New Mexicans ,

   There is a good chance I could be getting a job at the lab in LA. What are the good areas to live? We would be renting and prefer either a house or townhouse style apartment. Willing to commute from Santa Fe if needed. What's the shooting like in NM. Is it hard to get a ccw? I've been carrying since I was 21 evrytime possible so I feel naked without it. What's the deal with the calibers listed on the ccw?  Any general advice or knowledge is much appreciated!

NM is a shall issue state. Take the CCW course, file the application with $100 and wait a couple months. Last I heard permits were taking about 45 days. It changes though. If you're cleared to work at the lab I'm sure you won't have a problem getting a CCW.
 Los Alamos is nice. I hear the population is a little unusual due to its high level of education. I saw a shirt once that said "In Los Alamos, the extroverts stare at YOUR shoes."  It's a nice mountain town though.
  Ojito wilderness is just on the other side of Jemez from LA. It's a big chunk of BLM land and a good place to shoot. As far as Santa Fe ranges go, I can't help you as I am a Burqueno.
  Good luck to you whatever you choose.

Thanks!

One other question.  Am I going to need AWD/4WD in this area in the winter?  Being in FL for 12 years, I haven't driven in snow/ice in years.

Fwd is fine for winter driving as long as you have WINTER tires. Awd would obviously help as well but isn't necessary.
As far as living goes, living in LA could be a blessing or could turn you into a hermit. Sorta depends on hat you're looking for out of a city. Keep in mind it is super expensive for what you get up there as far as housing goes and shopping/eateries are limited. But if you're a biker/hiker you may be in heaven! Plenty of mountain biking trails and a decent group of people to explore with. They also have a decent shooting range/sportsmans club but I haven't been there in a long time.
PM me if you want to talk lab stuff.

Nothing to add. Just came by to say "Psshhhhh, physicists..."

Welcome to NM. (When you get here)

I live on the opposite end of the state but I go to Los Alamos twice a year for the HAZMAT Challenge and a refresher. Truly beautiful country.

How long have you been participating in the HAZMAT challenge?

check out the Espanola area, its affordable and a short drive "up the hill. you'll hear alot of negative stories about the area but in my 10years living hear i have grown more fond of it than Santa Fe

I worked at Los Alamos for 20 years in the Fire Department.  It's a great place to live, if you can afford it.
I lived most of that time in the Jemez Springs area however.  When I did live in Los Alamos, it was in a trailer park, which charged me $425 a month
to park my 1969 mobile home.
Most firefighters lived in the Espanola Valley, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque.

The schools are the best in the state, and the town has sort of a 1950's feel.  There are plenty of places to shoot, hunt, and fish in the Santa Fe National Forest.
Four wheel drive is good to have.
In the winter of 1986/87, there was a big snow.  72 inches in 24 hours.  Highway 4 closed. All streets blocked. 6 feet deep.

I worked at LANL for almost 5 years. DO NOT take a firearm onto lab property. This can an will get you in some serious trouble. If you have a Q-Clearance it could jeopardize it. For a while, LANL was even pushing it and saying if the employee worked on property leased by LANL, their person and property were subject to search at any time. I think they had to back down on this as other businesses also had offices and facilities in the complexes...

Los Alamos is OK, a little expensive. Then again so is Santa Fe and I cant figure out why (I am from there). I was happy to leave and move back down to FL as most of the population in NM are enlightened liberals especially in Santa Fe and Los Alamos. Leaving LANL was one of the best decisions I ever made. Hopefully you are not going to work for the "business" computing side of the house up there as it is a real snake pit.

There are good people up at LANL, but more than a few management types that could use some help.

Overall enjoy your time out there, the scenery is nice, Northern New Mexican food is awesome and outdoor activities great. You will need a 4x4 especially when you need to drive up to or down from Los Alamos. My Jeeps did nicely in the winter and my toy did awesome in the summer when I drove the Jeep less.

Caliber/type qualifications make you qualify with a revolver or semi. The best thing to do is get the permit using the biggest caliber you can as calibers smaller will be covered as well. I would have used my .45 ACP for this reason.

Thanks. The job would be in X division. Unfortunately most places I would work would be with lots of liberals. Just comes with the territory. So I can't even have a lock box with a firearm on property. It's a long drive from Santa Fe. I'd say at this point that's what I'm most concerned with. Everything else I can deal with.

