Everyone move south!

[arfisher83]

I'm living here in this frozen hell they call Iowa. It's the most miserable winter I've experienced in my 25 years here, and they're saying it's about to break all records in 135 years in terms of snowfall and extreme cold. For those of you who are fortunate enough to live in the south... just imagine this one time..... Just before Thanksgiving we get a big snow, and then another, and another. The cycle continues. From Thanksgiving on, I haven't seen bare grass... only snow. It's so depressing. We get about two snowstorms a week. I shovel my driveway 4 or 5 days a week, often times twice or three times a day when we get these heavy snows. When it's not snowing, the wind blows in cold fronts that bring the temperatures well below zero, sometimes 40 below. It's only February and we've had 56 inches of snow, and it's snowing right now as I sit inside. I've shoveled three damn times since I got home at 4 and it's coming down hard as ever. Anyhow, if you live in the northern states you might be going through the same thing.
Here's where some of you might get offended, but I gotta say Iowa sucks and this should be the last place anyone considers living. This is a shitty cold place to be and you might as well forget outdoor hobbies like riding a motorcycle or fishing, or camping in your bus. Summers are short, winters are terrible and they get worse each year. This place sucks and my girlfriend and I have had it. We went to Orlando, FL a few weeks ago, and as we sat in the warm grass beneath the palm trees we wondered why the hell anyone lives in the north. The entire northern region should be abandoned and considered uninhabitable, and left to wither away in the arctic wasteland. We're moving south hopefully once the snow melts off the roads at the end of may or june. Anywhere but Iowa. This popsicle can kiss my ass goodbye. Horray global warming!!!
Ok sorry but that's how I feel. DONT EVER COME TO IOWA unless you wanna freeze your ass off.

Adam

[Elliot Naess]

NOW I remember why I moved from Oslo, Norway, to Sacramento, California!

Some of us are more sensitive to the climate we live in than others. This can also change with age -- I'm becoming less tolerant of heat as I get older. But that does not mean that I can take extreme cold any better!

Humidity can indeed be a major issue. I tolerate humidity rather poorly, so I live in a climate that is very dry all summer.

We Americans are lucky, in that we are free to move anywhere in the U.S. we choose. If you are like most of us, your main concern will be to earn a living. Therefore, this little town of Clearlake where I live would not be a good choice, as there are practically no jobs here.
Then there is the wide variation in real estate prices. Clearlake is cheap for Northern California, but that's comparing with Sacramento and San Francisco. Clearlake may be expensive compared with Iowa City.

So you need to find a place where the climate, employment, and real estate prices are all agreeable to you. Not necessarily easy. But spend some time researching this, and you will find a place that suits you.

[reprobate]

Some years back I went to Idaho in Jan. and visited some relatives. At some point I realized that everyone had one of those little rooms where you put on and took off all those winter clothes. There was always a huge pile there. Having been born pretty much behind the 8ball when it comes to smarts it took me awhile to put 2 and 2 together. Definitely not for me.I truly think all you boys and girls up there are tough as ****. I couldn't do it. Give me 100 degree heat any day.

You can appreciate this arfisher, you're a carpenter. A close friend and carpenter in Wisconsin called one Jan. and asked if I had any work. Says it's too damn cold. Just so happened to be about ready to start the trim and cabinets on a custom I had going. "Come on down" He stayed 2 months. Temps most of the time in the mid 60's to 70's. On the way home in the evenings as we rode with the windows down with t-shirts on in Feb., he'd call home and lord it over all his friends. Wish I had a house to trim for you. We also bought stock in tequila and then proceeded to try hard and drink the price of our stock up.

[lapeer20m]

i'm joining the coalition called "Michiganders For Global Warming"

i love having all the seasons, but this winter has been really rough. We are also about to break the all time record of snow fall...we're about 8 inches away and a winter weather advisory is in effect tonight. I love snow! I have an awd eagle talon that does a good job sticking to the road, but I'm so ready for summer! I think the worse part of winter here in the north is the lack of sunlight. Things are getting better...it's supposed to be near freezing this weekend. That's pretty warm compared to the past month. We had some below zero weather. I think everyone should expierence that at least once in their lifetime. You take that one last deep breath before you open the door to go outside because the next breath begins to freeze all the little hairs inside your nose.

i would have a difficult time living down south.....I love driving in the snow, it would be really difficult for me to give that up. Your car becomes a full size go-cart...you can slide sideways around corners, practice "drifting" do brodies in the parking lots, dig yourself out when you get stuck. You haven't lived until that nite that it's snowing so hard that you're the only car on the expressway, you've slowed down to a crawl, and you can't find the off ramp. You know it's somewhere in the 150 feet between those green signs but just can't determine what is road and what is 3 feet of snow covered grass.

[oldog12]

Don't forget my favorite..... POTHOLES

[phillbus914]

I've lived in West Michigan my whole life, usually I don't mind winter so much - we normally get a few unseasonably warm days here and there but this year is different. There's been snow on the ground non stop since Just after Halloween. It hasn't been more than a few degrees above freezing in 4 months, I'm sick of it! I'd be ready to pack up the bus and head south too if I weren't stuck in a house. With the housing market where it is, I'd be lucky to loose $15,000 selling my house. I don't want to take that kind of loss, I'm too cheap.

I try to make the most of it. Me and my friends get my quad out and do some high speed sledding once and a while (can't believe the cops haven't showed up yet) The bars are still open, I can fire up some heat in the bus, or the garage and do a little work here and there... I would sure like to live in the south this time of year, but I think it's too hot down there for me in the summer. And I'm too young to move south for the winter.

