Trying to connect with people working at Oconee in Seneca, SC

[EKYEstes]

My husband will be detaching from the Navy this winter and we are looking for people who work or have worked at the Oconee plant in Seneca, SC.  We are interested in relocating to the area and have a lot of questions.  We'd be much appreciative of anyone able to help us out 
Thanks!
Erin Estes
Ballston Spa, NY

[GLW]

The bugs are bigger, the weather is warmer and the people are nicer . . . but that's just a personal opinion based on working at both places in the past.

The bugs are in your house, you will sweat your butt off 7 months a year, and the people are nicer to those they classify as people, not so much to those ranked as "other",...

it's all about where you fit in best,...

Then again, there are no commercial nukes anywhere near Ballston Spa, NY (nor will there ever be in our lifetimes),...

So you probably fit in best where there is a paycheck!!!!

Good Luck and we thank your husband for his service,...

[EKYEstes]

I'm Virginian by birth, so I'm looking forward to heading South away from all this blasted snow!  We lucked out with a mild winter last year and I'm hoping to move before we get another storm this year

[Lorrie Henson]

My husband has worked outages there several times.  I have traveled with him along with our children.   I absolutely loved the area and it was on my list of  places I'd like to move to.   I've not seen job openings yet, but haven't been looking on a regular basis either.  Of all the places I've traveled with Jim, I liked Seneca the best!!

[EKYEstes]

We went on a road trip this past June to a lot of the southeastern nuke plants (about 10 of them).  I had my heart set on Huntersville, but it proved too much traffic and people for our personalities and we fell in love with the Clemson/Seneca/Salem area!  Where is your husband working now?

[Lorrie Henson]

It really is a beautiful area!!!

Right now, Jim's at Zion, doing the decommissioning project.... we ARE looking for something else!!  LOL

[Camella Black]

My husband has worked contract here for several years. I love area. I would gladly answer questions. chbblack@hotmail.com

[gogamecocks]

My husband will be detaching from the Navy this winter and we are looking for people who work or have worked at the Oconee plant in Seneca, SC.  We are interested in relocating to the area and have a lot of questions.  We'd be much appreciative of anyone able to help us out 
Thanks!
Erin Estes
Ballston Spa, NY

My husband is Navy and retiring in December. We are from SC and want to stay. That area is beautiful. What position is he looking at? There are job openings with Southern and Scana too, but if he has a job offer up there then that would be a very awesome location. Lake Keowee and Jocassee are beautiful. Who cares about bugs...geez! try living in Florida or the Lowcountry of SC both have tons more bugs. You actually get some nice season changes there but not too cold. My sister and her husband were teachers in that area(moved this year) so if you have specific questions about schools, let me know.

[GatorNuke007]

I work as a Nuclear Equipment Operator at ONS. I was also in the Navy prior to getting a job here. Feel free to message me with any questions you may have. But the basics
The Good
1) The Operations department is awesome. Management is great and they really care for their people.
2) The area is amazing if you like to do outdoor things. Lake Keowee and Jocassee are crystal clear great for boating and swimming. More than 20 waterfalls within 1hr of the plant. River rafting is close as well. Mountain views over the lake are great addition also.
3) Greenville is about an hour away and is awesome. Gatlinburg and Atlanta are about 2 and a half hours away and is great for kids. And you're not that far from the beach either.
4) The towns around the plant are small if you like to shop and have more options to eat then Anderson or Easley are your options they are about 35 to 40Min's from the plant.
5) Summers are warm but manageable. Winter is just right and fall is amazing.
6) People talk about bugs but I really haven't noticed them.
7) Cost of living is low. We have some of the cheapest gas in the country.
You have a good college close by for sports and schooling.
The Bad
1) Depending on where you live you can be far away from things. Like stores and restaurants.
2) There are 3 units so that means 3 outages. Which is getting better because we are getting are 2yr cores in.
3) As far as in the area there are a limited number of things do with the kids.
4) If you don't have a boat you are gonna want one. I guess that could be a good thing.
5) Honestly I love it here so there is really nothing that bothers me to the point I wish I didn't come here.

