[Johnhw2]

Ok will grow on you especially with a job you like as much as you do. I married and Oklahoma lady... and highly recommend it. Work associates and a church can help as the friendliness in OK is as genuine as it comes. Remember you can get to DFW in around 3 hours too if you miss the major sports. Norman is a great town as is Edmund although its much more family oriented even that Norman or OKC.

Just curious what kind of work and what about the job in OKC is it you like to much? Its nice to hear of someone so happy in their work.

[Webster Ave Guy]

Originally Posted by _redbird_

Same here, Griffis. My best friend here is a dyed-in-the-wool Obama-hating, Fox-news-parrot, ultra right wingnut. We get along because we are both human beings capable of overlooking our character defects. And I have more than my share~!

Besides, logically if Da Bronx man hasn't lived in ALL 50 states, how can he say okies are the dumbest?

I have lived in 9 states, least amount of time I lived in one state was one year, Alabama. NY about 21 years total with almost 14 years between age 18 and then in my 30s.

I have lived for seven years overseas, and have traveled throughout Europe, parts of Africa, some of the Middle East, some of South America.

I don't slight all in OK, only the smug attitude that believes ignorance is bliss. Critical thinking is discouraged, and man, the Baptists in general (certainly not all by any means) were so litteral in their biblical interpertations that they were close minded like no other people I have met, only suppassed by Whabbi Muslims.

[okie1962]

Originally Posted by Webster Ave Guy

I don't slight all in OK, only the smug attitude that believes ignorance is bliss. Critical thinking is discouraged, and man, the Baptists in general (certainly not all by any means) were so litteral in their biblical interpertations that they were close minded like no other people I have met, only suppassed by Whabbi Muslims.

I have run into those same folks you are talking about. I like to call them the Baptist Jehad...LOL But joking aside, I know exactly what you are talking about. You can't have an intelligent conversation with them. Anytime you ask them to explain their outrageous statement, they will always revert to the Bible, or say "It's because God moves in mysterious ways".

[Webster Ave Guy]

Originally Posted by okie1962

I have run into those same folks you are talking about. I like to call them the Baptist Jehad...LOL But joking aside, I know exactly what you are talking about. You can't have an intelligent conversation with them. Anytime you ask them to explain their outrageous statement, they will always revert to the Bible, or say "It's because God moves in mysterious ways".

************************************************** **********************

Yes, ran into the 'logic' too. Anyway, have a good Christmas and take care of that shoulder, I have had two shoulder surgeries and the post operative phy therapy is a killer, but necessary. Take care.

[BeauCharles]

Originally Posted by Griffis

...then Portland, Oregon.

I was not happy about leaving Oregon. I really enjoyed the weather there and I most especially loved the proximity to the Pacific Ocean. Parts of the Oregon coast are among the most beautiful places I've seen in my travels around the planet.

We came back because all of our friends and family are here. My parents and my wife's mother are getting up there in age and have some health issues that made us decide we need to be closer.

Here's a little ditty about your former home :


Loretta Lynn & Jack White "Portland, Oregon" - YouTube

I know what you mean about moving because of older parents (to be near them). I left the Monterey Peninsula on the Central Coast of California to move back near my elderly mom. She's finally at that point she really needs help every day to stay in her home. Monterey is like the coast of Oregon - sublimely beautiful with the best climate I've seen anywhere in this country. It was flat miserable that first summer being back in the hot and smoggy Sacramento Valley.

[TCKx3]

Originally Posted by Griffis

Among the things I have discovered I missed about Oklahoma: the people are so friendly and salt-of-the-earth. Already I've been called "hon", "honey", "sweetie", "sugar" and "darlin'" from ladies at various stores and restaurants. I never thought much about that before, but it's endearing. For the most part, the people are just so open, kind and unpretentious. That is worth so much.

Also, the sunsets. I've never lived anywhere else that had such majestic, beautiful sunsets. Nearly every night. They are like a gift. The sky so expansive you can see the colors--orange, pink, purple, gray, pale blue--receding for miles in a breathtaking display. The cloud formations can be just unlike any you'll find anywhere else.

Because of the wide-openness of the sky, when you get out into the country, there's no place better to do some stargazing.

.

