Stores in Texas don't know what sleds are so we had to improvise . ..
Showing posts with label texas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label texas. Show all posts
Friday, December 6, 2013
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
BNSF BOUND
BIG NEWS! Our plan with moving to Texas is showing results! Here's the story so far.
After getting here Chad had another interview with BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) for entering into the training program to be a dispatcher, which is run through one of the colleges here. They take 15/16 people a time to train over 4 months and hundreds apply! His last round of interview had about 100 people and he was chosen as the 2nd alternate for the class. Which both bummed us out but we also knew he was on their radar. We were told the next class would be starting in June, which threw a major wrench into wedding planning... like, could Chad even be there if he's taking this intensive training?!?
We kept in contact with the person in charge of the classes to see if anyone hadn't registered or dropped out before the classes started and no one had. Monday the 31tst he got a phone call offering him a spot!! 3 weeks before the class!! We are thrilled. He started yesterday and has his first test tomorrow. Most of the first part of the training is in a class until the end of April. He'll get a little break - we're hoping to spend it in Montana - and then the last part will be more hands on training...June 6th should be his first day as an actual employee.
Looks like we'll be in Texas for awhile . . . .
After getting here Chad had another interview with BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) for entering into the training program to be a dispatcher, which is run through one of the colleges here. They take 15/16 people a time to train over 4 months and hundreds apply! His last round of interview had about 100 people and he was chosen as the 2nd alternate for the class. Which both bummed us out but we also knew he was on their radar. We were told the next class would be starting in June, which threw a major wrench into wedding planning... like, could Chad even be there if he's taking this intensive training?!?
We kept in contact with the person in charge of the classes to see if anyone hadn't registered or dropped out before the classes started and no one had. Monday the 31tst he got a phone call offering him a spot!! 3 weeks before the class!! We are thrilled. He started yesterday and has his first test tomorrow. Most of the first part of the training is in a class until the end of April. He'll get a little break - we're hoping to spend it in Montana - and then the last part will be more hands on training...June 6th should be his first day as an actual employee.
Looks like we'll be in Texas for awhile . . . .
Saturday, October 30, 2010
LIST 4: THINGS TO DO IN TEXAS
For the last 5-6 weeks we've been pretty confined to our apartment. Mostly because we didn't want to spend much money until we got paychecks coming in and felt that we had a little extra to use on fun stuff. I'm sure there's even more than this to explore, but here's a few things I've heard about or want to do!1 - Fort Worth Zoo ... we've yet to see a tiger in a zoo, maybe we'll get lucky here
2 - Fort Worth Botanical Gardens ... DONE! It's free to walk the main gardens and a couple bucks to check out the Japanese Gardens
3 - Six Flags Over Texas ... we skipped out on the state fair, we thought this would be more fun
4 - Go see a Texas Rangers game ... Someone had mentioned to us tickets were inexpensive, we'll see how that goes next year now that they'll play in the World Series!
5 - Burgers Lake ... 30 acre park with beaches, slides, picnic area, etc!
Museums
6 - Amon Carter Museum of American Art
7 - Kimbell Art Museum
8 - Fort Worth Museum of Science and History
The Stockyards
9 - Fort Worth Herd ... cattle drive that runs every day
10 - Billy Bob's ... the world's largest honky tonk. They get really great artists to play on the weekends, you can get a general admission ticket for $15. LeeAnn Womack in November!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
BIG NEWS #1: WE MOVED!
I have not mentioned this on my blog yet for fear of jinxing all that was going on -- but we moved to Texas!
Chad is trying for a position with BNSF as a train dispatcher. It involves a 4 month training class before getting the job. The idea was to take the class offered in September and be working right after that. However, a week before his tests and interviews the people in charge filled the September class, so now the next one offered is in February.
Rather than waiting things out in Montana, we moved to Fort Worth, Texas to be prepared and do everything possible to get this working in the right direction. We didn't want to be in a situation with breaking a lease on our place or keeping employers up in the air about when our last days would be. Also moving in February would have been terrible through all the snow in Montana and Wyoming. So, we're here now and have time to adjust to things here before his class starts.
Thankfully, our friend Drew helped us drive down our Uhaul and 2nd car and unload it all into our tiny apartment. We went from about 1900 sf in Bozeman to 750 sf here! But it's an exciting challenge to see if we can live in our space more efficiently. Before he left we went out to PF Changs for dinner - it's the best! The area it's in is known as Sundance Square, a pretty safe spot downtown. We'd planned on a movie after dinner, but there were so many people out and things going on that we walked around and eventually ended up in a rock and roll dueling pianos bar - so much fun!
I don't mind the heat. If we moved the beginning of the summer that might be different, so it was a good adjustment to come down in the fall. I've noticed a few things, probably more than a few, that I'm not sure if I expected or not.
- No one really speeds: People tend to follow the speed limits, and rather than passing you people are pretty content with just following behind you until they get wherever they're going
- People are very friendly: Maybe it's the accent (which the lady at the bank said we'd develop) but any time we've gone to shop or eat everyone has been so nice.
- Store are clean: I'm sure there are places that are no so clean, but because of all the competition and repeats of many stores (we live so close to 2 different shopping areas that are almost identical) there must be a higher standard for keeping things as clean as they've been.
At the moment we are looking for jobs. Probably the scariest part of moving was that we didn't have immediate jobs lined up. I found a great nanny agency to sign up with, but most of their clients are in Dallas and that's too long of a commute. There's a private preschool about a block away from where we live that's looking for help. I've had 2 interviews so far and should hear back by Friday if I get that job. Crossing my fingers hard!
Chad is trying for a position with BNSF as a train dispatcher. It involves a 4 month training class before getting the job. The idea was to take the class offered in September and be working right after that. However, a week before his tests and interviews the people in charge filled the September class, so now the next one offered is in February.
Rather than waiting things out in Montana, we moved to Fort Worth, Texas to be prepared and do everything possible to get this working in the right direction. We didn't want to be in a situation with breaking a lease on our place or keeping employers up in the air about when our last days would be. Also moving in February would have been terrible through all the snow in Montana and Wyoming. So, we're here now and have time to adjust to things here before his class starts.
Thankfully, our friend Drew helped us drive down our Uhaul and 2nd car and unload it all into our tiny apartment. We went from about 1900 sf in Bozeman to 750 sf here! But it's an exciting challenge to see if we can live in our space more efficiently. Before he left we went out to PF Changs for dinner - it's the best! The area it's in is known as Sundance Square, a pretty safe spot downtown. We'd planned on a movie after dinner, but there were so many people out and things going on that we walked around and eventually ended up in a rock and roll dueling pianos bar - so much fun!
I don't mind the heat. If we moved the beginning of the summer that might be different, so it was a good adjustment to come down in the fall. I've noticed a few things, probably more than a few, that I'm not sure if I expected or not.
- No one really speeds: People tend to follow the speed limits, and rather than passing you people are pretty content with just following behind you until they get wherever they're going
- People are very friendly: Maybe it's the accent (which the lady at the bank said we'd develop) but any time we've gone to shop or eat everyone has been so nice.
- Store are clean: I'm sure there are places that are no so clean, but because of all the competition and repeats of many stores (we live so close to 2 different shopping areas that are almost identical) there must be a higher standard for keeping things as clean as they've been.
At the moment we are looking for jobs. Probably the scariest part of moving was that we didn't have immediate jobs lined up. I found a great nanny agency to sign up with, but most of their clients are in Dallas and that's too long of a commute. There's a private preschool about a block away from where we live that's looking for help. I've had 2 interviews so far and should hear back by Friday if I get that job. Crossing my fingers hard!
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