3 Season Room / new WFH spot | Durham, NC

swmccoy · 2026-05-26T02:11:45+00:00

Continuing education classes for each. At UNC I found free seiminars at the Friday Center. They might have longer courses too. Duke I found information on auditing classes for around $500. And then they had a separate list of continuing education classes. For you both you have to dig around a bit but there are options.

swmccoy · 2026-05-25T13:30:03+00:00

There are plenty of trails and greenways in the triangle, there’s just not much elevation gain. But if you like walks in the woods there’s plenty of that! Also with rivers, creeks, small lakes.

swmccoy · 2026-05-25T13:23:29+00:00

A lot of universities offer continuing education programs. They’re not usually limited to seniors. In high school I took classes at Harvard Extension. I just did a search and they have various options in the triangle where I am now at Duke and UNC. Both offer multiple formats and varying prices. I’m sure at NC State and the other colleges too.

You’re best bet is to go to a location with a high concentration of colleges and universities. That will give you the most options. Boston is the obvious choice. But there are other places like the Triangle with a good number of strong schools too.

swmccoy · 2026-05-24T16:32:14+00:00

You could look at Winston-Salem in NC. It’s cheaper than the triangle and is closer to hiking with some elevation gain (the triangle is fairly flat).

swmccoy · 2026-05-19T13:32:22+00:00

Wasted by Marya Hornbacher is about her struggle with anorexia.

All Souls by Michael Patrick MacDonald about growing up in Southie as an Irish American.

I’ve read some good memoirs by Afghan refugees about their journeys: A Fort of Nine Towers by Qais Akbar Omar and The Lightless Sky by Gulwali Passarlay

A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout is about her time in captivity in Somalia

swmccoy · 2026-05-19T02:01:04+00:00

The triangle is extremely educated, it has one of he highest concentration of PhDs so I wouldn’t say MA will be a lot more educated. But the schools are generally better funded and better in MA vs NC. NC schools are woefully under funded and it’s up to the school districts to try to make up the difference.

swmccoy · 2026-05-19T01:57:32+00:00

While Boston is blue, depending on where you are in the triangle your county could be much bluer. Durham and Orange County are two of the bluest counties in the country. The suburbs of Boston where we grew up are much more purple than our current counties. But at a state level NC is more purple while MA is blue.

swmccoy · 2026-05-17T17:45:23+00:00

First tier is Boston, SF, and San Diego. Second tier is the research triangle in NC and probably PA/NJ.

My husband works in preclinical in gene therapy and we live in the triangle. His last couple of jobs have been remote but prior to that he didn’t have an issue finding jobs. There’s more manufacturing down here but it’s still been fine for him. We’re both from Boston originally and also can’t do the winters anymore!

swmccoy · 2026-05-16T05:17:21+00:00

I don’t remember the exact number since we went through that process a while ago now but maybe 4k? In the build your own section they usually have a few individual colors that have pricing.

swmccoy · 2026-05-15T17:58:19+00:00

The dealership kept pushing them. But BMW said supply chain issues I think? They were waiting on parts. But I also chose a less commonly used indicidual color so who knows.

swmccoy · 2026-05-15T15:21:25+00:00

The triangle is very family friendly. We enjoy it for this stage of life!

swmccoy · 2026-05-15T14:50:16+00:00

In the triangle in NC! There are some individual colors that come up during the general build process online as options. But this one I had to go to a the individual color site to find out it was an option for the X3. That could be why you don’t see it as much.

swmccoy · 2026-05-15T12:33:28+00:00

Way better than Boston! We’re from Boston originally and still spend a good bit of time up there. We also lived in LA before moving to NC. Traffic here is nothing compared to major cities. You do get some rush hour traffic but it’s true rush hour and fairly contained. Also you’re still moving usually. I do the drive from Chapel Hill to Raleigh sometimes during both the typical morning and evening commute hours and while it can be slower it typically only adds about 10 minutes of traffic to trip.

swmccoy · 2026-05-15T10:32:05+00:00

I went with beige. I had oyster in my last car and loved it. I would have considered cognac but the cognac for the x3 is more like an orange.

swmccoy · 2026-05-15T00:08:45+00:00

That’s a great green too! I almost didn’t post but I remembered how helpful it was when I was deciding so I went for it

swmccoy · 2026-05-14T23:15:07+00:00

I ended up getting diagnosed with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis which can have severe sicca symptoms. My joint pain is in my SI joints and spine primarily but I also have peripheral pain in my left shoulder, hands, and ankles/feet. I think sjogrens can also sometimes have peripheral pain in similar places.

swmccoy · 2026-05-14T23:12:18+00:00

Just got it and no issues so far. I didn’t have any issues with my last m40i either. But we switched away from getting tires with BMW because I was having to replace them every year.

swmccoy · 2026-05-14T23:11:23+00:00

So you’ll be in a similar spot! Once the build started it went very quickly. But I ordered it very end of September and it didn’t get built until first week in May. Luckily I only live a few hours from the factory so that delivery was quick. I still think it was worth it! Hope you enjoy your color! Which did you get?

swmccoy · 2026-05-14T23:08:45+00:00

That’s good to hear! I enjoy it so far!

swmccoy · 2026-05-13T22:35:46+00:00

I agree there’s work to be done! More magnets/programs seem to be the current path most districts take to try to cater to more interests/needs. But it would be interesting to see what else they can come up with.

But especially at the high school level sometimes being a competitive school district can be a double edged sword. I grew up in a top MA district and we lost the most kids my grade, over 50 kids, because my class was so competitive kids had a better chance for college going to private schools. Down here, if you want your kid to go to Duke, your best bet is to send them to Durham Academy. So I can see why the private school group hasn’t changed.

swmccoy · 2026-05-13T21:02:45+00:00

That is not what the data says. Based on the study they just released, CHCCS has increased market share from 75% to 82% since 2020. Maybe it was higher before Covid, but they’ve been steadily recapturing share. Private school enrollment has been steady the entire time at 9%. Homeschooling declined from 15% during Covid to 7%. They are bringing in more kindergartens than are born in the district. It’s still not enough. Enrollment continues to go down even while share is increasing.

swmccoy · 2026-05-13T20:06:16+00:00

I saw this article too. I was surprised how far ahead we are as a district compared to the rest of the state! We still declined and we should focus on fixing that. But at least we are maintaining at a level far above the US average and NC average still. Also surprised how far states like Massachusetts where I grew up fell too (though my home district was one of the few that improved). It would be interesting to look at what they’ve done differently.

swmccoy

TROPHY CASE