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SAC, Virginia Beach, USA Posts

  • Thread starter Thread starter Winston Churchill
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Winston Churchill

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If there are any TG4 SAC's (4000/1267) that are interested in the above posts check the Manning Overseas Volunteers list. If anyone requires any info, i.e. housing, job, location etc PM me....you'll be taking my slot!!

Toodle Pip

WC
 
As a matter of interest are you timex or is the the cutback on allowances the reason for your leaving the US?
 
As a quick note, I am losing around £7,000 pa LOA as of May plus HTD and other bits and bobs. Oh and by the way today I was paying $3.85 per gallon and it is rising 5 cents per week at the moment. A really economical car will give 28 mpg. Most do 14 mpg. Oh and food costs are above TESCO and booze is twice the price for pish.

Weather 6 months of the year is tornado's.

Donald Trump is going to be the next president (with his sweep over). Piers Morgan rules the airways. There is a royal wedding this month in case you haven't heard.

Bonus. The women are gorgeous. Don't listen to the hype, ladies in the UK are fatter than the chicks here.

Set up costs are astranomical. If you have £10K behind you, go for it. If not, think again.

By the way road trips are great. Off to Savannah Georgia for Easter, Leave pass mmmmmmmmmm.
 
Vim,

I'm coming up to Tourex, I'd stay if I could! As IAL said some things do cost more, fresh fruit and veg for example, but meat is cheaper. Also if you use the Package Store on Station booze is cheaper! Although petrol costs are flying up it IS still cheaper than the UK. I've really enjoyed my time, been to a lot of places and we're off to the West Coast next week so mustn't grumble.

IAL....enjoy Savvanah, I love it! Really chilled out place, you can buy a beer in a bar and walk the streets with it...winner!
 
Alright..

Alright..

Hey up, i've just applied for this posting. It sounded like an absolute dream, but after what's been said im starting to rethink that!

Do i really need 10 g's to start off with?! That sounds absolutely ridiculous! Why cant you just move into the house of the guy you're taking over??

What is the actual job you're doing there?

Cheers
 
The money is not about the house. You have no US credit rating therefore deposits are required for everything. Your electrical stuff won't work (tv etc) so you need to buy stuff. You will need a reliable car, that costs money and then you need to insure it. 10k is very conservative!
 
Considering were an electronics trade surely you can either rewire your plugs to american stansard or just use a £1 travel adaptor especially since the majority of items now are region free or tvs can be used PAL or NTSC.
 
Cabbage84 said:
Considering were an electronics trade surely you can either rewire your plugs to american stansard or just use a £1 travel adaptor especially since the majority of items now are region free or tvs can be used PAL or NTSC.
Click to expand...

not that simple, uk/eu stuff uses 230v good ol US of A is 110v so you need a lot of step down converters to use your own kit.
 
Cabbage84 said:
Considering were an electronics trade surely you can either rewire your plugs to american stansard or just use a £1 travel adaptor especially since the majority of items now are region free or tvs can be used PAL or NTSC.
Click to expand...

For an electronics trade I am now officially concerened!

Do you have an NTSC TV or DVD? Chances are you don't, therefore the expense will happen.

Some of us have been over here for a while, we have tried all sorts as work arounds. End of the day unless you buy a 3000w step down transformer ( might be a bit noisy) and your TV is HDMI, your cable provider runs HD through a HD box then it's no problem.

Your DVD would have to be dual NTSC/PAL as well.
 
I thought you were given a grant to get set up out there?
 
You get about $1000 for soft furnishings, and $140 for small electrical items such as Iron, Kettle, hairdryer etc. 42" LED is not classed as small electrical.
 
As SSH said, you get the grants and you can take up to two months advance of pay (which is interest free and paid back over a year). We bought our TV and majority of electricals through the NEX so a bit cheaper (and tax free), it does pay to shop around though! At the end of the day, it's location, location, location....with the SDSR how many overseas posts will we have left?!

4Ever3: As far as I know the Cpl slot is being downgraded to SAC and we will have one LH and five SAC's!
 
Personally the deal these days sounds about as attractive as a good big bite out of a sh1t sandwich...Why should you be forced to take an advance on 2 months of your pay if it's as expensive in these places as many have said?...it'll only leave you short as you pay it back for months to come...I suppose my opinion is slightly jaded as I've extensively visitied the States thus my thirst for US adventaure is slaked but it beggers belief that these posts attract anyone but the wealthiest or fianacially secure amongst us...

For me it's simple...If as my company you want me to go away then you pay for me to do so or I don't go.
 
Cabbage84 said:
Considering were an electronics trade surely you can either rewire your plugs to american stansard or just use a £1 travel adaptor especially since the majority of items now are region free or tvs can be used PAL or NTSC.
Click to expand...


Let me guess..... Either you are an ex-11 or one of the railroaded through "new type techie who we can't fail for political reasons" courses? Even when I was a sprog JT (32+ years ago) I knew the differences in voltages & formats.

What is the trade coming to? I despair, I really do!
 
Shocking lack of basic trade knowledge aside, I can confirm that it's more expensive than you think being out there.

My Bro is in Vegas (Creech) and says it costs him a bomb to live, but he DID buy a feck off great big truck to commute in, big TV, Laptop, Xbox etc, so he's hardly slumming it!

The downside is that he is out there unaccompanied as he'd lose a shed-load of allowances if his wife moved out with him and he's heard lots of stories of spouses getting v. bored out there due to shift patterns, causing all sorts of marital problems.

I must be honest, shiite stories aside, I think I'd take it, as there just aren't that many decent overseas tours left any more.
 
Digzster said:
Let me guess..... Either you are an ex-11 or one of the railroaded through "new type techie who we can't fail for political reasons" courses? Even when I was a sprog JT (32+ years ago) I knew the differences in voltages & formats.

What is the trade coming to? I despair, I really do!
Click to expand...

A lot of AV/computer equipment manufacturers now use a single power supply globally capable of accepting anything from 60 - 50 hz, 100 - 240 v. It saves on manufacturing costs as every piece of kit uses the same powersupply worldwide. All the manufacturer has to do is put the correct plug for the country into the box before they put the sticker on to say which country it is destined for. This is one instance where golbalisation is a good thing. So it is worth checking your tv, dvd, Amp, ps3/xbox etc to see what the power supply will actually accept before selling it and find you have to buy a new one when you move.
As spending $30 on new kettle leads, or as you'll be TG4 you should have access to spare kettle leads in work when you get there, take some home and you should be up and running. But I will not stress this enough look at the back of all your electronic stuff and find where it say what input voltage it will accept, and double check, triple check as you pack, as it will be be an expensive mistake if you get it wrong.

P.S, my PC, Laptop, AV Amp, AV Sub, Pc Speakers, Stereo, Computer monitor. and I'm pretty certain my TV all accept 100 -240 v.
 
No I am actually trade group 3 and have a degree in electronic engineering but obviously you know nothing about electronic products as the previous comment stated the majority of stuff now is multi national and the kettle lead is the only difference and has been for quite a while now. So I think you should get your facts right before commenting you have obviously adapted to trade group 4 quite well not having to think about how things actually work.

What is the actual job out there by the way
 
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