Olsen Spec Projects

[olsenmotorsports]

Not boring for us, we would like to see the diagnostic stuff as much as the cool restoration jobs

I will see what I can do! Hard to do pictures and tell a story!

Thank you, and I completely understand and agree with having the right stuff to do the job. Fortunately, I have a very understanding and supportive wife who allows me to purchase the tools and equipment I need to do the level of work I aim for. I think I had more buyer's remorse over that AGA lift table than she did.

Wait….. are our wives sisters??? Mine is the same way. We have a saying, it doesn’t matter what it costs, it matters how much we can make! Love her for that. Actually helps me get away with some nice snap on tools lol.

Wasn’t always that way for us. We struggled for a very long time in business. Up to a couple years ago. One day I was talking to a customer about biz etc. He said to me “Tim just remember in business, poor people manage expenses and demand’s, wealthy people manage revenue and expectations”

Hands down one of the most powerful things and bits of advice that anyone has ever given to me. I had no idea what it meant, but I was tired of struggling, close to shutting it down to. This was 2022. I threw myself into understanding what he meant by it. Changed my life forever. The mistakes I have made and the resulting **** shows I could fill a book. Grateful to still be around to share!

 

[slodat]

I'd love to hear more about the changes after that bit of advice! (Small business owner here)

 

[olsenmotorsports]

I'd love to hear more about the changes after that bit of advice! (Small business owner here)

Honestly I don’t even know where to start answering this. Let me preface by saying that I am not a gifted smart, intellectual person. I am shamefully supported by a whopping 9th grade education and a pretty bad childhood

It really all started with a book. In that book I read a quote that I have tattooed on the inside of my eyelids. “If you can get all the members of your team rowing in the same direction you can dominate any market, in any economy, in any industry, against any competition”. Can’t be that easy right? I started to study great companies (or what i thought were great companies) like Costco, McDonalds, Four Seasons etc. How do they do what they do? How do they keep it all together? I went to these places just as they opened and snooped on their huddles, what do they say? Read up on them etc. Studied great sport teams, How do the Spurs and Patriots have such great culture when they are in small market towns? What is culture etc? How do you create it? I made those things my craft. Simply because i knew I wasn't smart enough and if I didn’t learn it I knew I would fail or just be “regular”.

I studied great corporations. I found their quarterly financials and board room minutes etc. Why are those public? Why should everyone know how much money the boss makes and the company spends? And more importantly why should we as small business people be different?

I interviewed prospective employees - Why are you leaving your job? Great info to gleam there. Customer’s the same thing. Why choose Olsen? What didn’t you like about your last garage choice? Another great information dump.

I discovered and learned what transferable value was? Can your business run without you? Can your business grow without you? Of course it can. That’s what creates the multiple.

The culmination of all of that was me realizing I needed systems and processes, and culture. And the team that I currently had wouldn’t get me there. Things were bad, quality was down, I was losing customers etc. I fired a bunch of people and changed everything. Those couple that were left quickly quit. So I was left with myself and my wife in a multi location, multi state business. Fun times! Rebuild mode!

Fast forward a couple years, I have core values, I have systems, I have processes, I have a leadership team, I have plants lol. I don’t make decisions, my team brings me a couple ideas/solutions etc that they have come up with and we round table it. We make the decision board room style by a vote. Sometimes I dont 100% agree but it always works out. Every single person has a clear cut understanding of the expectations of the COMPANY. They understand the vision. They know the 90 day and 5 year plan. They are excited to come to work.

I have quarterly financial reviews. PNL and Balance sheet comes out and we go over it line by line. They know how much I make. They know how much I run through the biz. They know how much cash we need and have. They know where it is going. I spend about half my working time at my store and then I become a ghost and let them work. They understand they are free to operate and make decisions as long as it falls inside our operating parameters.

I couldn’t be happier, more proud, or excited about working with a bunch of awesome people. Culture is an amazing, incredibly powerful tool.

My inspirations and idols are a couple people. David Goggins and Kobe Bryant. They weren’t the fastest, most intelligent, strongest etc. But they had that dog in them, and regular wasn't good enough. We all have it in us, but are you going to let the guy next to you outsmart, outwork, and outhustle you? Regular is ok for some people. Not me. I had to fix me first before I could expect others to be great.

