Ducati Monster Forum

So, life changing decision time...  who better to ask then the wisdom that is the DMF..  first off, were im at now in my life isnt bad.. im a time warner tech, with ot i make over 55-60k.. soon engh ill be at top pay and will be over 100k...  in about 2-3 years once my step son finishes highschool the wife and i want to move out of ny..  Austin Texas is the plan ( Ph AZ is 2nd) .  Now, while i can get a job easier in Tx with time warner, i have always wanted to be in the military.

 I was Dq'd from the medical part when i tried the marines in 03 because i have a scar which goes from front left chest to my back from heart surgery when i was one..  couldnt hide it..  my score on the asvab was 98, and at the time i was a personal trainer.. nothing was wrong with me but they didnt care.. so i went to the army..  they got me a doctor to test and make sure butmy recruiter then went off for more training right before i was to go..  no one took over over my paper work and after a long time waiting i gave up.. was talking to the wife about trying again. She supports me but at the age of almost 32 with a 19 month old and another due in march its a tough decision.  Thoughs?


2ndly,  i wanted to be a firefighter as well..  passed the fdny test with a 98 also..  then with cut backs they canceled my class..  next time around to get in i was all ready 30, ny cutoff age for fdny enrollment..   if anyone in Austin or close by has any pull in the fd out there and can help get me in before their cut off of 35, i would try theroute too..  i would move there before the wife and kids and when the time permits the family will join me..    -sigh- either way im getting out of ny..

Tough call.

My gut reaction is to advise you to let the military thing go and make an effort to get into the FD.  If you didn't have kiddo's I'd be saying something different.

They need their dad.

I would say go take CPR for the professional rescuer, then go to EMT school. Being a FF is great, but 80% of the calls are medical and almost every paid and volunteer dept require you to be an EMT-B. Some require EMT-P.

After you pass EMT school, find a FD to volunteer with. You will get training, and see if it all you have dreamed of.  There are lots of ways to change your life with out moving away. There is no one person that could make a FD change their hiring policy for you. The testing process for each dept you are interested in should be clearly outline on their web site. I know that here in Seattle it takes about 2 years from applying to academy for our FD.

Oh i know changing the policies isnt doable but after test taking and all that some pull can get you called faster.. i had it here in ny but it was too late..

Yea the kids situation is why im discussing it and leaning away from military.  Leaving ny though is a definite.  We both want to leave..

+1 to LMT's approach.

Keep your day job and do VFD for a while to see how things fit with you and your family.

Best thing we did!  

Austin is suffering some major cut backs and there was a freeze, last I checked with friends, on FD hiring.  You might want to look at surrounding cities like Georgetown or treck up the Dallas where the economy is still in good shape.  Hell my town is 74 square miles and I'm 30 minutes North of downtown Dallas.  Austin is great but there's more industry in the DFW area.  If you decide to treck North then let me know.  I know the Dallas Police & Fire Pension people personally and can ask around.  And don't worry, there are plenty of surprising roads in the North corridor. Good luck.

I live in PHX. Lived in Austin prior. Military 20 years ago  I'll post up after work.

IZ, where didn't you live?!   ;)

Whatever you think joining the military will be like, it wont be like that.  Especially at 32 and as an intelligent person.  PASS.  You have a family and a good job, a military lifestyle is the best way to tear a family apart, I know from experience.
The FD thing sounds like a much better idea if you feel you need to do one or the the other.

You can make 100K from fixing He Man's line  :o

I'd suggest taking a harder and closer look at why the millitary and FD still attract you.
My uninformed guess is that it should be possible to get that attraction satisfied, or worked through, without actually enlisting.

I don't think your attraction is based on logic, but if it was - what's the growing market? Where will you most likely find secure/well paid work?

Your other option is to look at department if defense civilian jobs ar usajobs.gov
lots of places and if you go overeas theyllpay for the move. you'll make at least what you're making now and get the adventure


unless you go officer which i think you're too old. you'll never nake enough to feel roght about the move.  and fd is dangerous.  hello. kids. 

I would NEVER give up my military experience. I found the life to be an adventure and enjoyed it in its own right. Hell, I missed basic for months afterwards simply due to the fact that I literally didn't have to think for myself...at all.  [laugh]

But I would never go back with a family. I could blame the Army for destroying my first marriage, but fact is, it was my ex wife. It just didn't help that I was gone for the first 2 years we were married and she had no desire to live in Edgewood, MD.

I agree with Raux...DoD or do the EMT/FF thing.

