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Where have you been Niya?
I was so lost.
Yea a modest house here is $500,000 and yet just about anywhere else its a mansion :( The cost of living is one of the highest in the nation and #1 worst traffic too! Cant even shift into 2nd gear if I get on the freeways lolQuote:
Originally Posted by dclamp
My dad lives in a $500,000 home and it's a 3615 square foot home with a garage apartment in downtown against the lake, so it's pretty big and in a nice neighborhood. How much would $500,000 get in him Southern California?Quote:
Yea a modest house here is $500,000
Depending on the area, $500,000 would get you a small one family home, maybe 3 bedrooms if you are lucky.
I have been saving up to buy a house but I am still a year out until I can even start looking. If I were in another state I would have over 20% down for a huge house.... Traffic isnt too bad in OC. LA is a lot worse. I hate having to drive out there. There is traffic no matter what time of day.Quote:
Originally Posted by RobDog888
I was curious what that would buy you in the UK. $500,000 is roughly £320,000 in proper money.
I'm buying a house right now for £335,000 It's a 4 bed (one of which is an attic conversion) terrace in a fairly good part of Bristol. Not in the city centre but only about 5 minutes out by bus.
Compare that to this:-
and I can't help feeling you American's have got it pretty good.Quote:
a 3615 square foot home with a garage apartment in downtown against the lake, so it's pretty big and in a nice neighborhood.
Depending on where you live, that's pretty spot on. To be fair, we generally don't build houses out of brick, as wood is plentiful (and a hurricane, earthquake or tornado can rip a brick house apart, too); a house can be thrown up in almost no time at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by FunkyDexter
Actually, a few years ago, I was up North in the UK where my brother had bought a brand new house - the development looked like a scorched earth wasteland. In the US, a lot of places go out of their way to make sure as few trees as possible are cut down.
Talk about de-forestation.
It always amazes me at how many eco systems we have destroyed.
Look at this paltry list of old growth forests.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...#United_States
Check the UK - check some states in the US.
I don't know if you have similar in the US but over here we have "Greenfield" and "Brownfield" land. It's basically illegal to build on Greenfield (although some very rare exceptions are made). Brownfield's pretty much a free for all. So our conservation efforts are largely around protecteing the Greenfield rather than individual trees in a Brownfield area.Quote:
In the US, a lot of places go out of their way to make sure as few trees as possible are cut down.
Note that Greenfield isn't a few isolated areas like your national parks. I don't know the percentages but I'd estimate that Greenfield makes up 50% or more of our land.
All that said, I'm a bit of a lefty hippy type and I do think our developers could be more sympathetic to the enviroment when developing Brownfield sites.
edit>I share an office with an ex planning officer who estinates Greenfield is rougly 80% of the UK. I guess my point is that, while developers might be pretty ruthless to nature where they're developing, they're pretty much never developing in areas where there's any nature left to ruin. Pretty much all our development is back filling existing urban conurbations.
The vast majority of the UK is still rolling hills, corn fields and rosy cheeked children with bad teeth. Lawks, Guvnor.
We have a big issue here in Louisiana where once is deemed a wetland, you can no longer build there. It's pretty sad to see a lot of places where my grandpa told me I had family living there once, but because of the federal regulations those places are becoming ghost lands.
Also if that statement didn't sound right I did have like four beers and I'm using the little microphone on my iPhone to write the sentences. Sometimes it doesn't recognize what I'm saying and try to correct it and It just don't come out right
I can tell you are drunk irishman, from the accent.Quote:
Originally Posted by dday9
Hurricane Danny is now at a category 3 :(
sure, try your best.
I am in Orange Beach today!
Is that near grapefruit cove?
There's a chunk of undeveloped land nearby where we used to ride dirtbikes & ATVs until the road running along the side of the hill was widened and regraded. This prevented the rain from running downhill into a creek and turned the land into a giant mosquito-infested swamp. So we quit riding there.Quote:
Originally Posted by dday9
The owner of the property recently put the land up for sale and Ikea was interested in building there until the EPA stepped in to save the day declaring that these rich, evil developers were out to "destroy wetlands." A stinky swamp that didn't even exist 15 years ago and wouldn't exist if proper drainage had been budgeted into the road project in the first place.
My city has lost more than 60% of its population. There are houses in some neighborhoods you can get for $1 if you promise to make all necessary repairs.Quote:
Originally Posted by FunkyDexter
I'm now in one of the better neighborhoods and the last owner of my house paid $135,000 for it, then passed away. Nobody in her family wanted the place so they let the bank take it. Thanks to a botched winterizing job that destroyed a good bit of plumbing and drywall I offered $30,000 cash and the place was mine. Took a while to make it habitable, but it's a great place in a great 'hood. If I can get $100,000+ for it in the next few years I'll be very happy.
