[ALUmnus]

Ah, Genworth. SingleMom, USA. I work there too. But I won't say where, it'd be a dead giveaway as to who I am, and I can't let that kind of exposure happen.

[Sly Fox]

Most everybody knows my deal ... I'm a Sports Producer/Reporter for the NBC station here in Houston. But I also freelance as a Executive Media Coach/Trainer working with some top level execs for huge corporations. And believe it or not I'm beginning to enjoy the latter more than the former.

While I have loved my last two decades getting paid to go cover sports, it doesn't lend itself to having kids. You work all nights & weekends when the sports is going on. Once my kids get in school I'm going to have some hard choices of my own.

[Flamesfanva]

I want to win the Lotto and retire. Of course since I don't play the Lotto, I think my chances of winning are zip

[LUconn]

ah lotto. A tax on those who can't do math.

[ATrain]

Maybe I should become a VA lottery exec which will put me in line to be the next president of Radford...oh the fun I could have with that job

[Baldspot]

Noticed the auto insurance business noted earlier. I work for Nationwide's bigger competitior in the industry. Have a bachelor's degree in Communications from LU, a master's degree in HR/labor relations from Lynchburg College. Currently finishing my second insurance designation which includes an all expense paid trip to next year's graduation, which happpens to be in Hawaii. The following year's graduation is in Philly. Considering I work in Southeastern Philly, I'm really hoping to pass my upoming tests. Normally I manage a claims unit. For fun I serve as an arbitrator along with many employees from Nationwide in resolving liability disputes. Years ago I worked in sales/management with Enterprise Rent-A-Car and really enjoyed it but I had to make family decisions as well. Went from 65 hours per week to 38 hours per week.

Some of you like Sly might want to consider doing the Tommy Maddox thing in reverse. Go from a sports oriented career to having an agency. There's some serious cash to be made if you like dealing with the public and some time to play golf as well. People with ties to the hispanic community is also a huge plus. Just a thought.

[Sly Fox]

My wife & I have a number of things in the works that we hope can blossom.

[Flamesfanva]

Funny Enterprise was mentioned. I just saw an ad for management trainees, that I was thinking about applying for, but I love my time off and wouldn't like working 65 hours a week or so.

[cheerbren]

I work a few odd jobs but my main job is Homemaker. I get to cook, clean, and watch my three children grow into productive Christian humans who will hopefully not kill each other before they leave the house. I get no benefits, not enough pay, and hardly a thanks. I love it and am fortunate to be here. My husband brings home the bacon by doing electrical stuff(electrician) and he thanks me for cooking sometimes.

[bigsmooth]

i have been in sales all my life. though rewarding it is a grind. i am in HVAC sales for a company based out of lynchburg.

[PAmedic]

BREN that cooking skill is undervalued! Mrs2b is a top rate cook, basically thats the only reason I'm still alive- I'd be eating nothing but PBJ and Breyers ice cream.

[Rocketfan]

Breyers ice cream .....

[Sly Fox]

Oh you get benefits, Bren. Those of us who have to go to the office and miss the kids all day will argue you have the most fringe of benefits.

[TIMSCAR20]

Well you guys know what I do on the side (TV) but I am guessing some of you don't know what I really do for a living. I have said it before but I am a professional Project Manager. I have worked in IT departments for companies like AT&T, AOL, SAIC, DynCorp and a few others. I am at Anthem Blue Cross right now as a Configuration Analyst. For the past few years I have been doing contract work and working on TV during basketball season. This year I had some overlap as my AOL contract went into the beginning of the season and the latter part was taken up by Anthem where I am currently. I worked at AOL in the Northern VA area and they paid for me to stay up there full time (though I did come home to Lynchburg on some weekends). I work in Richmond for Anthem and I stay here during the week but am home by 5 PM on Friday evenings. I make my own hours basically which is nice. I like the Richmond area to work and am thinking of moving here but I really like Lynchburg. Someone said it though there are just not too many jobs especially in my field. I am in the insurance business at this moment but mostly my work has been in the IT sector. The down side to this type of work is you are never sure where you will be and you are always the new guy but it is never boring because I am always having to learn new ways of doing things, learning new hiearchies of leadership and understanding the way various companies do business. It pays well too but it is tenuous sometimes. I just found out late yesterday afternoon that the project I have been on has been scratched and my last day here is next Friday. I am kind of glad because I get to watch the NCAA's all day and my new assignment will probably happen sometime in April (if I can hold them off ). I missed the Big South tournament basically because of this job but I am thinking of staying here in Richmond this weekend and hanging out with Chris Lang at the CAA.

[LUconn]

Man, I don't know about that commute but you've got a Richmond contractor's salary and a Lynchburg Cost of Living. You, my friend, have it all figured out. How did you get started doing that kind of work?