 

[36truck]

^^^^^^ Lots of wisdom in that. Your employees can make or break a company.
When I started my excavating company my CPA told me don't be the lowest bid on any job you get. Work on the quality of the work you do and the money will follow.

 

[olsenmotorsports]

^^^^^^ Lots of wisdom in that. Your employees can make or break a company.
When I started my excavating company my CPA told me don't be the lowest bid on any job you get. Work on the quality of the work you do and the money will follow.

Couldn’t agree more with that! Happy for your success and good for you!

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Yesterday was Friday and the close of the week. I wasn’t in the office myself to snap any photos, but that brings up a good point. How do you guys communicate with customers? Most of our work is remote managed throughout the US, we ship cars every week in and out for service etc. Kind of mind numbing that we get cars from as far as Cali for just a major service and valve adjustment/alignment etc but it happens. Shipping ends up costing what the job costs lol.

We use an App called company cam to send videos and photos of the cars being worked on. If you get a service you will have probably 100 photos and videos. A light resto maybe 2k photos, a full resto 6-10k photos. It keeps us accountable and the customer engaged in what was going on. My staff knows if the customer has to call for an update then we have failed. Also helps with documenting the work, extra work for upsells etc. Really makes the tech-service writer hand off of information really efficient. I am always trying to improve so interested in what your business’s do that I can learn from!

It was also the first friday of the month, so that is building maintenance day. We run a schedule and this Friday just happened to be annual maintenance on top of that, so a bit of a S*** show for the guys. All the lifts got service, adjusted, greased, oil changed and cables replaced. It’s an expensive bill to pay, but whats a lift down for a day cost plus emergency service? Also we were up on Bi-annual service, which was air hose replacement. All the air hoses in the shop got changed as per the schedule every two years and the entire system leak checked at the fittings. Once again mitigate the risk, how much are new air hoses vs a failure and the end of a hose goes careening into a car and we have to repair? Last things on the schedule was the ultra sonic cleaner got changed (60 gallon 2000 watt machine), the Magido HP30 got serviced, and the vapor blaster received a service. Those are pretty easy as Safety Kleen maintains them so the only inconvenience to the staff is the machines are down for an hour or so. Also as part of Friday checks we have a checklist that my foreman goes through which includes consumables report and order, and special tools maintenance. That one is by the honor system as there is no way to go through and check all of them. Every tech is asked if they know of anything needing repair or broken/misplaced and it gets ordered.

Friday close of the business takes a bit longer and usually takes about a half hour. We find it more efficient to assign accountability to each person for something different as the overall result is better. For instance one person is accountable for polishing countertops, another trash bins (emptying and cleaning) another leaf blowing the floors, another does the floor machine, one guy dusts the cabinets and fixtures etc. We have found that with a staff of ten total people assigning accountability like that to one person really helps make sure things are in tip top shape instead of the whole team “hey get it clean”. Interested in how others do it.

All in all pretty good week!

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

Thank you for sharing, lots of good insite.

 

[MBfreak]

KUDOS
Fantastic jobs.

And it is easy to not like Megasquirt. You have to dig in really deep to understand it.
But for me MS1 and EDIS has worked great on a SBC in a Cobra replica and also 454 in a very hot Pantera 1972.
We busted the ZF transaxle. After we got hold of a almost unused ZF transaxle from a BMW Z1 that was molested ,
could we use all of the 623 HPs on the wheels.

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Thank you for sharing, lots of good

Appreciate that! Let me know what else you would like to discuss! We do everything so no topic is taboo

KUDOS
Fantastic jobs.

And it is easy to not like Megasquirt. You have to dig in really deep to understand it.
But for me MS1 and EDIS has worked great on a SBC in a Cobra replica and also 454 in a very hot Pantera 1972.
We busted the ZF transaxle. After we got hold of a almost unused ZF transaxle from a BMW Z1 that was molested ,
could we use all of the 623 HPs on the wheels.

