Posted on 09/14/2016 4:49:50 PM PDT by Bulwyf
Please forgive me as I've never posted anything before, and I'm not entirely sure I'm doing this correctly.
I live in northern Alberta, and for the last two years I've been trying to make it work up here, but it's getting far worse.
The far left government that got in both provincially and federally are killing us economically. The new taxes coming in are ensuring we don't have two nickels to rub together (they got rid of pennies). I've been fighting them on the federal level and provincial, but we have no legal political way to remove out of control governments and the locals seem unwilling to put up much of a fight.
I'm a vet, I did my time in the infantry, I did three tours overseas, and I'm not afraid of a fight, or putting my neck out there. I just don't want to be doing it all solo.
I'm a journeyman electrician in the oil and gas industry, though I can do commercial as well. The work is drying up, rates are falling drastically, and there are jobs in other areas but I don't want to move to put myself in the same boat.
I would like to be able to find something and work with more like minded people and be surrounded by like minded people, and I would like to know a few things.
1. How difficult is it for a trades guy such as myself to work in the south. (visas, and such)
2. If a man or woman comes down to work, are we able to apply for permanent citizenship?
3. Are there companies that allow us to contract? (run our own trucks, tools, etc).
4. Is that recommended to contract? I am not sure how that works out, or if it's better to go employee with benefits.
5. I'd want to be in a gun friendly state as I own some and of course you can never have enough.
6. Is anything I'm asking feasible? heh.
I'm a 40 year old man now with wife and kids, and I don't see a future where I am. I know the situation is similar in many places, but at least as I mentioned earlier, I'm not as likely to be out there solo.
I'd appreciate any input in this as you FReepers see fit.
Thank you all very much, and God bless.
Bul.
Check out the Baaken shale region of ND. It was the only bright spot during the recession and is a bit of a throwback to more independent times. ND should feel like the tropics ;-)
Never thought about east coast, is it quite conservative there?
Come to Arizona. We have everything you are looking for - and more Canadians than Canada. :)
TY!
Albertan!
“Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!” (see my tagline)
We’ve got it too, indeed.
Yep! Hot dusty flat and expensive. That’s why you oil/gas guys make the big bucks. Hell,, a truck driver can make way over 100,000 a year.
Buy a cheap trailer to live in while you make a family decision. Lot’s of guys hot bunk it to save $$$.
Good luck!
You have a house full, I wish I could help heh.
You must have more patience than I. I have three kids from 6-10, and they try my patience a lot.
God Bless and Godspeed Bullwinkle. I wish you all the best in your future ventures. Keep us posted if you can.
Thank you TF, I’ll be making a lot of calls tomorrow.
Last time things got this bad in Alberta when Trudeau senior was in power, it took 15 years to come around.
It wouldn’t be too hard to sell my house if I did it in the near to intermediate future.
My organization is in every state and nearly every nation in the world. Your skill set may fit in. I will Freepmail the name.
Texas is gun friendly but may be out of your temperture comfort range.
Click for Midland Tx ranges.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midland,_Texas
ND is actually colder than Alberta normally. The Rocky Mountains help us here a bit. When I was posted with 2PPCLI in Winnipeg, it was extremely cold.
I did date a cop from Twin Cities in MN before when I was a young soldier, and I’ve driven though those areas, it was chilly.
Fortunately, my ancestors were vikings, I can probably tolerate it.
Is the cost of living really low? The rates seem low.
It’s not unusual to clear 10k-15k a month for employee if times are good, but the amount of taxes you pay is astronomical. When you contract, making 150k-350k a year isn’t that hard to do either. I just don’t know how to compare it to cost of living there.
The cost of living up here is far higher, of that much I’m certain.
Johnson Controls, Trane and others in Colorado Springs, CO. Economy is good and the clime should suit you.
My brother worked in Northern Alberta for an oil services company that also had offices in Texas. They sent him to Texas, but he was still employed by the Canadian part of the company. Once his company was acquired by Halliburton, Halliburton helped him through the permanent resident process.
Maybe your company would be happy to have you making revenue for them in Texas rather than sitting on the shelf in Alberta.
The downside is that the same oil bust affecting Canada is also affecting Texas, though perhaps less severely.
It’s like cats: once you have three, everything else is just more food and more beds. #2 Son is a trial, though. He’s 6’3”, 280# ... like living with a bear ... and the only “stick” we have is that we can put him on the curb if he gets too obnoxious. He’ll be great at whatever he decides to do ... if only he would decide and SOON.
North Carolina has a great community college system, very inexpensive, teaching over a hundred trades. If you sort out what you would have to do to get a work visa, you can just run some searches on climate, housing, scenery, whatever, in the South and Midwest, and you’re likely to love it.
I’d rather hang with real Americans, I can’t stand most Canadians, there are far too many who are simply socialists. There are exceptions, but I’m trying to get away from here for several reasons and that’s one of them.
That being said, I welcome any conservative friends regardless of age, background or nationality heh.
Hot Bunking was pretty gross in the infantry, I hated sharing my sleeping bag heh.
I know a lot of guys do that up here too. I do own a nice house in a nice neighborhood, but it’s overpriced for what it is in my opinion.
Texas is best :) and no state income tax
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