[TIMSCAR20]

LUconn I have been doing Project management work since I moved to Northern VA after graduation in 91. I worked for 3 years at AT&T and was laid off. I moved to a logistics company in Crystal City, VA for a year and went back to coach at Liberty for a couple under Jeff Meyer. I coached at William Campbell high for 1 season and I swore off coaching forever after a 2-18 season. How we won 2 games I will never know. We were a bit over matched most games. I lost Travis Watson (UVA) and another 6-10 player to Oak Hill and then my point guard gets hurt in the last football game. Add to the fact that the football coach told 3 other players not to play basketball because he didn't like me and there you have it. The reason I got into coaching is because I always wanted to do TV and I figured that being a former player and a former coach would give me some credibility. Jerry Edwards was kind enough to let me call some games with him back then (the year I was at William Campbell) and they also let me do girls games when we didn't have a game while coaching at Liberty. I got back into PM work and went back to AT&T for 3 years until I was bought out. I took a mid level management buyout thinking the job market would want my services. Boy was I wrong. After Sept 11th, there were thousands of people in competition for dozens of jobs. I went to a job fair on one occasion and was in line when I got out of my car in the parking garage! And I got there early. There had to be 10,000 people there. I stood in line for nearly 4 hours. Anyway, since then I have just been doing contract work so in 2003 we decided to move to Lynchburg since it was a wee bit cheaper than Leesburg and the fact that I was going to start working on FTN in the winter. Now I am a free agent and I go to the first recruiter that gets me a job usually in Richmond or DC but I am open to Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham or whatever. My contract here came to an abrupt halt as I think I said earlier but I will be back here in Richmond soon I would think. I can't complain because I get my bills paid, live in an inexpensive place and I have a lot of freedom. The down side is traveling and milage on our vehicles....Liberty needs to hire me full time and utilize my rare combination of corporate America with TV skills. AD Barber, if you are out there, holla

[Flamesfanva]

http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Sate ... 7066&path=

This just seems to add to my perception that I should move to the Greensboro area to get a better job. The Burg while nice, just doesn't seem to be growing with good paying jobs.

[bigsmooth]

GREENSBORO???? i think you would be better to head to the triangle or charlotte.

[Flamesfanva]

Yes, Charlotte is high on the list. Visited there back in September and liked it. But even Greensboro seems to be growing better than Lynchburg. Liberty has many job openings, but just doesn't pay well.

[ALUmnus]

What they need to do is tear down all of the old vacancies around town and attract some major businesses instead of squabbling about Kohls and Old Navy. This town needs more white-collar opportunities to take advantage of the colleges, and construction can only sustain things for so long (and even most of that benefit is going to the surrounding counties).

[Flamesfanva]

Yeah, the whole shopping center debacle had me rolling my eyes and wondering exactly what does the city council do. They aren't attracting any new major businesses.

[Jasmen8182]

As alluded to on other posts, I was extremely distracted with relational issues (ok-immature is a condensed way to say it). My BS is in HUEC; I started in Children's ministry but they discontinued it and Dr.Fink sugg. I go with nursing or eled. Many things catch my interest; I love learning from people. I spent (wasted?) 12yrs. in food service; some of it was management. Now I'm blessed to be a homemaker, yet struggle to make the most of this time in my life.... Sly, you are right abt. fringe benefits but I have to constantly remind myself to do the best I can each day while making time to enjoy my children and try to find creative outlets. Homeschooling has its rewards for working around Dad's strange schedule, family needs... but is quite challenging. I also need to consider what to do abt. a Master's or something. After Homecoming, my husband looked at house prices and taxes... in the Lynchburg area; costs are so much less than up here in NE, but pay down there ...? He drives truck- after retiring from 20 yr. with the state. I have looked at the LU School of Law pics. a couple times. Practicum hrs. for my degree were split btw. food service and child care (I couldn't wait to leave the daycare to get back to the supermarket). I am big on justice, but that doesn't mean that Sch. of Law is for me. Anyone know of some good testing or way to find out my calling in addition to prayer (which I need to do more of...).
Unlike some other posters, I would love to go back to school- and stay there- if it weren't for my children, finances...

[Baldspot]

Jasmen, if you are thinking of law but aren't sure about going back to law school, you might consider becoming a property casualty adjuster for a company like State Farm, Nationwide etc. They routinely negotiate bodily injury settlements with attorneys on behalf of their insureds who were found liable in accidents. Several adjusters I work with are in fact lawyers that work for my company because they like the hours and pay better than working in a small law firm. Your location may be a problem, however, because many insurance companies tend to stay away from Connecticut and Mass due to unfavorable state statutes.

[PAmedic]

You could also look into Criminal Justice if you have any interest in that. I actually am considering finishing up in that field, its a good option in the DLP at LU.

[LUconn]

A fellow Connecticutter.

If you know a lot of people, get into real estate. Simply listing a house yeilds you 3% of the sale and with the housing prices up there, it's a gold mine. Then if you're really into it you can find buyers a house and make the other 3%. The former can be done in your spare time. I'd also recommend becoming a rabid Uconn Husky fan (no pun intended). It will consume your life.