I think that they do serve a purpose, but for us Motec is a much better system to use. Motec is just so easy, robust, and scalable. Literally the sky is the limit as long as you have the budget for it.

I think what I am trying to say, is that the time and effort spent on Megasquirt is X, but we can have Motec working by end of day and another day on the dyno and its perfect forever. Just way easier for us.

 

[olsenmotorsports]

I have been driving my Gen 2 the last couple of days and realized it’s been 90 days since its last ceramic maintenance. ran it through the car wash and hit it with some Carpro Reload. Also did the trim with Wurth plastic care, hit the seats with some Koche leatherstar. Looking proper again. Every time I talk to the wife about selling it (owned since brand new in late ‘17) she talks me out of it. Soon as it is cleaned up I fall in love all over again. Before anyone starts giving me S*** about the city boy with the mall crawler It has actually had a pretty tough life lol.



This was Drummond island up in the UP, down a trail in the middle of the night I had no business going down. That puddle cost me a harness and every control module plus all new interior




Another one jumped it and broke a ball joint which took out the whole FR corner.

I think the saying is work hard and play harder right?


Amazing trucks these are though. Incredibly comfortable and tough as nails.

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Took advantage of a quiet day today. We are closed on Mondays (4 day work weeks) and I needed something to do. 2 hurricanes in Florida inside two weeks (plus Ian two years ago) have us re-thinking our real estate positions there. Blessed to have vacation homes but maybe the juice isn’t worth the squeeze? Interested in how others feel about that.

We are right here where it says Bonita Springs. We are at our Chicago house this week so will report back after the caretaker sends a report! Hopefully good news.





To get my mind off that I decided to do some more tool-gridding as I have boxes of that stuff laying around. Today’s project was the chisel/punch drawer.Snap-on sold me a nice foam bit with the air hammer set and I hated to break that up (looks so nice, and I didn’t think tool grid would save me much space). Also my Mac brass set I have had for years and looks nice in its case. So I built the grid around all that stuff.




I have a ton of lista stuff from hardware inventory, some of the small punch sets like roll pins etc fit so nicely I left those as is and tool grid around them.




Other side of the drawer is carbon scrapers, jimmy bars, race punch’s, lady feet, and line up bars.



Here is the full view. didn’t really gain any space, just everything now has a home instead of just rolling all over the place. The Carbon scraper handles are just a bit too big, so they have to be perfectly placed in order for the door to close.

I am not sure I am going to do much more TG after this drawer but who knows! I have screwdriver drawer done, and the socket drawer plus this.


I did take a quick gander around the workshop, looks like there is a fresh batch of hardware getting prepped for tumbling and then yellow zinc. We are blessed with our plating service, they pick up and drop off and turn in 48 hours. Really helps our throughput on projects.



Thanks for following along!

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Schöne Werkstatt! Your operation looks exactly how I'd picture a high end German tuning shop.

 

[zmotorsports]

To get my mind off that I decided to do some more tool-gridding as I have boxes of that stuff laying around. Today’s project was the chisel/punch drawer.Snap-on sold me a nice foam bit with the air hammer set and I hated to break that up (looks so nice, and I didn’t think tool grid would save me much space). Also my Mac brass set I have had for years and looks nice in its case. So I built the grid around all that stuff.





Thanks for following along!

Very nicely done.

I have the exact same MAC brass punch set as above, with the removable brass ends the press off with the nut. That was probably my first heavy duty brass punch set that I purchased in the late 80's when I began my career. I still have it and use it occasionally to this day but don't have the space for the plastic tray.

Mines isn't in quite as good of condition as yours as an Industrial Maintenance Mechanic it was used daily and used heavily. I do keep the mushrooms knocked off the end as I hate those nasty things on my punches/drifts.

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Schöne Werkstatt! Your operation looks exactly how I'd picture a high end German tuning shop.

Thank you! I’m not sure about high end but thank you very much!

Very nicely done.

I have the exact same MAC brass punch set as above, with the removable brass ends the press off with the nut. That was probably my first heavy duty brass punch set that I purchased in the late 80's when I began my career. I still have it and use it occasionally to this day but don't have the space for the plastic tray.

