I see green things...

On 3/3/10 10:19 PM, John B wrote:

...if the house sells...

That's the rub.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Yes. I do. Any day now I expect to see my first wild flower of the
season...I think they're buttercups...

I'm just afraid this is going to have to be my last winter...'twas the worst
I have ever had. There were just days when I didn't even leave the
house....if I saw a sunbeam I'd have to run outside and try to stand in it,
then I'd get numb from cold...

Clothing that used to suit me well to zero and a little below now barely
works in the low 20's...

I talked to a realtor Sunday..soon I'll be southbound and down, loaded up
and truckin...if the house sells...

John

On Wed, 3 Mar 2010 21:19:47 -0800, "John B" wrote:

Yes. I do. Any day now I expect to see my first wild flower of the
season...I think they're buttercups...

I'm just afraid this is going to have to be my last winter...'twas the worst
I have ever had. There were just days when I didn't even leave the
house....if I saw a sunbeam I'd have to run outside and try to stand in it,
then I'd get numb from cold...

Clothing that used to suit me well to zero and a little below now barely
works in the low 20's...

I talked to a realtor Sunday..soon I'll be southbound and down, loaded up
and truckin...if the house sells...

I'm not sure what you mean by "southbound," but if you plan on staying in the
US, a couple of things you may wish to consider: 1. I am currently within sight
of the Sound (well, I would be if I went outside, but, well, it's a bit chilly
outside...) and, well, it's a bit chilly outside, and 2) I can't tell you the
exact date, but it snowed in Houston within the last coupla weeks. Currently,
it's low-mid 30s here and in NO, and mid-20s up in the country. That said, I
don't ever recall it being truly cold in S. Florida, the Keys, or the Bahamas
....which, in a demonstration of why there is chocolate and vanilla, is one of
the few things I _don't_ like about that region (rude Yankees and certain
Quebecois being among the few remaining other things, mainly in S. Florida, the
Keys mostly, but not entirely, excepted...).

A tidbit of trivia - it has never, in however long the records have been kept,
gotten down to 32F/0C in Miami or most of S. Florida (most records are in the
mid-30s) until this year, where a number of record lows were set in some of the
inland areas of Palm Beach County - IIRC, it got to 28F around the lake - still
no "freeze" in most areas, though.

TC,
R

John

"John B" wrote in message
...
Yes. I do. Any day now I expect to see my first wild flower of the
season...I think they're buttercups...

I'm just afraid this is going to have to be my last winter...'twas the
worst I have ever had. There were just days when I didn't even leave the
house....if I saw a sunbeam I'd have to run outside and try to stand in
it, then I'd get numb from cold...

Clothing that used to suit me well to zero and a little below now barely
works in the low 20's...

I talked to a realtor Sunday..soon I'll be southbound and down, loaded up
and truckin...if the house sells...

John

Come to Lenoir John! It's a nice quiet community with several thousand miles
of trout waters in close proximity. Housing prices are low and lot-o-houses
just waiting for a new owner.

Op

On Mar 4, 3:39*am, wrote:
On Wed, 3 Mar 2010 21:19:47 -0800, "John B" wrote:
Yes. I do. *Any day now I expect to see my first wild flower of the
season...I think they're buttercups...

I'm just afraid this is going to have to be my last winter...'twas the worst
I have ever had. * There were just days when I didn't even leave the
house....if I saw a sunbeam I'd have to run outside and try to stand in it,
then I'd get numb from cold...

Clothing that used to suit me well to zero and a little below now barely
works in the low 20's...

I talked to a realtor Sunday..soon I'll be southbound and down, loaded up
and truckin...if the house sells...

I'm not sure what you mean by "southbound," but if you plan on staying in the
US, a couple of things you may wish to consider: 1. *I am currently within sight
of the Sound (well, I would be if I went outside, but, well, it's a bit chilly
outside...) and, well, it's a bit chilly outside, and 2) I can't tell you the
exact date, but it snowed in Houston within the last coupla weeks. *Currently,
it's low-mid 30s here and in NO, and mid-20s up in the country. That said, I
don't ever recall it being truly cold in S. Florida, the Keys, or the Bahamas
...which, in a demonstration of why there is chocolate and vanilla, is one of
the few things I _don't_ like about that region (rude Yankees and certain
Quebecois being among the few remaining other things, mainly in S. Florida, the
Keys mostly, but not entirely, excepted...).

A tidbit of trivia - it has never, in however long the records have been kept,
gotten down to 32F/0C in Miami or most of S. Florida (most records are in the
mid-30s) until this year, where a number of record lows were set in some of the
inland areas of Palm Beach County - IIRC, it got to 28F around the lake - still
no "freeze" in most areas, though.

