Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
... 2) World war III down the road. I am a supporter of the right to keep and bear arms. I own firearms and shoot regularly AT THE RANGE.
The only store in our town is a gunsmith. He has a rifle range. Everyone here hunts.
I have no problem with shooters. I shoot on my land [150 acres]
Quote:
... 3) Meth heads.
I have never seen any evidence of them here.
Quote:
... 4) The drunks and pigs.
We also get a lot of beer bottle / cans here. However we also have a lot of unemployment. There are a few people who ride their bicycles gathering those bottles / cans as their primary source of income.
Quote:
... 5) Military helicopters.
... 6) Slob hunters.
We get both of those too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MTSilvertip
... I like bad roads, poor internet connections and remoteness without services. It keeps the amateurs and busybodies out
I agree
No TV reception, no cable, crappy electric service.
regarding the wives adjusting ........................ the writer that interviewed people in remote areas found many times the wives did not like being there even though the husbands loved it.
Big Bend area of Texas, especially.
I lived in the Big Bend for 2 1/2 years and LOVED it! I lived in the town of Alpine - pop of about 5800 at the time. The ranch wives in that region are some very strong, capable, knowledgeable women!
The negative of those particular sticks was the size of the bugs. OMG! I remember laying in bed once and a huge roach ran right over my face! And there were some absolutely gigantic millipedes. And tarantulas.
One thing about the sticks anywhere - you've got to be able to deal with the local critters.
As a counter thread to "your favorite thing about living in the sticks"......
I figured we should also mention some of the negative things about living in the sticks just so people can weigh the "good with the bad"....
I will start.
1) Noise sensitivity. Ever since I moved to the sticks I am "hyper-sensitive" to noise. If I get a hotel room on trips or stay at a relatives house in the suburbs I can't sleep. There is too much noise that others are oblivious to. I am also sensitive to the occasional vehicle driving by my house. It is usually a redneck in a pickup with modified exhausts. (I never understood this need to be loud )
That is why I moved to the sticks in fact. I am very sensitive to noises, especially dog barking. At times people seem to think that moving to the sticks means it's time to have 80 dozen dogs running loose & they could care less if them running loose scares your kids or the noise is a nuisance. (Thankfully I've had little of that trouble.) But yes, when I encounter more noise in town & such, I can hardly stand it. I agree about pickups and loud exhausts too, it's one of the main noises I despise. Being noisy doesn't make you a man, that's stupid.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wartrace
8) Lack of internet. Choices are limited and costly. It is the price of living out here but it is annoying.
Yes, indeed. If you ask me, although I believe in free market, I think the government should get involved and basically abolish the FAIR access policies. Even better would be if the market introduced better alternatives. The HughesNets of the world need to handle demand by increasing capacity, not telling people to ration Internet like it's a canteen of water in the desert.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wartrace
9) Forgetting something at the store. You have to bring a list to the grocery. It took a few mistakes on my part to finally "get it". Nothing like an additional 25 mile round trip to get your attention.
Yes indeed, I previously lived in the city & liked being able to practically walk to any number of eateries & grocery stores. Everything is a trip now, of at least 10 miles.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,722 posts, read 58,054,000 times
Reputation: 46185
Quote:
Originally Posted by shyguylh
...
Yes, indeed. If you ask me, although I believe in free market, I think the government should get involved and basically abolish the FAIR access policies. Even better would be if the market introduced better alternatives. The HughesNets of the world need to handle demand by increasing capacity, not telling people to ration Internet like it's a canteen of water in the desert.
..
The GOV has the technology and the incentive to wire a highly productive USA (more revenue and economic growth). I can get better Internet and cell coverage in countless 3rd world nations (as I have for 20+ yrs!!).
The USA gov is really sinking the ship on this one. Competition / capitalistic markets and 'for profit' businesses cannot wire the rural areas. It will never pay off to their shareholders.
Only the USA gov has most to gain, and is the only one with the MEANS to make it happen. BUT we (rural) don't have the vote to support, so our 'short-term' thinking politicians don't care a bit about our internet / tv / radio access.
Rural electrification didn't come cheap, and wouldn't have happened without Gov support / guidance.
Thanks to REA, my dad was able to come home from WWII and turn his ICE business (supplying to dairy farmers) into a Bulk Milk tank franchise and hauling business. (that enterprise is still running today, 68 yrs later)
Same would happen with connectivity.
I used my HOTSPOT on Christmas eve to transfer some CAD files to Asia and capped my 4gb monthly limit in less that 4 hrs. Off to town to McDonalds cuz the other 3 options from home were all down, and it was a holiday.
very stupid on behalf of America... to not wire (for free / unlimited) all of USA.
