20 As I prepare to move my family 2500 miles across the country, I’m left wondering.
I’m the poster child for how fucking weird this country is right now.
My wife and I purchased this house in February 2008. She is the chair of the art department at a local high school. At that time I was in school to obtain a BS in Civil Engineering.
Fast forward to summer 2011. I have graduated from school, I passed the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, and I’m cast out into the wild…competing against not only the 90 people I graduated with, but also 80-85% of the graduating class from previous semesters for the miniscule number of available jobs (plus people from other schools across the state).
Example: an entry-level Bridge Engineer position with the county fielded 220+ qualified applicants. I made it into the “Top 24” lottery. My name was not chosen.
In Oregon, there is no demand for Civil development. This state is basically the Portland metro area, the coast and a few towns through the Willamette Valley/I-5/I-84 corridor. There isn’t much out here. Yes there are piecemeal projects going on here and there, but the state and local governments are not doing well, and that is a big problem for Civil Engineers, especially those with no formal experience trying to break into the field.
I laugh heartily when I hear our president speak about how we need more students going into Engineering. Another 2 classes of Civil Engineering graduates has passed through the Oregon state University system since I graduated…and now all of that supply is on the market out here.
It’s a tough spot.
One of my friends from school recently got a job as a Civil Engineering Technician. He graduated with a MS in Geotechnical Engineering. Typically an associates degree from a trade school is the qualification for a Civil Engineering Tech.
Nice find there fellas…seriously.
The writing is on the wall, and I’m getting the hell out of here.
Additionally, after our son was born late in 2010, we made the decision that we were not going to put him into daycare. That meant (obviously) that one of us needed to stay home.
In a shocking development, I was not able to find a job that could provide for us to a level comparable to what my wife was doing, so thus began my adventure as stay-at-home dad.
I did get a job “slinging hash down at the shit house” on swing shift (I wasn’t fucking the boss), but that was bullshit and didn’t work out.
On top of all of that, our impeccable timing (January 2008) and lack of foresight when purchasing this house has left us in a very unsustainable situation.
I had no need to be close to my family when I was younger and didn’t have kids. So I traveled for a while and decided to move 3 time zones away. Now that I have a child (and another on the way), I realize how important having immediate family nearby really is. So we are moving back to my home town (Pittsburgh).
My wife grew up in San Diego, so this should be interesting. The words “you are not going to like the Rust Belt winter” have been uttered several times.
I’m wondering, what exactly is it that realtors do (specifically looking at you buyers agents)? When we were looking for a home, I did ALL (as in 100%) of the searching for a property. All this woman we hired had to do was drive us to the houses we wanted to see and call the sellers agent with an offer. That’s like 10 hours of work. Her “gift” to us was to take care of a very minor furnace repair. I’m not complaining about her taking care of the issue, that was nice…just don’t tell us that it’s a fucking gift after you took 2.5% of the rather hefty sales price.
Needless to say I was vastly underwhelmed by the experience.
Now there are fucking celebrity realtors that I see peddling their wares on the TV box when Mrs. ElizaMae controls the remote. Are you kidding me? I love when they flash the commission on the screen and I get to dab the tear rolling down my cheek with my Civil Engineering diploma.
Yeah yeah, I’m a little salty.
Being a sellers agent seems like it would require slightly more work (and we like ours).
How is the real estate market out here you ask? Good, not great. We sold in 5 weeks and that is with a tremendous undersupply right now.
We do have 2 things going against us: 1) neighborhood and 2) we have the ‘most expensive’ house on the block.
If you are unfamiliar, for people in Portland it’s all about the neighborhood you live in. We don’t live in a “hip” or “cool” neighborhood. We feel like it’s kind of a hidden gem…but it’s on “the other side of the tracks” (i.e. east of 82nd Ave.), so people are reluctant to look over here. There aren’t coffee shops or (cool) bars or restaurants within walking distance. But that also means there aren’t many homeless dudes, tweakers and rats roaming around. We also made the mistake of buying the largest house on the block.
In a stroke of beautiful irony, a 2008 campaign poster from a Mr. Barry Obama touting “PROGRESS” adorns our dining room wall purely out of spite at this point. It’s a framed limited edition print that we received as a wedding gift (from my wife’s brother), so I can’t break it over my knee.
My best to you all.
