[Cooter Brown]

Well, yesterday afternoon we (my design group) had a series of meetings with our engineering manager. We are going thru a major division restructuring and our group is being merged/dissolved into a larger design group, still at the same location (Bartlesville, OK). Well, after my design group met our new boss, the plant engineering manager called me into his office for a 'talk'. Turns out, with our group being basically done away with, there wouldn't be really enough work to keep me here, so he offered me a promotion. The catch is I would have to move to Lawrence, KS (outside of KC) and move into a manufacturing engineering position. The job sounds pretty good, pretty much a 50/50 shop floor/office split, which I like, but I REALLY don't want to move to Kansas. My wife just got accepted into nursing school here and starts in January, and her kids live close.

Now, not that I'm trying to base major life decisions off a bunch of 2 wheeler riding yayhoos but if anyone has some past experience with something like this I would like to hear about it.


*PS- the meeting with the engineering manager that offered me the promotion basically went, "Here's this promotion, take it or take the highway"

 

[golgiaparatus]

Well, yesterday afternoon we (my design group) had a series of meetings with our engineering manager. We are going thru a major division restructuring and our group is being merged/dissolved into a larger design group, still at the same location (Bartlesville, OK). Well, after my design group met our new boss, the plant engineering manager called me into his office for a 'talk'. Turns out, with our group being basically done away with, there wouldn't be really enough work to keep me here, so he offered me a promotion. The catch is I would have to move to Lawrence, KS (outside of KC) and move into a manufacturing engineering position. The job sounds pretty good, pretty much a 50/50 shop floor/office split, which I like, but I REALLY don't want to move to Kansas. My wife just got accepted into nursing school here and starts in January, and her kids live close.

Now, not that I'm trying to base major life decisions off a bunch of 2 wheeler riding yayhoos but if anyone has some past experience with something like this I would like to hear about it.


*PS- the meeting with the engineering manager that offered me the promotion basically went, "Here's this promotion, take it or take the highway"

Will you get canned if yiou stay?
If so, thats a tough one...& I'm not touching it with a ten foot pole.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Move to KS. Can't be any worse than OK.

 

[Cooter Brown]

Will you get canned if yiou stay?
If so, thats a tough one...& I'm not touching it with a ten foot pole.

yeps, I'm struggling with this one pretty hard

 

[binary visions]

Are they going to give you any kind of decent severance package if you don't take the job?

If so, the severance might give you enough leeway to spend some time finding another job you like.

If not... tough one.

I don't think I'd move for a job unless it was something I really loved and I could make a very clean move (i.e. I had nothing tying me to the area).

 

[PonySoldier]

Whats the job market like in Bartlesville for you current occupation?

 

[Echo]

I believe ghostrider had a similar situation not too long ago. He hit the highway and has a WAY better job now.

 

[biggins]

damn thats a tight spot to be in.

if you move will they pay all of your relocation costs? if thats the case you might want to consider it. i mean your wife can go to nursing school just about anywhere. I guess it all depends on the severence package and the job market though.

this kind of crap is why i will officially be a lazy worker that does the bare minimum. No matter howhard you work for a company and no matter how much you care about their success and no matter how much you do for them or go the extra mile, they are still gonna screw ya in the end.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Maybe you should move to Flagstaff, Coot.

 

[Skookum]

Hmm out of the all the neighboring states you could move to Arkansas would probably be the lamest out of all of them with Kansas a close second. Of course it's not a promotion and move to somewhere like Colorado.....

i'd look and see what else in your area was out there, and if things don't look too promising a quick weekend trip up to Lawrence to check it out, probably wouldn't hurt.

 

[Cooter Brown]

damn thats a tight spot to be in.

if you move will they pay all of your relocation costs? if thats the case you might want to consider it. i mean your wife can go to nursing school just about anywhere. I guess it all depends on the severence package and the job market though.

this kind of crap is why i will officially be a lazy worker that does the bare minimum. No matter howhard you work for a company and no matter how much you care about their success and no matter how much you do for them or go the extra mile, they are still gonna screw ya in the end.

yeah, it's a pretty whoop ass relocation package: movers come in and pack up and move my crap, paid motel for a week during the move, paid expenses to travel up and find a new residence, 1 month's salary, mileage for the vehicles to drive there...........etc. Smokin deal, I just reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally don't want to move

 

[biggins]

yeah, it's a pretty whoop ass relocation package: movers come in and pack up and move my crap, paid motel for a week during the move, paid expenses to travel up and find a new residence, 1 month's salary, mileage for the vehicles to drive there...........etc. Smokin deal, I just reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally don't want to move

damn man that aint bad at all. sorry to hear about the predicament.

