how many transplants regret moving too Wi (Eau Claire, Lima: health insurance, income)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by escapetacoma

It's all relative. They list Milwaukee as having 90 sunny days per year - Seattle has 58. That's an extra month of sun. You have 175 cloudy days for Milwaukee, Seattle is 226.

Note that I didn't say that sunny days were prevalent - just that the prevalence (frequence of occurence) of sunshine is one of the things that I like about Wisconsin.

Just take into consideration that you're a "the sky is half sunny" kind of guy and bettyboopster is the "the sky is half cloudy" type.

[bettyboopster]

Originally Posted by escapetacoma

It's all relative. They list Milwaukee as having 90 sunny days per year - Seattle has 58. That's an extra month of sun. You have 175 cloudy days for Milwaukee, Seattle is 226.

Note that I didn't say that sunny days were prevalent - just that the prevalence (frequence of occurence) of sunshine is one of the things that I like about Wisconsin.

Certainly, it is relative. To some, the glass is half full. Some would call that optimism, which is admirable.

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by Drover

Just take into consideration that you're a "the sky is half sunny" kind of guy and bettyboopster is the "the sky is half cloudy" type.

Yeah, escapetacoma is a good-hearted poster, but to say that Wisconsin is great because of the "sunny" weather (in comparison to one of the grayest, cloudiest portions of the US - the far Pac NW) is like saying Wisconsin winters are mild...sure they are, compared to northern Greenland!

Just teasing escape.

You know what, I have LOATHED this winter in WI more than life itself, but my complaints really are more with the persistent, ongoing snowstorms combined with the bursts of insanely cold weather (anything below 20 degrees...which has been quite a bit).

Truthfully, the sun / cloudy thing hasn't been too bad this winter. To be fair, this winter we've had a good amount of sun in comparison to a normal winter here.

Of course, that is the nasty tradeoff here. Typically when the sun is out, that means it is FREEZING cold.

Now on the other hand, betty has taken a beating on these forums, and while I wouldn't go to the extremes she has, I certainly can relate to many things she is saying.

This AM, I woke up and another 8 inches of snow had fallen at my house. At this point, I almost would've welcomed an armed robbery waking me up than 8 more @*#$ inches of snow to shovel - sidewalks, driveway, etc. But I get out there, snow had just stopped as I started, spent 2.5 hours busting my rear and shoveling it all off...again. If anything, it is good exercise / a workout. Just as I finish off...literally within that minute I was putting my shovel away...it starts snowing again. I was ready to whack that shovel over my head!!! Argh. Betty, I know you've taken your lumps here, and while I don't agree with everything you've said, I sure can feel your pain.

[ekg56]

Snow in the state has been weird this year. We are in central WI and in January we had about 12 inches of snow. But we also had about 22 out of 31 days of sun in January. Yesterday we were in Rice Lake. They have about half the amount of snow that we have. And on TV they said St Paul only had 3 inches of snow in January. But I know my sister near Sheboyagan has had more snow then we have had.

[susancruzs]

Greenland is nicer than you think, I've been there! They told us to expect snow in Sept. but it was in the high 50's and sunny! Kids were riding bikes with shorts and tee shirts!

I think the weather has been great and a more normal winter actually! The last few have been relatively mild and not that much snow, to me this is the way winter should be! I don't get all the cloudy talk, I'm always having my front door open to let the sunshine in!

[BacktoNE]

This is only our 2nd (and probably last) winter here but it has certainly been sunnier than last winter. I think I had SAD last year, which I've never suffered from before.

While I may not agree with everything BettyBoop has said in her posts, I certainly understand a lot of it. If you're not from here, even if you are accustomed to a cold northern climate, WI is a tough adjustment and not one that we are all willing or able to make.

[Drover]

Tough for some, not tough for others. Many transplants on this board seemed to have had little to no trouble adjusting and even making quick friends with the locals. Others have found the locals to be indifferent, to put it politely. And that's one of the things that attracts me to Wisconsin: the prospect of neighbors so disinterested in a newcomer like me (though I've lived in Wisconsin before) that they'll leave me the hell alone and mind their own business.

[ekg56]

Drover I do think you can live like you wish in WI. But that was not true when we 1st moved here 21 years ago. I think the older generation liked knowing everything about everyone. When we first moved here our local newspaper, that came out once a week, was filled with columns that told what everyone was doing. Who played cards with who, who had someone over for Sunday dinner etc. But that generation has died off and the gossip columns no longer exist.
Also when we 1st moved here few people lived out in the country. So the neighbors knew everyone who drove down the road. The 1st road we lived on had about 5 houses. Now there are over 20 on that road. Instead of living on the farm and making a living on the farm people travel to jobs so fewer people are home during the day.
So I do think you can live where people will leave you alone if you want. When we 1st moved here my kids were young and we were involved in tons of stuff. It was our choice and a great way to become involved in the community. But I do like my alone time and enjoy working alone in my garden and I can achive that too.
My brother in law lives in Woodstock IL. He is looking forward to building a small house and coming up here on the weekends or longer and he wants to be left alone. We own enought land that he can do that too.

[bettyboopster]

Originally Posted by susancruzs

I think the weather has been great and a more normal winter actually! The last few have been relatively mild and not that much snow, to me this is the way winter should be! I don't get all the cloudy talk, I'm always having my front door open to let the sunshine in!

Honestly, "always havin my front door open"??? lol, what an energy-efficient home you must have!

I understand about having SAD. One cannot honestly say that we have had/are having a sunny winter, and according to the forecast ahead, will not have most of this week. I would have never believed something like SAD really existed, and I don't put much stock in psychologists or medication, but I now know that it exists, and it is related to the amount of sunlight a person receives. I did not see the sunshine all weekend. Anyone who's in southeastern Wisconsin could deny the truth, but in spite of the forecast indicating a clear Sunday, there was not even a peak of sunlight yesterday, and we have a couple more inches of snow in our driveway this morning.

And speaking of snow, I've been snowed in my driveway since Friday. I'm young and strong, and I still could not shovel it all. In fact, I made it worse for my husband. My big pile compacted, and Friday night he was still shoveling at 9:15 in spite of having woken up at 5 a.m. I told him to finish the rest in the morning because he was so tired. But alas, there's no where else to go with it except to the front yard, and without a snowblower, it's like ice now, and it's almost impossible. Anyway, you'd have to see the mess I made (thought I was helping) to understand. Being a shut in at the age of 30, is a miserable feeling. I cannot imagine my life here in 30 or 40 more years.

Wisconsin has proven a hostile environment. When my husband lost a job, he was denied medical assistance because he was not of Asian decent, among other discriminatory adjectives. He's been unable to find another job in the state. Everything we have has come from Illinois.

[Trabbz]

Originally Posted by bettyboopster

......Wisconsin has proven a hostile environment. When my husband lost a job, he was denied medical assistance because he was not of Asian decent, among other discriminatory adjectives. He's been unable to find another job in the state. Everything we have has come from Illinois.

A "proven" hostile environment? Something such as this sounds like an opinion to me. I live in Florida and if you lose your job here the government doesn't assist you medically as far as I know. Even though this sounds like discrimination at it's finest, Asians may get assistance because many of them are low income refugees who helped the US out during the Vietnam War. Although I do find this hard to beleive that the Wisconsin state government can racially discriminate while avoiding any sort of lawsuits.

Like I have said in many posts before to people. I have a solution that might make you happier. You could always move to IL!!! Sounds like it is a better fit for you than Wisconsin.