I have finally found a worthy replacement for my old beater van!
Attachment 129647
First thing I did was remove the bulkhead. Those running boards will also go as well when I install the trailer hitch. Cloth seats so I'll need seat covers before taking the dogs out to get wet & muddy. I will also add an interior liner over foam insulation when the weather starts getting cold. Too many windows, but I no longer live in the ghetto so I'll just get the back windows tinted and put in a set of blackout curtains.
My Sister has a beautiful piece of terraced property above the Mckenzie River here in Oregon.Quote:
Originally Posted by homer13j
She had a pond built on the lowest terrace some years ago. The water has to be piped and pumped in by her for it to exist.
Recently She wanted to build a guest cottage next to the pond.
She was denied the building permit as a county aerial survey had marked it as "Wet lands". The county refuses to rezone it.
I told her to drain the pond, let it set for a couple of years and have the county revisit the issue, Build her cottage then fill the pond again.
Spent the last two weeks counting bears....I mean salmon. Bad berry harvest, so the bears were sucking down our salmon carcasses before we could get DNA from them. Getting DNA from them once they were in the bears was a bit more problematic.
However, I did find out one thing: When you are sitting in camp a few dozen miles out in the wilderness and a line of fire fighters shows up...it's rarely a good thing.
I've seen photos of you with a beard. You could comfortably sidle your way right up to a bear without him thinking you were out of place. He'd probably introduce you to his sister.:p
Yeah, it means there's a Hen Party nearby and they get noisy at night.Quote:
When you are sitting in camp a few dozen miles out in the wilderness and a line of fire fighters shows up...it's rarely a good thing.
All you will need is a 'free cookies' sign.Quote:
Originally Posted by homer13j
Ouch! That would explain an event from the walk in. I stepped over a stream, then the gal just behind me stepped over the stream and a bear scooted up the hill away from her. It didn't scoot when I crossed the stream, though I must have been only a couple meters away from it.Quote:
Originally Posted by FunkyDexter
You know, there's times I'd love to live in the US where you've got wide open stretches of wilderness to gallivant in.
Yesterday I startled a cat.
Somehow your anecdotes are better than mine.
Shaggy: You are not unbearable.
Funky: The wilds are not necessarily gallivant friendly.
The woods around here are very thick with underbrush, mud, sticks, stones, and bear poop. Animal and insect wildlife abounds.
http://waldenwednesday.files.wordpre...737.jpeg?w=650
The only places I know where you can skip along carefree are the national and state parks. We do have a lot of wide white sand beaches though.
Yeah, but some of his puns are just bear faced cheek.Quote:
Shaggy: You are not unbearable.
Don't get me wrong, I'd probably hate the reality. I just want to be able to tell more interesting stories.Quote:
Funky: The wilds are not necessarily gallivant friendly.
The woods around here are very thick with underbrush, mud, sticks, stones, and bear poop. Animal and insect wildlife abounds.
When I go hiking, I prefer to take only the bear essentials: Food and a place to sleep. I've learned a bit about them over the years, though, such as the fact that they are generally bothered by the insects found in the woods. I know what makes them tick, and what makes them flea. In fact, I could give a tick talk, but only on the clock.
I'm at the Beau Rivage now.
I'm at the desk now.
I'm on vacation at work. Hopefully I can cut the cord and get out the door now.
Laters gators.
I'm back from vacation!
That was a very short vacation !!!
i am much more into Shaggy Hiker length holidays
1 and 1/2 weeks are good enough for me.
In fact I was going crazy for being out that long!
Today is my anniversary though.
I've been married for 4 years today.
I wasn't on vacation when I was away for two weeks, I was just collecting rotting fish. I generally try NOT to do that when on vacation.
I saw some other interesting animals while doing that. I believe I mentioned it before, in which case you can consider that it bears repeating. Though bear in mind that it barely bears repeating bears.
Did you eat berries too?
Your stories about bears are pretty bare. You barely have anything to say about them.
All I saw was their hide. As long as they hide their hide, then I needn't pelt you weith stories.
I ate a berry or two, but they were barely present, which is why the bears were present. The lack of bears appears to have driven the bears to hunt for salmon more aggressively. It's hard to bear, seeing them barely getting by like that. If we get a good berry year next year, and don't see so many bears, I would say that it bears out my theory.
Tooooo maaannny bearsss!
Attachment 129943
This is too many bears!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WelFLZQiYCo
Brutal