Dying to leave NYC!

[beowulf7]

Originally Posted by twojciac

Wow, you guys are wimps. I've been down here just over a year and it took me about 5 days to get used to the heat. It's not very humid on most days, and there's always a nice breeze. I find myself looking at the thermometer in my car and I'm always amazed that it feels nice out and it's 98 degrees.

Where did you move from?

[ngins]

Hi, Willys. Just saw this, so sorry about the late reply.

>>ngns and pennydeva, et al.... Brace yerselves, the heat's not gonna get any better but it's just for a couple of months at most.<<

This is my 14th summer here, so I'm well aware that it doesn't get any better! :-)

>>The older you get it seems the worse the heat gets. But it doesn't. We just acclimate to our surrounding, inside or out. Central air or swamp coolers. People have actually lived and worked here for well over a hundred years, in the heat, inside... at one time, there was no central AC. Just your body and the things it does and the heat. Ride that elevator for thought.<<

Well, believe it or not, I've been going without AC all summer. I seem to have some sort of lung infection where, if I don't have fresh air, this cough gets worse and I get very sick. So I leave the windows open and I feel fine (plus I love the fresh air). So I've turned my central AC off all summer.

And I have to say it's not so bad. I have 2 fans in each room (sometimes I need to bring in a third), and I just leave them going all the time. I take my shirt off when it gets too hot, and my body's sort of adjusted to it.

So I can definitely relate to the times before AC! :-)

>>Mosquitoes can be annoying but we have bug zappers, citronella candles, screened in porches, tabasco; try an outdoor fan to keep the air moving.<<

Oh, they're such a friggin' pain! I can't even sit outside my apartment at night or on my patio. Sure, I can spray stuff all over my body; but that doesn't work 100% either. Just a total pain. I hate mosquitos!

>>You gotta watch out for the fire ants yes, but you gotta watch out for curbs, steps, fast moving trains, idiots. You get the idea.<<

Yeah, well the thing is that sometimes you're just standing somewhere and there are fire ants. You don't want to have to watch where you're standing. But, admittedly, there's not too bad, and most places don't have fire ants. Still, it's an annoyance to have to watch for.

>>If yer hiking you're probly wearing shoes. If yer bare foot you probly know where you are.<<

I assume this is in regards to stickers in the grass. Well, it's not just hiking. It's any kind of grass, even in public parks. It's nice to be able to walk without shoes in the park. Or, when my son was little, he liked to run around barefoot on the grass. But you can't do that if there are stickers. And they're everywhere, except for well-cared-for grass. But public parks usually have a lot of them.

Plus, I have a dog, and he doesn't wear shoes. So I have to take stickers out of his paws all the time (though lately it doesn't seem so bad, so maybe he's learned how to avoid them, or else I'm walking him in better places).

>>I guess I'd just contract the above with NY in February. Would you hang out around the finger lakes without shoes and a coat?<<

No, of course not. The difference, though, is that most people don't expect to be able to be outside much in the winter, but most people do expect to be able to enjoy the summers outside. The unbearable afternoon heat makes that extremely difficult. When I go out with my son, we have to make sure we go in the morning or in the late afternoon. Can't do much in the mid-afternoon.

When I lived in California, I could go camping in the summer, and, while the temperatures would get hot, it was never too hot. Here, I can't go camping in the summer, unless I want to endure 100+ degree weather outside all day. Sure, you can stay in the water all afternoon, or go for a drive in your air conditioned car; but it's just not pleasant, and it takes a big chunk out of the days of the in which I can go camping.

So there's my reply. Like I said, I love it here, and I think it's a wonderful place to live. But the things I listed as annoyances are real annoyances, and I wish they weren't so. But if I had to choose between living here or living in NYC (where I lived for the first 12 years of my life), I'd choose here in a heartbeat.

Thanks for your reply, Willys.

[ngins]

Originally Posted by twojciac

Wow, you guys are wimps. I've been down here just over a year and it took me about 5 days to get used to the heat. It's not very humid on most days, and there's always a nice breeze. I find myself looking at the thermometer in my car and I'm always amazed that it feels nice out and it's 98 degrees.

You sound like a typical New Yorker (is that where you're from?). That's great that you've gotten used to the heat, and that where you are has a nice breeze. I agree that the humidity's not bad, and that's nice. Still, I can't do much outside in the mid-afternoons during July and August, and that's what I'm talking about. In the morning or late-afternoon/evening, it's not bad. But in the mid-afternoon, you either have to stay inside or just sit in the shade outside.

[Lakewooder]

I grew up in Dallas and I can't stand the humidity in Florida and DC and even NYC sometimes...and the 'dry heat' of Palm Springs and Phoenix -- well, that's too hot for me. Besides Texas has the best air conditioning in the whole world (I've got almost a million air miles so I've been around). It is actually so cold in most buildings some people take sweaters.

As for mosquitos - they really bite some and leave others alone. They don't want to bite me for some reason.

As for traffic - yes of course it's bad when you move to a suburb miles and miles from where you work. I never even have to get on a freeway in my section (East Dallas/Lakewood). Those central city areas are where you will also find the most cosmopolitan restaurants, shops, and 'the scene' that most New Yorkers would crave..

Dallas has a several lines of light rail plus commuter rail to Ft Worth. The DART system will open several new lines over the next three years. We even have a subway under Central Expressway!