What is it like where you live?

[Nielo]

2 hours ago, jellysundae said:

I wasn't aware of Baltimore not being in a county, that's intriguing, how does that work then? Does that mean Baltimore has no sheriff's dept? I'll admit I struggle to get my head around there being a police force AND sheriffs in America and I don't really understand how that works, is it like police = town, while sheriff = country?

Thanks for asking this question that I never consciously realised I wanted to know the answer to.  

[Kute]

It doesn't have a county?  Also wow sorry for responding late as well.  I've never heard of that before? Why is that... Is it because its fairly large on its own? 

[jellysundae]

1 hour ago, Nielo said:

Thanks for asking this question that I never consciously realised I wanted to know the answer to.  

You're welcome. right back atcha. xD

I've just had the briefest look on Wikipedia, it seems, just to cause maximum confusion, Baltimore is within Baltimore County too, I guess the county line's at the city limits all the way around! I'm not reading any further though, my brain's having none of it, it's very at that pageful of text.

[floralpattern]

I would say yeah most of the east coast is pretty humid or at least when you're closest to the shore lol. Actually both the city an country have sheriffs but they're pretty much the same as other police officers (as far as I'm aware and I could be wrong lol so take this with a grain of salt I suppose) but the sheriffs get elected.

The thing about Baltimore City being separate from Baltimore County is that even though many of the jobs in Maryland are in the city, people live in the county and the city is poorly maintained since the money made here tends to leave and isn't invested back into the communities despite higher property taxes our streets are poorly maintained and city services aren't always the best

I will say the city is starting to be gentrified which isn't great obviously but that means that more people who live AND  work in the city will spend more of their money here rather than commuting back to the county at least?

Lol, this is more than you probably wanted to know sorry I'm pretty rambly

 

Old bay is great but to be honest I only use it occasionally myself on seafood and fries so for me a large canister can last quite a while.

[jellysundae]

4 hours ago, floralpattern said:

but the sheriffs get elected

OH‼ I'd forgotten sheriffs are elected officials, see I only know ANYTHING about them from reading books or watching shows set in the US. Here in the UK we used to have sheriffs (Sheriff of Nottingham from Robin Hood etc.) but I suppose they were superceded by the police and now there's just high sheriffs which is an unpaid and  purely ceremonial thing.

I'm trying to think what I know about Baltimore. I have to concede it's very little! I think all I've seen of it on TV was on NCIS as DiNozzo was a cop there, so in a flashback you saw crime-ridden deprived areas with a load of boarded up and derelict old houses. Not a good impression to get, poor city.

Yeah gentrification's not a good thing, is it, but it definitely seems to be a case of what goes around comes around. The 'nabes where the lower income people are being priced out of their homes; in another generation or two things will likely turn around again as that's what's happened before. The big ol' houses that started as single family homes for the rich, got carved up into apartments, got carved up again into tiny apartments, and now are getting turned back into single family homes... won't be too long before they're becoming multi-family dwellings once again.

 

Rambly's good, I like rambly, I'm partial to a big slice of it myself, on the reg.

 

I'm just intrigued by foreign food (I LOVE investigating the supermarkets on a holiday abroad), so I just wanna try these mysterious seasonings etc. that I read about in books. Much like @Kute and the brown sauce, lol! Corn dogs are one of these mysterious foods but I'm not sure I'd want to try one, I just read about them and think, "people eat that?!"

[Kute]

24 minutes ago, jellysundae said:

OH‼ I'd forgotten sheriffs are elected officials, see I only know ANYTHING about them from reading books or watching shows set in the US. Here in the UK we used to have sheriffs (Sheriff of Nottingham from Robin Hood etc.) but I suppose they were superceded by the police and now there's just high sheriffs which is an unpaid and  purely ceremonial thing.

I'm trying to think what I know about Baltimore. I have to concede it's very little! I think all I've seen of it on TV was on NCIS as DiNozzo was a cop there, so in a flashback you saw crime-ridden deprived areas with a load of boarded up and derelict old houses. Not a good impression to get, poor city.

Yeah gentrification's not a good thing, is it, but it definitely seems to be a case of what goes around comes around. The 'nabes where the lower income people are being priced out of their homes; in another generation or two things will likely turn around again as that's what's happened before. The big ol' houses that started as single family homes for the rich, got carved up into apartments, got carved up again into tiny apartments, and now are getting turned back into single family homes... won't be too long before they're becoming multi-family dwellings once again.

