geotex1

Thanks! Good luck with your escape plan too! I spent a fair amount of time in Conshy with my prior employer as there was an office there (one that was closed in the mess I mentioned). Figuring out the traffic is the biggest challenge followed by the cost of living. A little further out, incredible bang for the buck!

Friends, I hope this post finds you all well! Some of you who know me in-person outside the forum already know, but those who only know me here at that forum - my wife and I moved across the bridge last year! Firm I had a long tenure with made incredibly bad choices overseas in 2012-2013 resulting in the company shrinking 20% of the talent and closing 16 offices worldwide. After downsizing staff out from under me, even though my group ran 83% chargeable and the Operations the 3rd highest performer in the company, and expecting the same level of service; complete change in management structure; and, my stock devaluing $21/share, I was done. Seeing our taxes and utility bills continue an upward trend, yet our home value trending downward, we were done. It must have been kismet because an outstanding position presented for myself along with exceptional relocation assistance to be based out of the technical center of the company in Pennsylvania. My wife and I live now live in a part of Berks Co that is heaven! True countryside. For the property taxes we paid in NJ, we now have twice the home and 12 times the property, and we are bound by protected farms! The sunsets off our back deck are incredible over the hills, and stars in the night sky are clear in bright without the glow of Philadelphia. We're even closer to many of our favorite quick-trip campgrounds. My new position is a global one, and I have been traveling extensively - 64,360 flight miles in 7 months - so I don't feel really settled yet, but I definitely feel my decision was the right one for my wife and I! Even though I was born and raised in Southern NJ, after being away many years after college (living in pro-2A States) and then coming back, it never felt like home again because the farms, orchards, friendliness, and acceptance of firearms I grew up with had all disappeared by the time my wife and I moved back. I'm glad I fought with and for you against the onslaught from the NJ regulators, and will certainly never forget witnessing exactly how broken the State government is after the experience in Trenton! Going after the low-hanging fruit instead of the hard work required to really fix the problem is just no way to legislate in my opinion. All in all, I am much happier here in PA. The community is just like what my wife and I grew up in so many years ago. So even spending time traveling to both major urban centers and remote manufacturing facilities, coming back home really feels like home! I also enjoy the much more friendly attitude toward firearms... I can literally walk to a kitchen table FFL from our house for dirt cheap transfers and excellent conversation; I have an good indoor range 15 minutes from my home and 300-yard outdoor 25 minutes away and both are bargains compared to anything in NJ; and, best of all, to once again having a resident CCW and having my entire collection reunited and no longer split among relatives due to NJ restrictions! Be well everyone! I'm always on the hunt for fine examples of S&W wheel guns (just no longer inhibited by permits)! Best, R