[GLW]

I work as a Nuclear Equipment Operator at ONS. I was also in the Navy prior to getting a job here. Feel free to message me with any questions you may have. But the basics
The Good
1) The Operations department is awesome. Management is great and they really care for their people.
2) The area is amazing if you like to do outdoor things. Lake Keowee and Jocassee are crystal clear great for boating and swimming. More than 20 waterfalls within 1hr of the plant. River rafting is close as well. Mountain views over the lake are great addition also.
3) Greenville is about an hour away and is awesome. Gatlinburg and Atlanta are about 2 and a half hours away and is great for kids. And you're not that far from the beach either.
4) The towns around the plant are small if you like to shop and have more options to eat then Anderson or Easley are your options they are about 35 to 40Min's from the plant.
5) Summers are warm but manageable. Winter is just right and fall is amazing.
6) People talk about bugs but I really haven't noticed them.
7) Cost of living is low. We have some of the cheapest gas in the country.
You have a good college close by for sports and schooling.
The Bad
1) Depending on where you live you can be far away from things. Like stores and restaurants.
2) There are 3 units so that means 3 outages. Which is getting better because we are getting are 2yr cores in.
3) As far as in the area there are a limited number of things do with the kids.
4) If you don't have a boat you are gonna want one. I guess that could be a good thing.
5) Honestly I love it here so there is really nothing that bothers me to the point I wish I didn't come here.

wow!!!!

I feel like I just attended an "Up With People" concert,...

Nice post, good to hear some people are actually happy with their jobs and their lives,...

[germanjawcracker]

My husband will be detaching from the Navy this winter and we are looking for people who work or have worked at the Oconee plant in Seneca, SC.  We are interested in relocating to the area and have a lot of questions.  We'd be much appreciative of anyone able to help us out 
Thanks!
Erin Estes
Ballston Spa, NY

It sucks here, stay up north.

[merchantg]

I believe it depends heavily on how you fit in with people as to how you will enjoy it. In general if you are not from the deep south the less you will gel until you get to FL where everyone is a transplant. I get along with just about anybody I have been told that by many people. That being said born and raised southerners can and will get under your skin mostly in part because of the concrete attitude towards anything that isn't the way they were raised. Southerners will be polite even to people they do not like. If you like doing anything outdoors you will get along well with most of the men. Atlanta is not a tourist town it is the biggest city with nothing to do. No offense but Virginia is not considered "south" by anybody I work with and you will be treated like you were from NJ. This attitude fades as you hit North Carolina where there is more emphasis on new ideas and education. I believe people who just visit like areas down here but in truth if you do not already have friends and family you will eventually be miserable. After 10 years I am trying to move my wife and I close to her family and away from the deep south, she has tried so hard to make friends and the women are truly brutal if you didn't grow up with them. Good luck I hope you find a nice place to settle.

[EKYEstes]

It sucks here, stay up north.

Why does it suck?

[EKYEstes]

I believe it depends heavily on how you fit in with people as to how you will enjoy it. In general if you are not from the deep south the less you will gel until you get to FL where everyone is a transplant. I get along with just about anybody I have been told that by many people. That being said born and raised southerners can and will get under your skin mostly in part because of the concrete attitude towards anything that isn't the way they were raised. Southerners will be polite even to people they do not like. If you like doing anything outdoors you will get along well with most of the men. Atlanta is not a tourist town it is the biggest city with nothing to do. No offense but Virginia is not considered "south" by anybody I work with and you will be treated like you were from NJ. This attitude fades as you hit North Carolina where there is more emphasis on new ideas and education. I believe people who just visit like areas down here but in truth if you do not already have friends and family you will eventually be miserable. After 10 years I am trying to move my wife and I close to her family and away from the deep south, she has tried so hard to make friends and the women are truly brutal if you didn't grow up with them. Good luck I hope you find a nice place to settle.

I felt right at home when I visited and found the people very nice.  I'm not from NOVA or Hampton Roads (which both should be their own states), but I'm born & raised Southern Baptist from a farm in the shadows of the mountains of Virginia and consider myself a Southerner through and through.  I trace my lineage back to a 1630's crossing of the Atlantic and I totally understand their sense of place and can identify with that since I want nothing more than to move back home (but can't, however, because my husband dislikes the area I'm from and we can't afford to live there) But we are a very outdoorsy family and like to hike, rock climb, canoe/kayak, etc. I can identify with their want to keep things the way they've always been and not be as friendly to northerners or other people who come in, buy up land, build it up, and then leave their unaffordable houses behind as my folks and family back home are dealing with that now.  I see at as more of a defense mechanism they've built up over the years in their personalities and I wouldn't take their dislike to us initially personally.  My husband may find it a bit inhospitable being from Michigan, but I think he'll adapt well.  I think the difference between he and I is that when someone asks us where we're from, I say "I'm Virginian and he's from Michigan, but we're living in New York right now following the Navy," where he responds, "we're from New York."

[RDTroja]

Why does it suck?

It doesn't. That's southernspeak for 'You're a Yankee... stay away.'

