Do you like where you live?

[MoodyBlues]

<-- Iceland Blue Lagoon last March.

Iceland looks beautiful to me, from everything I've seen about it.

I like the mountains and deserts, two things we don't have in the Netherlands. We got stuck with a lot of water, green grass, windmills and clogues.

The mountains and desert--and the ocean--were the things I longed for when I lived in Dallas. Being back home in California makes me oh-so-happy. Since you're heading here soon, you can head up into the mountains [if the roads aren't closed due to fires] for some cooler temperatures, then head down into the desert for some scorching temps and beautiful scenery.

 

[Dngrsone]

<-- Iceland Blue Lagoon last March.
Hahaha, im not living in some ugly big city if that's what you mean. Nofi to New Jersey. ( Garden State )
I live in a small town in a very green environment (They call it the Green Heart )
It is in the middle of the big cities Amsterdam, Utrecht , Rotterdam and The Hague.

I like the mountains and deserts, two things we don't have in the Netherlands. We got stuck with a lot of water, green grass, windmills and clogues.

Trade you...

 

[MoodyBlues]

Here's yet another reason I LOVE where I live--its huge improvement where smog is concerned. I've already mentioned that as a kid here, the smog was so bad that it hurt to breathe deeply and my eyes would burn when I was outside. I've also mentioned how there was a wall...a veil...of brownish-grayish smog visible from miles away as we'd head back toward LA from Palm Springs. It's so different now.

Here are pictures with LA City Hall in the background; the first was taken when I was zero, on 09/13/55, and the second when I was...50+ years older than zero!, on 09/09/14; they're approximately the same distance from City Hall:

A few days ago there was an article in the LA Times entitled Beijing's smog makes Los Angeles air look good:

It notes that despite LA's air still being the worst in the nation:

But if L.A. were in China, it would be cleaner than all 74 major cities tracked in 2013 by the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection, based on PM2.5 levels.

According to U.S. standards, an average annual PM2.5 reading of 12.4 or below is considered "good." Downtown L.A.'s average annual reading for 2013 was 18, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Even the cleanest Chinese cities are dirtier. The cleanest in China's 2013 report, Haikou, had an average annual PM2.5 reading of about 26. The filthiest, Xingtai, had a reading six times higher. Beijing, the 13th dirtiest Chinese metropolis, had a value of 90.

So it's not like I think the air here is perfect now, but it has improved DRAMATICALLY since the '60s and '70s when it was truly miserable.

BTW, when we were living in Dallas we always found it amusing/annoying that NO ONE on TV there ever referred to smog as smog. It was like they'd get fired or something if they used the "S" word. Instead they'd say, "we're under an ozone alert" or "the ozone levels are unhealthy today," but never, ever "it's SMOGGY here!" Funny, because I recognized that brownish-grayish stuff in the air and it was definitely smog. :laugh:

 

[mikedt]

Here's yet another reason I LOVE where I live--its huge improvement where smog is concerned. I've already mentioned that as a kid here, the smog was so bad that it hurt to breathe deeply and my eyes would burn when I was outside. I've also mentioned how there was a wall...a veil...of brownish-grayish smog visible from miles away as we'd head back toward LA from Palm Springs. It's so different now.

Here are pictures with LA City Hall in the background; the first was taken when I was zero, on 09/13/55, and the second when I was...50+ years older than zero!, on 09/09/14; they're approximately the same distance from City Hall:

A few days ago there was an article in the LA Times entitled Beijing's smog makes Los Angeles air look good:

Been there, done that. :thumbup: These days I live in Xilinhot, a very small, clean and safe city, actually much safer than most UK towns and cities IMO. Beijing is where the international airport is, and that's all I need to know. The air was much cleaner when everyone rode around on bicycles and walked, before all the BMWs and Audis came, and before China Inc. went into full production.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Been there, done that. :thumbup: These days I live in Xilinhot, a very small, clean and safe city, actually much safer than most UK towns and cities IMO. Beijing is where the international airport is, and that's all I need to know. The air was much cleaner when everyone rode around on bicycles and walked, before all the BMWs and Audis came, and before China Inc. went into full production.

