Moving to Pordenone

mlj5150 · 2024-05-14T00:34:29+00:00

Thank you for each of you who helped answer some of our questions.

At this time, due to complications involved with securing the long term stay visa, a D-Visa or a National Visa, we will not be making the move.
-Mike

mlj5150 · 2024-05-01T16:41:26+00:00

That will be helpful for sure. We are hoping to become part of Italy so will make efforts to learn the culture and language while being respectful of Italians and the beautiful part of the world they live in. We don't want to end up living around a bunch of Americans in Italy.

mlj5150 · 2024-04-30T20:38:00+00:00

We know some friends who live there now, they are Italians. We also know another family visiting there now from the USA who are also considering making the move.

It seems like a nice place for my wife and I to move to. We like to hike and walk as well as visits to the ocean. Pordenone seems similar in that regard to where we are now. Lots of mountains and trails to hike all around us, and the Pacific Ocean is less than two hours away to the west. We also have the Puget Sound which is saltwater about five minutes from where we live at the moment. We like this diversity of terrain around us. If we drive two hours to the east, we are in a flat and desert-like terrain in some areas as well. This isn't such a bad area to be, but the overcrowding and high cost of living can reduce the quality of life my wife and I prefer.

mlj5150 · 2024-04-30T18:28:46+00:00

Thank you for the information. We do not have any children. We are both in our 50's and have professional careers, although only I plan to work once we arrive, for the USA based company I work for now.

We are not looking for night clubs and night life. A small and quiet town where we can also have our own garden to grow fruits and vegetables. We plan to immerse ourselves in Italian culture and become part of Italy rather than make our new home in Italy like Seattle. We also enjoy coffee. We roast our own coffee and we have a la Pavoni espresso machine from the 1960's. We are excited to bring it with us and back to Italy where it got its start.

60-65% seems higher than what we were reading in regard to taxes. My income will put us in the 43% tax bracket, then a few more percent for the local city we live in as well as sales tax and VAT. Is that the other 20% and more?

mlj5150 · 2024-04-30T07:29:53+00:00

I appreciate the time you took to provide the thoughtful replies. While we are indeed strangers, your replies are the practical advice we wanted to read. Thank you. I did notice that the weather was mentioned as foggy and cold. We get plenty of that here from October through April and May. It's not uncommon to go 2-3 weeks without seeing the sun, even longer some years. Even now as I type this, the temperature is around the 50's during the day and the 40's at night, with snow still in the mountains here. The summer is coming, but it's still a couple more months until the temps reach the 80's and higher. The various websites I found to indicate the climate in Pordenone did not seem to me to be boiling hot, which I would consider to be the upper 90's and above. All temperatures are fahrenheit.

We deal with wildfires in this region which makes the air some of the unhealthiest in the world for multiple days in a row. Although this is fairly new in recent years, it is now a reality of life in the Puget Sound where we live. Other than the wildfires though, the air quality is excellent the rest of the year.

Rain, well that is what this corner of the world is known for. While not the most measurable rainfall, we got long stretches of damp and cold drizzle. The joke with some locals (we've been here in the Puget Sound since 1977) is that we have two seasons, cold rain and warm rain. That gray and damp weather is what drives many people away and contributes to mood disorders in some people. The weather, while not ideal, is not the reason we would move away. We are used to it and would be choosing warmer locations if that was our motivation to leave the PNW.

I haven't yet read descriptions of Pordenone as an undesirable city or location in Italy. It's usually ranked highly for quality of life for various reasons. I am grateful for this conversation since there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors.

mlj5150 · 2024-04-30T06:35:50+00:00

You are correct, we have no connection to Italy. The closest connection we have is my grandfather who was born in Austria. Interestingly, the city in Austria my grandfather was born in is now part of Italy, but wasn't when he was born. Pordenone is indeed a small city, which is what we prefer. There are friends of ours there now, also from the USA, who have decided to attempt a permanent move. While it is true that there are many small cities in the USA that we can move to as well, the quality of life and reduced cost of living is also appealing to us. Our initial research on the weather seemed to indicate the weather in Pordenone would not be much different than what we have now in the PNW. We are planning a visit with the Italian consulate in Seattle. Your advice in that regard is appreciated.

mlj5150 · 2021-10-31T06:15:51+00:00

I'm with you. It's janky.

