tx_tuff

You answered one of the questions I had, are you married and do you have any children. Well you just said you had 3 children, and that is big. I'm guess the other cities/counties you are seeking are close by and not to far? You say you have great benefits now and security, this can me the most important part when you have a family!

Sounds to me that for whatever reason you and your boss do not see eye to eye, since you feel that way you may come across as being an ass or whiner when you are talking to him but may not even notice it yourself. You may have to be more of a man and keep everything at a high level to make things work even if your boss doesn't. Instead of doing things like asking him if there is a class you can go to, find out ahead of time if there is one and give him plenty of notice when it is etc... He may not of know about the class you found and could have been telling the truth as he knew it when he said there wasn't one. Also being in his shoes I can totally see how sending somebody to a class to get his operators license (rather he wants it or not) is more important then having somebody who already has it go to a class, from a business point of view.

We all want to be happy with our jobs, no doubt about that! If this is something you plan on doing the rest of your life the benefits and security for yourself and family may be better then a new job. For one the grass isn't always greener, you may like your new job even less then the one you have now! And if the retirement is one of the benefits that is better where you are at then leaving can be a huge mistake. Just my two cents.