I dislike living in West Virginia... but I'm stuck!

I have to admit I’m not crazy about living in West Virginia (although, fortunately, the Eastern Panhandle is so little like most of West Virginia that it makes being here almost tolerable.) We have, yes, two Democratic Senators… one a Rockefeller (which means more like a Progressive Republican like brother Nelson was) and the other, just elected, was a “conservative” Democrat Governor and got elected by advertising his conservativeness, his NRA alliance, his opposition to Cap and Trade and his remarkable connection with the coal industry (fortunately his opponent was a loony who really lives in Florida.) When people ash what kind of state WV is, to comment is usually a “Republican State.”

I mentioned that the Eastern Panhandle was somewhat different. It is fairly Progressive and has a population with a higher academic background than most of the state. It often carries for Democrats when the rest of the state goes Republicans… and it has a fairly large number of long-distance commuters who work in Washington DC.

We are a distinctly polluted state… between coal pollution from blowing the tops off our mountains, to Chemical Pollution from big DuPont plants which are, essentially, unregulated… and avoid stopping the large corporations (whose officers do not live in the state for the most part) from polluting us further.

When you look for a job in this state you find that there is not the kind of availabilty you find in the DC area, or the NYC area, or even in the Hartford, CT, area. Oh, there are some construction jobs that won’t last given the economy. There are some retail slots, if you can afford to work for Wal-Mart. There are a few Federal Jobs (National Parks, NCSC and others) which have hard-to-get-into rules. And there are some teaching jobs… but these don’t turn over quickly and are fairly low paying. I suppose, given the outrageous number of churches, there are some religious jobs too… just found your own church and hold your hand out for dough. Not sure how, as an atheist, I could do that in good conscience.

I’m here, however, and it doesn’t look like I have a way out, given the economy, my age and my general health. It’s a good thing I can escape to the Internet.

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