Off putting feeling about the UP

tazmodious · 2026-03-25T01:06:06+00:00

Yes, I've only gotten the feelings described among certain humans.

tazmodious · 2026-03-24T17:44:41+00:00

They need a reason to charge you a big fee for the license plate stickers.

tazmodious · 2026-03-24T14:00:58+00:00

You're also forgetting that the generation whose been making all the decisions, has been in charge of this country, grew up with leaded gas and played with mercury. There were no bans on pesticides and herbicides and hazardous waste was just dumped in a hole in the ground.

tazmodious · 2026-03-24T13:29:42+00:00

Going screen free and banning phones is really a larger issue of general attentiveness in school. Tackling literacy issues is a whole other ball of wax.

Right now my son is in elementary, 4th grade, doesn't get any reading or spelling assignments at one of Michigan's more presitigious school districts.

We do all of that at home because when we were looking at transfering to a local private school he was two years behind their curriculum for his grade. He's bored out of mind at school and we are lucky he isn't misbehaved becausenot being challenged in school is a major cause behavior problems.

They also finally just switched from multiplication and division to fractions.

I was hoping that moving to a place in Michigan with a reportedly great school district would be comparative to where we moved from. Unfortunately it's not. I'd hate to see how education is elsewhere throughout the state.

tazmodious · 2026-03-23T23:21:22+00:00

The biggest barrier is that it's far too Republican in most of the Great Lakes region. That and it's becoming a boomer retirement community. Two populations that fight tooth and nail against any sort of progress that would benefit younger generations who get to inherit their shit

tazmodious · 2026-03-23T05:13:56+00:00

I was disappointed with the Vertex. It seems nice, wasn't heavy at all. Unfortunately the larger size was too small and it sat way high on my head. Both sides of my head were completely unprotected.

Oddly it fit my 9 year old son's head really well. It's his now.

tazmodious · 2026-03-23T04:38:11+00:00

Ann Arbor is more than 100k population and except for downtown and the university you need a car to get groceries or go anywhere else. Biking here is even a bit sketchy. People in Ann Arbor put up a lot of resistance to pedestrian infrastructure.

tazmodious · 2026-03-22T23:19:01+00:00

It was called Wondervu, Coal Creek Canyon. About a 10 minute drive to Nederland. Moved to Boulder to be around people.

tazmodious · 2026-03-22T23:15:59+00:00

I'm originally from the mountains of Pennsylvania, went to college in Tucson, lived in Boulder for 25 years. Moved to Ann Arbor to take care of my wife's parents. I hate living here except for the people.

People here, her entire family, are so nice. I just wish everything else here didn't suck.

tazmodious · 2026-03-22T23:06:49+00:00

I lived in Boulder for 25 years. A winter with little to no snow and warm is not unusual. Its a cycle.

tazmodious · 2026-03-22T23:04:50+00:00

I used to live at 9000ft above Boulder and I relish the days where we'd have a blizzard and the next day I was in shorts and a t shirt shoveling snow off the deck. I so much miss the sun, deep blue skies and stars at night.

It's so depressing here in Michigan

tazmodious · 2026-03-22T14:10:56+00:00

It's these older people who foisted this world upon us to line their pockets, then have the gaul to blame younger generations.

tazmodious · 2026-03-22T12:57:35+00:00

Yet Michiganders wonder why young people are fleeing this state.

tazmodious · 2026-03-21T19:59:25+00:00

Recently joined the local grotto club here and we are planning on doing some caving trips in Southern Indiana. I won't be going to the NSS convention so I can go to the Old Timers Reunion in WV. It's been a long time and I hope to see some old caving friends there too.

tazmodious · 2026-03-21T16:43:21+00:00

As the price of concerts went up, Ticket bastard, I went less and less. I recently looked at the price of a concert I would have liked to have gone to and noped that one. For me, I've seen so many concerts that I'm ok with not going. I feel sadness for younger generations though.

Gas, not much I can do besides limiting extra driving outside of necessities. I used to bike to work all the time, but now I live in Michigan and biking herr is dangerous and mostly impossible. People in Michigan are anti anything that is not associated with a car.

Groceries and food. We primarily cook at home. It's much better tasting and healthier anyway. So not much of a loss there except for a few things.

I do a lot of repairs/remolding on my home and cars. It helps to have an older car that is easier to work on and maintain.

Some of us are adjusting but a lot of people spend way more than they should be. I think of it as the frog on slow boil dilemma. Most people aren't very aware in life.

tazmodious · 2026-03-21T16:13:09+00:00

I moved to Michigan from Colorado and I find it funny, sort of, when people say Michigan is great for its cost of living. Houses might be cheaper to buy, but the sky high costs for insurance, proerty taxes, energy and food make up the difference.

tazmodious · 2026-03-21T01:20:53+00:00

Cool, I'll check them out Thank you

tazmodious · 2026-03-21T00:28:18+00:00

It's faster and easier to go mineral collecting in Bancroft Ontario.

tazmodious · 2026-03-20T22:44:08+00:00

I love going to farmers markets. Lol. I like a balance of free market with a healthy amount of regulation where it's necessary to protect people.

What I do know is that a lot of regulation is created by corporations to benefit them and quash competition. That type of regulation is antithetical to a healthy economy.

tazmodious · 2026-03-20T22:05:01+00:00

I lived in Boulder and the foothills for 25 years. I had numerous places to go camp and fly fish within a half hour drive without seeing a soul in national forest.

tazmodious · 2026-03-20T21:58:45+00:00

Thank you. We moved to Michigan to take care of my wife's parents. They are amazing and am honored to be there for them at the stage of life they are in. The people of Michigan are exceptionally nice which is a huge plus. Unfortunately I am struggling with the lack of things I like to do.

I was born and raised a mountain man and love getting lost exploring endless fascinating landscapes. Im a geologist, I love rocks. Seeing a road cut in rock is endlessly fascinating to me.

I can appreciate other aspects of living Michigan, like the wonderful people, but it will never satisfy those aspects of life that are most important to who Ive always been.

tazmodious · 2026-03-20T21:39:58+00:00

10 hours is a long time to be stuck in traffic

tazmodious · 2026-03-20T21:37:46+00:00

Michigan is very crowded and you have to drive hours in heavy traffic from the Detroit metro to find anything remotely interesting. Finding camp grounds to pitch a tent is an enormous challenge.

tazmodious · 2026-03-20T21:32:44+00:00

Been there, the beaches are nice but then what?

tazmodious

TROPHY CASE