Originally Posted by
Phatman
Yeah, the roads are narrower in the eastern part of the US, I'm fairly used to that. I was shocked by how wide the roads are in the Detroit metro, I guess that's for snow removal?
Enh, I'm in a second (third?) tier right now. The way the current job market is, you've got to jump jobs to get raises, otherwise you'll fall behind your market value. The problem with the small towns is that there's really only one or two jobs that take advantage of my engineering specialization, so if you want to hop jobs, you've got to move. Or if your industry is being prematurely wound down and you're about to find yourself out of a job.
Either way, I'm tired of moving, hence the desire to find a place with a lot of jobs.
Yah..I found the narrow lanes uncomfortable even in a car. In Wisconsin, MI, MN...the lanes offer much more room...like a couple feet. That extra room is helpful when cars pass. On a narrow lane there's no extra room so any obstruction..like a bike.. nearly stops traffic if there's oncoming traffic. Drivers get annoyed and things get worse. It wouldn't be so bad if there was a dedicated bike lane built into new roads, but, while I saw plenty of new (and old) roads while in the Charlotte area, I don't remember ever seeing a bike lane. Up here(WI), most of the time,..you re-surface or build a new road, in addition to a wide lane, it has a bike lane or ample paved shoulder that serves as a bike lane.
Understandable on your moving criteria. There's lots on inputs into a decision like that..all you can do is choose the best option that checks the most boxes. Significant pay increases by moving from job to job has existed for many years. That's the way pay structures are built in many larger companies. I was fortunate..very good pay(for making significant contributions) in a small town (for my skillset-chemistry/engineering/mathematics) while I was there. Of course now neither job exists in that small town as both divisions of that company were split off, sold, and moved out of town. Rather than move..I retired early..and haven't thought about either job since. I don't miss being part of the work-force.
...and the world marches on..
Hope you land in a good spot.