This 100%. And the advice above. Just remember we’re all rooting for you! Go for it!
No kidding–I’d never heard of Shafter and after looking it up I’m kinda flabbergasted that anyone would volunteer to live and work in an adjunct to BAKERSFIELD. Yikes.
Shafter does have municipal fiber optic, that’s nothing to sneeze at. From my short stay in Bakersfield a year or so ago, it was pretty dull there in the Central Valley. Train depot’s pretty and the people were friendly, tho!
We live in NE AZ, at the 5500-foot level, and it gets hot enough to run the AC! It does cool down at night, a characteristic that is unknown in Phoenix.
We get snow, but it doesn’t hang around for long. That suits me fine, since I hate snow.
Our mail and a grocery store are both about 30 miles away. “Big time” shopping at WallyWorld is about 60 miles away. It was a huge change for us coming from SCal, but we are in absolute heaven!
I am pretty surprised, VOW. I was living at 3900 feet and sometimes used a swamp cooler, but I was also living on the side of a mountain and had a constant breeze. It never got hot enough to need AC.
I’m glad you were able to make the adjustment to living in the sticks, many folks don’t. I moved from SoCal myself and when it finally sunk in that I couldn’t just dial the phone to make a pizza arrive at my door, I seriously considered going back, LOL!
Mr VOW and I have lived in many places over the ages (he’s retired US Army) and then our last residence was in SCal. We LONGED for the isolation and the respite from traffic! Mr VOW is an amateur astronomer, and this place is perfect for him to set up his own observatory with his 14" telescope!
All I asked for (and got) was running water, flush toilets, electricity, Internet, and TV.
I’m happy, he’s happy!
~VOW
Sorry for the continued hijack, Purple, but my BFF convinced me to fly out and experience the soft opening of Lowell Observatory’s new viewing area and I have to talk about it. It was totally amazing.
Someone donated a 32 inch telescope for public viewing, and there are 5 others that are used for different times and viewing. These are for public use, I actually put my eye to a telescope and saw 4 moons circling Jupiter, the red spot and several beautifully COLORED bands around the giant. I also saw Saturn’s rings as discrete things, not just a funny shaped white blob.
The sun is going to be boring for the next 4-5 years, but public viewing with a very odd looking filtered telescope is scheduled several times a day.
The docents were happy, young NAU grads who were happy to show off their new toys. One of them recognized my Cluthlu hat pin and agreed that his job was very important because he was watching out for him. There was a Douglas Adams quote nestled among Einstein and other big names in non-fiction.
Mr VOW does need to pay a visit before winter sets in.
I’ll pass the word to Mr VOW. We’ve been meaning to head over to Lowell Observatory.
And he would not consider the Sun to be boring. He even has his own sun 'scope with a Hydrogen-Alpha filter!
~VOW
My wife and I were towing across country and found this out as well. The car with a trailer in a hotel parking lot is a flashing beacon to the local thieves. And it isn’t just the loss of possessions when it happens. You’ll probably lose an entire day of dealing with police reports, insurance claims, and repairing what they’ve broken. All in a strange town. Here’s another something we learned: Transient folk at the Days Inn calling about a theft are not the highest priority for the local police. You and your problems are way, way down the list – and as such, if you need a police report (i.e. for insurance) you may end up waiting quite a while.
Because of this, I tried something “out of the box” last time I towed a trailer on a multi-day trip. Many commercial RV parks which host full-time residents will have facilities for overnight visitors. Some have cabins and others have permanently moored travel trailers set aside in their park. The cost is about the same as a hotel, but you can park your own car+trailer right outside your unit, and there is at least some access control at the entrance. Additionally, you’re surrounded by old people who don’t sleep well and have yappy little dogs. This is not a welcoming environment for the local thieves imo. I can’t prove that it kept my stuff from being stolen, but it felt a lot more secure (and I was towing on a open trailer with just tie downs, not enclosed and locked). I recommended this to a young female relative also, because if she had problems with her car or trailer there are lots of old retired guys who’ll help out.
Disclaimer: I’ve only tried this in the southern Midwest. Don’t know how useful it would be on the OP’s trip.