TC,
R





John- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

For various reasons Ive been going down to the Tampa/Tarpon Springs
area around January for maybe 10 years now. I find things very
inexpensive down there, with food and consumables being often half of
what things cost in the Seattle metro. Modest houses are half to a
third of what same run in my home area. And I know of ground story,
higher end, 2 br condos/sunset facing, walk out to water condo at
about $250, w/pool/Tennis/trail etc. Very decent doublewide living is
incredibly inexpensive. Non-celeb restaurants etc . . . same story.
And go a bit inland and knock off 30 years of price changes. In sum
the economics of Florida retirement are hard to beat if you've got a
sustainable modest cash flow.

RW is right about some of the people factors. In addition to his
comments you can add hordes of insecure, retired obnoxious corporate
nomads, substituting abuse of waitresses and herding cats for their
former middle management careers screwing the public. Also try to
imaging the parents who raised the cast of "Jersey Shore," as
retirees, tourons and some Catskill stereotypes, and you get the
picture.

HOWEVER, the locals aren't bad, and they speak English and Spanish,
which is a plus. Don't expect much environmental awareness. Its
piggish at best, but there is lots of fishing.

I think work could be a problem. On the one hand it's real cheap to
get stuff done. On the other hand I would not want to have to work in
that low wage economy.

Driving is also a problem. The number of elderly down there could make
you a believer in the elephant graveyard. And everyday you see scary
driving ****. And the non-elderly, "Florida Rednecks" will daily
demonstrate the truth that most are actually practicing for the Friday
night stockcar track.

Finally, the Westcoast (of Florida) is better than the other Coast.

IMHO
Dave

And I see yellow things called daffodils and tulips. But, don't come
to northern Georgia. The winters are long and cold, the wind blows
hard, the people (if you can call them people) are rude, roads are
crooked (as opposed to crooked pols in MA), everyone talks funny, and
there is no fly fishing.

And taxes - oy vey.........

Dave (the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side of the fence)

wrote:
On Wed, 3 Mar 2010 21:19:47 -0800, "John B" wrote:

Yes. I do. Any day now I expect to see my first wild flower of the
season...I think they're buttercups...

I'm just afraid this is going to have to be my last winter...'twas the worst
I have ever had. There were just days when I didn't even leave the
house....if I saw a sunbeam I'd have to run outside and try to stand in it,
then I'd get numb from cold...

Clothing that used to suit me well to zero and a little below now barely
works in the low 20's...

I talked to a realtor Sunday..soon I'll be southbound and down, loaded up
and truckin...if the house sells...

I'm not sure what you mean by "southbound," but if you plan on staying in the
US, a couple of things you may wish to consider: 1. I am currently within sight
of the Sound (well, I would be if I went outside, but, well, it's a bit chilly
outside...) and, well, it's a bit chilly outside, and 2) I can't tell you the
exact date, but it snowed in Houston within the last coupla weeks. Currently,
it's low-mid 30s here and in NO, and mid-20s up in the country. That said, I
don't ever recall it being truly cold in S. Florida, the Keys, or the Bahamas
...which, in a demonstration of why there is chocolate and vanilla, is one of
the few things I _don't_ like about that region (rude Yankees and certain
Quebecois being among the few remaining other things, mainly in S. Florida, the
Keys mostly, but not entirely, excepted...).

A tidbit of trivia - it has never, in however long the records have been kept,
gotten down to 32F/0C in Miami or most of S. Florida (most records are in the
mid-30s) until this year, where a number of record lows were set in some of the
inland areas of Palm Beach County - IIRC, it got to 28F around the lake - still
no "freeze" in most areas, though.

TC,
R


i lived in miami for 3 years 1972-75. it snowed one day during that
time (i think it was in december or january)... i don't remember
temp...but it was cold.

jeff

On Thu, 4 Mar 2010 12:00:45 -0800 (PST), DaveS wrote:

On Mar 4, 3:39*am, wrote:
On Wed, 3 Mar 2010 21:19:47 -0800, "John B" wrote:
Yes. I do. *Any day now I expect to see my first wild flower of the
season...I think they're buttercups...

I'm just afraid this is going to have to be my last winter...'twas the worst
I have ever had. * There were just days when I didn't even leave the
house....if I saw a sunbeam I'd have to run outside and try to stand in it,
then I'd get numb from cold...

Clothing that used to suit me well to zero and a little below now barely
works in the low 20's...

I talked to a realtor Sunday..soon I'll be southbound and down, loaded up
and truckin...if the house sells...

