Where is everybody from?

[Nam]

Chicago/Chicago Suburbs...

More specifically, the town Drew Peterson is from... I guess that shall be our claim to fame.

Personally, outside of the BS thats been going on there lately, I love FL... Orlando, Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Tampa... I loved it all. I love heat whether its humid or not, I love those thunderstorms that come from nowhere and are gone just as soon.

I love the rain in what appears to be a clear day/night.

-Nam

[jynnan tonnix]

I used to love the rain showers in Hawaii...sometimes those would come out of what appeared to be a sunny sky, and were barely more than a warm mist. Then there would be the squalls which would blow through, dump all sorts of rain for 5 minutes and disappear again. The rainbows were spectacular I do miss the rainbows.

[magicmiles]

This is where I lived from age 14-18. (Stanley, Tasmania, Australia). I didn't appreciate the place as much as I would now. I moved there from a suburb of Sydney, so it was quite a big change in my life at the time. When we first arrived I stepped out of the car, waved good bye to my family and climbed straight to the top of the headland before I even went inside our new house. I loved climbing. Still do. The fishing was pretty amazing also.

[Emily]

When I lived in Los Angeles it was hot. The temperatures were probably as high, or maybe higher, than Florida, but from what I remember about going to Florida is that it's more humid which made it more unbearable for the first couple of days I was in Orlando. In places where the temp is higher than Florida's temp it's just not as humid so a 105 degree day in one place (like LA) is more comfortable than a 105 degree day in Orlando. 

It's not the heat, it's the humidity. 

[jynnan tonnix]

That really is true. I remember when we lived in San Diego (Rancho Bernardo). The kids were still pretty young, then, between 4-10 years old, and we lived only about 10 minutes drive from the Wild Animal Park, so it was a great place to take them, during the Summer, when there was no school. And the temperature was frequently way up into the 90's by the time it even opened in the morning. Might be 105 by noon. But it was still not nearly as draining as days in the mid 90's in St Marys, GA. Those were times that you really couldn't do much except blast the a/c and stay indoors.

[Emily]

It's basic meteorology. If two places have an air temperature of, say, 100 degrees, but place A has a humidity of 50% and place B has a humidity of 100%, place A will feel cooler than 100 degrees (only by a few degrees) and place B will feel even hotter than 100 degrees (only by a few degrees). It all has to do with our perspiration. Less humidity means our perspiration is more absorbed into the air so we feel cooler, (since sweating is our bodies way of cooling us down) and more humidity means our perspiration is more likely to just stick to our bodies, absorbing more heat making us feel hotter.

Or something like that.

[jynnan tonnix]

Reminds me (for some reason) of one of our visits to aforementioned Wild Animal Park. Older son was in the mood to just push everyone's buttons, and it was getting stressful. One of those times where you just feel like whacking them LOL. Which, of course, is not the answer. Anyway, we all had one of those great, big plastic cups of water, and I just dumped a bunch of mine on his head. He was so startled, he forgot to be ornery. Then the younger one piped up with "do that to me, too!". And a water-fight ended everything on a happy note. Even if it cost a few extra refills of water.

[Chronos]

I have visited Florida a number of times. I just spent 10 days in Florida over Thanksgiving. Maryland can be a rather hot and humid place in its own right, but that is only about 5-6 months of the year unlike Florida where it is 10 months of the year. We do have 4 unique seasons here. We're having an early winter right now: 29F, 10" of snow, 1" of sleet and about 3/4" of freezing rain on top of that. I will gladly take this mess over a hurricane any day. A taste of Sandy showed me that very well.

[Angus and Alexis]

I am from Straya.

West Straya to be precise.

[Iamrational]

Mesa, AZ.

I call it the Mormon capital outside of Utah. There are a lot. Mormon church on every corner seems like.

Ironically I tell people I LOVE! living with mormons. Head scratcher not at all. They are really easy to be around as far as who you would trust living around. They are polite people who raise polite kids that don't pick fights in school and curse around my kids. Besides the crazy religion and pseudo inbreeding, good people.

[Add Homonym]

I'm still from Australia, but wondering if the forum is working yet.

[Mrjason]

Born in Leicester and gradually moved south over the years (Bedford, Luton, Tufnell Park, Oval, Mortlake, Beckenham...) and ended up in Wilderness SA.
Got tired of good living and nice weather so like a salmon I came back to my spawing ground.

Here's an old picture of Leicester

[Fiji]

Duffel, Belgium ... home of the Duffle coat (except it isn't).
The Duffle coat was named for the fabric it was made from, Duffle's linnen. Duffle's linnen DID originate in my home town.