Mines isn't in quite as good of condition as yours as an Industrial Maintenance Mechanic it was used daily and used heavily. I do keep the mushrooms knocked off the end as I hate those nasty things on my punches/drifts.

It’s a nice bit of kit. I don’t use it very often. Mostly to do bearings in magnesium fan housings. One of those great things to have and limited use. Probably half my special tools are that way. Just sit there and collect dust till they are needed and then greatly appreciated

 

[olsenmotorsports]

I’ve got a couple sets of the low profile (MM and E Torx) sets. But the ratchet is so short it’s almost useless. Need it especially for the 991 turbo’s (and 997) to get the heat shield bolts out. Decided to whip one out.

That’s how short the ratchet is, and it’s fixed. I’ve got a couple extra long heads so decided to take a half hour and whip something out.



That is the clearance you need but long. Started by cutting the head off the flex and the shaft off the fixed.

Just welded them back together. Bet this saves 10-15 minutes per job can’t wait to try it out!



Now I have one fixed short and one flex long!

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Update on the Targa. Upper part of bumper and face are done. Lower should be done by thursday and final fitted/planished by EOD Friday. Today is day 83 on this car (90 Day Turnaround on Custom Coachworks) so we are running a bit behind. But customer did add some additional details which added about a week. Only thing we have left is side skirts (easy) and the rear wing (super hard) so will be cutting it close. Off to Paint on Nov 1st. Paint and Body takes 6 weeks which puts us around Christmas for start of final assembly. We turn these cars pretty quick (2 a year) so staying on production schedule is the most important thing!



Love the detail on the riser to meet the fenders.



Most of this is already planished - It is so much less work to do a one pass weld on the guy who has to hammer on it. I know NOT traditional or the norm but we have found that it saves almost 3 full days doing it this way.



You know these guys have major skills when there is little to no filler rod, all fusion tig welded. I think thats where they make up most of their time is by not having to grind and hammer later.

Thanks for following along! I wish we could upload videos here! Most of that is on our Instagram

 

[Homebody]

Great thread and will look ya up on Instagram! Thanks for sharing.

Do any of those Porsche's visit Black Hawk Farms Raceway in S. Beloit?

Blackhawk Farms | Road racing the way it's meant to be.

One thing bothered me in the initial shop tour video. The dog wanted to play fetch and you didn't!
I get it though - once you start...

 

[Mr.zippy]

Have to admire a guy that cuts up a Snap On ratchet....to make his own variation!

 

[scooby074]

I’ve got a couple sets of the low profile (MM and E Torx) sets. But the ratchet is so short it’s almost useless. Need it especially for the 991 turbo’s (and 997) to get the heat shield bolts out. Decided to whip one out.

That’s how short the ratchet is, and it’s fixed. I’ve got a couple extra long heads so decided to take a half hour and whip something out.



That is the clearance you need but long. Started by cutting the head off the flex and the shaft off the fixed.

Just welded them back together. Bet this saves 10-15 minutes per job can’t wait to try it out!



Now I have one fixed short and one flex long!

That made the GarageJournal Tool Polishers cry. I love it.

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Great thread and will look ya up on Instagram! Thanks for sharing.

Do any of those Porsche's visit Black Hawk Farms Raceway in S. Beloit?

Blackhawk Farms | Road racing the way it's meant to be.

One thing bothered me in the initial shop tour video. The dog wanted to play fetch and you didn't!
I get it though - once you start...

You said it right once you start…. That little guy gets enough attention from the customers, delivery guys, totally won the dog lottery trust me! The worst is when he sleeps in the office all day, we get home and I am tired and he is all wound up and rearing to go!

Have to admire a guy that cuts up a Snap On ratchet....to make his own variation!

LOL that is all I had!

That made the GarageJournal Tool Polishers cry. I love it.

Literally burst out laughing. Hilarious

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Long day for the guys. Alex got the lower part of the bumper on the targa wrapped up, tacked and welded.










Everything is welded. Hit it with the planisher in the morning after we make some dies.

Splitter has to be fabricated next. This is all pretty easy stuff so should have it all wrapped up this week.

