Finally, some good news for Davenport!

To help quell the homesickness, and I check QCTimes.com, QCOnline.com, and RCReader.com pretty much 3 or 4 times a day. I read much of the business news, because I want my cities to do well. I loved living there, and I feel a sense of pride when I hear good news. But, there just hasn't been much good news at all. River Renaissance seems to have been overly hyped, with a SkyBridge that is the butt of most jokes. The River Music Experience and the new Putnam Museum in downtown appear to have been flawed plans, though the leadership of these two organizations do have brains, and appear to be doing a good job of "righting the ship". Western Illinois University's expansion campus expansion is doubly good, bringing more jobs AND technical training to the Quad Cities, but then again who knows if the State of Illinois can actually fund the thing. Lastly, the Food Processing plant in East Moline. More jobs yes, but at the inconvenience of local residents that aren't being heard.

But, the good news finally came. Cingular has chosen Davenport to build a new call center, bringing 500 jobs and more development to the Elmore area. The call center jobs will be $9.50 an hour, with medical, dental, and 401k. This isn't the best pay, but the benefits make it nice. Plus, with proper and responsible budgeting, this should be more than enough for singles and even married couples without children to make a decent wage AND build a savings. I stress the word RESPONSIBLE though.

When I lived in the QC, I was still pretty young and ignorant. I thought that purchasing things and dreaming of being rich was the only way to live. I got a job at Lujacks selling cars, and bought a brand new Mazda Protege before I proved that I could actually earn the money to pay for it. Instead of paying off my '91 Nissan Sentra, which only had $300 left on the loan, financed the new car that had a $300 a month payment. I moved out of my parents house and rented a place with money borrowed with a personal loan from a bank, AT A 21% INTEREST RATE! This was also on top of $4,000 of credit card debt and $10,000 college debt! I was so stupid and selfish. Now, on my fourth year in the Air Force, all that debt is finally gone, and Jess and I can breath easily. We actually have a savings!

All that is to say that these new Cingular jobs are going to be quite good for the Quad Cities, but only to the individuals that can handle it properly. If they can budget properly, put money aside for every contingency, and save, they can find themselves living comfortably.

I always come back to my friend Jenn Swift. She has set up her life so that she can spend as much time in ministry as possible. She works for herself, and from what I can tell, isn't what anyone would define as "rich". But, she is responsible, and most certainly relies on Christ for her being. And now, she has a house, and an adorable one at that. She has always been a blessing to the people around her, and I think it's because that she is a good steward of the blessings God gives her.

Anyways, it's good to hear good news.

Also, can anyone mail me a Hungry Hobo sandwich?

(don't actually mail me a Hungry Hobo sandwich)