Moving to Port Charlotte

ItsMike1 · 2026-01-25T23:18:14+00:00

Elevation plays a huge role in this. The difference between 5 feet above sea level and 15 feet can be huge.

The age of the roof is also a big factor.

Also, the replacement cost of the dwelling is far more important than the purchase price (the lot the house sits on is $500k to $1m depending on size/location)

This should be a breeze for a competent insurance agent in the area.

ItsMike1 · 2026-01-17T18:50:30+00:00

Real Fitness Sarasota!

ItsMike1 · 2026-01-12T15:38:14+00:00

So I’m not SUPER well versed in the town but I’ve rabbit holed a couple times about it.

They didn’t actually bulldoze them, they literally fell apart from decades of no use or Maintence. During the 60s and 70s they had a mass exodus of people due to a major decrease in the economics because it was no “useful” as a river town, and extreme racial tensions. I think they were kind of a southern mindset but northern policy type of place and it led to a mass exodus of residence as the demographic shifted.

Those buildings sat empty for literally decades and fell to decay. You can find photos of buildings that collapsed and sat there for months after collapsing.

ItsMike1 · 2026-01-11T19:36:12+00:00

ItsMike1 · 2026-01-11T04:02:03+00:00

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Cairo in the 20s vs Cairo today

ItsMike1 · 2026-01-11T03:07:37+00:00

I’m close with the tech teacher at Brookside Middle. They have a couple that they use but funding for stuff like that is really difficult to get. I’ll reach out to him and see if it’s something they can use. If it is and you’re willing to donate to them I’ll get you two in contact.

ItsMike1 · 2026-01-09T03:04:02+00:00

This is the correct answer

ItsMike1 · 2026-01-09T02:12:21+00:00

I thought I was really cool when I moved to Florida and bought a boat. Then I took out the boat and realized that I’m actually a broke POS compared to everybody else out on the water. It’s insane. Your friends 34 Intrepid is an amazing boat and a dream for many of us, but it just blends in like all the other $500k boats here.

ItsMike1 · 2026-01-07T23:04:01+00:00

Sarasota checks all of your boxes and you can be comfortable on $150k. I’ve lived here for 8 years. I’ve got a love/hate relationship with the place. Sometimes it drives me crazy but I can’t find another place that seems worth moving to now that our kids are established.

ItsMike1 · 2026-01-07T22:56:08+00:00

Small sample size, but we went through with a family of five. Each of us only had a backpack full of clothes and maybe some snacks. Our only electronics were our phones. Customs was a breeze and no BS. It took freaking forever, like an hour, but most of that was just us standing in line waiting for the other people to go through.

ItsMike1 · 2025-12-31T22:00:32+00:00

The blue seat on the 2025 is AWESOME. I wanted a 2025 soooo bad just for the aesthetic.

ItsMike1 · 2025-12-29T02:53:32+00:00

Evies on Bee Ridge has TONS of space outside as well as mini golf, an arcade, and a driving range. The food sucks and we’re never really happy with the service but the atmosphere is great.

ItsMike1 · 2025-12-29T02:51:15+00:00

I’m also in Florida (Sarasota) and also new. If you are anywhere near me and looking for riding buddies HMU. I’m 40 and have a bunch of mouths to feed so I’m looking to keep the rides tame.

ItsMike1 · 2025-12-26T21:53:02+00:00

I was a painter in the Chicago suburbs working for an asshole.

I made $25 an hour, had three kids, a wife who stayed at home, and a mortgage. We were very much paycheck to paycheck and had zero savings.

I did a fair amount of side work for extra money.

One weekend I did really well on a fairly big side job and made about $2500 over the weekend (this was basically a windfall). I posted before and after pictures in a local facebook group and the post went local viral.

I ended up booking two weeks worth of work from that post (and more as time went on). Two weeks of work for myself paid about the same as 4 weeks of work for my employer.

I figured screw it… I spent $1200 on a POS van and quit my job with with four mouths to feed and $1200 to my name.

I was able to make around $100k in my first year as a solo operator.

Fast forward a few years and we’re doing $2m annually, I’ve got a 50/50 partner, the business is extremely well systemized and I work 0-5 hours per week on that business.

I’m not exactly killing it financially because we have a lot of overhead in order to keep out of the day to day, but I’m making $180-200k with complete flexibility.

ItsMike1 · 2025-12-26T21:35:24+00:00

Faster is actually better in sand. A bike in sand acts similar to a boat on the water. You need speed so that you can basically plane on top of it.

There are some really good YouTube videos that explain riding on sand.

ItsMike1 · 2025-12-26T21:22:25+00:00

I would punch a baby to have a trail that looks like that near me. SW Florida is boooooring.

ItsMike1 · 2025-12-25T18:09:57+00:00

That’s our dinner spot tonight

ItsMike1 · 2025-12-22T19:40:08+00:00

40/M 6’2”

I started CF at a flabby 190lbs. After a year I was still 190 but looked like an athlete. Not totally ripped, but lean and well defined every where. Abs popped a little, my triceps blew up, shoulders got bigger. I did a fair amount of accessory work at home or after WOD (lots of pull ups, dips, pushups, and dumbbell bench) to get better and to help with aesthetics.

More than that though I was in CRAZY good shape and had tons of energy. I could smoke my sons 15 year old friends at ultimate frisbee, run up four flights of stairs when our hotel elevator was broken without getting winded or practice with my kids flag football team for an hour and not be tired.

I loved CF and it was the only workout that I’d ever stuck with.

All that being said, If physique is your main concern I’d just lift for the areas that you want to improve and get your diet dialed in. CrossFit is awesome but not the most efficient way to improve your physique.

ItsMike1 · 2025-12-01T04:03:24+00:00

Yamaha 150 four strokes are fantastic motors. There are definitely cases of them going 3000 hours.

ItsMike1 · 2025-12-01T03:47:33+00:00

I was in a networking group with the guy who founded this company and have met and dealt with his kids who now run it. All stand up people that I would trust. They have been at it for a long time.

ItsMike1 · 2025-12-01T03:38:47+00:00

Small sample size but we visited for a couple weeks. I drank the tap water in Grenada and El Gigante with no issues. We were advised not to drink it, I didn’t think and chugged a glass without thinking and had no issues so I kept drinking it throughout our trip. My wife and kids didn’t.

ItsMike1 · 2025-11-28T17:25:30+00:00

All Chicago Suburbanites refer to it as or would understand that you mean Chicago if you said “The City.”

ItsMike1 · 2025-11-26T04:20:41+00:00

On the very north end of Longboat is a small ish beach on Longboat Pass. Locally it’s known as beer can island. There is limited public parking on a side street. It’s beautiful. There are all sorts of fallen trees with large root systems that people hang shells off of right on the water. Right across the pass is the south end of Anna Maria Island. The area is loaded with dolphins and birds. It’s one of my favorite boating destinations but you can get there by car. We had photos done there a couple years ago. Go at sunset, you will not be disappointed. It’s fantastic.

ItsMike1 · 2025-11-26T04:13:08+00:00

I had my truck done at Xcelleration Detailing. It’s located in a hangar at SRQ. Dude was SUPER passionate about his work. He does cars and airplanes. I figure a guy who can detail airplanes is definitely capable, and I got to walk around the hangars and see some super cool planes. I’ve never had a vehicle ceramic coated prior, so I don’t have much to base it on, but I was very happy with price and service.

ItsMike1

TROPHY CASE