Ever feel like just getting out of here?

Emigrating as a gesture of disgust or resignation is a bad step. What's that old bromide? - "If you're itching to run, make sure you're running toward something, not running away from something." This country's taken some desperately bad steps in bad directions, but if no one sticks around to arrest the errancy it really will plunge into hell.

Still, I've given more than idle thought to relocating to Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Europe - and one thing always brings me up short:
private aviation in the United States is (so far) more free and less expensive than anywhere else on the planet. I took a ride in a C-185 in New Zealand and was ready to move in five minutes until I inquired into the cost of keeping that simple, common as grass Cessna in the air 8,000 miles away from its only sources of replacement parts. I love flying too much to move, and I'm not wealthy enough to make it not matter.

So I'm stuck with trying to make things better - there's no place to run toward.

Mark Baird
Alameda CA

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(samiam @ Nov 28 2007, 07:49 AM) [snapback]544882[/snapback]</div>

Hey? What do you do for fun then?? :blink: How can you beat a country where going to the loo can be as exciting as putting a grand on green 00? (red back spiders)

Well I guess I was lucky, I have been to a few other countries and haven't found one I would rather live in. Asia is too hot where the action is, England is too dirty, France too expensive and french, and although I haven't been to the USA all those guns would keep me awake all night, or is the secret to have a really thick mattress? :lol:

Anyway, little Adelaide is a great place to raise kids, sure we had a few strange murders but what do you do? I have never seen a gun pointed in anger, never been threatened by a stranger, never owned or fired a real gun. I can say what I like about the government and we have the best road transport compliance officers in the world

The government is going to pay half for my solar instalation, my Prius has seat height adjustment, the sun is bright here and the sky is real blue. I almost live in the country but almost in the city.

Really I feel sorry for anyone who lives anywhere else.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tripp @ Nov 28 2007, 11:42 AM) [snapback]544891[/snapback]</div>

Show her a picture of Dan Carter, like this one
Seems to do the trick for lots of wives.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tripp @ Nov 28 2007, 11:42 AM) [snapback]544891[/snapback]</div>

Its better than what they still call us! :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Nov 27 2007, 03:54 PM) [snapback]544895[/snapback]</div>

That's pretty darn funny. Sometimes I think I'm probably the only one that owns a Prius that actually carries a gun with me at times. Little do the people that pull up next to me with all their "impeach bush", "Hillary '08", "Air America", and 47 other stickers on the back window know that I'm a gun toting conservative that they're waving at in the Prius. That's a true story BTW.

Mike

 

Damn,
I wrote the best most witty response and it wouldn't post. Now I have to go to work.
Suffice to say I love it here in sunny Adelaide, no guns lots of sun, bush at the back door and the city at the front door. Clean air and the government is paying half for my solar energy installation!

How boring would a life without poisonous spiders and snakes be? Redbacks under the window ledges and snakes in the park at the top of the street. Also Koalas, lizards, and the most beautiful birds you ever saw in the trees.

I feel sorry for people who don’t live here.

OOPS, it did work. Oh well.

Sorry but being an Aussie I don't follow. Do Bush supporters shoot people opposed to Bush?
Please excuse my ignorance.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mingoglia @ Nov 27 2007, 03:44 PM) [snapback]544892[/snapback]</div>

The other way is no pick nick though. For profit companies and good health care are at logger heads with each other. Insurance companies are in business to make money. Not pay for good health care. Ditto HMOs. They have a vested interest in NOT paying for and providing quality health care because it eats into their profits. Completely socialized medicine has its own set of problems but it's not a paradoxical situation like ours is here in the States.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(samiam @ Nov 27 2007, 03:55 PM) [snapback]544896[/snapback]</div>

It's her bloody family. She has this strange attraction to them. Wants to see them from time to time. Unfathomable. :lol: :lol:

Sheepf*ckers?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mingoglia @ Nov 27 2007, 04:11 PM) [snapback]544899[/snapback]</div>

Oh, I've got plenty of guns (including an AR-15 ). I'm generally pretty liberal (though, gun control is one of my "conservative" issues). There are at least a few folks here who fall into that category.

 

All right, that's it!
Unless I'm mistaken, I believe Mike pretty much justified Pat's notions. I wouldn't blame him if he never wanted to visit the states after reading that.

I was raised around guns. My dad gave me my first one when I was 9. I'm not afraid of guns. I am afraid of the idiots who are allowed to own them (*edit* in the US anyway). Ever had a gun pulled on you Mike? Ever been shot at in anger?
I have, more than once. I can remember bringing the family over to the neighbours every New Years because they had a thicker roof than ours, so we could protect the kids from stray bullets coming down. These things don't want to make you want to go out and buy a gun for protection. Just the opposite.
The intolerance displayed by the "my way or the highway" crowd dosn't make one want to try hang around and talk some sense into them, just the opposite. Life's too short and precious to put up with that sort of cr*p.