 

[olsenmotorsports]

I needed to free up a table for a 997 we are doing coolant pipes in starting tomorrow. So needed to fit up some knock sensors and fit the air guides on the 930 engine.



Used some 5/32 rivets to fasten the shroud to the tims for the air guide to oil cooler.



Got everything fitted and rivets installed.


Fitted holes and grommets for knock sensors. 930’s don’t have them but this one is getting a high HP engine on pump gas and Motec. Going to use all the safeties on this one.



Everything together. I’m a super hardware snob. Most important part of the details IMO.

 

[richfinn]

I needed to free up a table for a 997 we are doing coolant pipes in starting tomorrow. So needed to fit up some knock sensors and fit the air guides on the 930 engine.



Used some 5/32 rivets to fasten the shroud to the tims for the air guide to oil cooler.



Got everything fitted and rivets installed.


Fitted holes and grommets for knock sensors. 930’s don’t have them but this one is getting a high HP engine on pump gas and Motec. Going to use all the safeties on this one.



Everything together. I’m a super hardware snob. Most important part of the details IMO.

Nice work, Nice Camera

Is that a 930 getting a wheel alignment in the background?

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Nice work, Nice Camera

Is that a 930 getting a wheel alignment in the background?

Yeah bud. Cool car its a 77 so it is a 3.0L car. Also has the jubilee interior which we are re-doing and the original Turbo Graphcs.

That car got all new suspension, all new interior, new glass, and a top end engine rebuild.

 

[richfinn]

Yeah bud. Cool car its a 77 so it is a 3.0L car. Also has the jubilee interior which we are re-doing and the original Turbo Graphcs.

That car got all new suspension, all new interior, new glass, and a top end engine rebuild.

Cool looking car

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Cool looking car

Thank you very much!

I was going to throw some photos up, but I actually did already, they are on page one!

 

[zmotorsports]

Long day for the guys. Alex got the lower part of the bumper on the targa wrapped up, tacked and welded.










Everything is welded. Hit it with the planisher in the morning after we make some dies.

Splitter has to be fabricated next. This is all pretty easy stuff so should have it all wrapped up this week.

Can I ask what gauge sheet metal the bumper and splitter are made of?

Love the yellow zinc coated fasteners. I've always been a fan of those for some reason, really sets off the repairs/restorations.

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Can I ask what gauge sheet metal the bumper and splitter are made of?

Love the yellow zinc coated fasteners. I've always been a fan of those for some reason, really sets off the repairs/restorations.

Body is 20 gauge like fenders etc. bumpers are made out of 18 gauge.

We agree. It isn’t as good or durable as other coatings, but it is period correct for these older cars. And let’s face it, none of these will ever see rain or salt so should look great for many years!

 

[zmotorsports]

Body is 20 gauge like fenders etc. bumpers are made out of 18 gauge.

We agree. It isn’t as good or durable as other coatings, but it is period correct for these older cars. And let’s face it, none of these will ever see rain or salt so should look great for many years!

Thanks for the quick response. I was guessing at 18-gauge but in a couple of the pictures it looked a bit thicker. Either camera illusion or where the material was shrunk/gathered together. Thanks again. Awesome workmanship.

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Thanks for the quick response. I was guessing at 18-gauge but in a couple of the pictures it looked a bit thicker. Either camera illusion or where the material was shrunk/gathered together. Thanks again. Awesome workmanship.

18 gauge is tough to work. Takes some serious tooling to shape that stuff well!

 

[zmotorsports]

18 gauge is tough to work. Takes some serious tooling to shape that stuff well!

Agreed. That's why I asked, it looked thicker than 18-gauge in the pics. I generally use 20-gauge for body panels/mods and seldom 18-gauge unless more structural or internal bracing. I can see the bumpers being 18-gauge though. Thanks.

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Couple updates on the 930. Final assembly is starting. Glass got polished today and passed final QC. can’t say enough about GTGlass and their products. Really are the best.



These pieces weren’t terrible so we didn’t have to cut them down a lot. Just a polish with diamond cut and a medium pad with an orbital. We have their full lineup of glass polishers but the sanding disks are a last resort. Most stuff doesn’t need to be ground.