 

[rigidhack]

OUCH
Don't envy your situation, that's for sure. I think that if it was me, I 'd see if I could locate another job in town. The KC job might be nice, but it sounds like it comes with a very high cost. If you were not married, then it would be easier to go. If your wife has been accepted into nursing school, stay where you are because the income Nurses make is not to be sneezed at (I'm married to one too). My guess is that in the long run, the two of you will end up better off financially by staying (despite the short term pain). I could be wrong if the promotion comes with a huge pay increase (which, given what I have seen of corporate America, it doesn't).

 

[Heidi]

I'd stay and look for a different job if your wife starts school there.

 

[Wumpus]

Hmm out of the all the neighboring states you could move to Arkansas would probably be the lamest out of all of them with Kansas a close second.

Have you started drinking again?

Beside North Dakota don't know what could be much worse than Kansas.

 

[SkaredShtles]

<snip>
Beside North Dakato don't know what could be much than Kansas.

Speaking of drinking, what are you trying to say here?

 

[ridetoofast]

yeah, it's a pretty whoop ass relocation package: movers come in and pack up and move my crap, paid motel for a week during the move, paid expenses to travel up and find a new residence, 1 month's salary, mileage for the vehicles to drive there...........etc. Smokin deal, I just reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally don't want to move

that pretty much sums it up right there. if the severance package is good, which im guessing it might be if they offered you a moving package like they did, i'd try to find something else in the area to keep the mrs happy.

either way good luck and keep us posted.

 

[MTB_Rob_NC]

If they are willing relocate you, Id say jump on it. Corporate relocation packages can be sweet. Your wife can go to nursing school anywhere.

It is obvious that they think highly of you, or this would not even be put on the table. This is a sweatheart deal if I have ever seen 1. Do this, stay in their good graces and who knows what doors it will open for you. They could easily just let you go and tell you to have a nice day. They do not need to offer you severance if they are merging/eliminating jobs.

 

[Knuckleslammer]

Tell the guy to **** off and punch him in the face

 

[SkaredShtles]

Note to self: Never heed *any* of Knuck's advice.

Ever.

 

[Ciaran]

this kind of crap is why i will officially be a lazy worker that does the bare minimum. No matter howhard you work for a company and no matter how much you care about their success and no matter how much you do for them or go the extra mile, they are still gonna screw ya in the end.

Sounds like you work for Kaiser Permanente. I find out 5 years into the job that we get no retirement medical benefits. And I work for a freaking hospital too!

Tell the guy to **** off and punch him in the face

Knuck always gives the best advice. And besides, once your wife finishes nursing school she'll make some good money. There is a nursing shortage you know. So go ahead... punch him in the face!

 

[MTB_Rob_NC]

Sounds like you work for Kaiser Permanente. I find out 5 years into the job that we get no retirement medical benefits. And I work for a freaking hospital too!

medicare

 

[Cooter Brown]

quick update

just talked to my current manager, he still has a couple irons in the fire for me here, buuuuuuuuuuuuuut, they are kind of long shots

 

[PonySoldier]

Note to self: Never heed *any* of Knuck's advice.

Ever.

Now some of his advice is alright...the one about smashing someone in the face with a VCR was okay... :evil:

 

[DNA]

The whole Kansas thing sucks, but Lawrence is the best place in the state to live. It is a decent college town. It has a fairly cool downtown area. Good live music scene. A couple of decent trails nearby (the levee trails are in town). There is a medical school there, so I imagine that they have a nursing school too for V. You aren't very far from the MRT trails in Manhatten plus the KC freeride stuff. The biggest drawbacks are the f'ed up Kansas state school board and their medieval ideas of science and, worst of all, the beakers (KU basketball fans).

 

[berkshire_rider]

Is the wife open to the idea of moving and going to nursing school somewhere else? If she is, I would say take a short trip up there and look around. $hit, make them pay for it - tell them it's contingent on you making your decision. If the area seems like a place you like, go for it. If your wife isn't open to the idea of a move, then your choice has been made for you. Update the resume'.

 

[teamkranzelbike]

I just went through the same deal with my job. I took it. They moved me and gave me a promotion and a huge raise and all I asked for. Problem is I got moved from PA, To Kentucky. I was close to Diablo, Reading, as well as tons of downhill and freeride trails. Well in case you don't know There aint no Downhill or freeride stuff in this part of the state. Windrock Is the closest. 5 hours , thank you. May as well as sell my Dh bike and by a freaking Banjo!!!! any way, do not move for the money or the job if you aint going top be happy where you are going. Id rather be unemployed and riding the stuff i live than be well of and living a miserable existance!!!

 

[jimmydean]

I understand where your at. I just got back from a weeks vacation and found out my job is being done away with at the end of the year (because of plant closure, that's on the 23rd of this month).

I have spent the last 2 days sending out resumes, but they say that they will have the new budget approved in January, so I "could" be back by February.