They can find their own way through the forest, probably by burning it down.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(samiam @ Nov 28 2007, 08:25 AM) [snapback]544896[/snapback]</div>

That's true, how are your woolly wives? Anyone know why New Zealand people wear gumboots?
Why do they like to make love on a cliff top? Sorry I can't post the answers here. :lol: :lol:

I'm an Aussie Okker yobbo and proud!!

 

I renounced and moved to Canada almost exactly 10 years ago this week. At the time, I felt bad for the low Canadian dollar, but really made a killing on the exchange rate. Now with the Canadian dollar trading so high, I feel quite good about the future

Although I served in the US Army I really see no point in creating imaginary enemies to justify a millitary-industrial complex, rampant levels of corporate corruption, and a cultural attitude that borders on insane.

There are plenty of nice Americans out there, no real fault of the average American that their current government started a major conflict on the basis of a lie. Now that I think of it, all the excuses for starting the massive nuclear arms race were proven false (Soviet "missile superiority," among others), too bad it took almost 30 years for the truth to be declassified

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Nov 27 2007, 05:54 PM) [snapback]544895[/snapback]</div>

When I lived in Utah, it was a rural area and we felt pretty safe. At least back then, any sort of crime was very rare. Now they have that exciting combination of cyrstal meth, guns, and freaks

As far as gun control, the only way it really works is if you do it like they do in Singapore. No exceptions, no excuses. Otherwise, the crooks and those with money get away with crime, the victim is almost automatically blamed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time

Winnipeg is quite the hellhole when it comes to crime. On a per capita basis it is among the most violent cities in Canada. The socialist provincial government has done SFA in regards to that.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Nov 27 2007, 05:54 PM) [snapback]544895[/snapback]</div>

:lol:

I'm planning a little jaunt out your way next June or July. Something tells me I'm going to have to look you up, and do seriously heavy drinking

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Nov 28 2007, 12:39 PM) [snapback]544912[/snapback]</div>

Oz definitely has its attractions, including the higher pay rates.
Lots of kiwis do move there, and the press here periodically frets and rants about the numbers relocating to OZ.

A number of years ago, a former Prime Minsiter here (Muldoon) was asked what he planned to do about this *problem*. Muldoon said "I'm not worried, kiwis moving to Oz just increases the average IQ in both countries"
:lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(samiam @ Nov 27 2007, 04:39 PM) [snapback]544911[/snapback]</div>

Actually I was car jacked at gunpoint by 3 illegal Mexicans...well, 2 were at least illegal (both 15 years old), the other guy got away. I later found out that 1 of them was previously charged with aggravated (which of course is with a gun) rape. Both guys got deported (the one guy at least for the 2nd time, not sure about the other one). Unfortunately guns are in this country. Illegal aliens as well as criminals can get them. Disallowing fire arm ownership by law abiding Americans isn't going to change that. If we find a hidden island somewhere that never had guns then I may be for a gun ban... but since they're in this country, they're here to stay. Whether they're by law abiding citizens or criminals, they're here. I wonder what happened when we tried to outlaw alcohol?

Oh yeah, I've have hours and hours of tactical training and shoot/no shoot training. It may seem ironic to most but the vast majority of my training involves how to get out of a situation where you would have to use deadly force. I have several diplomas from a local school that also trains law enforcement. I agree that many of the people that carry shouldn't carry but I'm all for responsible ownership.

Mike

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mingoglia @ Nov 28 2007, 01:17 PM) [snapback]544937[/snapback]</div>

Then maybe you DO know why I didn't want my kids raised in that environment.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mingoglia @ Nov 28 2007, 01:17 PM) [snapback]544937[/snapback]</div>

Let me know when that happens.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mingoglia @ Nov 27 2007, 05:44 PM) [snapback]544892[/snapback]</div>

since you quoted me, i'm assuming your remarks are directed toward me. at any rate, i'd like to point out here that through all the troubles we've had, we have had health insurance and still nearly lost everything.

we currently live surrounded by gunshots, our car was totalled in a hit and run when parked on the street and three people nearby have experienced the same thing since, our home has an uncontrollable flea infestation and the new managers will have nothing to do with helping us (frontline only sorta works when they're coming in from outside) and i could go on and on. all because we got sick and can't afford a safe, decent neighborhood like we used to live in anymore.

we're hardworking people, we're good people, and i fail to see where we deserve this for procuring health insurance available to us through our employers and just happening to get sick and needing to use it.

point: LACK OF HEALTH INSURANCE IS NOT THE ONLY PROBLEM. you can be a jerk and say that somehow we brought it all upon ourselves, but i wouldn't advise doing so.