Eta I guess a better question was your car or anyone else you know actually searched ever?

Best thing you can do is just do not bring any firearms/related material on property. If you absolutely must have it with you then you can park in town and take a taxi to your TA or ride a bike from town. They really do take that shit seriously and will fire you for it if found, unfortunately.
They still do "random" inspections at certain checkpoints. Can't say much more than that.

No sir, not in a lock box in your car, not locked in your car, not anywhere on lab property. The consequences may vary a very little bit, but can and will not be good. I am sure there have been more than a few that have carried and do carry in their vehicles and just never say anything, but I wouldn't chance it. Any suspicious anything can have them ready to search anything. The vehicle access points (VAPs) are a place of random inspections. If you are working with X-Division, then you will be going through the VAP near the Otowi Building. You will get to see the armored vehicles running around every now and then. Los Alamos range is supposed to be pretty nice. A lot of private Class III up there from what I understand.

At least you are going to work with the science side of the house, the mentalities over there are for the better. You may find it a little startling when they have a network issue . I was shocked at how their facilities were up there (not including the super boxes), none of that crap would fly at a real business.

If I were in your shoes, I would look for something in Los Alamos. There is always White Rock, but it is very sleepy. Hell it is the only place I know of that has had a McDonalds go out of business. While in Los Alamos, Hot Rocks is not bad for breakfast or lunch. You can also go to Viola's. There is only one place in LA for BBQ (Bob's Bodacious BBQ). Not bad, but certainly not down south BBQ. I was never really fond of Chile Works, but a lot of other people were.

Santa Fe is OK, but overpriced. Have you looked for a place to live there yet? Any questions, shoot me an IM. Like I said, I am from there (as is my wife)  and my family still has several properties there (including dowtown near the plaza). Working in LA, I would try to stay on the North Side of town. The schools in Santa Fe, in NM in general are pretty cruddy with the exception of LA. LA is highly regarded but has it's own set of problems at the schools.

Every now and then you will have snow days, so either a delayed start or the lab will close. Christmas break is not bad (nice and long). Salary is not bad, but raises are god awful. They try to level everyone out, so if you excel and think it will mean much it may not (at least from what I have seen and experienced and what my friends there are still experiencing). Kind of like, "everyone gets a trophy..." mentality, but varies by directorate and division.

Any questions while you go through everything, ask away... If I can answer, I will. Good luck, it will be a nice adventure for you.

Thanks for all the advice. I will probably take you up on that after I start going through the process. Wife is a teacher so depending on where she gets a job is where we would live. It's going to be a change from FL for sure.

No problem, you and your wife should enjoy. Like any other place, northern New Mexico has its pluses and its minuses. The same is true for LANL. I think it could be far better than it is, but the same can be said for many places. I still have a good number of friends up there. The science done there is truly world class.

Well I'm headed out for an interview at the end of Feb. How bad am I going to freeze my balls off?

The good news is between the 2 positions they are looking at the higher one which would mean no postdoc for me, straight to a faculty level position which is fairly unheard of.

We're looking online at apartments. Is there any place that's good to look? Wouldn't mind renting a house or condo/townhouse.

its not to cold but a light jacket might come in handy. temps are in the low 50s right now at 6pm       good luck on your interview, i recently found myself unemployed and just applied for a contractors job on the hill.

2 years now. May be taking a combined team up (LCFD/DAFD) with our regular city team this year, as the county is in the process of adding a bunch of new techs.

Well gents, I did and didn't get the job...interview went well but the division leader decided to offer me a post doc instead of permanent position.  I'm slightly bummed yet excited at the same time. So we will be moving out in a few months and I will shortly be a new member of the HTF. Looking forward to getting out to NM.

Just in time to enjoy our wonderful Spring winds.

Keep a hold on your hat.

We've scheduled our house/apt hunting trip in a couple weeks. Any suggestions on good apartments/condos/neighborhoods?  Wife got a job at a school on the north side so we would like to try to stay to the north side of Santa Fe if possible. Any suggestions on where to look and where to stay away from (preferably with reason why) are more than welcome.

Anyone have any suggestions on apartments/condos/ good-bad areas?

My parents house will be on the market soon...that's about all I got.  There are some decent apartments on the north edge of Santa Fe.  I have 3 friends that rent/own in that little subdivision. I will ask the name of it tomorrow.

That would be great, thanks!