Jump to content

Are we better off now than we were four years ago?


Recommended Posts

On 8/31/2020 at 8:54 AM, bilzfancy said:

A stronger military then under Obama, better border security, better trade deals, NATO countries finally paying their fair share, getting out of the horrible Paris Accord and Iran deals

I like all of these things mentioned above that Trump accomplished, I like the unconventional approach to politics, it's refreshing. I don't like the name calling and news organization distrust that has started with Trump. The economy was good with Obama, it got stronger with Trump. The world over reacted to this Covid nonsense, it should have been treated like a flu epidemic, wear a mask if desired, wash your hands and otherwise life should have been normal with nothing shutdown. I'm neither a republican or democrat, I'm an American/Canadian. We would have been better off if Covid didn't happen and the global panic button wasn't pushed. That isn't Trump's fault. Its the worlds over reaction. Looking forward to the vaccine and life returning to normal.

 

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/31/2020 at 3:34 PM, IDBillzFan said:

 

Pretty much. We realized nothing was going to change unless we changed it, so we developed an exit strategy of 'addition by subtraction.' Took a while, but we improved our lives far beyond anything we expected simply by putting CA in our rear-view mirror.

 

Truth is, not a lot of people can do it because of, usually, two things: work or family. Fortunately I can work from anywhere, and we had no family we needed to be near. We pretty much sold everything and started anew in Idaho.

 

Politics aside, I'm very happy for you.  It sounds like you made a great move.  I never thought of Idaho as "the place to be" but I've also never been there.  

 

Besides the potatoes, what do you like about Idaho (aside from the political differences or things derived from them)? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Capco said:

Besides the potatoes, what do you like about Idaho (aside from the political differences or things derived from them)? 

 

There are a lot of things I love about where we live, but in the end the answer is "space."

 

CA population is 40 million. We got very tired of people. So many people everywhere -- highways, restaurants, in house upon house upon house upon house, buying gas, buying groceries, at the DMV, picking up kids for school -- people in your face everywhere at virtually all hours.

 

That many people on top of each other just breeds anxiety and tension, and in general, social courtesy went away. Where I lived in OC there was a tremendous influx of Asians buying up everything, and they absolutely have no interest in socializing, so it just became a maze of people doing things without much interaction -- masks on, heads down -- but also without much patience.

 

Now I live on a beautiful 5 acres, closely surrounded by mountains for skiing and lakes for boating/fishing, and everyone around is on 5 acres, and I damn near live in Mayberry at this point. I exaggerate a bit, but more to the point, here's the telling difference; when the pandemic hit, the first thing everyone around us did was not run out and load up on stuff, but call each other to see what we all needed and could help with. Everyone here is patient and kind and generous to each other, everywhere you go.

 

Caveat: the above is my experience with CA. Many people have different experiences there and it's not to take away from that.

 

 

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, IDBillzFan said:

 

There are a lot of things I love about where we live, but in the end the answer is "space."

 

CA population is 40 million. We got very tired of people. So many people everywhere -- highways, restaurants, in house upon house upon house upon house, buying gas, buying groceries, at the DMV, picking up kids for school -- people in your face everywhere at virtually all hours.

 

That many people on top of each other just breeds anxiety and tension, and in general, social courtesy went away. Where I lived in OC there was a tremendous influx of Asians buying up everything, and they absolutely have no interest in socializing, so it just became a maze of people doing things without much interaction -- masks on, heads down -- but also without much patience.

 

Now I live on a beautiful 5 acres, closely surrounded by mountains for skiing and lakes for boating/fishing, and everyone around is on 5 acres, and I damn near live in Mayberry at this point. I exaggerate a bit, but more to the point, here's the telling difference; when the pandemic hit, the first thing everyone around us did was not run out and load up on stuff, but call each other to see what we all needed and could help with. Everyone here is patient and kind and generous to each other, everywhere you go.

 

Caveat: the above is my experience with CA. Many people have different experiences there and it's not to take away from that.

 

 


I’m much the same way. I put a great amount of value in common courtesy. Some of that is lost in the situations like you described above.
 

I grew up in a rural area and still live in one. I’ve been to cities many a time, and while they do have a certain kind of almost palpable energy about them, it’s not something that I’d enjoy living in. 
 

Ultimately I enjoy peace, tranquility, and space over the benefits of being packed in like a sardine (I say that nebulously but there are advantages to living in close proximity with one another).

 

When you know fewer people, you have more time available to really get to know those that you do know. That’s always been my philosophy on friendships and I can see how that would loosely translate to CA vs Idaho.

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Capco said:

I grew up in a rural area and still live in one. I’ve been to cities many a time, and while they do have a certain kind of almost palpable energy about them, it’s not something that I’d enjoy living in. 

 

Same here. I grew up in a very small town in the Catskills and was sure my future belonged in the bigger cities. Was totally wrong, and didn't realize it until most of my career was behind me.

 

At least I figured it out before I died, and was able to do something about it.

 

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...