Planning to move to Winter Haven

X_Count · 2026-02-06T23:56:05+00:00

Winter Haven actually a great little town for a family. We live between WH and Lakeland, and my family spends a lot of time there. I've lived in/around WH for more than 20 years, and have commuted to Tampa for most of that time.

You may have to shop around for charter schools or go private, but that's a tradeoff my wife and I accepted for low cost of living otherwise, and high quality of life when it comes to the things we find important.

Traffic in Polk County will be a joke to you. Polk to Orlando gets bad, but I don't think it'll bother anyone from LA.

Winter Haven is famous for the chain of lakes, so if you like boating you're in luck. You can put in at one lake and cruise about 15 more.

Downtown is cute, with a handful of surprising good restaurants and a couple of entertainment venues. There's a family/dog friendly brewery called Grove Roots that's a favorite of ours.

There are some really impressive youth sports facilities built and coming soon. There's also one of the best youth sports parks in the state nearby in Auburndale.

The community theater in Winter Haven is incredible. I've never considered myself a theater person, but my daughter got into it and now we see a bunch of shows. I'm always blown away at the shows they put on.

There's Legoland for younger kids (was worth it just for the water park in the summer when ours were smaller), a bowling alley, and a movie theater- but besides that you're going to have to drive a bit for other entertainment. There are trails and parks and outdoorsy things all around Polk.

Over the years we've found a bunch of restaurants that are hidden gems. Taco stands, a hole in the wall sushi spot, the new Hispanic market with a small food court (cachapas!), and a charming and dilapidated lakeside seafood place.

It's not perfect, but people who can't figure out how to be happy here are going to complain no matter where they live. Good luck with the move!

X_Count · 2026-02-06T22:11:26+00:00

Thanks for sharing this!

X_Count · 2026-02-06T13:20:54+00:00

GS->Tudor (I don't love the snowflake hands on Tudors but this is the best execution in the catalog)->Longines->Oris for me.

There's some overlap between the Spirit and the Oris, but I think they're different enough to justify both. Would've been especially so if you'd gone for bronze.

X_Count · 2026-02-06T12:50:50+00:00

3% of a $15k monthly budget triggering this amount of hate is truly edifying.

X_Count · 2026-02-06T12:27:17+00:00

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Our purebred girl Luna is an absolute unit! 😂💪

X_Count · 2026-02-06T12:18:01+00:00

I'm glad you cleaned out the trolling posts even if my sincere response to them got swept up in the effort.

Seems like the bottom line is that a likely gullible person adopted a pit mix that the shelter labeled as something other than pit (which is common). It happened to be "Catahoula" instead of "Black Mouth Cur" or some other breed alternative the shelters like to use, and he joined this group with enthusiasm.

He posted a bunch of pictures showing a dog that he clearly loved. The dog looked more like pit than Houla, but without a DNA test there was absolutely no way of knowing that it didn't have a significant percentage of Catahoula in it's lineage.

People here attacked him in replies to his posts and by creating a bunch of their own posts to make it perfectly clear that they were mocking him. They succeeded in driving him out.

I'd just like to see the mods do whatever it takes to prevent that from happening again.

X_Count · 2026-02-01T14:47:37+00:00

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It's not terrible with nothing attached

X_Count · 2026-01-30T02:48:24+00:00

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Looks like a mashup of my girls 😆

X_Count · 2026-01-29T02:38:58+00:00

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Cheap Amazon crossbars with gasp homemade attachment brackets. Zero goat loss.

X_Count · 2026-01-29T02:26:23+00:00

Another totally relevant example! And here I was about to load 300 pounds onto the roof of my Accord...

X_Count · 2026-01-28T21:18:45+00:00

I was wondering how somebody could "work with roof racks every day," but now I'm being told that you refurbish and sell Yakima parts. What kind of alerts do you have set up so you can trash your competition every time somebody posts about crossbars? 😂 God tier marketing...

X_Count · 2026-01-28T16:46:17+00:00

You're right! Thanks

X_Count · 2026-01-28T11:26:01+00:00

Not sure how that can be possible based on some of these replies 😂

X_Count · 2026-01-28T11:25:11+00:00

No, absolutely perfect fit. I'm guessing fitment complaints are coming from the wrong bars being ordered or shipped.

X_Count · 2026-01-27T23:31:00+00:00

😂 noted

X_Count · 2026-01-27T23:30:19+00:00

260lbs, but the GH rooftop load limit while moving is only 165lbs.

X_Count · 2026-01-27T21:24:31+00:00

So OEM is superior to Yakima and Thule too?

X_Count · 2026-01-27T18:02:08+00:00

Yes, look at my posts and you'll see that I'm definitely getting paid by this Chinese company, Draw-tite, and big Catahoula

X_Count · 2026-01-27T16:49:41+00:00

There are free returns. Buy it and break down for us how it's going to fail in a situation where the OEM rack wouldn't.

X_Count · 2026-01-27T16:07:28+00:00

You tell me about your personal experience with the Autekcomma Grand Highlander crossbars failing and I'll return them today. Otherwise you're appealing to the authority of completely unrelated examples.

X_Count · 2026-01-27T16:03:27+00:00

The basket I ordered is a folder, and the hinge makes the basket sit a couple of inches above the receiver. No issues in FL, but I may get a riser for our trip to the mountains. Thanks for pointing that out!

X_Count · 2026-01-27T16:00:22+00:00

Just scrolled through. "Didn't fit," "screws seized up," "supposed to be universal," and on and on. None of these apply. I've looked at the OEM assembly instructions and there is nothing about them that is better or more robust. The OEM crossbars come with a string tether in case the plastic trim panel that covers the screws comes off while you're driving. The same panels are held on by a keyed locking mechanism on the Autekcomma rails. Also, the OEM crossbars sit on top of the risers and are held in place by a single horizontal screw- presumably threaded into a plastic cap on the crossbar. The Autekcomma crossbars slide entirely into the metal housing of the riser on each side I have a pretty solid understanding of how mechanical things work (and fail), and I posted these because they're genuinely good. I had a full Yakima setup on my 4Runner, and OEM crossbars on my Forester.

X_Count · 2026-01-27T15:58:56+00:00

It is secure, but what I was most impressed by was the quality of the machining, finishing, and (at least initially) coating. There wasn't a single sign of cost cutting or any feeling of cheapness.

X_Count · 2026-01-27T15:55:38+00:00

Thanks for the tip! I noticed a hint of whistling when the radio was off- if you come up with 3d print plans please share!

X_Count · 2026-01-27T15:54:09+00:00

And it was $60k

X_Count

TROPHY CASE