City or country???????

Yeah Zipper, I thought of that.

JG

[Zipper]

Shredder, isn't Oscoda the base from where Slim Pickens and his wing did the "Dr. Strangelove" bomb run on Russia? One of my favourite all-time movies!

Go down I-75, then make a left to Pt. Huron.

We are an hour east on the Canadian side.

We should lose most of our snow tomorrow. +12C and rain.

Yep, that was a great movie for sure. Although I have been all over Michigan, I never made it to Oscoda.
A former business partner had a summer home there.
Another partner (same company) had a home on Maui.
Never made it there either. OTOH, they are both dead
and I am still here.

JG

Retired early, (57) August 1st 2004

High tech job. Too much stress.

Live in San Francisco Bay Area. Need cafes and bookstores to survive.

Bought small ranch (10 acres) in the wine country North of San Francisco in 1990.

Used ranch as getaway while working. Cutting brush, busting wood, building bonfires, looking at the stars etc. Just the antidote for the high tech world.

Now I move back and forth between them as the mood suits me.

I love the contrasts between them. One is a small town (700 people) where the stuff in the hardware store hasn't changed in 60 years and the other is a major university town with serious bookstores and intellectual stimulation.

When I get to the country I feel renewed and excited to be there. When I get back to the city I feel the same way.

Like all travel, the coming home lets us appreciate not only where we live but where we have been.

If possible I recommend two locations. Either one can be very simple but the variety adds so much to lifestyle.

b.

Hello Boont! Good post. We have 2 locations but neither is in the city, although I can undertsand the
appeal of your arrangement. The thing is, we have
cafes and bookstores coming out of our ears,
everything from franchised to funky. I am happy
you like the city. Just wanted folks to know that
some of these diversions are available to us out here in the boonies as well.

JG

[Shredder]

Quote:

Shredder, isn't Oscoda the base from where Slim Pickens and his wing did the "Dr. Strangelove" bomb run on Russia? One of my favourite all-time movies! Go down I-75, then make a left to Pt. Huron. We are an hour east on the Canadian side. We should lose most of our snow tomorrow. +12C and rain.

Zipper:
I'm not sure if the film was made here or not. The base closed in the early 90's, now there is a air plane business, and some small manufaturing. There are some college classes, forest service buildings and equipment, library, gym, Dr. offices, clinics, ect. A lot of the old houses are now low cost private houses. Some of the old barracks are to be torn down at some point, as it gradually becomes part of our community.
Snow is going fast here too. We had 13in on the ground and now it's like maybe 5 and going. We may see grass soon!!
Shredder

[Jarhead*]

Quote:

Hello Boont! *Good post. *We have 2 locations but neither is in the city, although I can undertsand the appeal of your arrangement. *The thing is, we have cafes and bookstores coming out of our ears, everything from franchised to funky. I am happy you like the city. *Just wanted folks to know that some of these diversions are available to us out here in the boonies as well. JG

JG: Are you sure that you don't want to take a crack at living in the Bay Area of Calif.?
You could probably pick up a home for $800,000, but it would be in a cookie cutter neighborhood, and may need some fixing up.
For your 2nd. place in the Wine Country, lots are impossible to find for less than $150,000, so having 10 acres, a bunch.
Of course you wouldn't be on the water, but you'd have some world class restaurants to choose from

[Bruce]

Happy new years!

I have to say country beats the city by a small amount. It is nice to have the culture and the convenience; but that is balanced by the crowds, traffic and crime. I would say a small country city; large enough to get quality health care but small enough to not have a lot of city drawbacks.

One thing I am positive about is that will never live in the city. We are both hard core country people. In fact, thinking back over my life
and moves, the only time I actually lived in the "city"
was when we were located in Irving, Texas, a couple
of miles from Texas Stadium. I posted before that
Toronto used to be my favorite big city. Now, if I was forced
back to the city I would choose the Dallas metroplex.

JG

[polloloco]

I could never go back to the city. Have lived near Richmond, VA and Philadelphia in my previous life. Heat and humidity are a burden for two months, but are tolerable. Winters are great here. Low 70's for the last four days. New Years Eve was the only night cool enough to build a fire in the screened porch. We are close enough to a large university town for specialty shopping and culture, and only 1.5 hours from the state capitol, not that Jackson, MS is very attractive to anyone I know. The rest of the state is quite nice, especially the area around Ocean Springs, the only coast county without casinos.

