living in the desert.
Posted 10-27-2008 at 05:36 PM by soo_locks
Hey, back again. I like this blogging stuff.
I got a comment from a bigbear1737 that said he (she) was moving to New Mexico. Funny that should be mentioned...I grew up in New Mexico. Albuquerque, to be exact. I lived there until 1970 (I'm 58 now) and had been back several times. I haven't been back since 1988. I hate NM. I hate the desert. I am living in Las Vegas now, had some bad financial difficulties and some wife's health problems, but we are moving to Sault Ste. Marie. I love that place. (See previous posting.) I love the demographics, the property values and the weather. I love water, ever since I made it out to the ocean. We moved to Vegas from Seattle. I have lived in Alaska, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas, Louisana, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. OUt of all those places, I would rather live in Sault Ste. Marie. Here are some excerpts from my "living in the desert" essay I wrote to my wife a while ago:
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]So, here you are up north, living in a small town. You have decided to move out west, into a larger area and a better climate. Be careful what you wish for. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]If the only reason you are moving is to escape the Michigan winters, and you don’t care about anything else, you would rather die than stay here one more winter, then Vegas or Arizona or southern California might be the place for you. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Vegas (or albuquerque..bigbear didn't say where in NM) will be like Detroit, only without the urban blight, heavy industry and water. Visiting is vastly different than living there forever. Chippewa county has what? 38,000 people? Sault Ste. Marie has about 14,000.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Vegas weather. (Or NM weather)
Vegas has about 300 plus days a year sunshine. Great if you like sun. I hate the sun. If it never shines again in the Soo, I’ll be happy. In Vegas, it gets in your eyes, blinds you while you’re driving, heats your car up to 150 degrees plus, ruins your paint on your car, and causes skin cancer. Well, you say, I’ve been to Vegas in the summer; it wasn’t so bad. Well, let’s think back on that visit. You flew in an air conditioned plane, walked down an air conditioned jetway, into an air conditioned airport, got in an air conditioned cab to the air conditioned hotel. Then you walked around a little after sundown. Now, try getting up a 5 am, going to work, working all day outside, and then driving home in the heat of the day. Don’t have to work? Well, you’ve got to go out sometime, and if you’re home all the time, you’ll pay in utilities. More on utilities in a minute. A good test to see how hot it is in the summer is to take your wife’s hair dryer, turn it on the heat mode, and blow it in your face. That’s what summer with a light breeze feels like in Vegas. Phoenix, too. I hate the heat. I grew up in the desert in New Mexico, which wasn’t as bad as here. I love the cold. Remember, you can always add clothing when it’s cold, but it is difficult to remove clothing when at work or when you are already down to nothing at home.
Yes, I mention Vegas because the climate is similair. New Mexico is mainly high mountain desert. Again, without knowing where bigbear is moving to, there is some things to consider. Albuquerque is about a mile in elevation on average. It will snow there, sometimes quite heavily. It will also get real cold there. One time, there was a week long cold snap and it got to minus 30 at night. Caused a lot of problems. When I lived in Albuquerque when I was younger, there were a lot of nice areas to live. Those are all gone, now, taken over by gang bangers. (Watch some of the episodes of "Cops" there are some about Albuquerque Police.) The demographics in the desert southwest are vastly different than those of northern Michigan. You may have family there, you may have already visited several times, whatever, you want to leave the U.P. I realize that people who have lived in a place a long time sometimes want a change in climate and geography. I know I do. That's why people move across country.
Wherever bigbear is going in NM, I have probably been there and can tell you all about it.
Anyone interested in more desert stories and more adventures of living in Alaska (I worked in the fishing industry..and yes, I was on a crab boat) or the Pacific Northwest, I will gladly blog about it. Anyone can email me direct anytime at soo_locks@yahoo.com (Do I love Sault Ste. Marie, or what? I actually changed my email address to the one you see. My license plates say SOOLCKS. ) The guys at work are so ready for me to retire and leave so I will shut up about the Soo.
