h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This: http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/12/news/economy/cities_oil/index.htm?cnn=yes

is why Mr. Emee isn't going to take a job that will pay $16K more than what he's making now...

Good grief - it would help if I could spell of a Thursday morning.

$16,000 buys a lot of expensive gas. However, the stress of a long commute is hard to put a price on.

That and he likes having more time in the evenings with the girls. And the job is in the airplane mfg industry. He's worried about cut backs. And the job is to help implement an MRP system so he would probably have to work overtime. So it isn't all about the $$ gas but that was certainly a big factor for him.

The whole concept of the study itself seems silly to me. You could ask the people who live in the area if they're hurting because of the higher prices and it would take 5 minutes and a lot less money than some big study. Oh well. I guess consultants are people and need jobs too. I commuted 90 miles a day for 9 years. I know people who are still commuting who drive much further than that.

In my town, we don't have the infrastructure to walk or bike. There is *no* public transport unless you are elderly or destitute. And then there's the housing situation. The schools associated with downtown, where most of the higher paying jobs are, are not that good so people live in the outlying parts of town. There's some gentrification going on, but it's mostly the young un's moving in downtown.

Bah! He conditionally accepted two days ago and now their HR department is saying that the pay is too high for the grade and could he take a lower salary plus a signing bonus instead? That would be helpful for now but what about this time next year when reviews are done & the budget is spent? Oh yeah sorry we couldn't give you the salary we originally promised. It's all seeming very shady.

Doesn't sound good to me. Whether his previous acceptance was "conditional" or not, once they change the offer that acceptance is irrelevant. He accepted a different offer.

He hasn't quit his day job. We're waiting to see what their HR department is going to put together. I'm not holding my breath at this point.