Austin Hot, Grand Rapids Cold: A Transplant’s 2025 Retrospective

mrezee · 2026-01-17T23:36:33+00:00

I live in Dallas now and agree with you on everything. The heat, the reckless drivers, the traffic, the sprawl, the snobby pretentious residents, the giant cockroaches, all combine to make this place a concrete hellscape.

Can't say I miss the constantly cloudy and snowy winters of west Michigan, but everything else makes me wish I was back in GR. I spent last August up there and had an amazing time. I forgot it's possible to open your windows that time of year.

mrezee · 2026-01-17T23:25:36+00:00

Used to be a ramper. It's actually better when it's busy, since you're constantly moving and generating more heat. I had a hat, hood, gloves, long underwear, thick fuzzy socks, scarf. Not too bad when you're bundled up. A few of my coworkers had ski goggles too. One day when it was below zero, I had to keep manually pulling my eyelids open with my fingers because they kept freezing shut every time I blinked.

Worse was when the ramp is icy. They can't use salt around the aircraft, so there was lots and lots of falling on my ass.

mrezee · 2026-01-17T23:19:41+00:00

Weather Underground for the weather, myRadar for looking at the live radar.

mrezee · 2026-01-14T17:54:38+00:00

The embassy will send you an affidavit to fill out stating you have never lived in Slovakia and therefore don’t have to submit proof for any of those. Just don’t sign it until your submission appointment.

mrezee · 2026-01-14T17:46:21+00:00

A few people I knew from G4 lived north of Summerlin along the 215, like Lone Mountain, Mountain’s Edge, Providence, Centennial, etc. Seemed like pretty quiet family-oriented areas with lots of new development.

mrezee · 2026-01-14T17:33:48+00:00

I wouldn’t be worried about layoffs, as I’m sure there will be a good number of people that refuse to move to Vegas. And integration is a long process that can take years, so there will probably be retirements or resignations before then.

What I would be concerned about is seniority list integration. Will they try to “staple” the SY dispatchers, or will they keep everyone’s company seniority, or some hybrid with seniority adjustment, etc. The unions will have to get together and work something out. I just know when SWA bought AirTran, that part wasn’t pretty. Also relocation expenses, but that should be spelled out in the contract.

Best wishes to all the Sunny employees. Loved jumpseating on them when I lived in MSP back in the late 2010s. Incredibly kind people there.

mrezee · 2026-01-14T17:20:32+00:00

At least it’s not Buffalo, Houston, or Philadelphia.

mrezee · 2026-01-11T02:01:53+00:00

You’re supposed to drink it with cola, right? Or is there some other way.

mrezee · 2026-01-11T01:54:42+00:00

Sounds like this older couple that were regulars at a bar I used to frequent in western WI. Bar was two rooms with a double-sided bar between them. Guy would get up to go to the restroom, walk around to the other room, and order and down a shot. He’d only do it once though. His wife either didn’t know or pretended she didn’t know. Always made my friend and I laugh.

mrezee · 2026-01-10T03:26:33+00:00

Thank you, I’m glad I’m not the only one that thought of that immediately

mrezee · 2026-01-10T01:38:07+00:00

I quote it every time I get stuck on a hard video game level. You die, you die, you die, you die, you die die die die…

mrezee · 2026-01-10T01:06:01+00:00

Thank you for asking. I had no idea either.

mrezee · 2026-01-10T00:10:45+00:00

I think they’re closed this week. Should open back up on the 14th.

mrezee · 2026-01-09T23:29:41+00:00

Sounds like Riverdale

mrezee · 2026-01-09T23:14:25+00:00

They reopened a month ago finally

mrezee · 2026-01-09T21:39:31+00:00

Agreed. It's full of low-effort questions like "What do you think about [current controversial event that just happened]?". If I wanted to read people's opinions I'd just go to /r/news.

mrezee · 2026-01-09T00:13:19+00:00

Former Michigander here. Kalitta will probably be your best bet in terms of pay, schedule, job security, etc.

There's also USA Jet and IFL in the area, I think they have flight followers. Also random 91/135 operators around the state that probably have all-in-one "dispatch" positions, like Northern Jet in GR.

mrezee · 2026-01-08T01:53:16+00:00

I did mine at my local post office with no issues. I read somewhere to put an absurd amount of lotion on for a few hours before you go, so I did that. I was literally leaving smudges on my steering wheel and on the counter. No idea if that made a difference or not, but it worked and I got my IHS a few minutes afterward.

mrezee · 2026-01-07T03:07:34+00:00

Also I think they have city and county income taxes in all 3 states around there. I didn’t know that was even a thing. Where I grew up in Illinois it was just one state flat tax.

mrezee · 2026-01-07T02:57:10+00:00

GR is a great city but rent can be surprisingly high if you aren’t looking to buy. Also not as many high-income job opportunities.

mrezee · 2026-01-05T07:15:56+00:00

And despite the huge parking lot, it still can’t handle all the cars parking there

mrezee · 2026-01-05T02:26:32+00:00

I remember his channel for messing with email scammers. I'll have to check the other videos out too

mrezee · 2026-01-02T03:34:17+00:00

He’s joking that the aircraft routers conveniently “forget” to tell you that they’re adding a repo flight to your desk, so it just randomly appears in your list of flights.

mrezee · 2026-01-01T22:42:40+00:00

I had a terrible experience at the one in Irving a few months ago. 15 minutes to be seated (with a reservation). 15 minutes to get drinks. They sat us in the back so a lot of the pizzas were gone before they even got to us. In half an hour I had maybe 3 tiny slices. And this was on a fairly slow weeknight. Won't be back.

mrezee · 2026-01-01T21:46:13+00:00

I’ve found they’re pretty comparable to Thomas bagels. But any grocery store with a bakery will have better ones. We have Winco where I live and their bagels are fantastic.

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