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12-19-2010, 09:34 AM
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#41
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,116
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gumby
We will almost certainly stay right here after we retire. We have high taxes and a high cost of living, but this is the place we feel that we fit in. There are many places in this country where I am sure I could not relate to the majority of the people, nor they to me. In that case, it really wouldn't matter how beautiful and warm it was or how low the cost of living.
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Same opinion here
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I get by with a little help from my friends....ta ta ta ta ta...
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12-19-2010, 12:53 PM
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#42
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gumby
We will almost certainly stay right here after we retire. We have high taxes and a high cost of living, but this is the place we feel that we fit in. There are many places in this country where I am sure I could not relate to the majority of the people, nor they to me. In that case, it really wouldn't matter how beautiful and warm it was or how low the cost of living.
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To me, this fit is the number one asset of any place. Most of us are not chameleons, we have definite and perhaps pretty well set personalities, attitude sets, and preferences in all sorts of day to day social interactions. Even when you are young and have children and jobs to help you integrate, if you don't fit you just don't fit.
Before I moved into the city I lived in a nearby area that drew some retirees, but was really a tight knit ethnic community that had no real use for outlanders. If the newcomers could find enough other newcomers, and fit in with them, all was well. But the transplants were mainly an affluent "golf and consume" crowd.
I got to know an older couple who moved into the main part of the old town, and who definitely did not fit. They were too intellectual, too frugal, and too non-golfish for the transplants, and too non-local for the locals. The man seemed content enough, just walking around town, stopping at the library, watching the harvests, and dropping into the bakery.(Where I met him.) But his wife was very outgoing and needed people. She eventually became depressed, and I hardly ever saw her. The guy continued wandering around, such that my wife and I referred to him as The Wanderer. They never left, I guessed that having bought a home they couldn't handle the financial or other costs of an attempt at another choice. They had both passed before I left, first she did then he several years later.
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
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12-19-2010, 01:06 PM
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#43
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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Quote:
Originally Posted by haha
They were too intellectual, too frugal, and too non-golfish for the transplants, and too non-local for the locals. The man seemed content enough, just walking around town, stopping at the library, watching the harvests, and dropping into the bakery.(Where I met him.) But his wife was very outgoing and needed people. She eventually became depressed, and I hardly ever saw her...
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Perhaps you nailed the difference between the introvert and the extrovert. The introvert may never fit in anywhere, but he just doesn't care.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
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Where young people go to retire...
12-19-2010, 04:27 PM
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#44
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 7,108
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Where young people go to retire...
__________________
Duck bjorn.
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12-19-2010, 04:59 PM
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#45
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: East Nowhere, 43N Latitude, NY
Posts: 9,037
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No newsflashes here.
3. New York. Very high taxes, including property taxes. Second highest tax burden and 5th highest per-capita property taxes. Dysfunctional state legislature. Very expensive to live in this climate with cold winters. Most pensions are exempt, however.
$3200 school taxes, approx $1000 county taxes on a 1977 vintage home on 1.25 acres in East Nowhere.
8.5% sales tax
Don't even get me started about gas, liquor, sugary drinks, and tanning booth (yes you heard right) taxes.
The "one more year plan" is solidifying...
__________________
"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney
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12-19-2010, 09:20 PM
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#46
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brat
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I remember a few years ago reading about Portland being a place where many runaway teens came to hang out. City officials had to do something to keep them from falling prey to criminal elements. I do not know if this situation persists.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
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12-20-2010, 09:21 AM
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#47
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 7,108
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I don't know if Portland population of runaway teens is higher than any other city with moderate temperatures but I do know that the police on the west coast are trying to address the transportation of young women for purposes of prostitution. They are finding that many were entrapped when running away from home, or even just talking to strangers. These agencies are beginning to look at the problem as tantamount to slavery, arresting the pimps and sheltering the girls.
__________________
Duck bjorn.
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12-20-2010, 10:44 AM
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#48
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,116
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Ha: Don´t you live in or around Seattle?
I am asking because I happen to have seen a documentary about Spaniards living there. All of them very impressed and happy with the city and surroundings.
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I get by with a little help from my friends....ta ta ta ta ta...
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12-22-2010, 10:27 AM
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#49
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,323
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Well, this confirms I was right about Illinois anyway.... The taxes are h-e-double hockeysticks! (And I won't even mention the cold)
My friend that is sick moved to Vegas and is questioning medical care there. With such a serious case as she possibly has...bad decision to move there.
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Please consider adopting a rescue animal. So very many need a furr-ever home and someone to love them! And if we all spay/neuter our pets there won't be an overpopulation to put to death.
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12-22-2010, 10:49 AM
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#50
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gone traveling
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 3,851
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NW-Bound
The introvert may never fit in anywhere, but he just doesn't care.
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Hey, I resemble that remark ...
"What you think of me, is none of my business"...
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12-22-2010, 10:59 AM
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#51
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,116
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The other day my wife -non English speaker- suggested taking a sabbatical and going for a year to the States. Her suggestion included me teaching Spanish over there..... She must think that kind of plum job grows on trees over there.... How many Hispanics among you that would aspire to such a job....20 million ?