I'm not sure what you mean by "southbound," but if you plan on staying in the
US, a couple of things you may wish to consider: 1. *I am currently within sight
of the Sound (well, I would be if I went outside, but, well, it's a bit chilly
outside...) and, well, it's a bit chilly outside, and 2) I can't tell you the
exact date, but it snowed in Houston within the last coupla weeks. *Currently,
it's low-mid 30s here and in NO, and mid-20s up in the country. That said, I
don't ever recall it being truly cold in S. Florida, the Keys, or the Bahamas
...which, in a demonstration of why there is chocolate and vanilla, is one of
the few things I _don't_ like about that region (rude Yankees and certain
Quebecois being among the few remaining other things, mainly in S. Florida, the
Keys mostly, but not entirely, excepted...).

A tidbit of trivia - it has never, in however long the records have been kept,
gotten down to 32F/0C in Miami or most of S. Florida (most records are in the
mid-30s) until this year, where a number of record lows were set in some of the
inland areas of Palm Beach County - IIRC, it got to 28F around the lake - still
no "freeze" in most areas, though.

TC,
R





John- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

For various reasons Ive been going down to the Tampa/Tarpon Springs
area around January for maybe 10 years now. I find things very
inexpensive down there, with food and consumables being often half of
what things cost in the Seattle metro. Modest houses are half to a
third of what same run in my home area. And I know of ground story,
higher end, 2 br condos/sunset facing, walk out to water condo at
about $250, w/pool/Tennis/trail etc. Very decent doublewide living is
incredibly inexpensive. Non-celeb restaurants etc . . . same story.
And go a bit inland and knock off 30 years of price changes. In sum
the economics of Florida retirement are hard to beat if you've got a
sustainable modest cash flow.

Um, when's the last time you were in the bottom 3 Atlantic counties or the Keys,
_Florida_ retirement? To be sure, things are a bit different at the moment
then they were a coupla-three years ago, price-wise, and you could then and
certainly can now find relative-to-the-area inexpensive housing, but prices down
south, housing and C-O-L, are considerably more than they are further north,
esp. up towards Tarpon Springs (and really, things aren't too bad in the rest of
Florida, housing _on the beach_ in the "Redneck Riviera" excepted. And while
the Tampa area ain't exactly the Arctic Circle, it does freeze there on
occasion. That said, the whole area, from about Sarasota up to about Cedar Key
is a pretty nice area not likely, IMO, to spoiled, again IMO, the way S. Florida
(the Atlantic side, say about south of Jupiter Inlet) has been over the last
10-20 years. And you're right about the COL in general - it's still
"cosmopolitan country" in a lot of ways, so silly **** that will fly in South
Beach will crash and burn in Tampa. As to the natives (or really, those who
have been there over, say, 15-20 years), most are pretty good folks, about like
"normal" folks anywhere.

RW is right about some of the people factors. In addition to his
comments you can add hordes of insecure, retired obnoxious corporate
nomads, substituting abuse of waitresses and herding cats for their
former middle management careers screwing the public. Also try to
imaging the parents who raised the cast of "Jersey Shore," as
retirees, tourons and some Catskill stereotypes, and you get the
picture.

HOWEVER, the locals aren't bad, and they speak English and Spanish,
which is a plus. Don't expect much environmental awareness. Its
piggish at best, but there is lots of fishing.

I think work could be a problem. On the one hand it's real cheap to
get stuff done. On the other hand I would not want to have to work in
that low wage economy.

Driving is also a problem. The number of elderly down there could make
you a believer in the elephant graveyard. And everyday you see scary
driving ****. And the non-elderly, "Florida Rednecks" will daily
demonstrate the truth that most are actually practicing for the Friday
night stockcar track.

Actually, I'd say it was a toss-up between old folks sitting on phone books,
looking through the space between the dash and the steering wheel and South- and
Central Americans who simply have little or no practical experience driving. I
don't know if it still is, but at one time, I-4, 75 and 95 south of about
Orlando were some of the most dangerous roads in the US based on accidents and
fatalities, with I-95 in the Palm Beach County area being the single most
"deadly" stretch of interstate in the US by something like 2-1.

Finally, the Westcoast (of Florida) is better than the other Coast.

Ummm...depends on how you define "better," but I'd say that at the moment, with
conditions as they are in both, I'd agree - 20 years-plus ago, it was a toss-up
and both were pretty darned nice. But from a purely climate standpoint, if
someone is looking for year-around temperate-bland, I'd say the bottom three
Atlantic counties are about as good as it gets anywhere in the world.

And a final thing to add - if anyone is going to S. Florida, fly into WPB or
Lauderdale and drive down, hell, fly into Charleston and swim down, but fly into
Miami and you WILL regret it - I'd rather fly into Baghdad in a cloth-covered
Piper towing a banner that said "Islam Sucks!" and then take a bus into the
central Mumbai transit terminal, where I had a 14-day layover, than fly into
Miami...

