all of the marine towing in the Texas gulf area. I was just planning on finding a single bed apartment to rent.. or even just living out of a hotel for a month or two until i get settled. The rotation is 4 days on /off but from what i have heard i can basically work as long a rotation (in intervals of 4) that i want. Good point about the car.. i have not even been down to Corpus yet in person so dont really know what its like. The 951 i really have no plans to bring down as it is a over 24 hour drive to bring it down and i do not trust shipping it. Also the a/c in the car does not work (needs recharge)...also i do not plan to bring any tools down with me and not having the ability to work on the car is not something i want to chance while down there. Ive been all over Europe and dont have any 'fears' about being on my own. Its just i hate to move down, then be called by option 4 that they are hiring a week later...

Option 3 is something i have been trying to avoid for a long time, but always there as a fall back. Union work does not appeal to me, like you put it.. unreliable and no guarantee.