Not that we have yet done something so simple as to create a national ENERGY policy to support sustained growth! That could (should) have been done in 1974 in about 4 hrs.
...G) The LACK of noise. Coming here from the city, I was used to falling asleep to the drone of cars on I-40 and sirens were just another noise that one barely noticed until you no longer heard them. Now I have to sleep with a fan because I just can't sleep in total silence (punctuated occasionally by a noisy car).
There's more of course but these are the ones that came to mind.
Ha, in the city I would put the fan on to block out the noise, and out in the middle of smallsville, I put the fan on because there is no noise. I cannot sleep without noise.
I remember one of my very first nights here, I had let the dogs out in to the backyard, and the silence outside was overwhelming. I stood in the middle of my yard at about 10pm, in the pitch black, (that was a whole other thing), and heard....nothing.
It was creepy.
Then, all of a sudden, I heard an owl hooting. I had never, in my whole life, heard an owl hoot that wasn't on t.v. I knew it was an owl, but the combination of the pitch black darkness, the absolute stillness and not a single bit of noise except this owl, made me run back inside the house and turn on the t.v. just to have some comforting noise. I've been here two and a half years and it still unsettles me how quiet it is at night. On the one hand, I'm thankful for it, it's a whole lot better than the non stop drunk yelling and blaring horns that I got to hear when I lived in Miami, but on the other hand, it still trips me out.
The GOV has the technology and the incentive to wire a highly productive USA (more revenue and economic growth). I can get better Internet and cell coverage in countless 3rd world nations (as I have for 20+ yrs!!).
The USA gov is really sinking the ship on this one. Competition / capitalistic markets and 'for profit' businesses cannot wire the rural areas. It will never pay off to their shareholders.
Only the USA gov has most to gain, and is the only one with the MEANS to make it happen. BUT we (rural) don't have the vote to support, so our 'short-term' thinking politicians don't care a bit about our internet / tv / radio access.
I'm not sure the politics of government competing with for profit business fits so well with most rural sensitivities.
I'm not sure the politics of government competing with for profit business fits so well with most rural sensitivities.
I agree, even though I'm the one calling for possible government intervention with regards to FAIR policies.
The main thing is this: I don't approve of utility companies asking customers to reduce usage when they can't meet demand. The proper response is to increase your capacity so as to meet demand. I ESPECIALLY feel that way when they start talking about "rolling blackouts" when it's 100'F and a lot of people are running their air conditioners. You don't tell sweltering hot people to reduce usage in a heat wave, you meet the demand. Period.
I agree, even though I'm the one calling for possible government intervention with regards to FAIR policies.
The main thing is this: I don't approve of utility companies asking customers to reduce usage when they can't meet demand. The proper response is to increase your capacity so as to meet demand. I ESPECIALLY feel that way when they start talking about "rolling blackouts" when it's 100'F and a lot of people are running their air conditioners. You don't tell sweltering hot people to reduce usage in a heat wave, you meet the demand. Period.
Sounds fine, except that they often need approval to raise rates, and expanding capacity is very expensive and takes a lot of time. Our energy infrastructure is extremely dated in this country and the distribution side of the bill will have to increase greatly over the coming years to improve capacity and efficiency. Microgrids, and short term storage solutions, are still in the very early stages of development and have a long way to go.
8) Lack of internet. Choices are limited and costly. It is the price of living out here but it is annoying.
AT&T is the only game in town, and they've actually told us that they'll cut us off if we keep putting in service orders to fix spotty service.
Little consolation that cell service at our house is far from sufficient to carry on a conversation beyond, "Hello?...he-HELLO???"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wartrace
9) Forgetting something at the store. You have to bring a list to the grocery. It took a few mistakes on my part to finally "get it". Nothing like an additional 25 mile round trip to get your attention.
Done that plenty of times. The Dollar General they opened 7 miles down the road is some times useful for non-perishables.
The hardware store, which is one of the more necessary businesses in a rural area I might add, has very limited hours. If I must, I'll take my chances at the big box home improvement store another 10 miles away. But I'd rather not, given the choice. I'm not asking them to be open 24/7, but some Sunday hours would be nice. If not that, then how about staying open a little later than 4pm on a Saturday?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
You have to bring a list to the grocery. It took a few mistakes on my part to finally "get it". Nothing like an additional 25 mile round trip to get your attention.
very stupid on behalf of America... to not wire (for free / unlimited) all of USA.