 

Rambly's good, I like rambly, I'm partial to a big slice of it myself, on the reg.

 

I'm just intrigued by foreign food (I LOVE investigating the supermarkets on a holiday abroad), so I just wanna try these mysterious seasonings etc. that I read about in books. Much like @Kute and the brown sauce, lol! Corn dogs are one of these mysterious foods but I'm not sure I'd want to try one, I just read about them and think, "people eat that?!"

Corn dogs from disneyland / disneyworld are the best. Oh my gosh.... honestly I dont eat corn dogs outside of there. 

[jellysundae]

17 minutes ago, Kute said:

Corn dogs from disneyland / disneyworld are the best. Oh my gosh.... honestly I dont eat corn dogs outside of there. 

What exactly ARE they though, they just look nasty.

[aleu1986]

Hello everyone, Aleu here, just joined.
I live in Norway, in the countries second-largest city which is located on the west coast.  I live by myself in a rural area with several farms and many animals, such as horses, cats and dogs. Wild animals like deer, owls and foxes can often be seen as well. It`s a quiet area with little traffic, lots of hiking/riding trails and mountains and forests close by. The city I live in is known for getting a lot of rain.
Just under 300,000 people live in the city and surrounding areas.
I live about half an hour away from the city centre, there are several shopping centres, cinemas, a theatre, concert halls, etc. There are always shows, plays and concerts playing, always something new to experience. I love living here, it`s great to live in a quiet area, yet have the city relatively close by. This town has a great mix of nature and urban living.

[jellysundae]

21 minutes ago, aleu1986 said:

The city I live in is known for getting a lot of rain.

You live in Bergen, don't you.

Until you said about the rain I was wondering if you meant Trondheim, but the rain comment clinched it. I used to work on an online game that had a LOT of Norwegians playing it, so I learned a little bit about your country. Bergen and its rain being one of those things, lol, the other guys used to make fun of the one that lived there because of the rain.

Norway seems like a pretty great place really, a beautiful country, and down in that west corner not buried in snow for quite as long as other parts. I love that most of the buildings are wooden, too, and often painted pretty colours.

Now just because I've mentioned place names don't feel you need to confirm if I got it right or not, if you're not comfortable with that.

[aleu1986]

Haha yes, you are right! I do live in Bergen. I love it here, rain and all.

[Kute]

@aleu1986  This place you describe seems fantastic! I imagine the weather being nice and cool and fresh air. I live in a desert. A literal desert. Its always hot. Its always dry.  I wish I could be somehere more green as you are!

  @jellysundae . Corn dog is ... hot dog dipped in  like a honey corn bread batter and fried up like a donut. The outside is cripsy and the bread inside is moist. Its literally a hot dog on a stick with a sweeter bun. 

Also after rereading your post about markets. I discovered Korean markets called H Mart . I just found out theres 5 locations in the UK ..

Anyhow- freakin obsessed. The food is so good. They have like a restaurant section i guess? If its close to you i highly recommend trying new stuff from there. 

[jellysundae]

Norway has lemmings, this is one of the random bit of info that I picked up, LOL. One of the guys lives in Kirkenes which is right up in the Arctic Circle, he posted a video one day of the road leading up to the loading bays of the store he worked in... covered in lemmings, they were everywhere! I'd not realised they were a cold country critter at all.

Funny little story about him... he came to the UK in February one year and he was quizzing me about the kind of clothes he'd need to bring. Feb is when it's at its coldest here, but knowing what the typical temps in Kirkenes are at that time of the year I told him he'd probably only need t-shirts, I was right too. He said he got a LOT of funny looks from Brits all wrapped up in hats, coats and scarves. During that summer he was complaining about it being too hot, it was 23/73 degrees where he was... he'd have a LOT of trouble in your desert @Kute

I've decided I'm not missing out with never having had a corn dog... I love corn bread, but I'm not feeling the honey addition. The US has WAY more foods with both sweet and savoury in them but they generally don't appeal to me. Though honey and chili as a marinade's a whole different kettle of fish.

Because I live in a rural county I can't even imagine how far away those Korean markets will be from me, they're bound to all be in big cities that are nowhere near here. OH, lol, bearing in mind that what the average Brit thinks is a long way away is nothing to the average American.

A quick look online shows 4 are in the London area, which isn't at all surprising, I'm looking on their website now at the fun-looking foods.

