The Random Crap Thread 2: It Hits the Fan.

WasabiPoptart

WasabiPoptart

I do ok with Pandora, Songza, and Jango. I've got an FM transmitter for my phone, so we can stream music while we drive. The only time we lose the signal is when we're close to the mountains on our way up north or coming back home. Plus I'm more comfortable with it since I can choose music that's more appropriate for my kids (or skip over songs that I don't want them listening to).
What really surprised me is how many Christian radio stations there are here! I didn't expect that at all when we moved. I also like listening to the local J-Pop station. LOL
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

Now, granted, the time I spent in Hawaii was a fraction of a fraction of WasabiPoptart's, but the thing that always puzzled me was people telling me how expensive things were going to be there. Except for gas, I didn't see much of a difference between it and NY/NJ prices for general items. Also, you call THAT traffic, unnamed author? AHAHAHAHA!!!

Also, no one explained to the tourists, I guess, that they had to be beach ready. We drove all over the place and there was every body type.

And the only decent Mexican we found was Cholo's on the Northshore, but the owner/founder/something was a transplant from Queens.
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

The traffic one had me laughing too. Hours per year lost isn't the best indicator....
If it is, we're number one! We're number one!

(Brussels has 83.3 hours pp annually lost in traffic, number 2 in the world is Antwerp with 76.6 - LA is number 3)
 
blotsfan

blotsfan

Yeah, very few of those deter me from wanting to live there. The only thing is 6 is enough to keep me from it.

This might just be the polar vortex talking though.
 
WasabiPoptart

WasabiPoptart

Celt Z said:
And the only decent Mexican we found was Cholo's on the Northshore, but the owner/founder/something was a transplant from Queens.
Click to expand...
After living in San Diego for 6 years Cholos is not even that good. I got a carne asada burrito from there that tasted more like teriyaki. There's supposedly a place in Kailua (east side of the island) that's run by stoners which has a reputation for good burritos - if they get your order right.
 
WasabiPoptart

WasabiPoptart

The real deterrent from living here is getting a job. The cost of living isn't much worse than when we were in CA (except milk which to me is really expensive), but there aren't that many higher paying jobs to support the lifestyle you may be used to on the mainland. So that "con" all depends on what you're willing to sacrifice and making more of an effort to live within your means rather than what you're accustomed to elsewhere.
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

Yeah, that's why I prefaced it with "decent". For lack of options, it was okay. I got spoiled those years living in Queens getting to have "the real deal" from almost every nationality you could imagine. I wouldn't want to live there again, but we've been known to drop in from time to time just because we had a craving. :)
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

Ahhhhh! I see what you mean. And no, we can't. :(

EDIT: ...well, okay, see, you kinda can, if you have a 1-bedroom apartment for over a decade and you turn it into 3 bedrooms (because the living room and dining room have their own separate rooms with doors) and you split the rent between 4 people, which means each person is paying <$200 and then a new owner buys the building and takes down all the window bars (which were installed by the individual apartments and technically not the property of the new owner) for the reasons that he wants to kick out all the current tenants and jack up the prices and removing the bars makes the building seem more desirable even though it's still in an extremely sketchy neighborhood.

Not that it happened to me or anything. I'm just sayin', you know, hypothetically, it's possible.:whistling:
 
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Tress

Tress

GasBandit said:
Texas cost of living is about 33%-50% of that of the Parenthetical states. Unless, you can get a 2 bedroom apartment for $450 (that doesn't have bars on the windows)?
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On average a 2 bedroom place around here costs anywhere from $1000 (shit hole) to $2000 (really nice) per month. Whenever I hear about the cost of living elsewhere, I get jealous.
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

I haven't had to rent in a long time, but I remember during college you couldn't find a studio in Manhattan for less then $1000/month, and we're talking one that wasn't in the best area and was the size of a walk-in closet.
Before the above-mentioned rental, I shared a 2-bedroom apartment, and just my room was $750. This was also 10+ year ago and in the middle of Queens, not even easy-hop-over-the-bridge-to-Manhattan like Long Island City or something. I am very happy not to be renting anymore.
 
WasabiPoptart

WasabiPoptart

We paid $1400/month for a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath townhouse in CA. It was an older complex, so the rent was cheap compared to the newer homes in the area.
 
Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh

2200sq ft
3bd
2bth
garage
2 story
North Center of Austin (10 minutes from Downtown or Round Rock)
$1000

However we did get a bargain, our neighbors surrounding us are paying between $1500-$2000 for the same layout.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Gilgamesh said:
2200sq ft
3bd
2bth
garage
2 story
North Center of Austin (10 minutes from Downtown or Round Rock)
$1000

However we did get a bargain, our neighbors surrounding us are paying between $1500-$2000 for the same layout.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but you're in Austin, which is like a chunk of transplanted california dropped in our midst :p
 
WasabiPoptart

WasabiPoptart

I just thought of this a few minutes ago. There are some things you can't get shipped here. One of the odder ones for me is chamomile tea in k-cups. I can get it in tea bags at local stores. They just don't carry it in k-cups and when I try to order it I can't get them shipped. I have no idea why.

Shipping is another high cost. I have ordered items from the mainland and had the shipping cost come out to three times as much as the product itself cost. Amazon Prime is a must, IMO.

Which also brings up the fact that there is no JCPenney or Kohls. Oahu and Hawaii (the Big Island) have Target, but none of the other islands do. There's no Trader Joe's, but Oahu does have two Whole Foods markets.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
How entitled am I, that every time I walk through the office kitchen here at work and there isn't something (donuts, kolaches, cookies, etc) to grab and nosh on back at my desk, that I actually feel disappointed?
 
HCGLNS

HCGLNS

Remember Space Invaders with all the different aliens slowly attacking you on the screen? Wouldn't it be cool if instead of the stock aliens the game used Halforum avatar pictures?
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

HCGLNS said:
Remember Space Invaders with all the different aliens slowly attacking you on the screen? Wouldn't it be cool if instead of the stock aliens the game used Halforum avatar pictures?
Click to expand...
Who was it who made a HF themed Flash game a while back? With FigmentPez's avatar as the boss of the first level?
 
fade

fade

Staff member
GasBandit said:
Texas cost of living is about 33%-50% of that of the Parenthetical states. Unless, you can get a 2 bedroom apartment for $450 (that doesn't have bars on the windows)?
Click to expand...
Unless of course you want a top rated school zone in houston. My neighborhood has no houses below 450-500000. And it's all because of the elementary school. Same reason we are here. We are renting. This neighborhood is also high turnover because people sell and leave after elementary school is done.
 
LittleKagsin

LittleKagsin

Just found out that being left-handed alone was enough to get you convicted of being a witch, back in the day. I would've been so screwed! Cause I'm ALL about being my left-handed self.
 
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