Personally, I'd stay with your curren job and just move if that's what you want to do and can get a good job in the same field.

Military would be tough on the family, like everyone else has said.

Fire Dept. would be great, but it is extremely competitive to get a position. Good luck at 32 with no previous experience. It'll take a decent amount of school just to get your EMT certificate...and that'll do nothing except put you on equal footing with all the other people trying to be a firefighter. Then, if you do get hired, you'll likely make less than you'd be making in your current job. A firefighter is a great job (my dad is a retired FF), but from what I've seen you'll be very lucky to get a position.

Yea the kids are keeping me away from it.. i like to help peole but i cant be behind a desk..  i an very so the adventurous type, hell the docs said i couldnt be hit in the stomach hardor i would die when i was young.. i put that to the test..  problem with my field is in tx, time warner doesnt have a union so pay isnt as high..  here once you get all your books together top pay is 32+ n hour... with 20 hrs of OT easily had every week its good..   fd has always been a dream, deff harder at my age..  but it seems as more of a secure job (is it?) out there.    Guess i should hang up the want of being a sp sniper, seems like the more reasonable thing to do...  i dont want my kids growing up without a dad.. even as aperson who has no faith, i still believe when its your time its hour time.. 

No to the military... no offense to DMFers in the military. [thumbsup] [bow_down] Refer to wife and kids posts. Not sure what to say to the FF idea. Have a friend who got the budget axe while he was a Dallas County Constable. He looked every where locally for another law enforcement job. He finally found one in a small town in a neighboring county. Their officers are also trained to be EMS techs as well as fire fighters. Every day at work you wear a different hat. Guess that may be the wave of the future for smaller towns. Hire one person and train them to do three different jobs. Very cost effective.

Moving to Austin for NY is a plus. Austin and the Hill Country rock! That's why everyone wants to live there. I was there in college and post college during all of the 70s. It's 10 times bigger and more developed now and it ain't cheap. But compared to NY it's pennys on the dollar and like living in the middle of nowhere! [laugh] I'm thinking you should move to Austin and stick with your TW job. If you can get a TW job in Austin and make that kind of money... damn, go for it!! Austin is not for me anymore (too old and grumpy [laugh]) but at your age, with the wife and little ones it would be the move of a lifetime. Plus the roads kick ass! [Dolph] [beer]

I agree with TripleJ..don't quit your job yet C.  Look into Austin first.  You'll love it there.   It's a great place to raise your kids and party.  I'd move back in a second.  Definitely check out the Lake Travis area to live.   The school district..if you have kids..is great!!  Much cheaper to live there than Westlake area.  Although..Westlake is closer to all the action in downtown Austin and SoCo. 

If you want heat and a lot more job opportunities than Austin..come to the valley.  Phoenix is sprawling.  You can get a house cheap here right now and you won't have to pay the 3% property taxes at the end of the year like you'll have to in Anytown, TX.  I'm currently renting a friend's house in Gilbert.  The neighbors had to shortsale 2 months ago.  They bought the place for nearly $300K.  The current owners bought it for $170!     

Don't go the military route unless you're going into the DOD or contracting.   Keep playing the PSP sniper games.  ;)

Ha i dont vid games anymore..  ive visited austin twice..  loved it..  found a 5bd on 2 acres for 140k about20 min east of the city..  az we just visited this summer.. sis inlaw is out there.. both places are in the running with tx in front.. 

If you go in as enlisted you will make around $1,100 a month to start out with and because of your low rank, you will be lumped in with a bunch of teenagers. You will have to ask you CO's permission to get an apartment off base. Forget about base housing there could be a long waiting list to get in. At 32 with a family this could be difficult for you. Going into the military should be done when you are young and single so fogetaboutit.

As far as Fire goes....with this economy PD and FD jobs are few and far between. Agencies are "just" starting to hire again but it's more competitive then it was before. Where you were once fighting a 2-3% chance on getting hired it's now about 1%. I don't know about AZ or TX but a firefighter in so cal makes over 100K working 8-10 days a month. They don't have a cutoff for age either. I know guys that started at mid 40's. It is super competitive and you better bring something to the table other then working for TWC. As others said, education, experience. Also, not many people realize but in so cal they background you the same as a cop. If you have any reasons to be DQ'd you will be (credit, drugs use, criminal record, quit alot of jobs, etc).

