So I'm moving...Follow

Wait a sec...I thought you were part of the Rainbow Brigade?

That probably just means he is the pitcher

So what's the cause of the move?

There is nothing on this earth that would induce me to move to Minnesota. Nothing. Zip. Nada. My wife was born and raised there, so I got plenty of time there while I was wooing her and figuring out an escape plan that mainly consisted of traveling south.

Don't get me wrong-- Minnesota looks beautiful, particularly behind a mosquito net or a three inch in diameter hole in the hood of your parka, but beyond that the whole state is booby trapped with misery from January to December. All those lakes to play in during the summer and what happens when you go? Outside of the water the mosquitos devour your blood and when you jump in the lake to escape the leeches devour your blood. In the winter you deal with bitterly cold temperatures and weekly blizzards. And by winter I mean late September through late April.

I had the unfortunate experience of attending my two week summer camp in the Iowa National Guard up in Camp Ripley back in '82. We were sent out on a scout/patrol mission that basically consisted of walking for twelve miles through tick infested woods, looking at some trucks, turning around and walking those twelve miles back. I distinctly remember stopping at the edge of a woodline to get a drink from my canteen and looking back at the squad of soldiers I was traveling with. Behind each and every person was hovering a little black cloud of mosquitos that once you stopped would envelope your body. No amount of DEET would deter or fend them off. Twenty-four miles of utter and complete misery. And that doesn't even begin to describe the dozens of ticks each of us found on each other.

Oh, but you get corn. And soybeans. And beets. Lots and lots of corn, soybeans, and beets.

Yay.

Totem

Ahhh, you live in the Cites then, Moeb. I was about to say, $1000 a month for a two bedroom apartment? In my wife's hometown you can buy a brand new 3/2 for around $75,000 and an older home that was built at the turn of the last century for around $30,000. But the Twin Cities are different in terms of price.

Shakapee has some lovely waterfront homes for around $250,000, which include a 4/3 and a three car garage, and the further you move away gives you more house for your dollar. Mrs. Totem and I figured out that we could live in a mansion if it weren't for the fact they don't allow darkies to live in those neighborhoods. I'm not sure that they've ever even seen a black man except for Kevin Garrnet-- and that's only on television.

Totem

Me? Or are you talking to that bitter dude who has terminal testicular cancer and lives in Minnesota?

Totem

Moeb has the Big C. Of the balls even. Last I heard he is a mono or a uniball. Meh, what do you need that spare frame for when you're bowling strikes, eh, Moeb?

Totem

I'm batting 1.000.

In the words of Dennis Leary - Take 'em both, I don't f'uckin need 'em.

He's mentioned before that he went on a journey of self discovery and figured out he swings both ways.

Some journey, ya?

First off, the cause of the move is to be with my gf. I thought that would have been apparent, but I guess I forgot common sense wasn't that common. Stoopid me.

Second, $1,000/mo rent for a 2BR apartment!? WTF!? Are they wallpapered in gold? I hope jobs pay more then. No @#%^ing way I could do that on my $8/hr wage.




Goddamn, can't they stick with one way of breaking the filter. @#%^ing *****. Meh...I hit the first thing that my cursor stopped on.



All I know right now it's near Minneapolis/St. Paul. Haven't really started looking into specifics just yet.

Edited, Sep 12th 2006 at 7:07pm EDT by PsychoJester

Yup yup, Moe, Grady and I (and my husband of course) inhabit the Star of the North.

Don't let Totem kid you, we haven't had a real winter here in years. It's actually a bit dissapointing. The trick to driving well in the snow is to make the fish-tailing work for you! Besides, where else can you drive your car ON the lake for a few months out of the year?

Moe's info was pretty accurate. What he didn't mention is that we also have a very large and active gay community in the twin cities (just in case it doesn't work out with the gal pal).

Funny thing about Totem's comment on the absense of minorities in some of the suburbs. Kitca (my husband) and I recently moved to Faribault (about 45 miles south of the cities) and there's a much larger minority population here than there was when we were living in the oh-so-white first ring suburbs.

Once you're living here, do take the opportunity to take a vacation in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area at least once.

Don't be put off by the rent prices. Chances are you'll be earning more than $8/hour here (unless you're working the drive through at Burger King).

Edited, Sep 12th 2006 at 7:47pm EDT by Yanari