Duffle is famous for ... fuck all.

The 'valuable buildings' are ... http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lijst_van_onroerend_erfgoed_in_Duffel
The ones that actually have a picture are (top to bottom),
 - The Chapel of our-dear-lady (if that's the English spelling) which is to be closed and sold off in the 'near' future ... used to be a pilgrimage destination following the 'miraculous' discovery of a statuette of the virgin Mary in a tree (because, you know, no one EVER puts statuettes in trees, it HAD to be divine intervention)
 - City hall, an architectural monstrosity of half a dozen styles.
 - Belle Epoque cinema ... still in pretty good condition, considering ... needs some work though
 - Saint Martin church, biggest church in the village, bombed during WW2, so of little architectural value.
 - Ter Elst castle, used to be situated right in the middle of the river Nete, to collect tariffs from passing ships, but these days that bend in the river has been straightened. So, the castle now sits in a tiny lake. I say 'castle' but it's really more like an oversized medieval villa. Featured in the second movie of the original version of House Anubis.

Most famous Duffeler is Killiaan, who wrote the first ever Dutch dictionary. All previous dictionaries were in Latin only.

Another ... peculiarity of our village is these fellows ...
Front to back, these are Mieke, Janneke, Mooresse, Moor, Empress and way in the back, over Empress' left shoulder, you can just make out Emperor's head.
The latter four are several centuries old, dating from the Spanish era. The youngest giant, Kinnebaba, not on this picture, was constructed in 1982.

[Nam]

I have visited Florida a number of times. I just spent 10 days in Florida over Thanksgiving. Maryland can be a rather hot and humid place in its own right, but that is only about 5-6 months of the year unlike Florida where it is 10 months of the year. We do have 4 unique seasons here. We're having an early winter right now: 29F, 10" of snow, 1" of sleet and about 3/4" of freezing rain on top of that. I will gladly take this mess over a hurricane any day. A taste of Sandy showed me that very well.

Sandy schmandy[1]. 2004, I think, three separate hurricanes hit at once. Even those of us in the Orlando area had to evacuate (because hurricanes usually don't come in so far inland). Sandy was just one hurricane. Trying dealing with three at once.

-Nam

1.	my phone says this is an actual word

[hickdive]

Originally from near here:




But now from near here:




Incidentally, we get less rain than Orlando but it doesn't come down in spectacular storms that can pass and leave the sky blue again in a few hours; more a continual drip, drip, and we can go weeks without seeing the sun (even in summer). I found Florida very hot and sticky and my visits feature dashing from car to air conditioned building and back again. I guess I could get used to it though.

[Nam]

I'm sure I'd be the same in cold weather.

I mean, I'm freezing to death at 55 degrees.

-Nam

[jdawg70]

I am told that there is more than corn from where I reside.

Apparently, 'more than corn' means Euchre and pork tenderloin sammiches.

[Traveler]

Mesa, AZ...

Cool beans! I'll be in the area for the Renaissance Festival in February and March. If anyone wants to stop by, drop me a line.

[Wasserbuffel]

Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. I now live in Bellevue, a city that borders Omaha to the South.

[jynnan tonnix]

Here is a photo taken across the street from our house earlier this year. We have a really great setting, which gives the impression of being miles from anywhere, but is, in fact, central to a whole hub of highways about 2.5 miles away, from which it's pretty easy to get almost anywhere.

The best thing is that the farmland across the street is part of State trust land, so there will be no development going on there within our lifetimes. And we get some of the most amazing sunsets. Sometimes you will see cars parked up at the top of the hill (about 100 yards from us) just to watch them. We hadn't heard of the area before we bought the house here, but it's amazing how many people, on hearing our address, will tell you how much they love that view. Either that, or they are amazed that this is part of Norwich, as the town itself is a bit run down and definitely not one of the more scenic areas of Connecticut.

[Wasserbuffel]

The best thing is that the farmland across the street is part of State trust land, so there will be no development going on there within our lifetimes.

We've got a wooded dry creek bed behind our house that belongs to the power company. The only thing back there is some towers and power lines. Residents all along our street mow out back between our fences and the tree line. We put sheds, gardens, trailers, and woodpiles back there. They don't mind, people have been doing it since the 60s. It's a big reason we chose the house we did. It's rare to find so much privacy! Most of the houses we looked at were so close to the back neighbors that you could practically read the model number on their BBQ grills.

[neopagan]

I am in central Oklahoma now - home to tornadoes, an ever-increasing number of earthquakes, lotsa jeezus lovers, and some of the reddest voters known to man (only fitting for the red dirt state).

