I'll really be glad when snow is no longer in the forecast.
May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.
Mal ,'Bushwhacked'
Natter 58: Let's call Venezuela!
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
aurelia - Apr 12, 2008 12:51:45 pm PDT #1350 of 10001
All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story. Tell me a story.
Pix - Apr 12, 2008 12:55:03 pm PDT #1351 of 10001
We're all getting played with, babe. -Weird Barbie
This is why you need to move out here, aurelia!
Theodosia - Apr 12, 2008 12:58:14 pm PDT #1352 of 10001
'we all walk this earth feeling we are frauds. The trick is to be grateful and hope the caper doesn't end any time soon"
We've had a bit of thunderbooming, alternating with sunshine -- odd day, but nice on the whole.
Herping is exactly like birding, except in the rain and at night. And mostly done creeping along the back roads at about 5 miles an hour. It's all those vernal pools that are just hotbeds of herp sex. Why did the salamander cross the road? To get it on, baby!
I can go, because I got SQLServer to run correctly on my home computer, after much sweat and anguish. Whoo!
aurelia - Apr 12, 2008 12:59:45 pm PDT #1353 of 10001
All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story. Tell me a story.
Today I'm tempted. Earlier in the week it was pretty beautiful here.
Daisy Jane - Apr 12, 2008 1:05:33 pm PDT #1354 of 10001
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
flea, I'm guessing you aren't around right now, but my mom's best friend (who I call my real mother) lives in Singapore with her husband right now-because of his job (He is a pilot).
Here is her blog about living there [link] it looks like she hasn't written in a while, but I could give you her email address if you would like to ask her questions.
She seems to be enjoying it.
beth b - Apr 12, 2008 1:19:48 pm PDT #1355 of 10001
oh joy! Oh Rapture ! I have a brain!
DH has spent a little time in Singapore. They see to have the Chinese views on children - so up until age 5 or so - they get to be wild ones. There is a lot of regulation is society - which will take major adjustment, things like the state of your lawn/house. However, he really thinks you should consider it , esp while the kids are so young. he thinks it would be a good idea.
flea - Apr 12, 2008 2:00:28 pm PDT #1356 of 10001
information libertarian
Well, mr. flea is really tempted by Singapore right now. But his salary would only be $50K US, and while it looks like I could legally work, I'm not sure what my prospects are; also, his job mandates two annual 6-week returns to the US, which would be nice for seeing family, but might be problematic in terms of me working. And it seems expensive: state dept. ranks it 127% as expensive as Washington DC; rental housing *starts* at $1800 US a month for a 2br in an older high-rise and the American school is $20K US a year for *kindergarten*, oy. I am leaning no, purely on the financial issue. Which sucks.
Daisy Jane - Apr 12, 2008 2:08:41 pm PDT #1357 of 10001
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
Do you want my friend's email, flea? She could probably give you a realistic picture of what to expect.
Jesse - Apr 12, 2008 2:11:16 pm PDT #1358 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
rental housing *starts* at $1800 US a month for a 2br in an older high-rise and the American school is $20K US a year for *kindergarten*, oy.
Yeah, that would be rough on $50K, but if you could work, doable?
Daisy Jane - Apr 12, 2008 2:22:26 pm PDT #1359 of 10001
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
Apparently apartment prices are negotiable.
We've been looking at apartments like crazy - it's a very weird system. Most of the apartments are empty - they just leave them the way they were when the people moved out. Extra furniture that is the owner's and the people were using; junk the people left behind; curtains sometimes half down. If the tenants had been there awhile or the owner hasn't updated the apartment in a while there might be much older fixtures like ceiling fans, lights, faucets, washer/dryer, countertops, etc. They do not clean the apartments up or fix them up in any way before they show them. So you go in, look at it, see if you can manage to see beyond everything; then decide whether you want to make an offer. They have a starting point for the rent. You look at their starting point and then decide what all you'd like done to the apartment - cleaned, painted, new fixtures, new appliances, etc. Then you give them that list, plus what your offer is to pay for rent. Then the haggling - oh sorry , the negotiations - start.