Hope to hear from all you folks soon. Take care...[/SIZE]
I got a comment from a bigbear1737 that said he (she) was moving to New Mexico. Funny that should be mentioned...I grew up in New Mexico. Albuquerque, to be exact. I lived there until 1970 (I'm 58 now) and had been back several times. I haven't been back since 1988. I hate NM. I hate the desert. I am living in Las Vegas now, had some bad financial difficulties and some wife's health problems, but we are moving to Sault Ste. Marie. I love that place. (See previous posting.) I love the demographics, the property values and the weather. I love water, ever since I made it out to the ocean. We moved to Vegas from Seattle. I have lived in Alaska, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas, Louisana, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. OUt of all those places, I would rather live in Sault Ste. Marie. Here are some excerpts from my "living in the desert" essay I wrote to my wife a while ago:
[SIZE=3]Some things you should know about living in Vegas or somewhere else in the desert.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]So, here you are up north, living in a small town. You have decided to move out west, into a larger area and a better climate. Be careful what you wish for. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]If the only reason you are moving is to escape the Michigan winters, and you don’t care about anything else, you would rather die than stay here one more winter, then Vegas or Arizona or southern California might be the place for you. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Vegas (or albuquerque..bigbear didn't say where in NM) will be like Detroit, only without the urban blight, heavy industry and water. Visiting is vastly different than living there forever. Chippewa county has what? 38,000 people? Sault Ste. Marie has about 14,000.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Vegas weather. (Or NM weather)
Vegas has about 300 plus days a year sunshine. Great if you like sun. I hate the sun. If it never shines again in the Soo, I’ll be happy. In Vegas, it gets in your eyes, blinds you while you’re driving, heats your car up to 150 degrees plus, ruins your paint on your car, and causes skin cancer. Well, you say, I’ve been to Vegas in the summer; it wasn’t so bad. Well, let’s think back on that visit. You flew in an air conditioned plane, walked down an air conditioned jetway, into an air conditioned airport, got in an air conditioned cab to the air conditioned hotel. Then you walked around a little after sundown. Now, try getting up a 5 am, going to work, working all day outside, and then driving home in the heat of the day. Don’t have to work? Well, you’ve got to go out sometime, and if you’re home all the time, you’ll pay in utilities. More on utilities in a minute. A good test to see how hot it is in the summer is to take your wife’s hair dryer, turn it on the heat mode, and blow it in your face. That’s what summer with a light breeze feels like in Vegas. Phoenix, too. I hate the heat. I grew up in the desert in New Mexico, which wasn’t as bad as here. I love the cold. Remember, you can always add clothing when it’s cold, but it is difficult to remove clothing when at work or when you are already down to nothing at home.
Yes, I mention Vegas because the climate is similair. New Mexico is mainly high mountain desert. Again, without knowing where bigbear is moving to, there is some things to consider. Albuquerque is about a mile in elevation on average. It will snow there, sometimes quite heavily. It will also get real cold there. One time, there was a week long cold snap and it got to minus 30 at night. Caused a lot of problems. When I lived in Albuquerque when I was younger, there were a lot of nice areas to live. Those are all gone, now, taken over by gang bangers. (Watch some of the episodes of "Cops" there are some about Albuquerque Police.) The demographics in the desert southwest are vastly different than those of northern Michigan. You may have family there, you may have already visited several times, whatever, you want to leave the U.P. I realize that people who have lived in a place a long time sometimes want a change in climate and geography. I know I do. That's why people move across country.
Wherever bigbear is going in NM, I have probably been there and can tell you all about it.
Anyone interested in more desert stories and more adventures of living in Alaska (I worked in the fishing industry..and yes, I was on a crab boat) or the Pacific Northwest, I will gladly blog about it. Anyone can email me direct anytime at soo_locks@yahoo.com (Do I love Sault Ste. Marie, or what? I actually changed my email address to the one you see. My license plates say SOOLCKS. ) The guys at work are so ready for me to retire and leave so I will shut up about the Soo.
Hope to hear from all you folks soon. Take care...[/SIZE]
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