Fix your job

[piqaboo]

[jamiebk]

Ain't it great when things work???? I always feel great when I can get home (evening commute) in less than 75 minutes....

[Shapley]

[Trumpetmaster]

Ain't it great when things work???? I always feel great when I can get home (evening commute) in less than 75 minutes....

I remember those days.... 65 miles one way drive to work.... ugh...

Yes!!! many of these!!!

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

My commute this morning was 25 min, from leaving my garage to parking Igor. It'll take longer to get home, as there is more traffic, but it runs about 40 min, max.

I still complain.

[Trumpetmaster]

Selma,

I stepped in a pot og gold when I landed my current job... been here
for 6 years now...

I spent 8 years driving 130 miles round trip every day.
It got worse when AT&T started sending me to their NJ offices.
Another 45 minutes west......

It takes me 15 minutes to drive to work.....
and about 20-25 minutes to drive home.......

I will never complain when I'm stuck in traffic here
as the old commute had no alternate routes....

I can now take side streets home if necessary........

Still....
Theres ALWAYS time for

Regards,
TM

[BigJon]

Hey all, I've been offered a job in a small town south of San Francisco. I'm looking for some firsthand accounts of life in that area, if you would like to share. Is the commuting really that awful? Are the real estate prices really relentless and insurmountable?

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Which small town, and how far south of San Francisco? Yes, real estate prices run high until you're well south of San Jose. There may be pockets of "reasonable" but I'd check the area first.

Most realtors and multiple listing services have a web presence. You might try looking at what's actually on the market in the destination area.

About the commute - the SF Bay Area has a reputation for challenging commutes. I do know that folk who've relocated from there are rather scornful of our modest Sandy Eggo traffic jams. Even Ellay fails to impress them.

Jamie may have more to say, when he finds this thread.

[jamiebk]

BJ...location is everything in the south bay. You mentioned South of SF...Selma nailed the questions. If it's around San Jose...fergit it....you won't be able to afford anything and the commutes are long with lots of traffic. If, on the other hand, you are truly in a rural area and your work is nearby, it can be quite pleasant. I am not sure what you do for a living.

[BigJon]

Mountain View is the town. The real estate websites are a boondoggle if you don't already know here you want to be. I'm clueless.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Wow. Mountain View is where Google is homebased - and it's right smack in the heart of Silicon Valley. Halfway between Palo Alto and San Jose. This is not a small town, it is a major metropolitan area.

To see the area, go to Google, click on "About Google" go to the google jobs page, click on the Find US Jobs - At Mountain View button, and then click the "Find It On Google Maps" button. Voila, a map.

If you live close, the housing price will be challenging. If you go for a rural spot it's going to be far, far away and the commute will be challenging. If you're going to work for Google, I think I might be jealous.

Whether it's Google or some other business thereabouts, the map is still the map.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

I just wandered through the Argument, ah, I mean Debate forum - I should point out, BigJon, that OT might well be considered a moderate or even mildly socially conservative in the Bay Area. You might want to seriously consider the social and political climate of that part of the state.

Honestly, every few years San Francisco gets frustrated with us hidebound reactionary stickinthemuds, and threatens to secede. We dreadfully reactionary types threaten to let them. Oh, well, they're more conservative than the People's Republic of Santa Monica and we manage to get along with them.

I need Jamie to fill in more detail. Though I don't believe he hangs out that end of the Bay much.

[jamiebk]

Selma's right, I don't "hang" down there much as I am located in the North Bay. However, my office is in SF and I have clients down there, plus I drive that way all the time when I head to Monterey for some diving.

You have picked one of the "hearts" of the Silicon Valley. Mountain View is a nice town of about 71,000 residents, but the offset is home prices and you will find them very high. Of course I have no way of knowing your current situation, but Google can help you find lots of listings. The good news is that these prices are down and it is actually a bit of a buyer's market out here.

Oh...here's a map:

Mountain View is about 35 miles south of SF and about 15 miles north of San Jose. There is excellent transportaion and you can probably find a commute solution beyond driving...and Oh, yes...Google provides fee WiFi for everyone living there.