Today the LA Times had an article entitled China seeks to fight smog by brainstorm: All ideas welcome, and it's kind of amusing some of the ideas they're coming up with! A few:

The city of Wuhan is considering building skyscrapers coated with a high-tech substance that can "eat" air pollutants. An artist is offering to suck particulates out of Beijing's dirty skies using a giant vacuum-cleaner-type device and sell jewelry made with the collected contaminants. One researcher is suggesting an "urban wind passage" in the Chinese capital, regulating the height and density of buildings so that smog has a dispersal channel.

It's good to know you're out of the really awful smog of Beijing, Mike. It's mind-boggling to me that at its worst, Los Angeles' air is better than Beijing's. I hope the Chinese take action sooner rather than later. It bothers me that in this day and age, when so much is known about pollutants, and when so many alternatives are available, an area like Beijing can be literally BLANKETED in smog.

 

[jefboyardee]

And I'm in Bullhead again, seeing if I like it more after a two-week nap. So far, yes, may sign six-month lease and learn to fly like a snowbird...

 

[MoodyBlues]

And I'm in Bullhead again, seeing if I like it more after a two-week nap. So far, yes, may sign six-month lease and learn to fly like a snowbird...

Keep us posted!

 

[ZooCrazie]

Jefferson City ,Tennessee

Grew up in the mountains of western North Carolina

I have a insane desire to spend time in Europe, but doubt it will ever happen

 

[MoodyBlues]

Jefferson City ,Tennessee

Grew up in the mountains of western North Carolina

If you'd like, tell us a bit about what you do/don't like about your current and previous locations.

I have a insane desire to spend time in Europe, but doubt it will ever happen

Why?

 

[ZooCrazie]

I love EaSt Tenessee. ..I'm in a great location. I like to spend time in the woods. I have the Smokey Mountains to my right and the Cumberland Plateaus above and around me. I have lakes all around that are great to fish. The fall season is beautiful and the winters are great. Although I don't see the snow I seen when growing up in the mountains, I still see some. I have places to ski in Western North Carolina , Virginia and West Virgina. Various places and attractions to go and see. One can spend time in Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg and not run out of things to do. The History in and around my area is interesting and plentiful. I can be at the beach on the Atlantic in Charleston , South Carolina in just under 6 hours and the the beaches of Destin, Florida in just under 8 hours.

I don't really have many dislikes about where I am at. Only 2 that I can recall. The allergies in East Tennessee are absolutely horrible. The spring months of April and May are extremely horrible for me. The other dislike being thay in the winters I don't get the snow that I enjoyed growing up. It snows some , but nothing as it did living in the mountains.

Concerning Europe.....

It cost a healthy chunk of money to make a trip to Europe. I am raising 3 boys amd if your a parent you know the exspenses with kids! I work for the Railroad and that consumes a lot of my time. I would love nothing more thay to walk the beaches of Normandy in France , spend time in Italy , walk all over London and spend time in Germany. To give a good laugh I'm not to fond of having to fly to get there. Having no control at 30k feet , in what I like to call a "death tube" all while flying over the Atlantic or Pacific does not settle well. That alone wouldn't. Keep me from doing it, I would either have to be extremely intoxicated or comatose by narcotics XD

Maybe one day when I have fewer obligations and I'm old and barely functional I will be able to such things.

Previous locations...
Born in Charleston, South Carolina. I try to go here twice a year. I really love it there. I have lived in Anchorage, Alaska. Very foggy memories of it I was still very young. *military kid* From there to to Waynesville, North Carolina where I lived majority of my life.

Other than passing threw various states over the road I have never really been anywhere! One day I hope to change that but don't forsee it soon.

 

[jefboyardee]

Keep us posted!

I can't get this earlier quote out of my head

The town just has kind of a dirty feel to it.

With that in mind, I got there to learn that the apartment I had lined up was snatched by someone that beat me there. But between that and seeing the place suddenly swarming with children, I felt that this was just not meant to be.

So I looked around for stuff closer to the river, gave up, lost at the casino again and drove home for another three hours... it's getting that I like the drive better than the destinations.