I'd say, stick with TWC and try to move up after you move to TX or AZ.

cokey,

I spent 4 years in the military and it was a valuable life-changing experience and I'm proud of it.  But...I was a single 17 year old high school drop out when I enlisted.   Don't know what you were doing when you were 17 or a few years older, but now at 32 with a family,  game over.   Move on, there are plenty of other and better opportunities out there.

I think I understand about wanting to be in the military or a firefighter though. Sort of a midlife crisis at 32 and I've been having one since I was about 12.

As already mentioned, joining a VFD, Search and Rescue team or something similar is something to consider. Between keeping current with training and calls a VFD can take a lot of time but anything worthwhile is going to take time and require some sacrifice.

Looking for ways to add another dimension to life, there are things like Aikido or other martial arts classes, getting a private pilot's license, coaching a kid's sports team, or hang gliding.  You could write a book about a guy in your shoes who goes ahead and lives out his dreams.  You *could* even sell the Duc and buy a Harley  8).  You can also see I'm running outa ideas.

One last thought, it's not clear to me why you're going to wait a few years until the kid graduates from high school?  I'd transplant the little bastard now, be a good first lesson that it's not all about him.

Bob


 

the tests mean little

the written and the PA are simply the thinning process

the Chief's interview is where its at

they don't want to know "who" you are

they want to know that you can follow protocol and wont be a liability

FD without at least your basic is far less than 1%

much better luck if you have your medic

Good luck

and you will have much more of it if you don't set your sights on big city fire

He's my step son, legally we cant move unless permission granted from father..  i would love to at least do the training like boot camp.. with the fd, i wanted to go when i was 23 but had just missed the test.. thats when i tried the marines.  End of that year (04) i started at twc... the fd exam is given every 3-4 years i took it at 27 passed then my class was canceled due to cut backs.. next exam came around and i was above the age limit...  had i'd known i could do emt then just pass the test and i would be in, i would have been in fdny..  oh, and i dont have a duc yet ;(

Here's my suggestion (totally unqualified suggestion, BTW):

A. Move to Texas...It's the best state  ;D
B. Keep the TW job for now
C. Enroll in some EMT classes. They're easy and easy to find in the eveninings...Think it took me 4 months (if I remember right) of 2 times a week after work to get my EMT-B. Start there, work your way up to Paramedic.
D. Still keep your TW job, work for a Volunteer FD or EMS service on the weekends, evenings, etc.
E. Realize that they don't pay squat for these jobs as compared to your current employment.
F. Find out if you like it or not and are willing to have your pay cut in half (or more)

I worked as an EMT-B for about a year after college. I enjoyed it, but found out I couldn't handle the shifts. As others will tell you, I think it's something your made for or not (FD will be the same, I'm sure). I ended up staying awake every 24 hour shift, whether it was 3 calls or 15 calls...I kept waiting for the bell to ring all the time, couldn't relax.

As much as I liked it, it was killing me. I'm sure others with experience in this will laugh at me  [laugh]


Oh...and the pay...not the best in the world. If you like being a medic, or fighting fires...do it on the side. LOTS of rural FDs in Texas will take you, no problem. Especially after the last year we've had down here. I spent a week fighting wildfires (with a lot of oversight obviously) and helping out FFs with heat exhaustion, after jumping on a truck that filled up at our office...every pair of hands is useful down here this year.

Yeah, you mentioned most of this in your initial post, by the time I go to the second page I'd forgotten it, sorry.
About the kid's Dad, is it out of the question to get his blessing on a move?
What does your wife think of all this?

I'd make a list of options of things you could do, take a hard look and cross out the ones that are physically not going to happen and stop thinking about them.

Absolute bottom line is, within reason if you know what you want to do and you're determined to do it, where there's a will there's a way.   I don't know what the age limit is or how the reserves work these days but they might be a possibility that would send you through boot camp and allow you to be home most of the time.  Of course, these days the reserves tend to get called up.

Wouldn't hurt to contact the Austin FD now and see what their situation is and what the specific requirements are.

And I just read Le Pirates post and it makes a lot of sense.  Except the part about Texas being the best state  ;D

No. It is the best state. [laugh] OK... it could use some more good roads and some rain. ;)

The wife deff wants to move..  shes tired of ny..  fathers a low life who wont do anything good..  been thrgh custody battles all ready but people are idiots..    reserves in ny get called quick, coworker is in it and he told me..  Austin has great roads.. 

If your work relocates you to another state, it would seem reasonable that the father would have no say in the move as long as your wife has custody.

