I posted the following in my livejournal recently, but haven't gotten many responses so far, so I was hoping y'all could help.

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I was talking to fellow Target Backstockâ„¢ worker Ken yesterday, and he'd heard from someone that I had a degree. The exchange:

Ken: What's your degree in?

Me: Aerospace engineering.

Ken: Jesus, man, what are you doing working here?

Me: I need money till I find an engineering job.

Ken: Where's your degree from?

Me: Embry-Riddle.

Ken: PSHHH! With a degree from Riddle, you should be able to walk into any company out there and get a job on the spot. (Embry Riddle Aeronautical University is often called "The Harvard of the Sky", so has a lot of prestige associated with it by those in the aerospace industry.)

Me: Yeah, and I have a really high GPA and tons of experience. But I've submitted around 75 resumes online with no luck.

Ken: Shit, man, you can't submit resumes online, you'll never get anywhere.

Me: Yeah, the black holes of resumes. But after 75, I'm surprised no one's contacted me.

Ken: Well, no people ever see online resumes.

Me: Eh?

Ken: No real-life human beings ever see online resumes. They're run through a program that looks for keywords and if your resume has them, then a real person gets to see them, but if your resume doesn't, it never gets seen.

Me: Well, shit, I didn't know that. How would you recommend going about finding a job then?

Ken: They say networking's the best way to go right now with the lull in the aerospace industry.

Me: I'm doing the networking thing. Know a friend at NASA JPL who might be able to hook me up with a job. Unfortunately I only know one or two people who have jobs in the field, so haven't had much luck.

Ken: Another way is to walk right up to a plant with your diploma and resume in hand and say you'd like to apply for engineering positions.

Me: Really, just walk right up?

Ken: Yep.

Me: Cool.

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So, I was thinking, if it IS true that I can walk up to just about any plant and get a job, I really have nearly total control over what part of the country I'll work in.

I can pick any city I want and go live there.

Upon realizing this, my first inclination was to grab a US map and a dart and have some fun. The story of how the obijo family came to live in such-and-such would be a fun story my progeny would tell for generations.

But then I thought - what if I hit Asslick, Indiana, or Xenophobe, Montana. First off, small towns like that aren't likely to need someone who can plan a burn for satellite orbit correction, or integrate the payload and propulsion systems in a way that minimizes the energy the solar panels must generate.

But even if Asslick wants me, who says I want Asslick? (Coincidentally, I've known for years that this phrase will be my epitaph.)

So, I started to ask myself - what do I want from a city? I'm someone who's just starting to see the colors of quality in life - up till now I've only seen grey. So what I want from a city, and even what factors are important to consider when deciding upon a city, are a complete mystery to me.

So, I think I'll do some brainstorming. Here goes:

- I LOVE LOVE LOVE the pacific ocean. But not the rocky fun-to-look-at beaches. The sandy, fun to swim in, surf in, bodyboard in, play frisbee on variety.

- I like San Francisco, but wonder if it's too pricey to live down town, which is really where I'd want to be - down by the action, down by the ocean. AE's make really good money - 50k to start, and 100k and beyond within 5 to 10 years, but even with a cost of living adjustment in this salary, I wonder if it's enough to let me live where I want to live, and still afford to pay off loans and credit cards initially, and buy a Bose Surround Sound system, a jet ski, completely automate my house, and do other geeky euphoria later on.

- Seattle, and LA? Two incredibly large cities I know hardly anything about.

- I like San Diego, but wonder if it's overly conservative navy presence will make it a stick in the mud as far as entertainment, wildness, and cutting-edge fun goes.

- Cutting-edge fun, this is exactly what I'm looking for from a city, entertainment wise. And NOT mainly cutting-edge sexually. Cutting-edge sexually is cool, but sex is a small part of life. A fun, dirty, pleasurable part, but the topping on the cake, not the cake itself. The cake itself is creative artistic fun.

- So, cutting-edge creative artistic fun. Where the fun consists of ME being creative and artistic, not in looking at the creative and artistic works of others. Is there any city that boasts this kind of day- and night-life?

- I'm thinking Seattle, San Diego, San Fran, LA, or some other californian city might have all these characteristics, but don't know enough about them to know.

But other than this, I really have no clue what to look for in a city. So, if there is anyone out there that know some good distinguishing characteristics of cities that will help me discern where I want to live, PLEASE help me out.

I can pick any city in the world, and live there. But I don't know how to pick.

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I ate a hooker half a bottle of knife.

Think of London, a small city
It's dark, dark in the daytime
The people sleep, sleep in the daytime
If they want to, if they want to

I'm checking them out
I'm checking them out
I got it figured out
I got it figured out
There's good points and bad points
It all works out and though I'm a little freaked out I will
Find a city
Find myself a city to live in. I will
Find a city
Find myself a city to live in.

There are a lot of rich people in Birmingham
A lot of ghosts in a lot of houses
Look over there!...A dry ice factory
A good place to get some thinking done

I'm checking them out
I'm checking them out
I got it figured out
I got it figured out
There's good points and bad points
It all works out and though I'm a little freaked out I will
Find a city
Find myself a city to live in. I will
Find a city
Find myself a city to live in.