I just wanted to thank you so much for this post. I am moving to Eastern OK/ Western AR in a few days for a job and am getting really scared about the move. It is great to be reading something good about Oklahoma right now, to slightly quell my nerves. I have lived all around the world and have found different good and bad things about everywhere I have lived, it's just hard to move again
Thanks for your positivity!

[Griffis]

Originally Posted by TCKx3

I just wanted to thank you so much for this post. I am moving to Eastern OK/ Western AR in a few days for a job and am getting really scared about the move. It is great to be reading something good about Oklahoma right now, to slightly quell my nerves. I have lived all around the world and have found different good and bad things about everywhere I have lived, it's just hard to move again
Thanks for your positivity!

I sure wish you the best of luck. I think you can find happiness here, certainly. It is an easy place to live (aside from the dreaded Summer heat and humidity.)

Like you, I have lived all over the USA and have traveled in a few other countries. There is no "perfect place" but there are positives and negatives anywhere you land.

I have to say I rather prefer the Eastern part of OK where you get into the foothills of the Ozarks...it's just more lush and hilly. Even moreso as you head into Arkansas.

But there is something to be said for the more stark, flat middle of Oklahoma as well. The skies so vast as I mentioned previously...and out in far West OK you have the ancient Wichita Mountains and the Black Mesa in the panhandle which resembles the more well-known deserts regions of the Southwest.

You will be welcomed here.

Best of luck with your move and feel free to PM me or write here to anyone if you have questions...

Do you know where you will be settling?

[TCKx3]

Originally Posted by Griffis

You will be welcomed here.

Best of luck with your move and feel free to PM me or write here to anyone if you have questions...

Do you know where you will be settling?

I'm moving to Fort Smith AR, but I'll be working right across the boarder in Oklahoma. The area of ok seams pretty rural, and I've never lived anywhere that rural before, so I figured living in fort smith and driving ~30 mins to work should be a good compromise, so I can still enjoy some of the benefits of living in a larger town. I was actually surprised at the landscape when I visited the area in the early fall, was much prettier then I was expecting.

[ou_norman]

Originally Posted by Atlguy39

Thats funny that you say I should meet someone at church. How does that work exactly? I went to a mega church in Atlanta with tons of singles and still couldn't meet anyone. I'm an introvert, but still. I don't see it happening at church. Other ideas?

Get involved with something, like volunteer for some kind of project with a nonprofit or your neighborhood association that will last a couple of months. And avoid the suburbs.

[dvxhd]

I was born here and moved away when I was eight, having moved west. Eleven years later I spent a little time here and realized it wasn't for me, so I moved back where I came from. A few years after that I moved to East Asia, living in a city of 25 million people. My contract expired and I came back stateside, still out west for a few more years, though after that experience I wanted to live in a denser, more compact city. I lost my job during the thick of the recession and eventually blew through almost all my savings. Oklahoma was my only safety net and I wasn't able to find work in time, so I was forced to come here.

No, I don't like it here. I don't identify with the culture or politics. I wanted to live in a more established city with developed infrastructure, walkability, public transit, diversity, arts/culture, amenities, events, etc. I'm an atheist and socially I'm very liberal. I feel like my needs aren't met here, and Oklahoma feels so vacant to me. I've been all over the world, and there are very few places I've disliked. I just need a wide range of things to do. I'm very reserved and aloof, keeping only one or two close friends, and I'm a bit of a flâneur. In other words: I like to be out in the city as a part of it, but with limited interactions with others. In Asia I could go out on the town without anyone talking to me, and just soak up the city, which was perfect for me. People here think I'm rude because I keep things short and don't stop to talk, or just ignore them completely. I don't have the same attachments or deep roots (by which I mean ones that I've established) in Oklahoma, so I just don't see things the way locals do. I've also lived through real rapid growth, so I can't understand the perceived "fast growth" in Oklahoma. Where I used to live, I had a job for two years and in that time my commute to work went from 15 minutes to an hour (until a new freeway opened,) 7 traffic lights became 23, and a long stretch of dirt lots became commercial and residential properties. I just haven't seen that same rapid development here in roughly the same time frame.

I was able to find work, and have replenished my savings and given myself more work experience. I'm now in the process of finding a new job, and I'll be out of here once that happens.