The climate there is very nice, but will be subject to Bay Area smog, as is common in the south bay where it all blows to/through. Fortunately, you will be influenced by coastal fog from time to time. Mountain View maintains a consistently moderate Mediterranean climate year round. Rand McNally ranks Mountain View's climate the eighth most desirable of 329 metropolitan areas. In January 2000, the average high in Mountain View was 56 degrees Fahrenheit; the average low was 46 degrees Fahrenheit. In July 2000, the average high was 65 degrees Fahrenheit; the average low was 54 degrees Fahrenheit. On average, Mountain View had 15 inches of rain in 2000.

On Average:
July is the warmest month.
December is the coolest month.
January is the wettest month.
July is the driest month.
July has the most clear days.
January has the most cloudy days.

Records:
The highest recorded temperature was 107°F in June of 1961.
The lowest recorded temperature was 15°F in November of 2003.

Here is a little bit of a fact page: http://www.city-data.com/city/Mountain- ... ornia.html

Median resident age: 34.6 years.
Median household income in 2005: $75,411 (it was $69,362 in 2000).
2005 median house/condo value: $664,300 (it was $546,900 in 2000).
Median gross rent in 2005: $1,271.
Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2005: 6.6%

A good start for information is the city web page or the chamber of commerce page which I have here for you:

http://www.chambermv.org/mountain-view/index.html

Happy hunting!

-Jamie

[BigJon]

Here is a little bit of a fact page: http://www.city-data.com/city/Mountain- ... ornia.html

Wow Jamie. that's a great site. Thanks!

No Selma, not Google. I'm an ME. It's funny you should mention the leftward tilt of the area, my wife said the same thing today. Something along the lines of "maybe living there would liberalize you a bit." Nah, I doubt it.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Job related gripe:
"Quicksilver has run out of memory and must shut down.
Do you want to attempt to save "WP00800" in a crash file?"

Well, duh. Yes, OFCOURSEIDO!!!!! :grumble:

Youo know, I wouldn't mind if IT gave me a computer with more memory. Of course, if they did, I'd have to fight a battle to get anything more than MSOffice installed on it.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Our low-bid IT folks have been very helpful this morning. They've installed the same mandatory software update on the same program three times this morning, and rebooted my computer each time.

My area now has four people who have smuggled in their old computers from home, in order to do actual work, while the official computers are used to listen to music and ball games, and do email.

[BigJon@Work]

That'd be funny if it wern't so sad. It looks like I'm going to join the world of IT in a few weeks.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Working on a book; the engineer is changing a bunch of illustrations and adding some new detail views. Lovely artwork. It's very nice bitmap files, millions of colors, full CMYK structure.

Of course, what I needed was monochrome TIFF files. You know. Black and white line art. I'm busy lying to those lovely drawings, tricking them and deceiving them and turning them into itty-bitty files with black and white pixels.

And the little engineer dude was so proud of his lovely artwork. I don't think I'll tell him. I'm going to blame any smudges on the print shop.

[jamiebk]

Men....tired of the same old job day after day? Here's a new opportunity:

Stretch your talents as a condom tester..
Fri Jul 6, 2007 9:41 AM ET

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Condom makers say it's the world's best job, a "sexecutive position." An Australian company is seeking real life testers for its condom products.

"Got what it takes to be an official condom tester?" asks an advertisement launched by Durex Australia next to a photo of a busty young woman in a revealing nurse's outfit.

"With this job on your CV, it really will be a chance to brag to your mates about the special skills you possess, not to mention that your new role will work wonders with the opposite sex," Durex Marketing Manager Sam White told local media.

The "bed-testing" position is unpaid, but 200 selected testers would be up for free pack of Durex products, plus a bonus prize of A$1,000 ($854) for one lucky winner, White said.

In return, testers would have to report back on the feel and performance of the company's products.

Only Australians need apply, and would-be testers will be asked to explain why they should be considered. Humor would help in the application, Durex said.

"To apply, simply explain why you think you're right for the position (missionary is acceptable) and you could be eligible for the employee bonus of $1,000," said the ad on Web site http://www.durex.com.au.

[BigJon@Work]

So many indecorous jokes . . . must restrain fingers . . . ARGH!