I suppose it was some sort of idle daydreaming on her part, but..... just in case she insists on her notion and strarts pestering me into researching the issue, I am documenting myself, studying all your posts on this thread
__________________
I get by with a little help from my friends....ta ta ta ta ta...
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12-22-2010, 11:31 AM
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#52
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,483
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Does not surprise me Wisconsin is on the list, some of the high property taxes, short summers, high gas taxes, etc. Why the hell do I still live here? Oh, that's right, Summerfest!
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Consult with your own advisor or representative. My thoughts should not be construed as investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results (love that one).......:)
This Thread is USELESS without pics.........:)
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12-22-2010, 12:19 PM
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#53
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
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I think it should be a real possibility. Remember that many if not most American Spanish speakers speak a Spanish that is to educated Spanish about like inner city English is to educated English. There are often educated people posting on grocery message boards, etc. that they offer Spanish lessons, but remember that many of these people also speak English and can get regular full time jobs with benefits, etc. It also depends on how much she expects to earn, both per hour and per lesson.
I don't know about visas, green cards, etc., but this kind of thing should be easy to run quietly. Just don't hang out in the parking lot at Office Depot.
Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
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12-22-2010, 12:50 PM
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#54
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,116
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Quote:
Originally Posted by haha
I It also depends on how much she expects to earn, both per hour and per lesson.
Ha
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I would be the one doing the teaching . She would be too busy learning English and touring all over the place .
Anyway it was pure daydreaming on her part, I hope, ´cause I´m a bit old for such an adventure . I do feel my age .
If I were 5 years younger, just when I E-retired......
Out of curiosity....Would we lead a decent life on, say, 5.400$ per month? I know, it depends....but a ballpark estimation?
__________________
I get by with a little help from my friends....ta ta ta ta ta...
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12-22-2010, 01:12 PM
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#55
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vicente solano
Out of curiosity....Would we lead a decent life on, say, 5.400$ per month? I know, it depends....but a ballpark estimation?
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Sure, you could get a nice apartment in a close in neighborhood where you could get to groceries, restaurants and bars, libraries, parks on foot, and a longer walk to easy bus ride downtown for downtown shopping, museums, etc. Food over here is cheap. You could join Zip-Car for when you wanted to drive somewhere, or rent for a longer weekend trip for ski-ing or visiting the mountains. I am using Seattle prices, it will cost more for rent in Boston or San Francisco or New York, which are the main cities besides Seattle where you could realistically do fine with no car. Portland my work too, but I am less familiar there. Also fairly expensive but not boring and ok with no car would be Palo Alto and Berkeley.
You could even buy a car, and resell it before you go back- that way you could live in Montana if you wanted to.
New York is in a class by itself, and its rents are in a class by themselves.
You would need to get some sort of temporary insurance, since if you ran up a big hospital bill they might sell your body parts before they would allow you to go back to Spain. (Just kidding, I hope.)
If you come to Seattle, I can introduce you to some Spanish speakers living here so your wife will not get lonesome, and also give you some pointers on living in this city. Maybe even get you tango dancing.
Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
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12-22-2010, 01:30 PM
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#56
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,472
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vicente solano
Out of curiosity....Would we lead a decent life on, say, 5.400$ per month? I know, it depends....but a ballpark estimation?
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Median household income in the United States in 2009 was $4,185, before taxes.
The cost of living in the U.S. is widely variable depending on location. $5,400/month would be a fabulous income in some southern or midwestern rural areas. But it would be hard to scrape by on that income in Manhattan, for example. Cities tend to be more expensive than rural areas, and generally east coast and west coast locations tend to be more expensive than the midwest and the more central southern states such as Alabama and Mississippi.
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Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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12-22-2010, 01:48 PM
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#57
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,773
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__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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12-22-2010, 05:00 PM
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#58
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 7,108
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What HaHa said +
On $5,400/mo they could live VERY comfortably in either Portland (where we now live) or Seattle. [My complaint about Seattle is the traffic.] The cost of living in Palo Alto and Berkley, in nice neighborhoods, is substantially higher.
My question would be what do you want to do during the sabbatical? If you want to research alligators the west coast of the US is not the place to spend your time.
__________________
Duck bjorn.
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12-23-2010, 01:55 AM
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#59
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,116
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brat
What HaHa said +
On $5,400/mo they could live VERY comfortably in either Portland (where we now live) or Seattle. [My complaint about Seattle is the traffic.] The cost of living in Palo Alto and Berkley, in nice neighborhoods, is substantially higher.
My question would be what do you want to do during the sabbatical? If you want to research alligators the west coast of the US is not the place to spend your time.
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Hey! I was just imagining ourselves out there! By the way, you have so many things I like....I wouldnt know where to start!
__________________
I get by with a little help from my friends....ta ta ta ta ta...
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12-23-2010, 06:54 AM
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#60
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gone traveling
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 3,851
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vicente solano
Hey! I was just imagining ourselves out there! By the way, you have so many things I like....I wouldnt know where to start!
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I understand you have lost your desire to relocate after yesterday's news:
Spain's lottery hands out $3B to thousands of winners - USATODAY.com
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