Thread: North to Alaska, South to Texas or East to Massachusetts?

I figured it out, with over time pay I would be RICH RICH RICH. Our district is threatening to put n a time clock for teachers. They honestly believe we are late all time and leave early all the time. My old building admin made us sign in for a couple of weeks to see what hours we worked. He was more than happy to take the results to the upper admin. Then he brilliance in the front office was saying we could not clock in until 7:30 and would HAVE to sign out at 3:30. We could work before, and after, it would just not be on the clock.

They had no intention of moving us to hourly anyway, but I think they may have got a little clue. Of course their solution was assinine. The idea quietly disappeared for a couple years but has reared its ugly head again. :roll:

I knew a guy who worked for an upper end hotel chain in lower management, he was the father of one of my kids. If my memory serves me right he worked for hilton before he moved back home to be near family. he said it was a thankless job most of the time, but if you did more than you were told, you moved up fast. So it might not be too bad, if you know what you are doing.

Okay, now I vote for Masschusetts. But only because I absolutely loved the state, when I visited. Since I plan to hot foot it back, first chance I get, maybe I'll check out the hotel, if you go work there. We have the trip planned for August of 2009. We're going to Boston, so my daughter can see Harvard, NYC, and Washington DC, so mommy can spend a blissful day in the American History museum...

You have so many great options right now! I'm happy for you, and am sure you'll pick the one that will allow you the most joy and growth.

Just curious...
What's the avearge teachers salary (let's say a first grade teacher) in the US ?
I make 55000 $ a year . (190 days) . This figure was not even an option when I answered a ECE survey last week.
Income taxes are 31% .
Our health plan ensures us that being hospitalized,undergoing surgery,etc is free of charge. Electrisity is chep...and so on.

On the other hand : food is expensive.
Also :
A Ford Focus will cost 60000$,one liter of gasolin :2$, 20 cigarettes : 15$, a bottle of Jim Beam :85$.
No one in my family has a car,I seldom drink - I never buy tobacco in Norway - so no complaints from me - I'd love a warmer climate though.....
Olav

Wow, things are a bit expensive over there. I think you woul find comparable wages, depending on where you are. The car would be far less expensive, as would the gas, booze and cigarettes.

Health care, on the other hand, would be a major cost. Medications alone, have put people so far into debt that they have to file bankruptcy.

Other cost of living expenses would also vary by location. I live in rural WI. We built a five bedroom, living room, family room, 2.5 half bath, office, and attached heated garage, for $130 thousand. This includes premium flooring and other accesories. This same house would easily be $500K in other parts of the United States; including some of our larger cities in WI.

Finding a decent job, where I live, is another story. In another life, I was a book keeper. Up here, I see help wanted ads for book keepers, with the pay being between $7 and $9 an hour. No way... Once one finds a good job here, keeping it is advised. The minimum I worked for, 5 years ago-when I quit book keeping, was $13 an hour plus benefits.

Heating and lighting costs also vary by location, and the condition of your house. We spend no less than $1,000 per year. And that's if we are conservative, which we don't tend to be.

Groceries, if you know how to shop, aren't too bad. We spend about $250 per month, for a family of 4. However, this doesn't count most meats as we raise our own beef, and tend to buy pork a whole pig at a time (much less expensive).

Car, home, and other types of insurance, also tend to be expensive, but must haves. Off the top of my head, I can't give you prices. It's one of those bills we have to pay, so it just gets done...

Oh man, I love Massachusetts. I've never lived there, but Boston is one of my favorite cities, and Cape Cod is beautiful.

What do you think would be the most FUN? Life's too long to spend it being bored.

If you end up in the Houston area, you're only a couple of hours away from me. If you should happen to make it to San Antonio, let me know. I know some really great Texas-style barbeque and Mexican food restaurants you might enjoy.

Originally Posted by Mary/SATX

What do you think would be the most FUN? Life's too long to spend it being bored.

What do I think would be the most fun?

In terms of my personal life, I'd rather move to Missouri City (west Houston). I'd be within five miles of my favorite Chinese supermarket. I'd also have a modest 3 or 4 bedroom home and could install a 2000 gallon fresh water pond with an attached bog garden and waterfall in my backyard. The cats would have a cat enclosure built against the back of the house so they could safely go outside and enjoy a portion of the yard.

The flipside to this is that I would be immersed in TAKS standards and would most likely have to teach boring standardized lessons written by the grade level.

In terms of my work life, the opportunity to work in a major luxury hotel chain would be a lot of fun. B&B Inns are the small cousins of luxury hotels. Most B&B Inns are not ultra-luxurious as they largely cater to the middle class. The Ritz Carlton Hotels have a sterling reputation for impeccable service, luxurious accomodations, fine dining, and all of the other amenities that one associates with a fine hotel.

Although my initial base wages would put me below $35,000 a year, over time and the possibility of pay raises (and eventual promotion) could realistically give me an annual gross income of $40,000 or more.

The Ritz-Carlton has 41 hotels in 16 different states and two U.S. territories with an additional 41 hotels in 28 foreign countries. Given the fact that my wanderlust pops up every three to five years, I'd always have the opportunity to transfer to other jobs.

I've already priced homes in Boston and property values there are higher than the ones in Houston. In Texas I could buy a 3 or 4 bedroom home with a backyard. For the same amount of money, I could buy a one bedroom condo in Boston. For a hundred thousand dollars more, I could buy a two bedroom condo. (I kid you not - real estate prices in Boston are steep.)

If I were teaching in Houston, I'd be relatively close to work. I'd essentially live and work in the suburbs.

If I'm hired to work in Boston, the only way I could own a house would be to live outside the city and face a daily commuting battle via train/bus or a long drive that would end with a tortuous search for parking. It would make mores sense to live in the city and commute via public transporation ... so I'd either have to buy a small condo with no yard or pay through the nose by renting a larger apartment.

I figure I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

My job interview is on Monday, so we'll see how that goes. If I'm offered a job, I'll cancel my November and December reservations and will be in Boston by Thursday of next week to meet with a realtor.

The ideal condo would be close to the hotel ... but I can well imagine that condos in that area would be well outside my price range.

As far as Alaska goes, I'd go to Alaska in a heartbeat if I didn't have my cats. Unfortunately Jasper Baby took sick a few days ago. He caught a cold and has been sneezing and dripping fluids from his eyes. When he breathes I can hear the raspy sound of liquid in his lungs. After taking him to vet I found that he had a fever. I am currently dosing tuna water with his medication in an effort to humanely mediate him without having to force his medicine down his throat.

I think Alaska would be too cold for at least one of my cats ... so I've narrowed my choices down to Boston or Missouri City. If I don't get the job in Boston, then my final choice will be a no brainer and I'll be off to Texas.

BTW - I used to live in Austin. Texas has been my home off and on for something like fourteen years. Eleven of those years were spent in Austin - so I'm familar with San Antonio. I've been down there for the obligatory school field trip to the Alamo (4th grade social studies.) I've also been to the Texas Museum of Culture, Sea World, and the river walk.