TC,
R

IMHO
Dave

On 3/4/10 1:00 PM, DaveS wrote:

RW is right about some of the people factors.

I don't know what you mean by that, because I never said anything in
this thread about "people factors."

One thing I do know -- the last place I'd move is the Florida Keys. If
we hadn't built that godawful highway it might be a very cool place, but
now it's populated with ****ed-off, under-paid dirtbags manning
convenience stores, gas stations, and cheap bars. It's literally a
one-dimensional place, unless you have a good boat.

If I had very little money and a yearning for year-round sun, I'd look
to the Bahamas. There are places in the outer islands -- places right on
bonefish flats -- that are abandoned. With a little money and a lot of
TLC they could be paradise for the right-minded person.

I've heard, though, that getting clear title can be tricky. Caveat emptor.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

On Mar 4, 5:39*am, wrote:
On Wed, 3 Mar 2010 21:19:47 -0800, "John B" wrote:
Yes. I do. *Any day now I expect to see my first wild flower of the
season...I think they're buttercups...

I'm just afraid this is going to have to be my last winter...'twas the worst
I have ever had. * There were just days when I didn't even leave the
house....if I saw a sunbeam I'd have to run outside and try to stand in it,
then I'd get numb from cold...

Clothing that used to suit me well to zero and a little below now barely
works in the low 20's...

I talked to a realtor Sunday..soon I'll be southbound and down, loaded up
and truckin...if the house sells...

I'm not sure what you mean by "southbound,"

Presumbly (since John is well known to live in the northern
hemisphere), somewhere more or less toward the equator. You see, when
one lives north of the equator "southbound" necessarily means headed
to somewhere closer to the equator. Conversely, when one lives south
of the equator (as those of us who have visited him at his home know
is manifestily not the case) "southbound" necessarily means further
from the equator.....which, as should be obvious by now......even to
the world's greatest living authority with nothing whatsoever to
say......is more or less obviously not the case in the instant case.
Look at a map. From Ohio, north is up and south is down. Get it?

but if you plan on staying in the
US,

Which, as close or even cursory reading of John's input reveals is
obviously the case, or not, we feel safe in declaring that he most
certainly is.....or is not.....depending. But that's why we have
chocolate and vanilla, and YMMV, ainna?

a couple of things you may wish to consider:

Or may not.....see above.....ainna?

1. *I am currently within sight
of the Sound (well, I would be if I went outside, but, well, it's a bit chilly
outside...) and, well, it's a bit chilly outside, and

And exactly who gives a rat's ass because......?


2) I can't tell you the
exact date,

I can. March 4th, 2010.

but it snowed in Houston within the last coupla weeks.

and it can hardly be dangerous to assume that means something or other
to someone or other.

Currently,
it's low-mid 30s here and in NO, and mid-20s up in the country.

True (presumably) and it is or it isn't in Vladivostok and/or
Auckland. Sometimes the symmetry is almost scary, ainna?

That said,

And one can hardly deny that it looks like it was.

I
don't ever recall it being truly cold in S. Florida, the Keys, or the Bahamas

Interesting. I don't either. I suppose this demonstrates one
chocloate or vanilla thing or another.

...which, in a demonstration of why there is chocolate and vanilla,

See, SEE??.....isn't that what I just said??!!

is one of the few things I _don't_ like about that region

um....."that region"? "S. Florida".....been there. "the keys,"
which is to say S. Florida (see above), and "the Bahamas," which ain't
(been there too.....but it still ain't). So......exactly which
"region" are we talking about here?

(rude Yankees and certain
Quebecois being among the few remaining other things,

Well, there's slot-cars, patchouli candles, and various claimants to
the title of "the TRUE yellow pages."

mainly in S. Florida,

Actually, and contrary to public perceptions.....perhaps.....slot-cars
and patchouli candles still enjoy widespread (if little known)
popularity throughout a substantial portion of North America, north of
Mexico.......as well as in various parts of Mexico.

the
Keys mostly, but not entirely, excepted...).

In fact, the keys are nearly universally excepted these days in most
places where they are not universally (or at least nearly so)
accepted. Make of what you will, but facts is facts.

A tidbit of trivia -

Oh boy, one can hardly wait......

it has never, in however long the records have been kept,
gotten down to 32F/0C in Miami or most of S. Florida

Well. Gosh, That is every bit as astonishing and gratifying as we
had hope and anticipated!

(most records are in the mid-30s)

Well, not quite literally true. Many of them are in fact in the 40s,
50s, 60s, 70s, 80, and 90s.....depends on the year and the
month.....more or less.

until this year, where a number of record lows were set in some of the
inland areas of Palm Beach County - IIRC, it got to 28F around the lake - still
no "freeze" in most areas, though.

Well.

Gosh.

TC,
R

Moron.

g.