My new obsession, because it's not as hot, also has several casinos but is not solely reliant on them, is Carson City, sort of in between Reno and Lake Tahoe. But, being ten hours from my current home and about the same climate, there's no point in snowbirding there

 

[MoodyBlues]

With that in mind, I got there to learn that the apartment I had lined up was snatched by someone that beat me there. But between that and seeing the place suddenly swarming with children, I felt that this was just not meant to be.

That's probably for the best, then. I'm a big-time believer in things happening for a reason, so I'd take this as exactly what you said, that it wasn't meant to be.

So I looked around for stuff closer to the river, gave up, lost at the casino again and drove home for another three hours... it's getting that I like the drive better than the destinations.

See above.

My new obsession, because it's not as hot, also has several casinos but is not solely reliant on them, is Carson City, sort of in between Reno and Lake Tahoe. But, being ten hours from my current home and about the same climate, there's no point in snowbirding there

 

[lunatic59]

If you keep losing at the casinos, at least one of them might comp you a room.

 

[jefboyardee]

I used to win but apparently enjoy getting all pissed off at myself.

 

[MoodyBlues]

I used to win but apparently enjoy getting all pissed off at myself.

It's impossible for me to read comments like this without thinking about my mom. She was so funny. She LOVED going to casinos, I mean her eyes would light up at the mere mention of going, but she had the worst luck with the slot machines! And to add insult to injury, I had GOOD luck with them.

 

[mikedt]

I've seen casinos on TV and movies, but never been in one though, and there's non around here of course. Plenty of mahjong and poker however.

 

[bjacks12]

I've seen casinos on TV and movies, but never been in one though, and there's non around here of course. Plenty of mahjong and poker however.

You're not missing much. Just a room full of irritating noise, depressed people, and cigarette smoke.

 

[mikedt]

You're not missing much. Just a room full of irritating noise, depressed people, and cigarette smoke.

Think it's because casinos in the UK are not the huge glitzy affairs like in Las Vegas or Macao, which have shows and things as well. Just never found gambling that appealing really, and I never gamble with Chinese, that's for sure.

 

[MoodyBlues]

You're not missing much. Just a room full of irritating noise, depressed people, and cigarette smoke.

You haven't been to casinos in California, have you? There are some that are completely smoke-free, and others that have separately-ventilated non-smoking areas. I'm EXTREMELY sensitive to smoke [I have bad asthma], but I could hang out at our favorite casino, Pechanga, for hours in its big non-smoking side and have no problems at all.

 

[jefboyardee]

Always seemed to me that since smoking and gambling require the same sort of hedonism, all non-smoking casinos are doomed. I've been smoking since I was twelve, so that makes me an expert on this.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Always seemed to me that since smoking and gambling require the same sort of hedonism, all non-smoking casinos are doomed.

I hope you're wrong about that.

I've been smoking since I was twelve, so that makes me an expert on this.

No one in my current life believes it, but I used to smoke. I quit at 17 because I wanted to get pregnant, and didn't want my potential baby harmed.

 

[mikedt]

Always seemed to me that since smoking and gambling require the same sort of hedonism, all non-smoking casinos are doomed. I've been smoking since I was twelve, so that makes me an expert on this.

I know all the casinos in Macao are no smoking, because that's the law. Plenty of smoking in mainland thought, but there's no casinos here, just smoke filled mahjong parlours.

 

[jefboyardee]

I hope you're wrong about that.

I do find it curious that in my little podunk, no one can smoke anywhere except at the local casino. But I also notice that the number of smokers there has dropped dramatically. I keep thinking that I'll be the next to quit, but I've been thinking that for years...

 

[Dngrsone]

You haven't been to casinos in California, have you? There are some that are completely smoke-free, and others that have separately-ventilated non-smoking areas. I'm EXTREMELY sensitive to smoke [I have bad asthma], but I could hang out at our favorite casino, Pechanga, for hours in its big non-smoking side and have no problems at all.

Must be nice... all four casinos in CA I've been in reeked of stale cigarette smoke.

In fact, the only smoke-free gambling I have ever seen was the little area in the middle of the Las Vegas airport.

I never gamble... never have any spare cash to throw away like that.

 

[lunatic59]

We just had for major casinos close in Atlantic city. Too many other local casinos are taking the business away and frankly, AC is an armpit.