[Steve]

Its funny you are complaining about the cold in Iowa on the Thursday before a weekend when it is supposed to be almost 50º both days.

[Elliot Naess]

I love driving in the snow... ...you can slide sideways around corners...

Oooo... Motorscooter with sidecar -- back in Norway when I was young!

[arfisher83]

I was thinking western Missouri. My dad has lived there for almost 6 years and he likes it. It still gets cold in the winter, but rarely below zero, and if it snows it usually melts within a couple days. He has 48 acres of timber with a creek running through it, some open pasture and three ponds, with extensive atv trails he's made. I want to build my house overlooking one of the ponds because I love the outdoors so much. My bus would fit right in the wooded landscape. It's close enough to Kansas City to find good carpentry jobs too.

-Adam

[Elliot Naess]

Your Missouri option raises just one question for me: You typed that post several minutes ago -- so... are you still in Iowa????

[arfisher83]

Yep I'm still here. Have to find a job first then sell the house.

[Train-train]

I am with lapeer. Its awesome to make the trip to town and not quite sure if you'll make it back. I live in southwest michigan and we get clobbered with lake effect snow now and then. Last night I had to get to work by 03:30 so I warmed up the truck while I got a shower. Within twenty minutes we had another 1 1/2 of new snow.

I rarely plow the drive anymore. It is easier to just keep driving on it to break a path. Granted, I have four wheel drive with true positrack in the rear. I have had my truck barried up above the bumper and still managed to rock it out and use the momentum of a steep hill to find shallow snow to get myself out.

My wife drives an all wheel drive mini van. We have learned to carry everything we need.

I used to drive switcher truck for my company. I loved heavy snow days as no one could blame you for doing what you got to do to get from here to there. Back then, I got to wear shorts through the summer and I never went back to long pants when winter arrived. I was perfectly comfortable in shorts with temps in the teens and as much snow as you would want to give me. Granted, that switcher truck had pretty good heat and the actual amount of time spent ex[posed to the full elements was small. It was awesome to be outside, romp in the snow with the company truck and semi trailers and get paid for it to boot. Those were the days. Now I am stuck in a fire proof uniform and sticking my hands and head into electrical panels trying to make sure that what I touch isn't the last thing I touch. Same company but significantly more money. Its good to just have a job in Michigan these days.

[swinada]

move south?????? I thought you live in the south, at least that is what we call everything south of Prince George, so by that standard, you are waaaaayyyyyyyy south.

oh BTW would you like some cheese with your whine?

[bbkid]

I think it should be "move west" much nicer, imo, out there. i don't really mind snow though. it is pretty funny to laugh at the people who whine because we got an inch of snow here though. they complain "oh the roads are slick" "oh i need four wheel drive." BAH! WIMPS! i pass all the idiots in there four wheel drive in my front wheel drive! it's like jeff foxworthy said: "If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you may live in West Virginia"

here are some other good ones (the sad part is most of it's true):

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you may live in West Virginia .
If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may live in West Virginia .
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you may live in West Virginia .
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you may live in West Virginia .
If "Vacation" means going anywhere south of Charleston for the Weekend, you may live in West Virginia .
If you measure distance in hours, you may live in West Virginia.
If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in West Virginia .
If you have switched from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again, you may live in West Virginia .
If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you may live in West Virginia .
If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you may live in West Virginia .
If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you may live in West Virginia .
If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you, you may live in West Virginia .
If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you may live in West Virginia .
If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you may live in West Virginia .
If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you may live in West Virginia .
If you find 10 degrees "a little chilly", you may live in West Virginia .

[lapeer20m]

got up this morning, walked outside and noticed that my car and my bus were a lot closer together than i remembered them to be when i parked the car last nite.







i haven't plowed the snow from my driveway this winter, and it finally all melted last nite into a giant ice skating rink. My bus must have slowly slid down the slight incline that is my driveway and stopped when it got to my car. The rear tires of my car on on cement which kept the bus from sliding further.

[swinada]

good thing it didn't get pushed into the road

[lapeer20m]

Originally Posted by swinada

good thing it didn't get pushed into the road

or into the lake for that matter....there is a big lake in the background and it's all downhill from the driveway.

[Elliot Naess]

Ah yes, I remember one time... (scratches his beard and waves his pipe, getting the rocking chair up to a good clip) ...
Back in The Old Country, I parked in a friend's driveway for a couple of hours, and when I came back out, the car was indeed in the middle of the road and traffic was sliding all over the place dodging it. Them waz the good old days! Don't have much o' that kinda fun here in Clearlake.

[Roasting8]

Originally Posted by lapeer20m

got up this morning, walked outside and noticed that my car and my bus were a lot closer together than i remembered them to be when i parked the car last nite.

Jason, I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune. I hope there wasn't much damage to either the car or the bus.

Originally Posted by Elliot Naess

Ah yes, I remember one time... (scratches his beard and waves his pipe, getting the rocking chair up to a good clip) ...
Back in The Old Country, I parked in a friend's driveway for a couple of hours, and when I came back out, the car was indeed in the middle of the road and traffic was sliding all over the place dodging it. Them waz the good old days! Don't have much o' that kinda fun here in Clearlake.

Elliot, I also had similar experience, when living in OKC. I came home one night, parked my car on my sloping driveway. About an hour after arriving home, a stranger knocked on my door, asking if I owned a red Chevette (I know, I know, the car was embarrassing enough), because if I did, I needed to get it out of the street.

That's why I put a snow shovel on the front of my car and headed south.

[phillbus914]

Originally Posted by Elliot Naess

Ah yes, I remember one time... (scratches his beard and waves his pipe, getting the rocking chair up to a good clip) ...

hahahahaa you are a funny guy.