3 ms·

I don't like driving and I prefer to live in a city with good public transport. I want to have lots of employment alternatives. I'm an atheist and quite happy

by earl 16y ago

I don't like driving and I prefer to live in a city with good public transport. I want to have lots of employment alternatives. I'm an atheist and quite happy with it. I'm allergic to anyone who says, "The war of northern aggression." The civil war was fought over slavery. And yes, I heard that phrase from the owner of the bed and breakfast we stayed at within the last three years. I like good, well supported education institutions. I like snowboarding. Thus I am poorly suited for the south.

mindcrime 16y ago
Well, let's see: If you lived in, say, Chapel Hill, NC, you'd find: 1. There are free citywide buses 2. There are lots of engineering related jobs in the RTP area, and a growing startup scene. 3. Nobody would give a shit that you're an atheist. In fact, there's a rather large and active atheist meetup here, if you're interested specifically in hanging out with other atheists. 4. You would hear that phrase once every 2-3 years, unless you intentionally go around provoking people over the issue. And even then you'd have to look to find somebody who's A. a native Southerner, AND, B. gives a shit about that topic. People like that are actually pretty rare here in my experience. I, for example, fit criteria (A) but not (B). 5. The public schools in Orange and Wake counties in particular are pretty good. And the colleges & universities here are excellent. UNC-CH, Duke, and NCSU are all pretty highly regarded. 6. Ok, you got me... to snowboard from here you'd have to drive a few hours, most likely to the NC mountains, or to West Virginia. But it's not so far that you can't make a weekend snowboarding trip from here with ease. A day trip might be stretching it though.
- pavel_lishin 16y ago
  Regarding #1: I lived in Dallas for six years, and while it does have a "public transportation system", if you spend a week in New York you realize that it's basically useless unless you have hours a day that you'd like to waste - per trip - simply waiting. Will those citywide buses get you out to the suburbs, where you might live? How often do they run? What are the odds of sitting in a bag of someone's excrement?
  - mindcrime 16y ago
    Will those citywide buses get you out to the suburbs, where you might live? How often do they run? What are the odds of sitting in a bag of someone's excrement? Honestly, I don't know. I live in town, not in the suburbs, so I don't know the routes all that well. And I like driving, so I rarely take a bus... but from what I've seen, the answer to that last question is "pretty low." Still, point taken that there is a large variation in terms of the quality of service in public transport...
kls 16y ago
I'm allergic to anyone who says, "The war of northern aggression." The civil war was fought over slavery. And yes, I heard that phrase from the owner of the bed and breakfast we stayed at within the last three years. Almost every time I have heard that term used it was used in half hearted jest. Not saying that it is the case in your experience but more than once I have seen a southerner use it to, as we say down here "get your goat". I have meet few who seriously use that term and I own a 68 bronco, a gun, go hunting and fishing and generally associate with the stereotype that would use such a term. If someone used that sentence seriously they would most assuredly be laughed out of the camp. Contrary to popular belief most guys like that are libertarians and pretty well informed about how they are getting screwed by both sides (Contrary to popular belief the religious right down here are not the "rednecks"), they like to joke and are the type of people who would say "war of Norther Aggression" to a northerner just to get a rise out of them. They joke with each other in the same manner about other subjects.
- earl 16y ago
  This wasn't used in jest -- the owner of the bed and breakfast in Vicksburg, MS was giving us a tour of her house the next morning and casually mentioned the war of northern aggression in the context of the civil war era siege of the city.

by earl 16y ago

mindcrime 16y ago

Well, let's see: If you lived in, say, Chapel Hill, NC, you'd find: 1. There are free citywide buses 2. There are lots of engineering related jobs in the RTP area, and a growing startup scene. 3. Nobody would give a shit that you're an atheist. In fact, there's a rather large and active atheist meetup here, if you're interested specifically in hanging out with other atheists. 4. You would hear that phrase once every 2-3 years, unless you intentionally go around provoking people over the issue. And even then you'd have to look to find somebody who's A. a native Southerner, AND, B. gives a shit about that topic. People like that are actually pretty rare here in my experience. I, for example, fit criteria (A) but not (B). 5. The public schools in Orange and Wake counties in particular are pretty good. And the colleges & universities here are excellent. UNC-CH, Duke, and NCSU are all pretty highly regarded. 6. Ok, you got me... to snowboard from here you'd have to drive a few hours, most likely to the NC mountains, or to West Virginia. But it's not so far that you can't make a weekend snowboarding trip from here with ease. A day trip might be stretching it though.

pavel_lishin 16y ago
Regarding #1: I lived in Dallas for six years, and while it does have a "public transportation system", if you spend a week in New York you realize that it's basically useless unless you have hours a day that you'd like to waste - per trip - simply waiting. Will those citywide buses get you out to the suburbs, where you might live? How often do they run? What are the odds of sitting in a bag of someone's excrement?
- mindcrime 16y ago
  Will those citywide buses get you out to the suburbs, where you might live? How often do they run? What are the odds of sitting in a bag of someone's excrement? Honestly, I don't know. I live in town, not in the suburbs, so I don't know the routes all that well. And I like driving, so I rarely take a bus... but from what I've seen, the answer to that last question is "pretty low." Still, point taken that there is a large variation in terms of the quality of service in public transport...

kls 16y ago

I'm allergic to anyone who says, "The war of northern aggression." The civil war was fought over slavery. And yes, I heard that phrase from the owner of the bed and breakfast we stayed at within the last three years. Almost every time I have heard that term used it was used in half hearted jest. Not saying that it is the case in your experience but more than once I have seen a southerner use it to, as we say down here "get your goat". I have meet few who seriously use that term and I own a 68 bronco, a gun, go hunting and fishing and generally associate with the stereotype that would use such a term. If someone used that sentence seriously they would most assuredly be laughed out of the camp. Contrary to popular belief most guys like that are libertarians and pretty well informed about how they are getting screwed by both sides (Contrary to popular belief the religious right down here are not the "rednecks"), they like to joke and are the type of people who would say "war of Norther Aggression" to a northerner just to get a rise out of them. They joke with each other in the same manner about other subjects.

earl 16y ago
This wasn't used in jest -- the owner of the bed and breakfast in Vicksburg, MS was giving us a tour of her house the next morning and casually mentioned the war of northern aggression in the context of the civil war era siege of the city.