FedEx Pilots: Living in MEM

[cl-65link]

Shelby county schools in the Cordova/Bartlett areas may have been "good" in the past, but I hear the city has "annexed" those areas all the way to the county line. Germantown is about to become an island surrounded by the Memphis city limits. I lived in Cordova for 4 years, glad I'm not there anymore.

 

[TonyC]

Shelby county schools in the Cordova/Bartlett areas may have been "good" in the past, but I hear the city has "annexed" those areas all the way to the county line. Germantown is about to become an island surrounded by the Memphis city limits. I lived in Cordova for 4 years, glad I'm not there anymore.

Cordova is unincorporated, and as such is subject to annexation, Bartlett is not - - Germantown is not - - Collierville is not - - and certain portions of the unincorporated county areas designated as Bartlett reserve are not. Arlington is not - - and I'm not sure about Lakeland. Memphis did annex part of Countrywood recently (Cordova) - - another sad day for Shelby County.

 

[AlbieF15]

More on Memphis

What a great time to be in Memphis (not flying!)...

Saw Offspring last night (missed seeing George Clinton and the funk crew), but tonight it is Fuel, Inidgo Girls, Collective Soul, and Puddle of Mud. Charlie Daniels Band is around today or tomorrow too--decisions decisions. Memphis in May/Beale Street Music Festival is a blast!

Beer is $3.00 and watching all the pretty young things in halter tops is free. Just hope I don't have a drug test with all the second hand Marijuana smoke I smelled last night!

Memphis may not be your cup of tea Jan-Apr, or Jun-Dec, but Memphis in May ROCKS.

 

[VaB]

Albie, I get the feeling that you're trying to talk yourself into moving here. What say you?

 

[AlbieF15]

Nope. Alaska mountains and streams, and NW Floridas beaches and bays are where I plan to divide my time. No F-15 units out at Millington, either... However, having midnight -3am available for BBQ, booze, and music (or a Tunica run) after a pm O&B ain't a bad way to kill time. I'll be in the park tonight (likley with rain gear) listening to the bands. I'll also be jetskiing on Arkabutla and/or Sardis lakes in July and August on either B-reserve (raging in a.m.) or before show on some pm out and backs. Entertaining doing some jetski exploring of the Might Mississippi this summer too, but that dark water with its 6 mph current and viturally NO boat access points is a bit intimidating. The lack of boat ramps might be trying to tell me something... Any boaters with solid data points?

As for your GTBC folks....I think you can spray for those! Its all of us middle of the road Methodists who want you to go to Church with us Sunday after boozing with us Saturday night that will wear you down!

We have years of friendships and ties on the Gulf Coast, and a lot invested in our lives there. I don't expect to leave. I'm just discovering my "TDYs" to Memphis are uncovering some pretty fun stuff to do. Honestly not trying to ruffle anyone's feathers...

 

[TonyC]

Entertaining doing some jetski exploring of the Might Mississippi this summer too, but that dark water with its 6 mph current and viturally NO boat access points is a bit intimidating. The lack of boat ramps might be trying to tell me something... Any boaters with solid data points?

You know about Shelby Forest, right?? (Free on Wednesdays)

 

[furloughed]

NO boat access points is a bit intimidating

You don't even have to go as far as Shelby Forest. Try the north end of Mud Island which is basically downtown. There is a very nice boat ramp and parking area there. That is where I put in my duck boat when I go a couple miles upstream to duck hunt.

 

[Falconjet]

Walking in Memphis

We moved to Collierville about 2 years ago while waiting for a class date at FedEx. Having spent 20 years moving around the country it was nice to finally pick a spot to live for our own reasons. The main reason we chose to live here is so that I could see my family once in a while. Having spent the last year and a half on reserve and with little hope of moving off reserve for another few months at best, a year or two possibly, that has turned out to be a good choice.

Collierville is a nice city of about 30,000 people just about 23 miles from the hub. It reminds me a lot of Northern Virginia because it nice wide streets, large brick homes, and a lot of parks. Its just about 10 times as humid as NoVa. When I go for runs along the greenway trails I say hello to people and they actually say hello back. I just spent a week out in California and couldn't even get eye contact with people when I went running past. The people down south are still pretty friendly for the most part, which is what I really like about the south.

There are some nice, high scoring, neighborhood schools in Collierville and overall the Shelby county school system is actually pretty good. Certainly a step or two up from the public school system in Mobile, AL, which is where we came from and where I would have liked to have stayed, but just didn't want to commute if I didn't have to. When we did our househunting trip up here we found a great neighborhood and a nice house, and my wife really liked the school, so that was that. She was also able to find a part time (by choice, full time was available too) job at the Baptist hospital in town only about 5 miles from our doorstep.

I don't care much for Memphis proper, although there is a nice kid's museum, zoo, and botanical gardens that my wife and kids love to go to. The music festivals that Albie mentioned are very popular, as is Beale Street. The crime issue in Memphis proper is certainly an issue, but name a large city where crime isn't an issue. I personally prefer to stay away from ANY large city, and crime is an issue everywhere, certainly something to consider anywhere you live.

As a commuter you will end up spending more time away from home while on reserve or trying to fly the pm side of the schedule. If you live in a city that is an outstation you may get to bid trips that originate in that city (after a deadhead from Memphis that you would just bank) when you are senior enough, and you will get to spend a lot of time at home. Most of those trips are am trips though, so you will spend most of your flying doing hub turns. Not the end of the world, its just a matter of what you would prefer to do.

The bottom line is that if you have a compelling reason to live in a particular place (family, job, home town, whatever), FedEx is a great company for a commuter. That has been documented on several other threads.

If you don't have a compelling reason to stay put, moving to Memphis will make your life a lot easier at the outset and enable you a few more options about what type of trips you would prefer to fly. Then all you have to do is shrug off all the "oh I'm sorry" comments you get from the guys who don't live here when you tell them where you live, and smile as they run off to catch their jumpseat home at the end of your trip.

Best of luck.

FJ