Down el Paso way things get pretty spread out
People got no idea where in the world they are
They go up north and come back south, y'all
Still got no idea where in the world they are.

Did I forget to mention, to mention Memphis
Home of Elvis and the ancient greeks
Do I smell? I smell home cooking
It's only the river, it's only the river.

I'm checking them out
I'm checking them out
I got it figured out
I got it figured out
There's good points and bad points
It all works out and though I'm a little freaked out I will
Find a city
Find myself a city to live in. I will
Find a city
Find myself a city to live in.

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What others say about boorite!

Someone really needs to check their facts here. Unless they're comparing London to, say, Mega City 1 or Dark City.

Man in a Hat
The Klezmatics

[i]A lidl zing ikh itst far aykh vos iz a mekhaye
Di melodi'z an alte nor di verter zenen naye
Dos gezungen hobn undzere zeydes un oykh babes
Un der tate flegt gezungen nokhn kiki-shabes[/i]

Sailor man, don't tell me of the seven seas of yore.
Java and Sumatra do not move me anymore.
Say farewell to Finland, further inland than Algore
Adios, Antilles, and so long to Singapore.

Having fun in London is like flying on the floor.
Isle of Man I'll manage to avoid like Manticore.
Budapest, I get no rest, and Boston is a bore.
A man unique to my mistique in New York I adore.

[chorus]
I met a man in a hat with a tan
Met a man in a hat with a tan
Man, Hat, Tan,
I met a Manhattan man
(He met a man in a hat with a tan
Met a man in a hat with a tan
Man, Hat, Tan,
He met a Manhattan man)

Chile is so silly that to be there is a chore.
Cameroon and Malta cannot melt me to the core.
Show me mirth in Perth and I will show you how to snore.
Dublin is too troublin', y Peru es lo peor.

Sayonara Tokyo, by you I set no store.
Place your bets that Berlin gets a zero after four.
Destination, anywhere, I told you once before.
No, no no, I do not deign to go there anymore.

[chorus]

Estroil, I get no thiril, though all your oceans roar.
Mad Seville, your barber left me shorn upon the shore.
Barcelona, larceny upon your matador!
And arson is my wish upon Decatur's wan decore.

Ciao to China, bye to Bali, places I delplore!
Au revoir to Cote d'Azure, on you I shut the door!
Later, Laos, Katmandu, and ta-ta Ecuador!
A man so Greek in his physique in New York I adore!

[chorus x2]

[size=1]Translation of the Yiddish:
A regular delight, right now I'll sing a song for you.
Though the melody is old the words are all brand new.
Our grandpas used to sing it and our granmas sang it, too.
And our fathers sang it Shabbas after consuming tradtional delicacies.

Translation of the Spanish:
...and Peru is the worst.[/size]

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peddling the funny around since 09/24/2002

There's always the NASA Glenn Space Center in Cleveland, but... talk about grey....

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I wanted my half in the middle and I wound up on the edge.

San Francisco is RIDICULOUSLY expensive. I think a home in the slums would run you at least 400k.

Try running these numbers with a mortgage company and see what you pre-qualify for. Average home in San Francisco is like 600k.

I thought San Diego was a party city. Or was that Santa Cruz? No, probably Santa Cruz. Sorry, I don't visit that area much.

Come live in Oakland with NeoVid and me; we can hang out together sometime. :-P

But anyway, I think all of the Pacific Ocean states have good weather. Just about anywhere else, the temperature can get fairly high and the humidity is almost unbearable, while the cold season is icy as heck. There's generally no snow in California, but quite a bit of rain nowadays during the winter.

Real estate prices don't seem to drop in California also, so if you're considering practical advantages. But the cost of living is fairly high. A year or so ago some capitalists screwed us over with some jacked-up electricity bills (i.e. energy crisis), so that doesn't help any (remember kids, deregulation of ANYTHING is BAD BAD BAD).

Politics-wise, California is pretty liberal. Good amount of anti-war bumper stickers going around. The KKK doesn't support our freeways like they do in some states. They might not have a branch office here; maybe they accidently set up next to the Black Panthers branch office, who knows.

So while we're at it, anyone else wanna share details about his or her state?

Start spreading the news.
I'm leavin today.
I want to be a part of it!
New York, New York!
These little town blues are melting away.
I'll make a brand new start of it.
New York, New York!
If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere!
It's up to you,
New York, New York.

In short, try NYC...I live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and believe it or not, the other night, our city was named one of the safest cities in America.

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Welcome to Bohemia. Population: a lot Cash flow: a little

Safe? Sure. But stifling.

My mom constantly complains of how oppressive it feels to have police presence EVERYWHERE. Mind you, my mom's an ex-hippie, so she's hypersensitive to that kind of thing.

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I am a delicate fucking flower. https://beacons.ai/jesskent

Yah, Obijo, I've had the same difficulty in breaking into the aerospace engineering field. Might have to do with the fact I never went to collge and have the mentality of a sixteen year-old, but still... should it be THIS difficult for me? Those NASA assholes can go screw, their rejection letter shows they have no vision for potential talent...

