The Puget Sound is Depressing.. My Take.. Leaving In 2 Months (Seattle: best cities, cliquey)

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

Rotse, you have unbelievable stamina.

That's what she said.

[American Expat]

Originally Posted by NW4me

Many years ago I visited NYC... while exploring Fifth Ave, I was amused at how people were hurrying along like characters in a Charlie Chaplin movie... but after a few minutes, I realized I was starting to walk that way too! Monkey see, monkey do. Surely not everyone you passed in Ballard really is indifferent to others' existence... they're just conforming to convention. But how did that convention get started?

I have a theory about this. Due to business, I've spent a great deal of time in London over the last year and observed people almost running from place to place and pretty soon, that's what you're doing. The 2 factors at play are people wanting to conform and not stand out and people that are in competition. You have a lot of highly motivated and competitive people in a place like NYC or London and they are pushing to get ahead (both literally and figuratively) and let's face it, you can't make it in either city if you're not driven....these guys amp up the speed, so the followers not wanting to stand out speed up, then the competitive speed up again...pretty soon, everybody's running.


Sorry, not exactly on point for the Puget Sound but I do agree with Rotse that there is lacking a kind of jovial frivolity in Seattle.

[NW4me]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

It's ok. In a little over a month now, he'll be gone. Then he'll be Portland's problem.

Posting deeply-felt complaints about Seattle, then moving to.... Portland?? Sounds like a recipe for another round of disappointment. Of course those cities aren't twins, but don't the commonalities exceed the differences?

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by west seattle gal

Wherever you go, there you are.

Like San Quentin penitentiary?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zgja26eNeY

Originally Posted by Ira500

That's what she said.

Haha.. Ira.. I am known to be an animal under the bed sheets

Originally Posted by NW4me

Posting deeply-felt complaints about Seattle, then moving to.... Portland?? Sounds like a recipe for another round of disappointment. Of course those cities aren't twins, but don't the commonalities exceed the differences?

Ummm.. I am only moving to Portland for a year if I end up moving back to PDX at all. I grew up in Portland and know the city very well. My family is in Portland and so is my business, so I may be forced to move there. Basically, picking Portland is picking the lesser of the two evils at this point. That is very sad, because Portland was a great town in the 90s and had a wide variety of political views and people. In fact, year I lived in Portland during the 2004 election, a good amount of Multnomah county ended up voting for Bush and there was Bush signs all over Portland. Yes, of course Kerry still won the county, but only because 70% of Portland's population is concentrated in the downtown and inner NW, SW, NE and SE neighborhoods. However, outer NE and SE, Washington and Clackamas counties were competeley conservative. Of course, the Portland today is populated with East Coast and California transplants and the new breed of social justice alt-left radical type liberals and, yes, Portland has been saturated with their politics.

Leaving politics aside, Portland is still a much more fun city and people are still friendlier. That is not to say they are so friendly and that it is ideal, but it will just be temporary until I relocate to my permanent destination, which could be Nashville, Raleigh, Charleston, Las Vegas and many other places I am contemplating.

[homesinseattle]

[quote=RotseCherut;51850477]Like San Quentin penitentiary?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zgja26eNeY



Haha.. Ira.. I am known to be an animal under the bed sheets


Rotse, didn't need that image in my mind before my morning coffee, ouch .

[jakebarnes]

Originally Posted by NW4me

Posting deeply-felt complaints about Seattle, then moving to.... Portland?? Sounds like a recipe for another round of disappointment. Of course those cities aren't twins, but don't the commonalities exceed the differences?

Well, I'm sure we'll be hearing about it soon. It will be the same general plot, but at least there will be a new script!

[eightbitguy]

Originally Posted by RotseCherut

Fremont and Ballard are not much alike, even though they have some similarities. I wonder how much time you spend in Fremont, as many people who live in Ballard seem to live there like it is its own city. I'm not saying Fremont is my favorite place, but I found the Fremont area to be a much more friendly and down to Earth than Ballard, which just has this cold, pretentious and insular persona. It also has a very strong San Francisco yuppie vibe to it on the Ballard Ave drag. I spent time in some of the local divier haunts like Hattie's Hat and Olaf's and found them to be about the most unfriendly local bars I have ever went to. People just sat around ignoring you and the bartenders would take your order and I don't think I saw a smile on any of their faces on the many occasions I went there. However, there are a few divier blue collar bars, like Thunderbird and such that had more friendly blue collar Joe crowd and were much nicer. The whole drag of Fremont is full of fun neighborhood bars that cater to middle class and working class. There are a few upscale bars thrown in, but they too are a bit more mixed crowd, as they will attract a lot of younger people too. Ballard is a mix of seedy local bars with very upscale and pretentious restaurants/ bars that cater to Seattle's elite and the California Yuppie crowd. I always loathed spending my nights in Ballard, but took a hop to Fremont and had a good time.

