So if I were to leave kansas...

[Adderall]

I travel to different cities and usually spend a few months at a time there. Hopefully this helps.

Places I've lived and can talk about:
Kalamazoo, MI - college town but pretty cheap. midwestern style friendly people and plenty of geek/tech people to interact with. I think it's better than the big college towns (ann arbor, lansing) because it's cheaper.

Washington, DC - overpriced living and overinflated egos. The whole DC/Baltimore east coast mentality is just exhausting. Almost everyone I met there was super high-strung.

Chicago, IL - plenty of things to do, places to eat, and sights to see. a bit friendlier than DC and if you drink the bars are (generally) MUCH cheaper and more relaxed. not sure about the geek factor but a friend of mine continually finds great deals on retro games at the thrift stores. I found a ridiculously cheap CDX at goodwill as well. Also, some guy bought some NeoGeo MVS games from me, so I know there are some cool people around.

Places I've spent enough time to feel like I can judge:
Milwaukee, WI - I want to move here. Even cheaper than Chicago, not as much of a "hipster" vibe. Nice "midwestern friendliness" that I'm used to in Michigan. Close to water and near other cities to explore (green bay, chicago, minneapolis)

Austin - good vibes from here. it's pretty hot and humid in the summer. nice scene of younger people to hang out with. there are cheap places if you are OK with living in cheap places (I don't agree with the reply that you need to make 100k to live there (although that would be nice)). They are growing and the whole city feels pretty "fresh".

Nashville - Friendly place. Lots of homeless people but they aren't mean, they just have a shit ton of homeless shelters and places for them to continue being homeless (whether that's right or wrong I don't know). Music scene is nice but can be annoying if you live in the thick of things but there are other places to go to instead of all the tourist places on the main drag. The city does seem a little small though and you might get bored of it quickly (I know I did after about a month). That being said, southern hospitality is real... and the southern girls are some of the best looking belles I've (ahem) seen.

Portland - lots of micro brewing here. nice, friendly people. lots of hippy-ish folk. the weather is actually GREAT in terms of temperature. In terms of sunlight, not so much. It never really gets too cold or too hot all year around which is a huge plus for me (especially coming from michigan). Plenty of nature stuff to check out as well.

Hope this helps. Get out of town and go somewhere!

[ott0bot]

If you want to stay in the midwest, Lawrence isn't a bad place. I know you don't like going out, but alot of great live music comes through there, and the Replay Lounge is a pinball bar. Awesome little dive. Jobs are always a bit tough to come by in college towns, but if you are willing to work for 8 bucks a hour you can find something...at least untill you find something better.

Hey man, I was only making $9 at my last job, and it was very relaxed, provided you could follow and build by schematics in a timely fashion. I listened to about 6 hours of music and podcasts a day. I probably wont find another job like that. I could live with $8, especially since rooms for rent seem cheaper in lawrence. Hopefully this time I'll find one with roommates that actually fucking speak to me.

I've lived here 4 months now, and my 2 roommates right across the hallway have yet to say shit to me, besides 2 or 3 Hi's, and one accusational question regarding why their door was open. They're fucking weird. I find empty cans of tuna in the bathroom trash every night, and I hear sounds that I probably don't want to know about. Example, most nights I can hear one of them going to the bathroom and what sounds like squeezing out a wet sponge. And 3 times now, the woman forgot to flush the toilet, leaving me wonderful presents, including a complete platter of trimmed pubic hairs.

that is bizzare. what whacky part of kansas do you live in?

I don't know man....roomates can be hard to deal with. i have lived alone ever since i could afford it. i can deal with my mess....but other people can be so inconsiderate. But now I'm married...and I lived with my wife for about a year and a half before we got married, so I know I can live with her. She takes care of me! Go figure! But never had luck with roomates before that. Always some kind of drama or bizzare personal habits, or they never haver bills on time. gimmie a break.

Sounds like you could try it out in Lawrence...you've got nothing to lose.

Some advice. Take it or leave it. Try attending school half time and get some subsidised federal loans. Find something technical you can get a CCL in or heck take the gen ed classes if you can handle it. You can buy things you need and take some classes that will help you out and have a bit less of a burden on the financial front. Then you have a small, low interest loan to pay back when you eventually finish. It's taken me 3 years and I'm still working on it, plus I've been able to build a small home recording studio. And by the end of this year I'll have my CCL in Audio Producion so I can at least get my foot in the door. And I can take my gen ed's online and earn an associates pretty quickly.

[ott0bot]

Great suggestions Adderall! i've spend some time in a few of those places (not kalamazoo or dc) and had some similar feelings.

[Mozgus]

I'm never going to take classes in anything. I know myself too well for that. I quit everything I start. I might as well wipe my ass with tuition money. I'd put it to better use that way.