Prior to my days in OK, I've lived in the south, the midwest, and the east - witness protection requires I give no more details...

[Emily]

The best thing is that the farmland across the street is part of State trust land, so there will be no development going on there within our lifetimes.

It's rare to find so much privacy! Most of the houses we looked at were so close to the back neighbors that you could practically read the model number on their BBQ grills.

I would love to have privacy, but in my neighborhood there is very little. The houses are pretty close together. There is only a 10 foot patch of grass separating my house from my neighbor's house with only a rusty fence in the middle dividing the property line. Luckily for me everyone in the neighborhood gets along. When it snows outside it's not uncommon for me to go outside and find my drive way shoveled and car cleared off. I can go a mile in any direction and be in the middle of run down factories.

About 7 houses down from me a Super Walmart is being built, so all I hear are the sounds of trucks and heavy machinery. It kind of sucks.

[Nam]

The best thing is that the farmland across the street is part of State trust land, so there will be no development going on there within our lifetimes.

It's rare to find so much privacy! Most of the houses we looked at were so close to the back neighbors that you could practically read the model number on their BBQ grills.

I would love to have privacy, but in my neighborhood there is very little. The houses are pretty close together. There is only a 10 foot patch of grass separating my house from my neighbor's house with only a rusty fence in the middle dividing the property line. Luckily for me everyone in the neighborhood gets along. When it snows outside it's not uncommon for me to go outside and find my drive way shoveled and car cleared off. I can go a mile in any direction and be in the middle of run down factories.

About 7 houses down from me a Super Walmart is being built, so all I hear are the sounds of trucks and heavy machinery. It kind of sucks.

I once mowed a neighbors yard while they went on vacation back in the '90's. But just the front, I was unable to get the lawn mower over their back fence. They were a nice old couple. Lived in the house for over 40 years (back when it was first built). Now, granted I first did it because it looked awful. All the lawns mowed in the neighborhood and this one looking shabby but the other times I did it after that, I guess I did it out of what little kindness I have. And, it's little.

Of course there was the time earlier this year, before I moved, where the old man across the street looked like he was about to fall, and I was outside smoking cigarette and I ran over to catch him before he did. He was standing in the street about to go on his walk looking for discarded cans. And, another neighbor across the street next door to his, she came out screaming because her mother just committed suicide, and I comforted her (and her dog) until the police/ambulance arrived. Another guy ran over, too, he went into the house to see the woman's mother, he came out and looked in shock. I didn't go in.

Perhaps I'm nicer than I think I am.







Nah...

-Nam

[pianodwarf]

I was born and raised in Honolulu, but have also lived in Florida (about ten miles from Cape Canaveral, that was fun), Tokyo, Vermont, and the Metro DC area, which is where I live now.

[magicmiles]

I was born and raised in Honolulu, but have also lived in Florida (about ten miles from Cape Canaveral, that was fun), Tokyo, Vermont, and the Metro DC area, which is where I live now.

Where are the phtos from your recent Irish trip, you slack bastard? I want to see the giant jugs of guiness you drank.

[magicmiles]

This is where I work, my building indicated by red line. About twice a week I do the 6.5km (about 4 miles) run along the pathway which loops around the river over a couple of bridges.

[wright]

Where are the phtos from your recent Irish trip, you slack bastard? I want to see the giant jugs of guiness you drank.

Seconded! Time to pony up, PD!

[pianodwarf]

Where are the phtos from your recent Irish trip, you slack bastard? I want to see the giant jugs of guiness you drank.

Many of them, unfortunately, were lost.  When I got back to the States, I discovered my camera was missing.  I'm pretty sure my pocket was picked; there were warning signs about pickpockets in several of the locations that I went to, and I'm always very careful with my belongings.  I can't even remember the last time I actually lost something.

It's unfortunate, but on the bright side, many of my photos were also saved since I transferred some of them to my iPad before the camera went missing, and I also took some with my iPod, which did not get pinched.

I didn't take any photographs of my stouts, because that would be weird.  I've put a number of photos up on my Facebook account, but I haven't added any to my Photobucket account yet, which is what I normally use for sharing here at WWGHA.  I've been a bit busy lately what with looking for a new job and tackling all my schoolwork as well (finals are next week).

In fact, I have to get back to studying right now, but for the moment, just to keep you from releasing the hounds on me: I visited the home of a celebrity whom I greatly admire -- only stayed outside, quietly and respectfully, did not disturb in any way.  Mini contest.  Anyone know whose home this is?  (No fair doing image searches.)