Anyhow, ever thought of New Orleans? 24-hour bars, great food, a place where a musical jam can burst at anytime, anyplace... whores... violent gang wars... rampant poverty and homelessness... one of the highest murder rates per capita in the country... what else could a starving artist in need of inspiration want out of a city?

Oh, wait, you're an aerospace engineer. Nevermind.

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Ham-fisted ham fisting.

I don't really like most of Connecticut.

Then again, we have the highest per capita income, longest life span, and Sikorsky(areospacy stuff i guess).

Why don't you wanna go to the EAST coast Obi? Gangsta fued?

Johnsburg, Illinois

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"Nothing expresses the brutal grandeur of rectal polyps and anal fistulae quite like the mother-tongue of Goethe."

He wrote that for his wife. Tom is cool.

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I wanted my half in the middle and I wound up on the edge.

quote:

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Ken: They say networking's the best way to go right now with the lull in the aerospace industry..

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As unsettling as this might sound...the most we see NYPD is in their cruisers. I only sometimes see them on the street without their damn cars.

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Welcome to Bohemia. Population: a lot Cash flow: a little

I lived in NY for almost half a year... I don't think I saw a cop once... I was in the outskirts sof Brooklyn... Sheepshead Bay, baby... I really liked it there... i intend to live there at some point... to have a sushi place on every block is just so much sweeter than living amongst the trees and gas stations and rednecks of semi-rural NH...

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Ham-fisted ham fisting.

don't forget fucking starbucks and mcdonalds

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Welcome to Bohemia. Population: a lot Cash flow: a little

i think i saw more seven-elevens than I did Mcd's... Mmm... seven-eleven coffee is so good when there are not that many Dunkin' Donuts around...

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Ham-fisted ham fisting.

There's a sushi place on every block in Sheepshead Bay? I think not. Most of the people in Sheepshead Bay are just as "Raw fish? Ewwwww" as people in Lincoln, NE.

Plus, Sheepshead Bay has the distinction of being one of the least public-transportation-friendly points in NYC. When I had to get from Ditmas Ave on the F train to the high school I initially went to in Sheepshead Bay, I had to take the F to the end of the line, transfer and wait for the D, take that several stops, and then wait for a bus. Thankfully, I only had to do that for a couple of weeks before I was diagnosed with cancer and pulled out of school.

But yeah, I do remember it being nice that I could hop on the F, ride it for 30 minutes, and be in the West Village. There was even entertainment on nearly every ride... lechers clinging tenuously to sanity, homeless people dragging 3 lawn&leaf bags filled with soda cans into a crowded subway car, "saved" people of various religions standing on a seat and testifying... I guess I do miss it all a bit.

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I am a delicate fucking flower. https://beacons.ai/jesskent

Yeah, those subways in New York are pretty weird. San Francisco has something like that though: MUNI.

Precisely why I took a cab everywhere in NYC.

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I wanted my half in the middle and I wound up on the edge.

quote:

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Come live in Oakland with NeoVid and me; we can hang out together sometime. :-P

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quote:

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quote:

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Come live in Oakland with NeoVid and me; we can hang out together sometime. :-P

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You bastards never told me lived there. I was down in that area recently to see Blind Guardian (which was fucking CANCELLED). If my band ever gets a show in the bay area, you guys gotta come see us! It is a possibility.

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i know its taking a detour from the usual suggestions but france has a reasonably stable aerospace industry type thing going on at the moment. in particular toulouse has a firm standing as does bristol UK. but of course thats suggesting a move of country entirely but hey, itd be a change wouldnt it?

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Who knows what fear lurks in the hearts of men? MIKE BOBSICO KNOWS! And if you give him a decent tip when he delivers your mail , he might tell you.

You want good food and variety, Seattle is there. There is still a company or two involved with aerospace here is well. Housing has gone up recently. Seattle has growth pains from growing from a large town into a small city.

I see pictures of the nightlife here and remember when that crap was my life - participating and watching. But now I'm a daddy - I hear about nightlife at work. My info in this area is second hand.

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"Jelly-belly gigglin, dancin and a-wigglin, honey that's the way I am!" Janice the Muppet

Sorry it took so long to respond to this. I read each response as it came in, I'm just incredibly flaky about responding.

I think I was premature in "Pick a city, any city" too. Good goddamn is the aerospace industry in a lull right now. Senior-level engineers are applying for mid-level positions, mid-level engineers are applying for entry-level positions, and entry-level engineers? We're on some goddamned comic page talking about picking a city, one hand to the crotch, the other pointing up at the sun and

laugh

laugh

laughing.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I'd really like to end up in Seattle, I get a real good vibe from that city. But honestly, at this point I'd accept a job in Asscrack, Wyoming just to be getting paid, I'm so godawfully poor.

I'm sending my resume your way too, fuzzyman, thanks a bunch for the offer.

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I ate a hooker half a bottle of knife.