[Kute]

What is a long way for a brit . This last year I used to drive 45 miles to work 5 days a week

 -____________________________________-  never again.   LOL yet I know many many people who travel very far for work. 

[aleu1986]

Norway has lemmings, yes. I`ve never seen one myself, I don`t think they live in the southern regions of the country, but I could be wrong.. @jellysundae The story about the guy from Kirkenes made me laugh! I am glad I don`t have to deal with winter temperatures like that! Brr!

@Kute Oh man I do not deal with hot and dry weather very well, haha! I would not be able to live in a desert, I need forests and bodies of water around me.

[jellysundae]

17 hours ago, Kute said:

What is a long way for a brit . This last year I used to drive 45 miles to work 5 days a week

 -____________________________________-  never again.   LOL yet I know many many people who travel very far for work. 

I think it's definitely a matter of perspective, I know from watching property shows that there's people who work in London but who live WAY outside the city and have something like an hour and a half commute each way... they get home at 8pm or something. What kind of a life is that... so they buy crash pads in the city and those are exactly what you're imagining; buildings that have been carved up into closet-sized micro-apartments with 6 figure price-tags...

I think I'll define it as - in a wildly generalising way - that whatever the distance is in the UK, add another zero onto it for the US, and a lot of people would think nothing of traveling that far for whatever the specific reason is: to get to work; to go grocery shopping, whatever. But yeah, it's all down to what you're used to, isn't it.

5 hours ago, aleu1986 said:

I would not be able to live in a desert

Me neither! The mere idea's pretty horrifying, I need the greenery that in used to in this damp country.

[Kute]

Like HGTV?  Cause if thats what you mean then same... I'm obsessed with home design shows. I think my northern european skin is in constant retaliation to the weather here lol! I want rain. I want crisp air

[jellysundae]

16 hours ago, Kute said:

Like HGTV?  Cause if thats what you mean then same... I'm obsessed with home design shows. I think my northern european skin is in constant retaliation to the weather here lol! I want rain. I want crisp air

I only know about HGTV from the scathing comments people make on Apartment Therapy, lol, but I'm gonna say no, these are about buying not knocking all the interior walls down, lol. I don't actually know how many renovation shows there are over here, but the property ones I'm talking about are where the presenter/s are looking for homes for sale in a certain area that fit the buyers (generally wholly unrealistic) wish list. As an aside, I've noticed that the buyer always gives a budget with a top figure, and the presenters ALWAYS find properties that cost more than that, even when the buyer's absolutely adamant that they can't go beyond that price...

 

[Kute]

YEa theyre always knocking down walls ahahaha. So true. I've never heard of Apartment Therapy. There are buying shows though. Mostly renovation since flipping homes is a big thing in America.   

[jellysundae]

1 hour ago, Kute said:

YEa theyre always knocking down walls ahahaha. So true. I've never heard of Apartment Therapy. There are buying shows though. Mostly renovation since flipping homes is a big thing in America.   

I hate the flipping that's going on, got to say.  It distresses me seeing lovely vintage and Victorian/Edwardian houses having all their irreplaceable original features ripped out, to be replaced with bland boringness and a zillion can lights (ceiling acne). America right now seems intent on destroying its heritage as fast as possible in the name of the almighty dollar.

[Aquamentis12]

I live in what they refer to as "North-Eastern Central Wisconsin"... try saying that 3 times fast.

I like it here. City size is about 6000 as of the last census, but the Summer gets STUPID crazy with the darn tourists. Don't get me wrong, it's good for the economy, but there are always SOME tourists who forget their manners. That they are visiting here, not running the area. Unfortunately, this tourism seems to be running up the cost of living around here. It's the lakes in the area, beautiful natural spring lakes. Some years the boat congestion is appalling, also, the LAKES ARE NOT TOILETS! I wish tourists especially would be made aware of this! >_<

Anyway, I like the small town feel. Been here practically my entire life, though I live in an apartment now, instead of the house I grew up in.

