Well I ventured up to Fort McMurray for a visit and to take care of some annoying family business and to my complete surprise... Nothing changes! The same old gossip, same ugly people in Diggers. I can't say that I miss it at all, I guess the only thing I miss up here is the big fat paycheques (even though they wouldn't go near as far as when I left this town!)
The cost of living here is so bloody high, to quote Harley " If you ain't making $120,000 a year up here, your wasting your time!). Less then 5 years ago I bought a 1500 square foot house with a double attached garage less than 10 years old for $150,000. I thought it was steep at the time, way back when $150,000 was alot of money. Now up here I wouldn't be able to find a "decent" condo for that, let alone a house. That same house I bought for 150 is now worth 235.... what would be the point of coming to this town and trying to make a go of it? Gas is still $0.729 a litre while I saw a $0.599 in Calgary before I left. God love opportunism at it's best. I don't know how retailers can sleep at night. It is fine for the people who work at the plants and make the $30 - $35 an hour but the people on the service side are hurting... hurting bad.
I guess my only piece of advice to anyone thinking of making the big plunge and moving up here is if you have the big money plant job and you like being in the middle of nowhere, sure come on up. I want you to know that you won't be any further ahead than someone with a so-so job living in a desirable city with affordable services and a much better selections. If you do not have the high dollar job lined up, DON'T BOTHER! This place will kill you on rent and there is nothing for sale up here worth the money that is being asked. You are four and a half hours from any decent center that resembles civilation and then that is only Edmonton!!
I guess the moral of this story is I am not one bit sorry I left this place. There are only a small handful of things/people I miss, other than that I made one of the best decisions of my life when I moved. Things will be going all that much better when I get back down there and get settled into a new job (one this time I hope I like!!) I'll be back in town early next week, I'm looking forward to it! |