Say, VOW, your hubby wouldn’t happen to be named carl, carlos, charles would he?
what is wrong with me? Why can I not resist the low hanging fruit?
Nope.
I’ve seen all his records, all his paperwork, I’ve met his whole family (unfortunately) and I truly don’t see how he might have a secret identity tucked away somewhere.
If he even WANTED a secret identity, I’m the one who would have to keep track of the damned thing.
~VOW
Better yet, rent a big ol’ van, and drive the Fit into it. Then proceed on your way.
(anybody know if this if feasible? I have figured out that even the largest Fit will easily fit into a 16-foot Penske van, but that’s obviously not the only matter to be considered.)
By the way, what is a WHF job?
WFH means “work from home.” I’m a customer service rep.
You know, when you order custom-made furniture and click the “Yup OK” popup about can’t be cancelled blah blah, and then you change your mind ten minutes later and want to cancel anyway? Or submit a purchase to us, and then, when the UPS shipping confirmation is emailed, realize the address is totally wrong for the item that’s already on a truck somewhere?
Yeah, I’m the friendly voice, after your 20+ min hold time, telling you … ain’t shit I can do to help. Nope, supervisor can’t do shit either. But go ahead, yell at me for a while. You’re totally fucking my stats for the day … and that favor I might have done? I grant those to people who don’t start the call with, “Look, ya stupid bitch, here’s what you’re gonna do for me today, right now.”
^ I still don’t believe this happened:
When my mother-in-law passed on, we flew up to Pittsburgh (from Houston) to prepare the house for sale. Here’s what an amazing CSR did for me:
We needed a truck to bring back furniture and a tow dolly for a car. I didn’t want to get the dolly right away as it would be sitting around for three or four days doing nothing while we loaded the truck (extra expense). Plus when we got off the plane, we were heading into Pittsburgh first and I didn’t want to navigate that town with dolly in tow. So, the CSR arranged for us to pick up the truck when/where we landed (the Penske place was right behind the airport–$5 taxi ride) and we could pick up the auto transport four days later closer to the homestead, 40 miles away out in the boondocks. She was as pleasant and helpful as you could hope for; what a doll!
Plus, on the way out of state, there was a problem with the auto transport, so we called Customer Service and the guy was there within 20 minutes.
I have had way more good experiences than bad with CSRs.
Well, it helps when you don’t start the conversation by yelling at them… (full time CSR once upon a time, telephone and retail…).
Not to hijack, but as a CSR, I’ve had more good experiences w/ the customers than terrible.
But hoo-boy, a couple have been terrible. A lady called me a cumrag when her credit card wouldn’t work b/c it had expired.
I moved from Boston to San Diego years ago with my then-boyfriend. We didn’t rent a trailer at all, just put a roof rack on his small car and brought only small personal possessions. We got rid of all our furniture and a lot of clothes and other stuff. I couldn’t bear to part with my books, but it was cheap to ship them with Media Mail through the USPS. We bought mostly used furniture and appliances piecemeal when we arrived, though we did buy a new mattress. I highly recommend this approach.
I recommend it too unless you have something that you really can’t dump (in my case, family heirlooms waiting for my nieces to move out of dorm rooms). It’s amazing how little you really need. When unpacking, you’ll wonder: why’d I bring THIS? I coulda sold it!
Have you tried reaching out to a moving company that hauls cars? I know you said money is an issue, but it’s not out of this world expensive if you can swing it and makes the process much easier. Or alternately you could hire a mover and drive your car with some stuff in it. Look into A1 Auto Transport - I’ve used them to move across the country a couple times and they were very affordable, plus they have a good discount program that helps saving on the cost. Just my two cents anyway. I’m kinda surprised you don’t like DFW though … I’ve heard really good things from some friends I have in the area.
Old thread. The OP may have changed her mind or already completed her move. In that case, welcome to Oregon!
Just FYI, you’ll find it does get hot in the summer as well as mostly dry. Western Oregon isn’t like a lot of places in the eastern U.S. where the rainfall tends to be distributed throughout the year. Summer thunderstorms are about as rare here as they are in L.A.
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