OT-once (if) the job market recovers, I think I want to

[Jason_W]

Move south

It's not that I don't love winter recreation, it's having to go to work in it that's a pain. Also, the cost of heating a home is simply daunting

Of course, there's a trade off. Easier winters, but oppressive heat in the summer. Also, poisonous snakes, fire ants, and something called chiggers.

[2ndovc]

Dude,

I think about that all the time. In the business I'm in, (insurance restoration) I know I'd be making a Lot more money down South ( probably twice) with the hurricanes and
tropical storms but I just can't deal with the heat.
I read a study on CNN or Foxnews the other day that basically said the Great Lakes and Upper New England regions are the safest in the country
when it comes to weather or seismic related deaths or injuries.

In otherwords the most boring parts of the country.

[Jason_W]

Dude,

I think about that all the time. In the business I'm in, (insurance restoration) I know I'd be making a Lot more money down South ( probably twice) with the hurricanes and
tropical storms but I just can't deal with the heat.
I read a study on CNN or Foxnews the other day that basically said the Great Lakes and Upper New England regions are the safest in the country
when it comes to weather or seismic related deaths or injuries.

In otherwords the most boring parts of the country.

Yeah, nothing really bad (weather wise) happens here. Knock on wood.

If I was independently wealthy, winter would be awesome. I'd go out snowshoeing, ice fishing, and predator hunting on the nicer winter days, and stay home cozy with the missus on the nasty days. It's not a matter of not liking cold temps. Unfortunately, employers rarely have snow days.

The costs are a bit rough as well. Winter tires, a plow service or snow blower (shoveling just takes too long when you need to get to work in the morning) and the real killer, home heating fuel. I'd bet that COL goes up at least 30% in the winter.

maybe some of the southerners here can set me straight about the disadvantages to life down there.

[Guncase]

We have it pretty good here in the Willamette valley in Oregon. (Think Portland, Salem, Eugene) We are getting our "winter" this week. We had some temps in the 20's, and about 3 inches of snow. That's alot for our area. The summer will usually be in the 80's with about a week of "hot" weather in the upper 90's to low 100's. We have no tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, or wild fires. No poisonous snakes, very few poisonous spiders, and plenty of varmints to shoot. We can be at the beach in an hour, the mountains in an hour, and the desert in two and a half hours. The downside... too many people, and too few deer. I guess the grass is always greener...

[deerwhacker444]

and something called chiggers.

Chiggers indeed..! Think mosquito bite 10X in "places" that mosquitoes don't have access too..

[AJMD429]

It is easier to heat a house cheaply than cool one cheaply.

The cheapest cooling we've found is if you have a metal roof, and are on a well, use a soaker hose on the peak of the roof. That lowers our house temps in the summer about 10 degrees! I refuse to have a central air 'system' due to installation and repair costs and "you can't get those parts anymore except on special order" syndrome , but a 'rack mount' of four or five window air conditioners in a door frame of a closet-sized room hooked into central blower system has occurred to me - one breaks and you still have 80% capacity, and can 'fix' it for $200 at the nearest store.

Heating-wise, passive solar with wood isn't very expensive, if you have wooded areas nearby and friends to donate, trade, or sell cheap firewood, or don't mind cutting your own.

[Jason_W]

Heating-wise, passive solar with wood isn't very expensive, if you have wooded areas nearby and friends to donate, trade, or sell cheap firewood, or don't mind cutting your own.

My original intent was to heat our house (rented) with wood. Unfortunately, the chimney lining is cracked and unsafe and I doubt the landlord is going to shell out the $1500 to have it fixed, considering there is a propane backup.

Too bad. I really enjoy tending a wood stove.

[TedH]

Too bad. I really enjoy tending a wood stove.

I did too for about the first two years. The nostalgia and romance wore off after that and I really got tired of cutting wood all summer.

[two bit okie]

lake Havasu City, AZ, right on the colorado river in north western AZ is a beautiful spot. We just had a heavy rain for one day and one night and will probably get another 1/4 to 1/2 inch this season. If you are a fisherman, stripped bass are popular here. Middle of Oct to late april are great. June, July, august, and half of september are hotter that hell, and drier than can be believed. popcorn phart comes to mind. (last summer highest I saw was 121 deg. and 2 percent humidity, per weather channel). The down side is that wages are mad low. educational opertunities are pathetic. and if you dont fish, boat, jet ski, off road there is not much to do. great place to retire to if you can leave in the summer.

[Hobie]

The grass is always greener elsewhere...

Back before AC was common, fewer people were eager to move south to live year 'round. AC, cheap AC, has made living in the deep south bearable for many more people. I've lived up north and in the south, California (a whole different climate) and here in VA. It is my humble opinion that too much moderation is simply boring. Boring is depressing. Dealing with weather, hot or cold, gives us something to do. It stimulates us. I much prefer VA's 4 seasons albeit relatively moderate to the Monterey peninsula's damnable blandness... IOW, wherever you live you pay some sort of price.