Glasses look great and restored. Ready to fit new seals.


Trims turned out great as well!



We never cheap out. Only PORSCHE OEM seals from Germany. The aftermarket stuff is much cheaper but the quality delta is noticeable.

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Here are some other photos from the 930. Rear suspension is fitted.

These are all OEM original pieces and hardware. Just all restored.


New rear engine pad, engine bay seals, shocks and fuel lines are all fitted.

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Gearbox is all wrapped up and ready to fit back to engine.






Doors are fitted with all restored hardware, latches, strikers etc. still need to sound skin out the doors then the windows can be fitted and adjusted.



Steering rack all buttoned up and ready to fit to crossmember.

These guys move pretty quickly assembling these cars so I will try and keep up with them documenting stuff. (And trying to remember to do it lol)

 

[olsenmotorsports]

The 964 turbo engine went through first start checks today. Hoping to ship it out next week to its owner.



The MH-19 was getting after it today stretching out the lower valance. What an amazing machine. Hate listening to it but it’s a mega money maker.



After rough shape was done we finished shaping it on the planishing hammer.



That’s pretty much the highlights from today. I’m doing insurance renewals and starting to close my year out so don’t have a ton of time to spend in the shop the last part of the year.

Thanks for following along!

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Agreed. That's why I asked, it looked thicker than 18-gauge in the pics. I generally use 20-gauge for body panels/mods and seldom 18-gauge unless more structural or internal bracing. I can see the bumpers being 18-gauge though. Thanks.

Factory porsche is actually the equivalent of 19 gauge. But we have a really hard time sourcing that or metric steel. It is available but the cost of bringing it in vs local Chicago steel is tough to justify.

We probably should start importing it, but I don’t want to buy enough bulk to store it. We buy materials as we need it and store nothing. Try and leave our sq footage to revenue producing not storing.

Also helps that we are located in Chicago and that stuff is usually delivered same day we order. Even McMaster car is less that 15 minutes away from us and we get deliveries from them within the hour. So it’s really hard to justify sitting on steel inventory.

 

[loganb]

Another big fan of Company Cam here. I work for a window manufacturer and a large part of my job is installation detailing and then supporting Customer Service when they get complaints of leakage down the road. The projects where I ask for "show me the pictures from installation" and I get blank stares (in real life or imagined if on the phone) vs when they send me the Company Cam link to review all pictures from beginning to end on that job....you can guess which one gets resolved faster. I preach the virtues of it to any distributor or installer that will listen....I'd love to get a commission or spiff when they sign up but just saving "future me" that much work and a better experience for the end customer is worth my continued preaching the benefits of it!

Also helps that we are located in Chicago and that stuff is usually delivered same day we order. Even McMaster car is less that 15 minutes away from us and we get deliveries from them within the hour. So it’s really hard to justify sitting on steel inventory.

I used to love ordering stuff from McMaster by 10am and knowing I'd have it the next day on the afternoon delivery....moving to Chicago and having the Elmhurst location 5 or 10 miles away was amazing....I might have gone into withdrawal for a bit when I left...so now I just keep a slightly larger than necessary selection of the common stuff on hand

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Another big fan of Company Cam here. I work for a window manufacturer and a large part of my job is installation detailing and then supporting Customer Service when they get complaints of leakage down the road. The projects where I ask for "show me the pictures from installation" and I get blank stares (in real life or imagined if on the phone) vs when they send me the Company Cam link to review all pictures from beginning to end on that job....you can guess which one gets resolved faster. I preach the virtues of it to any distributor or installer that will listen....I'd love to get a commission or spiff when they sign up but just saving "future me" that much work and a better experience for the end customer is worth my continued preaching the benefits of it!



I used to love ordering stuff from McMaster by 10am and knowing I'd have it the next day on the afternoon delivery....moving to Chicago and having the Elmhurst location 5 or 10 miles away was amazing....I might have gone into withdrawal for a bit when I left...so now I just keep a slightly larger than necessary selection of the common stuff on hand

Couldn't agree more!