I worked there in the early 80s and it is a beautiful place, but not my favorite. I ran into many locals that were outwardly friendly but ummm... lacked in sincerity. They would smile and welcome you while wishing you would go away. I am from Maryland, which is technically a southern state (South of the Mason-Dixon Line) and Southern Maryland is farther south than a lot of Virginia, but to the locals I was as Yankee as a Bostonian.

The area is (or was 30 years ago) very pretty and the weather is nice. Most of the people are very friendly. Some of the people there will make you feel unwelcome even as they smile at you. It makes some people uncomfortable enough to make them want to leave... but that is the intent in the first place.

[merchantg]

RD nailed it good or gewd if your deep south . But anyone you ask down south will say your not a southerner no matter where the mason dixon line lands, trust me I have had the line argument so many times. I grew up in New Mexico most of them refer to me as a Yankee I find it funny I tell em I'm from so far south I could see Mexico from my back door. The area could be absolutely beautiful but I would be hard pressed to move anywhere in the humid south ever again. The wife and I are fixing to locate near her family in North Carolina you still see some southern pride but no where near the level of hatred to differing ideals, views, and cultures.

I myself love all the differences between people always have and always will. A new accent fascinates me, finding out how people where brought up is like a great movie to me. I like making friends and helping people when in need. We were raised to stop and help stranded motorists by my father. I will take a blunt honest northerner any day over someone who smiles at me but hates me for no other reason than not being like them. At least I know where I stand with the northerner. I finished my degree while working more than full time hours on rotating shifts, and this guy I work with literally made fun of what took me years to accomplish because I had to finish it through distance education. If it isn't the way they think it should be they will run you into the dirt. We have literally poured 10 years of our lives into trying to make friends help others and be a part of something here, and my wife has two friends and will probably never set foot in a southern baptist church again in her life.

Miss Estes you have a good attitude you have the kind of personality that probably blends well with most people like myself and my little sister. She just moved here with her husband active duty army. When she gets away from post and her army family it is pure misery for her. Within a month both her and her husband began telling me how badly they want to move away. She had visited many times in the past but never "LIVED" here.     

[EKYEstes]

Thanks, guys for your input merchantg, are you and your sister in the Clemson area?  I'm so sorry you've had such a negative experience with Southern Baptists.  Just like with any group, a few bad apples will give the rest a bad smell   That's how I feel for my home state, too, when people live in NOVA or in Hampton Roads for a few years and then go around the country telling people Virginia sucks and they hadn't even left those areas the whole time they lived in the state to see what the rest of it is really like.  As it is, my husband's exit date is getting closer and closer and still no word from Duke. He's getting antsy and I'm afraid he's going to accept an offer somewhere else before we even hear back from Duke... looks like he may have to, or we'll be out of work just waiting to hear from a company who may or may not call us back.  This is so stressful!

[Laundry Man]

I lived in Seneca while I was there.  Me from Massachusetts and roommates were from Illinois and Arkansas.  Never had any real problems except with some people from work who didn't like the Yankee thing.  Mom and Dad and two friends came to visit with a white Caddy displaying Vermont tags.  We spent the day at Jumping Off Rock and stopped in Salem since there was an ABC there.  Not two seconds after Dad parked, the local law enforcement was there checking them out.  Walked up to the car and asked Dad if there was a problem.  Wasn't one but I have a good feeling why they were asking.  I did like it there but loved Charlotte almost 20 years ago.
LM

[GLW]

.....Who cares about bugs...geez! try living in Florida....

Grew up in Brevard and Polk Counties,....

Bugs or snow?!?!?

I'll take snow every time,....

If I never see another roach or palmetto bug it'll be too soon,...

[Camella Black]

You Northerner's need not take it personally. It's not that you aren't from the Deep South, it's that you are an outsider period.

I was born a frosty morning in Jasper AL, I speak with a drawl can make a cathead biscuit that would make Paula Deen cry if she tasted it BUT I was not born in SC.

It does not matter that I have lived here since 1978 aside from traveling, I am not "from" here.

I am sure this type of attitude can be found all over small town America.

I love this area to get away from it all... but I am sure it's as clannish as most small towns are.

[RDTroja]

You Northerner's need not take it personally. It's not that you aren't from the Deep South, it's that you are an outsider period.

I was born a frosty morning in Jasper AL, I speak with a drawl can make a cathead biscuit that would make Paula Deen cry if she tasted it BUT I was not born in SC.

It does not matter that I have lived here since 1978 aside from traveling, I am not "from" here.

I am sure this type of attitude can be found all over small town America.

I love this area to get away from it all... but I am sure it's as clannish as most small towns are.

I don't doubt that, but I was never called an 'outsider' while I was there... I was called a 'Yankee' with several choice modifiers in front of the word many times. Mostly with a big ol' friendly-looking smile.