[TedH]

The best climate that I've lived in was Lewiston, Idaho. It would get hot in the summer, but with no humidity it was much more comfortable than the south or midwest. Winters were mild in town with snow accumulation rare. You could however drive up 20 minutes in any direction and be in feet of snow. The downside was high property taxes and utilities. Not a large enough area to have a good job market either.

[cshold]

"OT-once (if) the job market recovers, I think I want to"

Look at my 401K
There's probably an IOU there now.

[Old Ironsights]

It is easier to heat a house cheaply than cool one cheaply.
...

+ several thousand...

Heating-wise, passive solar with wood isn't very expensive, if you have wooded areas nearby and friends to donate, trade, or sell cheap firewood, or don't mind cutting your own.

Lemme put it this way...

I have, on hand, Stock Plans - developed in the LAST "oil crisis" for houses that, in the dead cold of Wyoming winter, will keep a house at 50+ degrees with ZERO gas/electric/wood/oil heat.

I have one 1500sqft set/version that I'm currently trying to sell to a "manufactured home" company that can be put on 2 standard 52' trailers.

Add a decent "off grid" electric system and you will never need to pay utilities again.

I just wish I had the property to set myself up on...

[mescalero1]

OI,
Care to share?
I will be building a new house soon, always looking to get better.

[Ysabel Kid]

I grew up just north of Indianapolis, and spent the first 8 years of my career in Michigan. When I moved down south I thought I'd miss the snow. Nope. If I never shovel a driveway again it won't upset me! Yes, the summers can be pretty darn hot. Still, ideologically, I am home - SC seems to suit me very well!!!

[Rusty]

What is this .... snow y'all keep talking about?


Is it a by product of an election gone wrong?


I wish some of you would move down here so offset the liberals that are commin down.

I always said Happiness is 100,000 Canadians headed home with a New Yorker under each arm.

[Old Savage]

Don't forget So Cal - fires 800 homes burned in the last one - floods - quakes - F 18s flying into buildings - 110+ in the summer at times - 400 cars stranded on the freeway Wed. - high winds - illegals - and worst of all the dems make the laws.

[HATCHETTJACK]

Don't forget So Cal - fires 800 homes burned in the last one - floods - quakes - F 18s flying into buildings - 110+ in the summer at times - 400 cars stranded on the freeway Wed. - high winds - illegals - and worst of all the dems make the laws.

sounds like a hell of a place... i grew up in washington state on the wet side, i prefer north carolina ya get used to the humidity pretty fast

[bogus bill]

All that is why I left your back yard old savage. I miss FEW things there. Tehatchipi verus Lancaster is kind of like cedar city verus St. George. I live close to 6,000 ft, not much different. St. George 45 miles away is similar to lancaster. Mesquite, another 30 miles towards vegas is +15 degrees. However just behind me a couple miles it gets 10,000 ft. We just had about a foot and half snow, but half its gone. Its a nice college town, maybe 20,000 in surounding area included. Hardly nothing out of town forever any direction. Students, cowboys, sheephearders, indians and poligamists. And me.

[handirifle]

It is easier to heat a house cheaply than cool one cheaply.

The cheapest cooling we've found is if you have a metal roof, and are on a well, use a soaker hose on the peak of the roof. That lowers our house temps in the summer about 10 degrees! I refuse to have a central air 'system' due to installation and repair costs and "you can't get those parts anymore except on special order" syndrome , but a 'rack mount' of four or five window air conditioners in a door frame of a closet-sized room hooked into central blower system has occurred to me - one breaks and you still have 80% capacity, and can 'fix' it for $200 at the nearest store.

Heating-wise, passive solar with wood isn't very expensive, if you have wooded areas nearby and friends to donate, trade, or sell cheap firewood, or don't mind cutting your own.

If you think a central AC is expensive, go ahead and run 5 window units. I have my degree in AC and refrigeration used to work in the field for 4 1/2 years (before the ATC job opportunity came) and I can tell you the central unit will be about 20% cheaper to run.

The only units I ever saw parts not available for were 25+ years old. If your AC was that old, it cost you more to run it than it would to make pmts on a new one.

Almost any AC unit out there can used parts that are universal to most all units, relays controls, capicitors etc. If they gave you that line, you needed to switch service companies.

[Old Savage]

Bogus - 30" in Wrightwood in the last storm, 2 ft in Juniper Hills, 10" in Palmdale and maybe 5" in Lancaster.

[Old Ironsights]

OI,
Care to share?
I will be building a new house soon, always looking to get better.

Sure... but for NM/AZ the design (thermal envelope/solar-loop) is a sure-fire "eazy-bake-convection-oven" unless you are on a mountaintop.