[ott0bot]

I'm never going to take classes in anything. I know myself too well for that. I quit everything I start. I might as well wipe my ass with tuition money. I'd put it to better use that way.

I think even charmin is less per sheet, so thats not a good idea. I've never thought I'd go back to school....but it's been good for me and that is why I suggested it. But everyone is different, you know yourself better than anyone.

[corn619]

Moz, I have no idea what your trained in or what your good at, I'll assume computers but you should consider some type of training program. Thats what I did, I got into the plumbing, heating field and was making really good money in a about 2 years. I went from making $20,000 yr at Best Buy to six figures in the this field. It wasn't always easy but very worth it. I searched and searched the same companies I wanted to work for. It took about 1 and 1/2 years but I really found the perfect job working for a Nat. gas utility as a union pipefitter. Then theres the side work thats were the moneys at. The plumbing and electricial trades are really the way to go. They will always be in demand and people can't live without them. You can start making pretty good money in these fields in a short amount of time. Also there is minimal classroom time. Trades are hands on and can't be outsourced. Just a little advice from someone that was in the same position less than 5 years ago. Only difference is I was expecting a child and was just laided off. I didn't have the luxury of time so I got into a apprentice program and never looked back.

[Mozgus]

Moz, I have no idea what your trained in or what your good at, I'll assume computers but you should consider some type of training program. Thats what I did, I got into the plumbing, heating field and was making really good money in a about 2 years. I went from making $20,000 yr at Best Buy to six figures in the this field. It wasn't always easy but very worth it. I searched and searched the same companies I wanted to work for. It took about 1 and 1/2 years but I really found the perfect job working for a Nat. gas utility as a union pipefitter. Then theres the side work thats were the moneys at. The plumbing and electricial trades are really the way to go. They will always be in demand and people can't live without them. You can start making pretty good money in these fields in a short amount of time. Also there is minimal classroom time. Trades are hands on and can't be outsourced. Just a little advice from someone that was in the same position less than 5 years ago. Only difference is I was expecting a child and was just laided off. I didn't have the luxury of time so I got into a apprentice program and never looked back.

I really don't know shit about computers. Not enough to make real money from it. Congratulations to you and all that, but I'm just not a motivated person. You act like having a girlfriend and kid is some kind of obstacle, but really, that's just more motivation for you.

[RadarScope1]

Just caught up with this thread.

Tough situation man but it sounds like to me like you're doing a pretty sensible/practical thing by heading to Lawrence. Only been there briefly but it seemed cool and I have a friend or two from KC who love it there. I assume it's bigger than where you are now and yeah, you'll probably find more in the way of geek culture. I know you've already shot it down, but I will say some kind of a training program for a trade would be pretty cool. It's over with fairly quick (unlike getting a degree) and right now the government is likely to be focusing on handing out money for that kind of thing because of the economy. Just my 2 cents.

I live down here in Springfield and I will say that it's extremely cheap to live here in almost every aspect. It's big enough to have at least a little a culture but small enough to get to know people. The job market isn't great here but I don't think it's hurting as much as some other places. We've had some layoffs. One annoying thing is all the right-wing nuttishness around here but if you've lived in Kansas you're probably pretty damn used to tuning it out by now.

[corn619]

Moz, I have no idea what your trained in or what your good at, I'll assume computers but you should consider some type of training program. Thats what I did, I got into the plumbing, heating field and was making really good money in a about 2 years. I went from making $20,000 yr at Best Buy to six figures in the this field. It wasn't always easy but very worth it. I searched and searched the same companies I wanted to work for. It took about 1 and 1/2 years but I really found the perfect job working for a Nat. gas utility as a union pipefitter. Then theres the side work thats were the moneys at. The plumbing and electricial trades are really the way to go. They will always be in demand and people can't live without them. You can start making pretty good money in these fields in a short amount of time. Also there is minimal classroom time. Trades are hands on and can't be outsourced. Just a little advice from someone that was in the same position less than 5 years ago. Only difference is I was expecting a child and was just laided off. I didn't have the luxury of time so I got into a apprentice program and never looked back.

I really don't know shit about computers. Not enough to make real money from it. Congratulations to you and all that, but I'm just not a motivated person. You act like having a girlfriend and kid is some kind of obstacle, but really, that's just more motivation for you.

Best of luck Moz.

[MrPopo]

I really don't know shit about computers. Not enough to make real money from it. Congratulations to you and all that, but I'm just not a motivated person. You act like having a girlfriend and kid is some kind of obstacle, but really, that's just more motivation for you.

Seriously Moz, the more I see you post in the threads the more I wonder if it might just be clinical depression. Get that treated and suddenly you get some motivation.