One of my company motto's is it is what is under the covers that matters the most, and the pictures and photos really help with that accountability. One of the issues in our space in our industry is people taking the time to make the car pretty, but just where you can see it. Take a panel off and it looks like helen keller built it. See it all the time.

Two things make you successful in the Resto world, remote project management, and actually getting the work done ahead of time. Im sure the contractor space is no different.


Do you have regrets leaving the city? I had this conversation the other day with a friend who has also been very successful. He was complaining about taxes and the state/city government etc. Guy has done well for himself. I go "Paul I understand your frustration and I agree, but look at us. Could we have accomplished what we have in any other city in the United States?? (Nashville, Charlotte, Atlanta etc)" He paused for a second, though about it, and said "never thought of it that way and no I couldn't have"

 

[loganb]

Do you have regrets leaving the city?

Nope.

Moved there in '15 from Iowa for a great opportunity for the wife. We were recently married (like married in May, job opportunity came up in July, moved in October thru December of same year) and it was an easy time for us to move and go and do something different. We figured we would have lots of options in the future to "go back home" to Kansas/Nebraska area if/when we may want, but the option to go elsewhere for an opportunity we felt good about and was relatively low risk was harder to come by....so we said why not. We got 9 or 10 months notice that the wife's job would be ending in mid-2020 as the location she was working at would be closing and we took that opportunity to look for things closer to family. Covid coming along just accelerated a few things as she worked in the Merchandise Mart downtown in one of the public showrooms....so when there is 0 traffic....no need for a showroom to be open.

We went to Chicago with just a dog in tow, when we left in late spring/early summer 2020 (Covid moving was fun) we had added a 2 yr old and were talking about another....so the desire to be closer to family was significant. The wife was also ready for the next role/stage in her work and looking to change things up a bit....so there wasn't a lot of heartbreak on her end about the job ending. We never expected it to be our forever place or city so we treated it as such. Enjoyed our time, made some money on the house we bought that hadn't been updated since being built in late 70's, have a long list of things to do/see when we get back and as the kids get older....so no real regrets. As we were weighing the option to move....the regret we agreed we didn't want to have was not saying "Yes" to the chance and wishing down the road we would have.

In the end, moving was the right decision for us, closer to family (for better and for worse), she got the next job she really wanted with a great company and is doing well. Kids are able to see their grandparents, cousins, extended family more frequently...our cost of living is lower but property taxes are currently higher....so guess you can't win them all!

 

[olsenmotorsports]

Nope.

Moved there in '15 from Iowa for a great opportunity for the wife. We were recently married (like married in May, job opportunity came up in July, moved in October thru December of same year) and it was an easy time for us to move and go and do something different. We figured we would have lots of options in the future to "go back home" to Kansas/Nebraska area if/when we may want, but the option to go elsewhere for an opportunity we felt good about and was relatively low risk was harder to come by....so we said why not. We got 9 or 10 months notice that the wife's job would be ending in mid-2020 as the location she was working at would be closing and we took that opportunity to look for things closer to family. Covid coming along just accelerated a few things as she worked in the Merchandise Mart downtown in one of the public showrooms....so when there is 0 traffic....no need for a showroom to be open.

We went to Chicago with just a dog in tow, when we left in late spring/early summer 2020 (Covid moving was fun) we had added a 2 yr old and were talking about another....so the desire to be closer to family was significant. The wife was also ready for the next role/stage in her work and looking to change things up a bit....so there wasn't a lot of heartbreak on her end about the job ending. We never expected it to be our forever place or city so we treated it as such. Enjoyed our time, made some money on the house we bought that hadn't been updated since being built in late 70's, have a long list of things to do/see when we get back and as the kids get older....so no real regrets. As we were weighing the option to move....the regret we agreed we didn't want to have was not saying "Yes" to the chance and wishing down the road we would have.

In the end, moving was the right decision for us, closer to family (for better and for worse), she got the next job she really wanted with a great company and is doing well. Kids are able to see their grandparents, cousins, extended family more frequently...our cost of living is lower but property taxes are currently higher....so guess you can't win them all!

Wow good for you! Congrats on the success and the growing family! Enjoy that!