I've been lusting after a pair of Crocs, but was dubious without trying them on. Maybe I'll go ahead and order a pair now, based on lori's rec.

The Death Clock [link] tells me I'm going to outlive my husband by 4.5 years. Kind of a depressing yet fascinating toy.

And jumping from Death Clock to Wealth Clock, led me to this site, which tries to put Bill Gates' wealth in perspective. The bit where he shouldn't even bend over to pick up money laying on the ground, unless it's about $200 bucks is...amusing?

I know there are lots of hot (if snooty) guys at the tea dances there, but somehow doubt that information will be of much use to you.

Avoid traffic through downtown on the interstate, as gridlock is ferocious?

Eddie, I think there's only a handful of Atlantans amongst the Buffistas. From personal contacts, I've gathered that it's less conservative than the rest of GA, there's a vibrant arts scene, and generally people from other states feel right at home pretty quickly.

I don't know how the public transit stacks up -- I've taken it on my exactly 2 trips to the city and thought it was pretty spiffy, but then I was only on the subway, which of course is limited in its scope. Also -- and I say this as a person who lives and works in areas with large minority populations, so I'm used to seeing a wide variety of people in all parts of my daily life -- I found Atlanta to be way more African-American than I expected (in a good way, mind) so much so that I had a mini-epiphany of what it felt like to be a Minority Person.

In other news, timelies! The garbage has been put out, so the rest of the day is downhill from here, right?

The death clock gives me a life expectancy of 72. Really, if I make it to 65 without my brain popping like an M-80 I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Does it make sense on any planet than an apartment's utilities (aggregated) can balloon from $40/person/month to $200 person/month between summer and winter? I know there is heating and shit, but 5x difference? I am trying to figure out whether the tenants in this place currently hold weekly light shows, or what.

Our gas/heating bill goes from $40 to $200 in the winter, and we are relatively frugal with heat - we turn it off when we go to bed or are out, unless it's craxy cold, and fear the pipes freezing or something. There were actually more days like that last winter than usual. So fucking cold. So, actually, I don't think that's so crazy. If it was electric heat, I think it would be like $400 or so a month, if I recall correctly from my ONE winter with electric heat. Yikes.

Yay for Sheryl and G!

Ow, Cass!

I have never been to Atlanta.

And I am increasingly glad that heat is covered in my rent.

I think that's all.

Atlanta has lots of sprawly suburbs, but I knew a woman who lived in the city and liked it.

Indoor humidity should be between 30 and 50. I know if ours is around 50-55 we can take 80 degrees in the house, but once it gets up to about 60, we're suffering at the same temp.

These facts brought to you by caffeine and the letter Z.

I am told that Altanta public transit isn't all that and a bag of chips -- the "greater Atlanta area" is many counties over many miles, and everybody drives everywhere. This is a secondhand reports from Flatmate, who was there last year. She also reports that it is broiling hot at a Braves game in June, and not that fun kind of hot.

Our gas/heating bill goes from $40 to $200 in the winter

I talked to my mother, and her bill averages at about $200/month in the winter, for a whole house. This is $200/person/month in a 3-BR apartment, i.e. $600/month. I think that place has been marked off the list.

Hello, all. Woke up at 4am for no reason at all. Being an insomniac gets less fun as you get older doesn't it?

I talked to my mother, and her bill averages at about $200/month in the winter, for a whole house. This is $200/person/month in a 3-BR apartment, i.e. $600/month. I think that place has been marked off the list.

$600 is too much, for sure. I still stand by the 2 bedroom apartments I've had that averaged about $200 a month (total) for gas or oil heat in the winters though.

I must have skipped, Eddie. I live in Atlanta and I love it, but it is spread out and mass transit is spotty. The trains are great but, as Theodosia says, limited in where they go and the buses aren't great. There's no question that the traffic is awful. Yes, the summers are hot, but everything's air conditioned, and the tradeoff is a beautiful spring and no snow. I think the IT job market is doing okay and there is an increasing number of corporate headquarters here (Coke, UPS, Home Depot, Georgia Pacific, Rubbermaid, American Cancer Society, CARE). We have some decent museums, a number of theatres and some good music venues. It's not NY, but it's not podunk. People will smile at you on the street, which tends to unnerve newcomers. If you have any questions, my profile addy is good.