trinacriabob

Doesn't Pittsburgh always rank high on QOL surveys? The pictures I've seen where the hills drop down to the three rivers and the fountains blasting in the foreground look nice. I've known a few people who moved there (to take jobs at the universities there) who like it. I would imagine it gets cold and there are a lot of cloudy days.

Well, I hear you. More so than the weather, it's the strong local/non-local vibe in the PNW that's even more depressing, unlike CA or FL where the sense of "entitlement" is minimal or non-existent. Hell, CA or FL presumes you're from somewhere else and welcomes all. As for FL, I find the turquoise beaches (most of the peninsula) to be very soothing...especially up in the Panhandle. I could put up with the humidity to look at the ocean/gulf. I can see why moving from the PNW to FL would take someone off of anti-depressants.

electronic wizardry

variable valve timing (uses a phaser on cam-in-block Chevy V6 applications)

Detroit and Cleveland are not surprises. Portland is a real dichotomy of pluses and minuses, so kind of a surprise. Nashville, Jacksonville and Atlanta are surprises. Check out the list: Link to MSN list of Saddest Cities

insular

overweight

Georgia

No, blu, it's that your proclivities are at the forefront of everything you do and say, rather than the decent amount of brains you have in your head. What a memorable post #20,000. *not cool, keep inferring what you want, some of us are not interested in replicating your blended-family complicated white-trash world...from what you post... To thread: scallops

jerk (unbelievable, but you really are)

enmeshed (psychological term)

You already know how I feel about a bleak landscape, though I have a friend who moved to LV to buy the house she could never afford in SoCal...where I knew her from college. For me, most of California is too parched. I drove through Walnut Creek (SF East Bay) this past weekend and thought "WTF, too pricey for being this brown and this hot." I've also never liked what some people think is cool - Sedona or Santa Fe - not my vibe. Of those you mentioned, I've only driven through Columbus and I've heard good things about Cleveland and that its suburbs on the lake are nice. Of those in the OH-PA area, I would say Pittsburgh is the nicest. I know 3 Californians that moved to very green PA and like it -- didn't come back. Personally, I go ape-$h! over a full-brick home set in trees...and that's what I had in ATL. As for DEN and SEA, I saw DEN from the air in February and it's way too brown. SEA is gorgeous, since it's all cut up by water, but expensive and I didn't like the anti-Calif. sentiment there. Plus, all PNW and large Colorado cities attract too many granolas and spandexed bikers...who all think they are "too cool for school." Your field is marketable, so you know best where you need to go.

ambidextrous

dam (beavers make dams)

Lindsey Lohan

That house has a lot of character. Drive-under garages with the house set up on a knoll have a lot of curb appeal.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, "Chargerino!" Wow, can now legally drive, then college, an amazing future...

calories

cows MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

crazy

whipped :rotflmao:

American

Unbelievable, Monday, Memorial Day: Near interchange of 101 and 680 in San Jose, and within 5 minutes of each other. Traveling in my direction: a perfect 1969 Pontiac Firebird, burgundy/black vinyl top, looked to be the base model, so didn't know what was under the hood, she looked like she might have been the original owner and her husband was in the passenger seat Traveling in the opposite direction: a mint-condition 1976 Pontiac Grand LeMans (unfortunately 4-door instead of 2-door), cream, white vinyl top, presume it was a 350 V8, a black guy was driving by himself

Damn, I was scanning the on-boards and birthdays on the home page, and saw Nick's birthday. I waited...thinking of others *cough* who might have started this thread...but it would have been uncool to overlook your birthday. So, Happy Birthday.

pop