-EM
20 Responses to “A Slice of the Obama Years”
Earl
EM: A revealing post, good luck on the move. And once again, top shelf music choice.
elizamae
Thanks.
Glad you are enjoying the tunes.
wvufan87
Pittsburgh’s a great city. That’s where I grew up down the north hills n’at. Yunz el be fine. Arnh City, Peppie’s, and Stillers.
elizamae
Bethel Park here. Thanks.
widespread panik
Great writing!! Good luck back east. The RE agent part and framed poster were the highlights and SO TRUE. I feel for you engineers. I have a few clients doing electronic stuff in high end jets and military applications and they are killing it.
elizamae
Thanks.
If your moniker is in reference to the band, Space Wrangler was/is among my most played CD’s ever.
zenhunter
Oregon is a beautiful country with a snail economy; in other words, the world is still out there waiting for you.
Bon Voyage!
elizamae
Thanks, I’m going to miss a lot about this place.
A quick example: there is this road, Marine Drive that parallels the Columbia River along the northern border of the City of Portland. The road runs between the airport and the river. Driving east on this road looking toward the airport, you can see this expanse of river valley followed by the Cascade foothills and then Mt. Hood towering there on the horizon 11000 feet above where this road lies (~ sea level). I don’t take that kind of thing for granted and I’m glad that I was able to spend some of my life in this beautiful place.
surplusdroids
Great post.
1.) Save the frame.
2.) Burn the poster.
3.) Enjoy a brief cathartic release.
elizamae
Thanks for the advice; however I don’t feel like getting divorced, so I’m going to hang on to the poster.
ultramarine
Pretty good story. Hope things go better in Pittsburgh.
elizamae
Thanks. I’m sure the tale will continue here from time to time in these Godly halls.
Frog
Interesting article for the most part, except for the political part.
People always seem to believe politically what their friends and family do, and to select the facts that support that and to discard all other facts. So I find politics to be a dull topic from which no one ever learns anything.
elizamae
Aside from the title, I thought the political content was rather muted.
Thanks for reading.
Yogi and Boo Boo
Hang in there EM. It can always get worse. Far worse than you can ever imagine. It can also get better. Again far better than you can ever imagine. In the immortal words of Joe Strummer: “the future is unwritten.”
elizamae
Thanks. It’s true.
stukas
What happened to us? I’m not a fan of Obama’s policy by any measure, but I sure as hell do not blame him solely for the general hardship myself, my family, or anyone else is going through. You entered a profession that was in oversupply with lack of demand…sorry for the bad timing, but no president is responsible for assuring that all segments of the labor force have ideal structural balances. I mean cmon, you bought a house in 2008, in an expensive part of the country, trying to get a job in a sector that wasn’t hiring…..what did you expect. This was not Obamas, Bush’s, Clintons, or any president/prime minister/whoever the hell you want to blames fault. The economy is a fluid market with entirely too many dynamic forces for any man or single central force to maintain that will be ideal for every individual in the system. We would all be better off, individually, and as a country, if we stopped passing the buck and the blame onto others, and look in the mirror. Get over it, we might not get mulligans in life, but we sure as hell get second chances. Stop blaming some figure head and get the life you want back. It’s up to you, not some politician.
elizamae
FWIW, the Obama angle came to me at the last minute. I’m not blaming him at all. His presidency just has happened to coincide with these events. In fact, I think my tone throughout the post conveys a self-deprecation whereby I understand that I’m primarily to blame for the predicament I find myself in.
You are correct, these things could have happened regardless of who was in office…it just so happens Obama is in office. As an ardent supporter in 2008 (I do live in Portland for fucks sake), I’m very unimpressed with the performance of his administration. Hence why I would like to remove the poster from the wall (often with great prejudice).
Blah blah blah, he was given a shitty hand…yeah, I know. I fucking hated the Bush administration, so you’re preaching to the choir.
Additionally, when I decided to go (back) to school, it was late 2006 and CE’s were being hired regularly at that time, so that part of your assertion is untrue.
Thanks for the comment.
Cheesefries
Obama’s doing a great job. What the hell.. The reason this economy is bad is Nixon’s fault.
Danny Wakefield
Elizamae,
Try graduating with a law degree from a fourth tier law school. Thought it would be great but couldn’t find anything. I manage telephone book deliveries and it works out ok but sure didn’t see this many years ago.