Good morning!!!!

[daugen]

But today I would not be able to afford the property let alone the house and buildings.
Ron, same here. I moved away to NC where on a beer budget I could drink champagne, but once back here,
particularly with what real estate has done in the last five years, the area simply offers very little affordable housing.
As in single detached small homes with an acre or so. What I could have bought in Washington NC for 240k is 600k here.
So I'm happy I found a decent place to rent.

I'm about 30 minutes from nearest ER. Would not want to live further than that. In Washington NC I was 15 minutes away and still in country/farmland.

looks icy out, truck is glazed over. Can hear the salt trucks go by. Decided not to get a car wash, good thing. We have some nasty weather coming up in a few days.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 49F @ 4:45AM. Considerable clouds this morning. Some decrease in clouds later in the day. High 58F. Winds light and variable.
The next bit of rain comes in again on Friday, then dry for the rest of the 10-day. Snow pack is well above average for this time of year.

Hope none of you were caught in that traffic mess on I95. People forget that being stranded like that happens often enough that carrying a sleeping bag, food, water, and a light source or two might just save your life. But there are nice stories of human kindness emerging from the emergency, too.

The Camp Fire took out the closest hospital here, so the ambulance ride would be at least thirty minutes. And probably fifteen minutes for the EMTs to get here from the closest fire station. Which two years ago the county tried to defund in the winter time because there was reduced fire danger. That was a lively board meeting, and they quickly came to their senses and found the money to keep it open.

Glad your power came back on, Mike. Hard to find the funds for a reliable stand alone power source, but with the increasingly unreliable grid, lots of us are having our hands forced to do so. And if you move, are you just trading one type of natural or man made disaster for another?

I've used the little Barbasol traveler size shaving cream cans for years, but prefer the gel types by Edge. After mistakenly buying a second six pack of them, I might just have a lifetime supply...

The S&P 500 was up almost 30% for 2021, a bit surprising what with all the gloom and doom in the news. Very easy to make money in a market like that, Paul, so if you're shopping for a new advisor, be sure to check their track record a good ways back to tougher times.

You've been to some marvelous places, Ken. Where to next?

Hope your flat track season gets off to a great start, Rich. You still wrenching for the same kid?

The latest CV19 results, from the week of 12/19/2021, show Omicron finally making an appearance in the county with about 25% of the new cases. I bet it's much higher now. New cases spiked to almost record levels Christmas week, but they're down significantly for the week of 1/3/2022. But the trend is still higher, and mandatory masking is required state wide now.

Probably be a paperwork kind of day today, but if the sun comes out later, might get some seat time limbing up some trees.

Happy Hump Day, folks!

 

[toppop52]

I don't think I would ever do a sips. If you are looking for land, etc., first thing to check is zoning; as far as permitting, make sure there are no "connection fees". It's getting harder to find nice land, privacy, and affordability. Good luck.

Why not sips? Looks like cost similar sometimes less than stick built and the energy use in the home is reduced. If I were building again today I’d certainly consider it. It wasn’t offered to me in 2011 when I started this house.

 

[toppop52]

Planning on staying in Maryland?
And, you folks still pronounce it as "Merleland"? (I do)

I say it more like Mer a lund. Of course I’m an Eastern Shoreman, and as we say, “there is no life west of the Chesapeake. “

 

[toppop52]

Wife & I lived in Va all our life, 67 her, 69 me.
What ruined our area was LU (Liberty University) & people not acclimating. They leave NY, CA, etc., move here bringing their ideas with them.

Same thing ruined the OBX, it was near paradise 40 years ago, local sheriffs and council members that were born there and held the values of those that love freedom. Now most officials are from the metropolitan northeast and they bring their gun control and educational ideas with them.

 

[Jkrez]

Good morning. 30 and chance of freezing rain in South Eastern PA

 

[Popgadget]

so let's be tolerant of those who are different.

And let’s keep in mind there are many kinds of different. Like how we vote, where we live, our thoughts on climate change, guns, animals, self sufficiency, and on and on. It’s a long list.

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 36˚F, sunny skies, heading to the mid 60s.

One of our volunteer firefighters from the last place I lived, on the farm, died over the weekend. He was at the store and collapsed, Ambulance heard a faint heartbeat and took him to closest hospital 30 minutes away, but ambulance had already traveled 10 miles to get to the store. The closest hospital could not do anything and the air flight to Austin was called. The distance to a qualifying medical facility is very important and should be a consideration when you retire. To make the story more sad his brother died 3 days later.

My wife sure did like the close hospital during my last surgery. I like it also because the painful ride home was short. I'm on the knee flex machine this morning getting it warmed up for my afternoon PT. The knee machine goes back tomorrow. Only 3 weeks were recommended by the Dr., after that you need to use your own muscles more to flex, I agree.

 

[toppop52]

good morning all
30 degrees out and freezing rain this morning, should make the commute miserable for some.

I'm headed down for a haircut and it should be interesting.
Have to get there exactly on time, they are very serious about not having too many clients overlap.
Last time, which was my first time in this shop, I had a very nice 6 foot tall guy with flowing big blonde hair,
perhaps a little eyeliner and some really nice nails. ....Ok, here's a little of my DEI/tolerance training; sure a transvestite
cutting my hair is a new experience. Frankly he was a nice guy (lady?) so who cares.
I'm not sure if he was transgender, transvestite, or what.

This whole bit about how one identifies oneself is perplexing. I asked one lady at church why she signed her
emails with her name and then (her/she) afterwards. I guess it is solidarity with folks of different persuasions.
I'd like to sign mine Drew (me). Let them guess....

I'm sure if some of you have gay or alternative life style kids this would be more meaningful.
My home town was half gay when I grew up here, so we learned to be very tolerant of other life styles.
Sort of like growing up near Key West or Provincetown.

Just seems like there are more variations out there now. Probably more like folks are just coming out.
which I think is good.
Can't repress what you are.
My uncle was Captain of a US Navy destroyer and later on in life I realized why he never married.
He had to hide it all his life. We always thought he was a hard ass just because. But he had to be in that situation.
He retired from the Navy and taught AP high school kids in Alexandria VA for 30 years into his 80's. And he never brought a friend
home, which is what his family would have wanted. But back then, well for many, you just couldn't.

so let's be tolerant of those who are different.

Well hell Drew, we are tolerant, we put up with you!

Your point is well taken, I spent 37 years in the interior design business, if you couldn’t deal with alternative lifestyle folks you would lose half your clientele.

 

[riptides]

I prefer the word acceptance to the word tolerance. I think it is the next step towards understanding.