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Tech Work in the Boonies?
ERIAMJH asks: "I am a tech working in the metro DC area and my wife wants/desires/requires/NEEDS to move out to a rural area. She can't stand the city/suburb living any longer, and I either go along or she goes without me. I've thought of the telecommute option, or maybe start a small business in an under-served area. I've been doing all kinds of tech work for the last 9 years. I've been slowly moving from the sys admin side to software development. I'm now working on prerequisites for a Computer Science MS. I work for a large defense contractor on a government contract. I would love to work on smaller projects with more individual input, but I worry I will end up working construction or plumbing. Have any of you moved from the hustle bustle of the big city to the peaceful countryside and actually found good work?"
If you're thinking a small town, you could easily set up a small computer shop, and do tech house calls for a relatively large area around the town you're based in.
If you're really isolated (ie. on a farm), then you will have more problems.
boom boom boom
You could try working remotely - systems admin and code-cutting are two IT related roles that can be performed reasonably easily from a remote location.
Systems admin can mostly be done via a VPN connection (unless your VPN gateway is the problem requiring tech support), and code-cutting can be performed similarly.
You might need to check what network connectivity you can get from a non-urban or suburban location, but you should be able to find something reasonable.
Fast, cheap & reliable. Pick two.
Everybody needs a phone. Even someone in the "boonies". That means there are a ton of small to mid-sized telecom companys sprinkled throughout the "boonies". Usually this telecom is also the local ISP. That means UNIX. That means project development. Since they own the copper, they almost always make a profit. That means they have money to spend. This is a good thing.
For every annoying gentoo user, are three even more annoying anti-gentoo crybabies. Take Yosh from #Gimp for example.
You might look for wireless ISPs in your new or prospective location. Most WISPs are very small companies, so you'd probably get a chance to do some of everything--network admin, programming, tech support--not to mention tower climbs in snowstorms. Read up about this new and absolutely fascinating industry (to me anyway, since I work at a WISP) at the Broadband Reports WISP professionals' forum. --C. Crowley, Wiacomm, Inc.
Interesting definition of "two way street". The guy's problem is to advance his career, the woman's is to make the sacrifices necessary for him to do so. How's your marriage, I wonder?
Couples often have to make difficult choices when one partner's needs conflict with those of the other. Does her problem with urban living rate with his problem finding work? That's something they have to decide for themselves -- you're in no position to decide for them.
I have to comment on "I can't really explain what makes us compatible.". If you figure it out, you should bottle it and sell it. That would be the end of your money issues!
You may also want to take into account the fact that housing cost in rural area is often much lower, which in turn cut down your living expense. If you are one of those who pay an insane 500K$ mortgage to live in CA or NYC, this may make a world of difference.
:wq
And you guys wonder why you're single...
Seriously, think about it. Presumably, he loves his wife and wants her to be happy. For whatever reason, she can't be happy in their urban/suburban environment. So he wants to make a move to someplace where she will be happy.
Who's making the most money has nothing to do with it.
And before you say I don't know what I'm talking about.... I made a very similar decision last year. I make almost twice as much as my boyfriend. I was laid off, and the jobs I was seeing in my field were all out on the east coast. Problem is, moving out east would have made my boyfriend seriously unhappy. So I looked for other opportunities. I did find something local, and we're currently living happily ever after. If I'd just said "screw you, I make the big bucks, we'll go where my career says we need to go", I doubt we'd be together. I certainly wouldn't stay with someone with that attitude. A marriage (or any long term relationship) is a partnership, and the person with the biggest salary should not use that to call all the shots.
at present. How rural are you talking? This town has 231 people in it but we're practically out of town too. You could very well set up a computer shop in a larger town, one that at least has a dozen store fronts. Realize one thing though. Once the local population has a computer, they probably won't buy one from you again for many years. You won't have much recurring business. You could offer classes of course. One of the biggest money makers is to offer internet access in a town that doesn't already have it. My local telco owns about 2 dozen exchanges here in rural Kansas and Nebraska. They also handle the cable TV. Since they of course own the lines they can easily provide fancy smancy Internet options that other rural places could only dream of. This town with 231 people in it has DSL. The neighboring town doesn't get it's phone service from this company but they do get their cable TV from them. That town has cable modems. My folks' new house north of town 5 miles is going to be on with long-range Ethernet soon. They've offered dialup since 96 or so. I was their second helpdesk person hired at the time. I now keep their servers running like clockwork and have had a hand in some of their networking over the years. That's another possibility. Get on with a local telco/ISP. They can always use a good programmer/sysadm. Learn to set up custom applications to handle all types of user data and billing in databases. Make user info available via LDAP. Things like that. It may seem rudimentary to you and I but I can assure you that few small town ISPs have this. Everything they do now is replicated in multiple locations and is very disorganized. Learn to provide this functionality. If you want to learn a trade that ISPs will always need, hone your spam-filtering and security skills. These are two skills that will always be needed. Also, give your local school district a try. Perhaps you could work for them part-time to keep their servers running or provide them with custom-built machines with support. There's lots of options in the sticks. You just have to look for them. Me, I want to live miles and miles from the nearest person and yet have very high speed Internet access. I also want to be able to get to town quickly for supplies and entertainment. This is why I plan on getting my pilot's license. :) Best of luck.