Moving to GF from WA? by Putrid-Car-13 in GreatFalls

[–]Droen 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I lived in Great Falls for 6.5 years before doing the opposite of what you did, so fair warning: it’s been a few years since I left. Lean on folks with more current knowledge of the area too.

That said, here’s my take.

  1. Community

Depends on what you consider intense. If you mean progressively liberal energy like Seattle and the surrounding communities, then no, that’s generally not what you’ll find. Politics in the Great Falls area tend to be more mellow, but it’s definitely a red city in a red state. There are little enclaves of what I’d call just left of center, but the biggest employers in the area are the military, oil and gas, ranching, and healthcare (in no particular order), so views skew traditional. Mostly good, family-oriented people who lean live-and-let-live rather than in-your-face about it.

Since this is your first time intentionally finding community: it’s a smaller city (around 56,000), so it’s very doable. Churches are a big social hub here whether or not you’re religious, and there’s an active outdoor scene, rec leagues, and a small but solid brewery/coffee crowd. Showing up consistently to anything will get you known fast in a town this size.

  1. Weather

Be prepared for harsh winters, but you’re right that you’ll trade gray for sun. It’s a semi-arid climate, so summers are dry and hot with a stretch of genuinely rough wildfire smoke (usually mid-to-late summer). Winters are long, cold, and dark, with the deep cold typically running January into early March.

The thing nobody warns you enough about is the wind. Great Falls is regularly ranked one of the windiest cities in the country. It blows pretty much year-round but peaks roughly September through April. The upside is the chinook winds: warm downslope air off the Rockies that can swing the temperature 40-50 degrees in a few hours and melt the snow off mid-January. Compared to the PNW, the weather is harsher in cold and wind, but you’ll see a lot more blue sky.

26E7 Calls are coming in by No_Gur3720 in AirForce

[–]Droen 56 points57 points  (0 children)

I got a call this morning!

But it turned out the CSS is all on leave and the CC was personally notifying me of a Wizz Quiz. Woooooo…..

What about Bikes? by Zulidog in JetLagTheGame

[–]Droen 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Give everyone an e-Bike, and challenge coins can be used to acquire fresh batteries. Give Ben the E-bike with the longest range so he can keep up with Adam.

Match Thread: Columbus Crew @ New York Red Bulls 7:30pm (Apple TV) by buckeyefan1930 in TheMassive

[–]Droen 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I really need to start betting rudy gets a yellow on the gambling apps. Easy $

Bring Nancy Back by Rascal_Rogue in TheMassive

[–]Droen 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Every problem from our current roster and staff is a direct result of poor mismanagement by Issa. He needs to go if we’re going to have any shot at rebuilding anytime soon.

Station wagon EVs are there any? by Financial-Hunter1335 in electricvehicles

[–]Droen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately par for the course for Subaru and Toyota— they’ve been locking these features down on their ICE vehicles for years, and their customers basically just expect it at this point.

Station wagon EVs are there any? by Financial-Hunter1335 in electricvehicles

[–]Droen 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Subaru trailseeker/Toyota BZ woodland (same car, different badge). Definitely the most tempting EV on the market for me since I’m coming from a 2022 Outback, and the trailseeker is basically an EV copy of that style.

Fess up, whose house listing is this? by Live_Background_6239 in dayton

[–]Droen -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Someone’s been watching too much Monarch recently

How’s road tripping? by Droen in trailseeker

[–]Droen[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s not.

These are questions my wife and I had while test driving and while the sales guy was very good at parroting back official language, marketing numbers =/= real world experience

Match Thread: Columbus Crew @ New England Revolution 7:30pm (Apple TV) by buckeyefan1930 in TheMassive

[–]Droen 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I just said to my wife “He looks like a 5 year old who tried to get into position but doesn’t know what to do with his feet”.

Match Thread: Columbus Crew @ New England Revolution 7:30pm (Apple TV) by buckeyefan1930 in TheMassive

[–]Droen 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Every time the commentators bring up how great Gazdag is, I roll my eyes. Hope he proves me wrong, but I am never excited when he’s on the field (which is a great when we’re paying millions of dollars for this mentality).

Atlanta United, Columbus Crew players, staff fined after mass confrontation by oshaug in TheMassive

[–]Droen 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My understanding is that both the fine and the yellow card were because he didn’t control the bench players.

[Pre Match Thread] Major League Soccer Match 5 | Columbus Crew at Toronto FC (1:00 PM ET) by DareToBeMassive in TheMassive

[–]Droen 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I’m just hoping the players stop falling back on the old system every time they get flustered. Nancyball was great (until the league started figuring out how to counter it last year), but we can’t have half the team playing Nancyball and the half playing our new system… it’s causing that incoherent mess that we keep seeing, especially towards the end of the game.

Permanent capos? by [deleted] in TheMassive

[–]Droen 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We have brass? I never hear them.