 

I'd have gone to Canada rather than be drafted in 1967. But in the end I was not drafted and didn't have to leave. I wish they had drafted me so that I'd have gone to Canada. It's so much more civilized than the U.S. But the U.S. is my country, and every time the subject comes up I choose to stay here and try to change it rather than running away from it.

I did live in Mexico for 4 1/2 years, and in Spain for 1 1/2 years, for the sole purpose of learning Spanish. It is very educational and mind-broadening to live abroad for a while. But it was always my intention to come back, and I did.

When I could no longer tolerate the winters in North Dakota, I considered Nelson, B.C., Canada, but chose nearby Spokane, WA instead as being a place from which travel is easier. This might or might not be the place I stay.

I've visited NZ and OZ for two weeks each. The main drawback of NZ is what makes it so pretty: It's wet. Cool wet summers. But it's a wonderful country. The other drawback is that it's a half a world from anywhere except OZ. So travel is limited. But if I had a half a reason, I could move there. Such as if a really nice lady wanted me to take her there. As for OZ, poisonous creepy-crawlies are not an attraction for me. Nor is 60 degrees Celsius. But the Great Barrier Reef was the most fabulous snorkeling I've ever done.

If you've got money, as I have, small-city America is a great place to live. Fairly safe, fairly clean, excellent health care if you can afford the high prices. I would not make America a better place by leaving it, though I am sure there are some on this board who would disagree with that.

 

I haven't really done enough foreign travelling to say, for sure, but I've talked with enough visitors and immigrants to know how lucky I am to live where I do. Fresh air, clean water, true wilderness close by, no commute, great friends and neighbours....There are places I'd like to visit, but this will always be home. Not necessarily this particular house or even this city, forever, but definitely this part of the world. I'd tweak a few things if it were in my power to do so, but there's more than enough here to keep me happy. I have both friends and family in the US, and things seem to be going from bad to worse. From what I hear, I wouldn't be surprised about people wanting to leave.

If you're ever up this way, Airportkid, drop in. We'll go for a scenic tour.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ezbngrn @ Nov 27 2007, 01:27 PM) [snapback]544779[/snapback]</div>

Every time Bush wins an election. Actually went to Canadian site and totaled my immigration points right after he won in 2004.

 

It's easy to think about leaving when things aren't going so well for most but unless bush anoints himself lord god king of the universe and puts a throne in the oval office, things will get better. Right now, he's so pissed that Gore got a Nobel Prize that he's busy trying to broker a middle east peace <snicker> and holding it in Anapolis of all places so that perhaps he too can have one in his little trophy case. But the economy is always moving upwards or downwards and the pendulum is starting to swing back to the left in DC so perhaps there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Move somewhere else and find out the grass seemed greener but you've jumped out of the frying pan and in to the fire, so to speak. Ah, mixed metaphors, how I love 'em. :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JackDodge @ Nov 27 2007, 06:34 PM) [snapback]545000[/snapback]</div>

I remember thinking that if the country could survive Nixon we'd have survived the worst. Then a few years later we got Reagan for two terms, and I thought, gad, Nixon wasn't all that bad; now we really HAD survived the worst. And a few years after that we got Cheney/Rove and a sock puppet. For TWO terms. I no longer believe we have seen the worst possible.

I regard seriously the possibility that the sock puppet cabal will find a pretext, or worse, CREATE a pretext late next year to suspend the Constituiton, put the country under martial law, and suspend the 2008 elections indefinitely. I wouldn't put it past them to try to dissolve Congress as an emergency measure.

It wouldn't take much. A lone operator (patsy) of Middle Eastern origins successful in detonating a bomb in, say, a mall in Minneapolis would be enough. Wouldn't even have to kill anyone, just the fatal combination of "Middle East" and "Exploded Bomb" is sufficient to spook the country into thinking it's in dire danger.

A friend assures me the military wouldn't back such a move, but we've become such apathetic sheep the military wouldn't have to.

I'm sure in Germany in May, 1933, as the Trade Unionists were put in prison compounds and public book burnings began, many Berliners thought "Nein, can't get worse than this, such things could NEVER happen here."

Mark Baird
Alameda CA

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Nov 27 2007, 03:30 PM) [snapback]544906[/snapback]</div>

According to the United Nations Statistics of the Human Development Report which was released today, you are living in the third most desirable country in the world (after Iceland and Norway).

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayman @ Nov 27 2007, 03:44 PM) [snapback]544915[/snapback]</div>

You chose well. Canada is in fourth place.

 

While I do love this country I am not sure I am ready to spend the rest of my life fighting to make it more sustainable when so many try to do just the opposite. At times I feel like using my talents and effort to aid a country that is head in the right direction and making my life much easier. The lazy side of me would move to Norway or Sweden in a second. The fighter in me wants to stay here and kick the crap out of the igrnoant or selfish people and make this country great.