Somehow we ended up in the wrong place (child, mom, parents)

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by pathrunner

I laugh when I read people having problems getting around in PHX. Of course, I lived right next to the 85028 and didn't have to drive the 101 or the 10 very often. I could plan my trips around rush hour. Coming from L.A. (actually all of Southern California including San Diego) and having driven in Seattle, y'all have no idea what real traffic is. I do agree it's getting there and that's too bad.

Since I lived in the Bay Area and worked in Silicon Valley I do have some idea about traffic.

[pathrunner]

Indeed you do.

[Clemencia53]

Originally Posted by jrkliny

I did not miss out at all. I lived in the Phoenix area for 4 years and I still have lungs scarred by Valley Fever to prove it. No doubt it is an actual desert, dry as bone, hotter than h+ll. Sure there are some nice landscaped houses, mainly McMansions from California transplants, but overall the city is just plain ugly and getting worse as the heat builds and water is in short supply.

Traffic is a nightmare. Forget trying to leave the baking valley to get up in the mountains. The mountain areas are overrun and the weekend traffic is intense. Those of us who lived in Phoenix know the heat is no joke with a great many days over 110. And we also know it is not a dry heat. With those temps, Monsoon humidity of 70% or so is intense.

I still remember the Summer rainstorms. We used to joke about 6 inch rains. That was the distance between the raindrops that made it to the ground. Those "rains" were typically preceded by dust storm blowing in red dust full of Cocci.

No doubt Phoenix is in a very real desert. Now as to cultural events. Well, there is a symphony orchestra, the only one in the State of Arizona. One seems to be plenty and most of the events in the symphony hall are presentations such as "Mombo Nights", a Frank Sinatra pops collection, and the Jurassic Parks presentation complete with special effects. And yes at least a few times a year there are some more classical music presentations.

It is probably best that I don't mention the arts further. Odds are you will just get you more riled up. Certainly there are plenty of other nice things to mention about the Phoenix area. It is a great place to go to rent and shoot a fully automatic machine gun. You can shoot at exploding targets, bowling balls, etc. Speaking of firearms, the culture is not as lax as some people might believe. Open and concealed carry are fine except some bars make you check your firearms upon entry at least the biker bar near where I lived did.

Yes I used to love Phoenix and Tucson. There were military bases there and we often went there for projects. Spent months there. Back then the heat almost did not bother me

Then after I retired, we made a couple a trips to see family in Phoenix. The last time I went, I said never again. We left Texas and it was a nice chilly day. We wore light sweaters. Get to Phoenix - omg - the heat even in April. I just can't take that anymore.

I've been to Scottsdale and it was nice. Lots of folks eating and shopping. Spent time up in the "mountains"

Just not for me. I need to be sort of close to the beach. Now my cousins in Phoenix drive to a beach in Mexico. Forget the name.

[matisse12]

Phoenix is one of most polluted cities in the U.S. - which can affect one's heart, lungs, body systems, overall health

15 Most Polluted Cities in the US

BY EARTH.ORGAMERICAS AUG 11TH 2021
https://earth.org/most-polluted-cities-in-the-us/

15 Most Polluted Cities in the United States in 2021

Bakersfield, California
Fresno-Madera-Hanford, California
Visalia, California,
Los Angeles-Long Beach, California
Medford-Grants Pass, Oregon
Fairbanks, Arkansas
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California
Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona
Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, Pennsylvania-Ohio-Wyoming
El Centro, California
Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana
Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, Michigan
Indianapolis-Carmel-Muncie, Indiana
Cleveland-Akron-Canton, Ohio
Chicago-Naperville, Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin

MOST POLLUTED CITIES
https://www.lung.org/research/sota/c...olluted-cities

BY OZONE
#1: Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA
#2: Bakersfield, CA
#3: Visalia, CA
#4: Fresno-Madera-Hanford, CA
#5: Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
#6: Sacramento-Roseville, CA
#7: San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
#8: Denver-Aurora, CO
#8: Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, UT
#10: San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA
#11: Houston-The Woodlands, TX
#12: Las Vegas-Henderson, NV
#13: El Paso-Las Cruces, TX-NM
#14: New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA
#15: El Centro, CA
#16: Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI
#17: Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK
#17: Fort Collins, CO
#19: Chico, CA
#20: Redding-Red Bluff, CA
#21: Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD
#22: Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA
#23: Sheboygan, WI
#24: Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI
#24: Hartford-East Hartford, CT