I CAN'T move, my wife would kill me. So my only options are find something else, or take some time off and hope the phone rings. Me being the jackass I am, I am taking matters into my own hands and finding something else in this area.

Not sure what your job market is like, but one of the main reasons I live near Portland is the fact there are a ton of companies in this area.

I would look for something else, keep the KS on the back burner if you can, and hope for another iron to heat up either there or close by. Your wife will love you for it.

 

[Cooter Brown]

Well, we go up Monday morning for a scope out sesh. Meeting Tuesday morning with the plant manager, and more scoutage tuesday and wednesday. Looks like I'll be taking this job as of now, unless something extrordinary happens that allows staying.

Sounded like a very cool job when I talked to the guy on the phone just now though. 30% desk time, 70% shop/testing/prototype building time, which is pretty much my idea of a perfect corporate job. It's a promotion on top of that, he said, so it will be a good raise, and I do have friends in the KC area that ride too. I just hate to leave my friends that I ride with here. Dammit this is hard

 

[dh girlie]

Well, yesterday afternoon we (my design group) had a series of meetings with our engineering manager. We are going thru a major division restructuring and our group is being merged/dissolved into a larger design group, still at the same location (Bartlesville, OK). Well, after my design group met our new boss, the plant engineering manager called me into his office for a 'talk'. Turns out, with our group being basically done away with, there wouldn't be really enough work to keep me here, so he offered me a promotion. The catch is I would have to move to Lawrence, KS (outside of KC) and move into a manufacturing engineering position. The job sounds pretty good, pretty much a 50/50 shop floor/office split, which I like, but I REALLY don't want to move to Kansas. My wife just got accepted into nursing school here and starts in January, and her kids live close.

Now, not that I'm trying to base major life decisions off a bunch of 2 wheeler riding yayhoos but if anyone has some past experience with something like this I would like to hear about it.


*PS- the meeting with the engineering manager that offered me the promotion basically went, "Here's this promotion, take it or take the highway"

Bartlesville? Is that where those wine coolers are from?

 

[DNA]

Dammit this is hard

Suck it up princess!

 

[berkshire_rider]

Well, we go up Monday morning for a scope out sesh. Meeting Tuesday morning with the plant manager, and more scoutage tuesday and wednesday. Looks like I'll be taking this job as of now, unless something extrordinary happens that allows staying.

Sounded like a very cool job when I talked to the guy on the phone just now though. 30% desk time, 70% shop/testing/prototype building time, which is pretty much my idea of a perfect corporate job. It's a promotion on top of that, he said, so it will be a good raise, and I do have friends in the KC area that ride too. I just hate to leave my friends that I ride with here. Dammit this is hard

If the wife is into moving, the job is good AND pays more, you can always drive down and ride with the old peeps on weekends / vacations.

 

[SkaredShtles]

<snip>The biggest drawbacks are the f'ed up Kansas state school board and their medieval ideas of science and,

I thought they all got the boot in this last election?

 

[DNA]

I thought they all got the boot in this last election?

They did, but it was a couple of years ago. I am not sure if there was some turnover in the Board or what, but they are back on the crazy pipe ... http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/11/08/evolution.debate.ap/.

 

[SkaredShtles]

They did, but it was a couple of years ago. I am not sure if there was some turnover in the Board or what, but they are back on the crazy pipe ... http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/11/08/evolution.debate.ap/.

I thought I'd heard that every one of the nutcases was replaced in early November.............

Maybe they're finishing out their term?

 

[PonySoldier]

I thought I'd heard that every one of the nutcases was replaced in early November.............

Maybe they're finishing out their term?

They voted the knuckleheads out in Dover, Pennsylvania..I believe this is what you are thinking of.....

"One of the significant stories in this year's mid-term elections in the United States was the revolt of Dover, Pennsylvania voters, who ousted all the members of a school board that had imposed "Intelligent Design" in the county's science curriculum. "

 

[DNA]

Yeah, they got rid of them in Dover. The Kansas Board won't be up for reelection until '06. There is talk of lawsuits to hold this up until a new board can be voted in. From what I have read, 6 of the 10 members voted for the ID stuff.

 

[geargrrl]

what about the wife's kid? How do you ( and she) feel about abandoning him?

 

[Cooter Brown]

well, we'll be leaving sunday evening to go to lawrence to scope out the area on monday. I meet the plant manager on tuesday morning, tour the plant and see what I'll be doing, meet the co-workers and such. Then next weekend we'll head back up and look for houses and the breweries. So, I have resigned myself to the fact that we will be putting jayhawk plates on our vehicles.

I'm actually kind of excited about it.

 

[Andyman_1970]

Hmm out of the all the neighboring states you could move to Arkansas would probably be the lamest out of all of them with Kansas a close second.

Arkansas has much better mountain biking and outdoor stuff (rock climbing, kyaking, etc.) than KS.