The roads are great on the way from lake Travis area and beecaves if you're riding in town to work everyday. They are scary as hell though at night with the deer all over the place!

They have shared custody.  My job doesnt relocate.. 

You may be right.  Seems like there are a few states in that same general area and category; Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.  I get them mixed up and never can remember which one is which...

True that! [thumbsup] Big ass Hill Country deer that love to lurk on the shoulders of the roads at night. :o

The best state is the one you live in that makes you happy to be there. I like Texas (I'm a native... and yes it needs twistier, cooler roads!) but I'm tired of my home town of Dallas. When junior gets out of high school we will be looking to escape... but still in TX. 

Austin was great in the 70s for me and it still is for those that live there now. But it's not the same Austin, it's grown a lot. But if you have no 1970s memories of Austin (like wow, goovy man... what's a 70s memory? [laugh]) to compare it to then living there right now would be awesome. I have to admit, it's the coolest part of the state to live in. Me? I'd go for the Hill Country but wouldn't live in Austin city limits. But you guys should. Gotta beat the hell out of NY city. And I don't mean to offend any DMF New Yorkers. Just saying cokey is tired of it.

I'll add one more to the "avoid the military" bandwagon.  I'll leave out the bitterness, though and just say that it will be really hard for you and your family.

Another thing to consider when moving is that nearly nowhere in the southwest (you texans just get to be lumped into that regardless of what you think  :P) is the cost of living as high as in NY.

Whats consider hill country on the map?  Cheaper isnt the word..  my1500 3 bdr 2 n a 1/2 bath is considered a great deal, in brooklyn..  in the city i work in apartments smaller then my living room that are 2300-3500 a month.   When we were looking at houses in austin, about 20 miles or less east, found a 5 bdr house with 2acres of land for 140k...  i dont want to live directly in the cith.. at least 20-30 min out of it..  suggestions? 

Austin huh... Isn't there a bar in downtown Austin called Eddie's? I have this IZ_ memry of a DJ offering free buckets of Rolling Rock beer if you show your...

I love riding out in the hill country...around Kerville, follow the river out west, then south to the Frio. My wife's family has a cabin out there on the Frio. Hard to find a nicer place to be in the middle of the summer than swimming in freezing cold water and drinking a beer when it's 115F outside  [laugh]

of course....thats only when there's actually water flowing (i.e., not this year)  [thumbsdown]


Hill country is...well...anything west of Austin, and north of I-10. I guess thats the best way I would describe it. All the way out to Junction. Some other Texans might correct me here.

If your going to live outside the city, I like west and south of Austin better than east. East is kinda flat. North of Austin is alright because there are a lot of jobs (Round Rock, Georgetown, etc). My brother-in-law is in the home renovation business and does a lot of high end work in on the north end...no shortage of money to be had down there.

Like I said..Lakeway (Lake Travis area)..also Beecaves, Dripping Springs, Oak Hill, are all out in the hill country.  There's a master planned community out by the dam that's nice.  Westlake is also a great area with excellent schools.  More expensive though.  You can't go wrong with any of those areas Cokey.  

I felt like I won the lottery when I was hired as a professional ff 18 years ago...... and I still feel that way today. And it really is a lottery in the sense that luck has more to do with it than anything else, so get your basic qualifications and get your resume in. Research the departments you apply to and figure out what they look for on their exams and interviews and prepare for them. Texas A&M (i believe) has and excellent 12 or 16 week firefighting course that cost a few bucks but gets many of their people hired.


when it comes to quality of life and time with family, it's an almost impossible occupation to top.

The only down side at the moment is the attack of public workers unions in your country by sneaky politicians.

best of luck in whatever you decide.

BeeCave will be expensive.  Anything West towards Marble Falls is pricey as hell.  Stay North or East of downtown for your better "bang for the buck."  Austin traffic is some of the worst in Texas BTW.
Also, Fastwin lives near congested downtown Dallas and it takes him an hour + to shuttle out of the city.  :o  East of Dallas are some fine roads along with SW, N and NW.   [thumbsup]  Let us know how we can help.

although..... pricey and bad traffic may be relative terms compared to what he's used to I'm sure  ;)

Ill ride my bicycle. No traffic worries lol..  yea I hit some traffic when I drove to Austin almost 2 yrs ago. It's not too bad...  can you lane split legally?

legally?  NO, but if you don't get caught anything is legal.  [Dolph]

Check out Wilderness EMT certification, and maybe move where they have an active search and rescue crew. Its fairly hardcore stuff. These places tend to have great roads too.