BY YEAR ROUND PARTICLE POLLUTION
#1: Bakersfield, CA
#2: Fresno-Madera-Hanford, CA
#3: Visalia, CA
#4: Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA
#5: Medford-Grants Pass, OR
#6: Fairbanks, AK
#7: San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA
#8: Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
#9: Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-OH-WV
#10: El Centro, CA
#11: Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN
#12: Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI
#13: Indianapolis-Carmel-Muncie, IN
#14: Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH
#15: Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI
#15: McAllen-Edinburg, TX
#17: Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD
#18: Shreveport-Bossier City-Minden, LA
#19: Eugene-Springfield, OR
#20: Houston-The Woodlands, TX
#20: New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA
#20: St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL
#20: Missoula, MT
#24: Sacramento-Roseville, CA
#25: Redding-Red Bluff, CA

BY SHORT TERM PARTICLE POLLUTION
#1: Fairbanks, AK
#2: Fresno-Madera-Hanford, CA
#3: Bakersfield, CA
#4: San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA
#5: Yakima, WA
#6: Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA
#7: Logan, UT-ID
#8: Redding-Red Bluff, CA
#9: Missoula, MT
#10: Sacramento-Roseville, CA
#11: Visalia, CA
#11: Spokane-Spokane Valley-Coeur d-Alene, WA-ID
#13: Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
#14: Seattle-Tacoma, WA
#15: Medford-Grants Pass, OR
#16: Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-OH-WV
#17: Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, UT
#18: Chico, CA
#19: Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
#19: Eugene-Springfield, OR
#21: Reno-Carson City-Fernley, NV
#22: El Centro, CA
#23: Portland-Vancouver-Salem, OR-WA
#24: Lancaster, PA
#25: Las Vegas-Henderson, NV

[Sibay]

Originally Posted by Futuremauian

Somehow I ended up in the right place! Oceanfront condo in West Maui. Love it here!

As with most HOAs there is occasional drama but I stay out of it and only hear about it second-hand.

I lived on Sunset Beach (Haliewa, Ohau) in the early 70's. It was before the internet and longdistance phone calls were ridiculously expensive so it was hard to feel connected to people on the mainland. (We actually wrote letters back then!) Much different now!

HI is a beautiful place, no doubt about it. Enjoy it!

[Nausikaa]

Fluffy, you said somehow you ended up in the wrong place, What does DH think? I know he struggled with the decision for a long time.

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by Clemencia53

Just not for me. I need to be sort of close to the beach. Now my cousins in Phoenix drive to a beach in Mexico. Forget the name.

Possibly Puerto Penasco, aka Rocky Point.

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by Nausikaa

Fluffy, you said somehow you ended up in the wrong place, What does DH think? I know he struggled with the decision for a long time.

I'm neurotypical, he's not, and because of that, he has trouble making most decisions. He usually leaves that up to me.

Although when I told him yesterday I'm going to the Apple Store today to buy a new iMac Retina 5k he got down on his knees and comically begged me to take him. He loves it here but the isolation is getting to him, too.

[Mikala43]

Originally Posted by TheShadow

I feel for you with this sort of damage. I understand your desire to be free of disease carrying pests, but the only problem with the bait boxes is that once poisoned, the rats don't stay in the bait box, but go off to die over the course of a day or two. In their weakened and vulnerable state, they are easy prey to be eaten by other critters like coyotes, bobcats, birds of prey, and vultures which are then poisoned by the poisoned rat bodies. The poison is passed up the food chain. We have similar damage issues with squirrels, mice and voles, and have found other methods, such as trapping, repellents, and sealing up all possible points of access, to eliminate the problems without poisoning any wildlife.

We are pretty sure this is how our dog got poisoned. He is fine now, but it was frightening and could have ended in his death.

We use snap traps and mouseX (cause we have mice, they make RatX too), will kill the mouse or rat, but not dogs, birds etc if they eat the mouse/rats.

[SunGrins]

Originally Posted by ansible90

You could go knock on her front door once in a while to say hi. The children probably locked the gate for their mom's safety -- they didn't know you.

On second thought, I think that the deal with the "friendship gate" is that I always propped it open about a foot to allow critters to get through -- like an escape hatch. My neighbor feeds the rabbits and jackrabbits every day and the coyotes patrol the yards at night and I have seen evidence of their kills by the fence when the prey couldn't escape. Coyotes could jump the fence but not easily get through the gate opening, so it slowed them down. The tracks through the gate showed that it was used a lot. It isn't actually visible from the house. I think the lawyers/kids saw the gate and closed it, I opened it, they closed it, I opened it, they closed it and finally locked it. I only know the daughter that worked at a local store, I met but don't know the lawyer kids. My neighbor is getting a lot more attention and visits lately so I'm not as concerned as before. For the desert this is a very busy place...a cross between "Wild Kingdom" and Beatrix Potter.