There's quite a lot of nature around smaller cities like this one. Including several surprisingly Ancient wildlife. Such as an abundance of White-tailed deer and Sandhill Cranes. There are also wild turkey, coyotes, hawks, wolves, bear and Bald Eagles, among others. (I recently learned how "ancient" White-Tail Deer and Sandhill Cranes actually are)
http://listverse.com/2015/07/02/10-species-that-are-surprisingly-ancient/

I've never seen Coyotes, wolves, or Bear, but my sister has. A Summer or two ago, a black bear started to saunter toward her place while she and her BF were cooking outside! And where they used to live they had to worry about Coyotes and their chickens. Coolest animal thing I can recall seeing off-hand, was a bald eagle, swooping down into traffic right in front of the car in front of me, to snatch up a squirrel and carry it off. They were almost extinct in this area when I was little. I saw one flying overhead when I was around 5, but nowadays, they are not uncommon to see riding the air currents overhead. Some cities placed cameras aimed at their nests, when found, so that EVERYONE could watch video of these majestic birds, and of course these days, webcams. lol

Since it's Autumn, we have some of THE MOST VIBRANT leaf colors you will EVER see, provided there was plenty of water during the year, of course. A teacher of mine in High School used to live in Japan, and nobody really believed his stories about leaves in the area. So, when he returned to the area, he sent them an envelope FULL of leaves. Apparently they were stunned at the brilliance of the colors. So I feel relatively confident in saying we have some of the most vibrant colors.

UNfortunately, it's been raining here SO MUCH, that I don't know if we'll get a chance to see the sun shining through the leaves, setting their brilliance ablaze this year. With the rain comes the winds, and the wind and rain knock the leaves down and mash them into the ground, not very pretty in that state.

We've had almost a solid week of on-and-off rain. Lots of it.

The only thing I don't like about Winters around here are the Icy roads. Blah!!

[jellysundae]

On 10/10/2018 at 3:30 AM, Aquamentis12 said:

I don't know if we'll get a chance to see the sun shining through the leaves

I LOVE to see this! Not just autumn leaves, here in the UK we don't get the extravagant display that the north of the US puts on, we just don't have the right weather conditions, not cold enough I believe?  My mum says it's the frost that brings on the bright colours, our trees have lost their leaves by the time the frost gets going.

This is a VERY accurate shot of typical UK autumn colour.

 

But I love sunlight shining through leaves whatever colour they are. I was standing under my mum's apple tree in the summer and looking up at the dappled sun coming through the dome of branches and it made me feel like Illusen.

I have an awesome house plant - Oxalis Triangularis - you should see this when the sun's shining through the leaves.

[Kute]

@Aquamentis12 @jellysundae I love these fall colors. But we dont really have that in southern california   I wish i could live somewhere that was fallish all year long LOL.  I know its a huge thing to go see the fall colors on the east coast each year. Maybe one year Ill be touristy

[midnight_spell360]

On 9/13/2018 at 1:49 PM, jellysundae said:

America right now seems intent on destroying its heritage as fast as possible in the name of the almighty dollar.

I blame Troll for setting that trend! But I know what you mean. My mom & sisters were born in NY, my mom spent almost every Summer at her great grandmother's/grandparents home in Saratoga Springs- their house was directly across from the Race Track (we have "family" Race Colors in the Racing Hall of Fame from her real father's side). I only saw the house when I was 8 months old (attending my great grandfather's funeral, my mom's grandfather but my sisters all thought he was their actual grandfather because they had spent many weekends at this ancestral home). My mom remembers the molded ceilings, the front and back porches, the cellar, the tubs with clawed feet...and after her grandmother passed, her younger sister "took" over the house and when she passed-her grandchildren are busy gutting it and fighting over it so that even my Nana (my mom's mom) realizes that she won't be able to visit the house she grew up in.   It is very sad that they don't value the things that make a home a welcoming place with small wonders, (my mom says she remembers waiting for great grandma Edna to fall asleep so she could play with all the tiny porcelain figurines like animal families and would quickly put them back when she realized her great grandma was waking up!). Yeah, I can only look at pictures of this house and listen to my sisters' stories about their adventures & discoveries.  

 

 Not the house, but it was similar in Victorian style to this.   

                                                                                                                                                       Typical porches                                                                                                                                  

[jellysundae]

5 hours ago, midnight_spell360 said:

 Not the house, but it was similar in Victorian style to this.

This poor lady needs some TLC, doesn't she. I LOVE mansard roofs Though without AC I suppose it would be explosively hot on that top floor in the summer, though... people who built houses before the advent of electricity did actually work WITH the environment and do their upmost to make houses as comfortable as possible; hence the high ceilings to let the heat rise, and multiple windows to allow cross-ventilation, and those porches! Stuff like that doesn't happen any more.

[Kute]

That house is awesome. I used to live in a victorian home but it was not nearly as cool as that. and also it was in a bad neighborhood. Thats like a nancy drew type house or like something really cool i would see in San Francisco.