[Spanky]

I am comtemplating Portland or Eugene Oregon as a possible retirement place. The cost of housing is relative low (compared to California), the climate is mild and it has modern convenience and health care.

Cheers. Spanky

[Martha]

Dave, your comment about guns in the country is interesting. I grew up in the country and got my first 22 when I was about six years old. Kids didn't play with guns. We were taught how to properly carry a gun, shoot and then clean it afterwards. Hunting where I grew up wasn't a sport--it was for food. Missing school during deer hunting season was expected and allowed (at least for boys). I was always comfortable around guns.

I feel totally different about guns in the city.

Ah yes, guns. I love it when that topic comes up. I heard
recently that San Francisco is floating an idea to ban private ownership of handguns, like Chicago and
Wash, DC. In every study I have seen, areas with gun
bans have increased crime. And, places where
concealed carry is allowed (38 of the 50 states I believe)
crime drops after passage of legislation allowing it.
In any case, I am strongly in favor of widespread
gun ownership, and I believe we have more than enough gun control laws on the books at present.
The so-called "assault weapons ban" which just expired
was a crazy piece of legislation in the first place.

Bottom line. I have no worries about arming my
fellow citizens (even the liberals) . I would be
happier with more guns in our hands, not less,
regardless of the reasons for ownership, and regardless
of where they happen to live.

JG

[Eagle43]

JG, I agree. IMHO there are millions of gun-owners who have never raised the weapon in anger. It's just a safety valve. I would rather have it and not need it than the reverse. The more armed law-abiding citizens the better.

[bow-tie]

Quote:

Country for sure!!! The lifestyle is much freer... Most rural dwellers are there because they shun crowded neighborhoods, homeowner associations, incompetent city officials, high taxes, high water bills, etc... Most do not subscribe to a lot of what the authorities say is 'good for you.' *A good example is a guy in my area who has a sign on is fence that says, "Warning, I DON'T call 911."... They will risk their lives to help a neighbor...Most neighbors will greet you warmly, offer you food and drink and let you stay for hours. *Kids roam freely without fear of being abducted or run over... Most rural dwellers would give their neighbor money or other support to help out in hard times... Most could build a chicken coop, erect a fence, fix a roof or replace siding faster than a city dweller could find someone to call in the Yellow Pages to fix a leaky sink...

SSHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Enough already. You'll give away all of our secrets. Then everyone will want to do it.

[unclemick]

I'm with Bow-tie --SHhhhh --- the relentless march of the suburbs is bad enough. The jerk wads at city hall canceled our RR routes last year and give us a stupid street number - and blamed it on updating 911.

[Martha]

I grew up very rural--yous shoot 'ear me. Don't worry, I am not moving back and most are not going to move in.

The dark side:
--rodents, bugs, lime disease, etc
--everyone knows your business and has an opinion about it
-- communities can be quite homogenous--if you don't belong to the right church you won't fit in, or if you are the only "minority" in the community
--long distance to hospital and first responders, depending on your area, might not be well trained

[Martha]

I'll add some more. Hunters from the city come and shoot you. I had one acquaintence that was driving down some rural highway and a bullet went through his car and into his knee. He barely made it to the hospital. Some deer hunter from the city was shooting towards the highway.

Rural areas are also the new hotbed for meth labs. The odor is too strong for the city.

Quote:

JG, I agree. *IMHO *there are millions of gun-owners who have never raised the weapon in anger. *It's just a safety valve. *I would rather have it and not need it than the reverse. *The more armed law-abiding citizens the better.

I am always amused at statements like these. The reason is that the facts don't support it. Statistics show that a gun in a home is more likely to be used among friends and family than any intruder.

With that said. I am all for people owning their own guns. I used to hunt and owned plenty of guns, before I started seriously flyfishing. I used to have a 44 Magnum, 30-30, 20 gauge double barrels. I still admire a nice engraved over and under.

Just don't kid yourselves though. A gun is not going to protect you in most situations. And in fact (statistically) will endanger your family and friends.

[unclemick]

Dogs - which gives me time to load my 12 gauge pump - never been necessary.

BTY - my neighbor's house alarm (across the inlet) is going off again for the umpteenth time - his parrot? has figured out how to pick his cage lock and flies thru the motion detector.

Dogs are better.