Of course, you may get all emotional, angry and chew me out as you have done on every other post on this thread, but oh well, I tried being sensible and having a conversation. I know that is not an easy thing to do in the land of passive aggressive people who are so easily "offended".

I'm not angry, I'm jsut curious why you keep coming back to voice your disappointment over and over? If you're leaving anyway, why waste the energy?

And while I can't speak to Hattie's Hat (as I've only been there once), my wife and I used to live about 3 blocks from Olaf's and the bartenders and clientele there were always super nice. We'd go there for pinball and to drink and watch football and baseball games and everyone was always super welcoming. I'm not even kidding, we were there every other weekend for almost a year when we lived down in old Ballard (now we've bought a house up in Loyal Heights). I really can't understand how anyone would look down on Olaf's. They're a bit grungy and totally blue collar (as opposed to the more hipster bars on Market st). At this point, I think you're just really spewing BS. Olaf's is fantastic, the people are nice, they have pinball and play all the games we wanted to see! They even were more than happy to switch one of the TV's to a Nats game when the other ones were all on the Mariners one day (we came from DC originally).

And I'm not offended at all. You're more than welcome to think whatever you want. I know you and I have different politics but that doesn't have anything to do with friendliness or getting along with bartenders. My best friend who was best man at my wedding is (as much as it disappoints me) a pro-trump air-force lifer that I can't agree with politically at all, but when we're together we talk about our kids, sports, movies, and just about anything else. He loved Olaf's too (especially the "vagina door" to the pinball room). So if I can get along with him and he can get along with the folks at Olaf's, the problem has to be you! Of all the people that post here from Ballard, you're the only one who thinks its a cold, lifeless place where no one talks to anyone else.

It has to be you.

[homesinseattle]

Eightbit, I like your vibe. I'm married to a D.C. raised woman too. I bet you'ld also like Mike's Chili Parlor in Ballard near Trader Joe's. It's old school, here's the link: https://www.thestranger.com/location...s-chili-parlor.

I'm in the "joyful people find joyful people" camp too. Really, I think Americans just have extremely overactive chatter in their brains dissecting and chopping up every little interaction. I've traveled extensively in Sri Lanka and like how the Buddhists think. They actually try not to "think" much. They are just good people. They smile, treat people well, don't analyze every little thing. They just "be". I find, when I adopt similar ways of moving through the world, my perception and experience of nearly everything around me changes.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by eightbitguy

I'm not angry, I'm jsut curious why you keep coming back to voice your disappointment over and over? If you're leaving anyway, why waste the energy?

And while I can't speak to Hattie's Hat (as I've only been there once), my wife and I used to live about 3 blocks from Olaf's and the bartenders and clientele there were always super nice. We'd go there for pinball and to drink and watch football and baseball games and everyone was always super welcoming. I'm not even kidding, we were there every other weekend for almost a year when we lived down in old Ballard (now we've bought a house up in Loyal Heights). I really can't understand how anyone would look down on Olaf's. They're a bit grungy and totally blue collar (as opposed to the more hipster bars on Market st). At this point, I think you're just really spewing BS. Olaf's is fantastic, the people are nice, they have pinball and play all the games we wanted to see! They even were more than happy to switch one of the TV's to a Nats game when the other ones were all on the Mariners one day (we came from DC originally).

And I'm not offended at all. You're more than welcome to think whatever you want. I know you and I have different politics but that doesn't have anything to do with friendliness or getting along with bartenders. My best friend who was best man at my wedding is (as much as it disappoints me) a pro-trump air-force lifer that I can't agree with politically at all, but when we're together we talk about our kids, sports, movies, and just about anything else. He loved Olaf's too (especially the "vagina door" to the pinball room). So if I can get along with him and he can get along with the folks at Olaf's, the problem has to be you! Of all the people that post here from Ballard, you're the only one who thinks its a cold, lifeless place where no one talks to anyone else.

It has to be you.

I think it's become clear at this point, that the OP is making stuff up. I'm surprised we haven't heard about the cross-burning on the lawn in front of his apartment window, yet. And he thinks Portland will be different! Good luck with that, OP.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Cinema Cat

Some have vents, some don't.

The ones without vents are called "cold front" machines. They blow cold air from the front, hot air from the back. They don't cool the room, but if you sit in front of the machine, you're getting cooled.

The ones with vents cool the room. I had one, and found the vents to be a hassle. Some hoses are too short, so the machine has to be close to the window. And the vent can be difficult to install in the window frame, depending on the type of window you have. My vent kept slipping out, despite the duct tape.

I decided to just bear the heat. I live on coastal California, so it's extremely hot and humid only a few months every year.

Thx for the info on the A/C units. Where do you live in coastal CA, that it's hot and humid for months every years?! I'm from coastal CA, myself. Never heard of such weather. Are you sure you meant to type "months"? Or maybe you're not really on or near the coast; you're inland a bit? Sacramento? Now that definitely fits the description (except for the "coastal" part, haha). Or east LA?