OTOH, I think I can dig up somthing we did for the Piautes that had a self-cooling feature using a "thermal chimney".

[brucew44guns]

I lived my first 30 years in So. Cal.. Went to Eugene, Or. for almost 20 years, now near Abilene, Ks for about 15 years. Today it is 0 degrees F. in this area, everything froze hard, windy, and wind chill about -20. But on a 3 mile gravel road I only have 4 other neighbors, and they are in the first mile from the blacktop. I like my privacy, open spaces, land, 360 degree view for about 15 miles in all directions, and the freedom and ability to play with firearms at home. I'll put up with this winter time, and the 100 degree summers, just to never have to go to Los Angeles area ever again. The Willamette Valley of Oregon is a great place too for sure.

[Stan in SC]

There's nothing of interest down south.Move along.Move along.LOL.

Stan in SC

[Ysabel Kid]

There's nothing of interest down south.Move along.Move along.LOL.

Stan in SC

I was down here less than a week before I heard the difference between a "Yankee" and a "darn Yankee" (the latter is a Yankee that STAYS! )!

darn proud to be a darn Yankee - 'cause I'm not going back!!!

[bigbore442001]

Jason:

I am a fellow New Englander. I've lived in Massachusetts all my life but have been blessed with the opportunity to travel all over this great nation of ours. Each summer I'd take off for weeks at a time and hunt varmints,camp and sightsee the Great American West and in the winters take off to Florida to handgun hunt feral hogs.

I have learned many things and one of which is that the grass may not be much greener outside of our locale.

You stated that you would like to move down South. Ok. What part of the South? I have discovered one big negative about the South. There is little or no free hunting except on heavily used public lands. We still have it good in that you can go pretty much anywhere or with a handshake get access to some nice private land. That isn't the case from what I could tell south of New England. You are in the land of leases and hunting clubs. Some cost an arm and a leg to join. Unless you are related to some landowner or very close friends it is highly unlikely you will get permission for free. Any of our southern bretheren of this board please feel free to correct me with that statement.

Another negative is the oppressive heat and humidity. I for one cannot stand it. I have some breathing issues and the heat and humidity take me out. I basically do little when it gets bad. The south has a longer heat and humidity season thus you need some way to stay comfortable in that time. I know we will complain about the Triple H's in July for a couple of weeks but imagine that from May to October in some locations.

On a sidenote I had noticed in the teaching field many collegues who had worked in North Carolina. I was curious as to that. I talked with my mother's friend who has moved to North Carolina. Their family has NC roots and they said that the local districts will hire a new teacher and then let them go after two years. Will other industries do the same?

Just some food for thought.

[AJMD429]

If you think a central AC is expensive, go ahead and run 5 window units.

I have to admit, it isn't a 'cost' issue so much as a 'control' issue - if I can't install, find parts for, and repair something myself, I don't want it in my house.

From what I've been told (by my HVAC buddies! ) there's no way I would have the knowledge to do those things, so I just won't bother having central air.

Part of the price one pays for being a control-freak...

[Jason_W]

Jason:

I am a fellow New Englander. I've lived in Massachusetts all my life but have been blessed with the opportunity to travel all over this great nation of ours. Each summer I'd take off for weeks at a time and hunt varmints,camp and sightsee the Great American West and in the winters take off to Florida to handgun hunt feral hogs.

I have learned many things and one of which is that the grass may not be much greener outside of our locale.

You stated that you would like to move down South. Ok. What part of the South? I have discovered one big negative about the South. There is little or no free hunting except on heavily used public lands. We still have it good in that you can go pretty much anywhere or with a handshake get access to some nice private land. That isn't the case from what I could tell south of New England. You are in the land of leases and hunting clubs. Some cost an arm and a leg to join. Unless you are related to some landowner or very close friends it is highly unlikely you will get permission for free. Any of our southern bretheren of this board please feel free to correct me with that statement.

Another negative is the oppressive heat and humidity. I for one cannot stand it. I have some breathing issues and the heat and humidity take me out. I basically do little when it gets bad. The south has a longer heat and humidity season thus you need some way to stay comfortable in that time. I know we will complain about the Triple H's in July for a couple of weeks but imagine that from May to October in some locations.

On a sidenote I had noticed in the teaching field many collegues who had worked in North Carolina. I was curious as to that. I talked with my mother's friend who has moved to North Carolina. Their family has NC roots and they said that the local districts will hire a new teacher and then let them go after two years. Will other industries do the same?

Just some food for thought.

Those are some good points. Honestly, I'm not going anywhere for a couple of years at least. I doubt I could talk the wife into it anyway. She really, really, hates hot humid weather.

This is also my first winter living in a place where heat isn't included in the rent. It may just be that shock talking.