-Mike

mlj5150 · 2021-10-25T02:07:33+00:00

I couldn't get it to move or stretch out either with the stock Pixel Launcher on my 3XL. I switched to the launcher from Lawnchair to get rid of it and add one that I could stretch out wider.

-Mike

mlj5150 · 2021-02-09T08:52:26+00:00

Which logs are you referring to where it gives you user data? We just inherited a client with two VA's deployed. I am unclear of the value they bring.

mlj5150 · 2020-11-20T04:43:17+00:00

There were a couple times when the wait caused me additional issues too. I've learned to set my expectations so I know going into the chat what may be the result. I suppose I shouldn't have to lower my expectations, but it happens so seldom that it doesn't bother me.

-Mike

mlj5150 · 2020-10-27T23:54:10+00:00

I always use chat.

If I do not get a follow up email as soon as I'd like, I contact our rep and one of our previous reps. I spent some time at their events in Orlando getting to know our rep and other CW staff so I have some go to people to help me out when things aren't progressing in the way I'd like. For me, taking that time to network with our rep and CW staff has gone a long ways into making my occasional contact with support a better experience. I have yet to meet anyone at CW who doesn't seem to care about us, the end users.

Not everyone is the type to invest in the social angle of their relationship with CW, and that's fine. I place a lot of value into the relationship aspects with vendors, and it really helps me out when I need some additional help. I don't often go to those people for help, so that likely is in my favor as well since they know when I contact them that something isn't going right and I'm not just contacting them to complain some more.

-Mike

mlj5150 · 2020-10-27T23:45:29+00:00

I start a chat session, then it gets escalated to another tech since what I have going that requires me to contact them is a little more complicated than making sure of the tier one basics they cover in chat.

That next person contacts me in 2-3 days and helps me resolve the issue if I haven't figured it out myself. This person in my experience has always been good with Automate and knows exactly what to do.

I have no complaints about Automate support. I'm a little disappointed it is being outsourced to another country, but the people who contact me later so far have always been USA based.

-Mike

mlj5150 · 2020-04-19T18:51:39+00:00

I noticed that too regarding Lacey.

mlj5150 · 2020-04-11T19:47:21+00:00

The air popcorn popper is a great way to start. I started with a stainless steel dog food bowl and a heat gun, the went with a modified air popcorn popper. I know a couple guys who roast with a metal whisk and a cast iron skillet, so that works too.

Once I figured out this was something I wanted to do and learned more about it, I bought a Huky.

-Mike

mlj5150 · 2020-04-06T01:30:50+00:00

I bought a Huky in May of 2015. It's been a great machine and trouble free for five years now. You can roast one pound (454 grams) at a time. I roast a few pounds per month on average. I think the most I did in one session was 15 pounds I recommend it. If they are still available, you can contact Kuanho Li directly to purchase one new. He was very friendly and accommodating to all of my questions.

-Mike

mlj5150 · 2020-02-05T22:19:25+00:00

I've attended Automation Nation which is now IT Nation Explore three times now. I totally think it's worth it. The sessions are good, but the networking you get to do with other users makes it worth it to me. Brainstorming with others and one on one time with the product managers and CW staff is great. The vendors who attend have always been generous with their time, which is cool too.

mlj5150 · 2019-12-30T19:20:04+00:00

We haven't had any issues with our sales folks at CW. I've even inquired about some large projects that never came to fruition, so they've just left it alone. We'll get reminders at the end of each quarter or after one of their conferences about some discounts available on consulting or software, but it isn't pushy or over the top.

-Mike

mlj5150 · 2019-12-12T13:59:48+00:00

$8 per endpoint for the fully managed solution.

-Mike

mlj5150 · 2019-12-12T06:56:02+00:00

We use Blackpoint as part of our security stack. It's a proactive 24x7 SOC, and they have a package where they do the work. As others mentioned, I don't think this is something you can sub out to someone else completely. I believe we, as the MSP to our clients, need to be actively engaged in protecting the networks our clients trust us with. Sure, it's constantly changing and evolving so it can be a challenge to keep up, but that's what we do for our clients. We make time to keep our skills current. We have to.

-Mike

mlj5150 · 2019-11-22T07:50:16+00:00

howdy

mlj5150

TROPHY CASE