A bit early in the season, but here we are...

[chas]

At any rate, I'm sure the sticker shock of the cost of living somewhere warmer would kill me anyway...

From what I understand, it depends more on urbanization, and even that's not a consistent measure. . .

It's also a function of proximity to the ocean. As a relative of mine says, "Real estate prices in the US aren't too bad except for a couple of strips of insanity along both coasts. As one who will never live west of the Appalachian Mountains, it'll be less costly for me to settle where it's warm than where it's cold.

[Dan A.]

As one who will never live west of the Appalachian Mountains...

I once said I'd never live east of the Rockies, and look at me now!

[Nanohedron]

I once said I'd never live east of the Rockies, and look at me now!

And we're very disappointed with you.

[Katharine]

At any rate, I'm sure the sticker shock of the cost of living somewhere warmer would kill me anyway...

From what I understand, it depends more on urbanization, and even that's not a consistent measure. . .

It's also a function of proximity to the ocean. As a relative of mine says, "Real estate prices in the US aren't too bad except for a couple of strips of insanity along both coasts. As one who will never live west of the Appalachian Mountains, it'll be less costly for me to settle where it's warm than where it's cold.

Since where I live is pretty low-COL, just about anywhere else would be sticker shock to me! (But I definitely wouldn't move and pay more to live somewhere *cold*, that's for sure! Then again, if I were to go to the trouble of moving, it wouldn't be anywhere cold regardless of the price. I really, really, really hate cold, btw; it stresses me out a ton. I'll take hot any day...)

[Dan A.]

If I were to go to the trouble of moving, it wouldn't be anywhere cold regardless of the price. I really, really, really hate cold, btw; it stresses me out a ton. I'll take hot any day...)

When the weather turns cold, one can always put on more/heavier clothes and build a fire to stay warm. One can only do so much to stay cool when it's hot. I used to live in the San Joaquin Valley, so I am a seasoned veteran of hot weather...and that's not the hottest I've experienced (that would be the Middle East in June).

[Katharine]

If I were to go to the trouble of moving, it wouldn't be anywhere cold regardless of the price. I really, really, really hate cold, btw; it stresses me out a ton. I'll take hot any day...)

When the weather turns cold, one can always put on more/heavier clothes and build a fire to stay warm. One can only do so much to stay cool when it's hot. I used to live in the San Joaquin Valley, so I am a seasoned veteran of hot weather...and that's not the hottest I've experienced (that would be the Middle East in June).

I can only put on so many clothes. Also, hot weather doesn't wreck cars. And cold weather = dry skin, dry lungs, etc. etc.

I'm miserable in Michigan. I was happy as a clam in Bangkok. Any time I got tired of sweating, I remembered that I wasn't scraping ice off my car and happily hopped in the shower again...

[Dan A.]

Hot weather doesn't wreck cars.

That's more a function of the evil and vile agents used to clear the roads of accumulated snow. I do see the point, though.

I've inspected some pretty janky Michigan-Mobiles. Buying a car in this state is miserable. You have the aforementioned Michigan-Mobiles, the vehicle that someone else brought in from a nicer climate (and is believed by the seller to be worth its weight in gold), or the vehicle that you bring in from a nicer climate yourself. And in the latter two cases, you'll just see it rot away if you drive it in too many Michigan winters. It's Three-Car Monte.

[Katharine]

Hot weather doesn't wreck cars.

That's more a function of the evil and vile agents used to clear the roads of accumulated snow. I do see the point, though.

I've inspected some pretty janky Michigan-Mobiles. Buying a car in this state is miserable. You have the aforementioned Michigan-Mobiles, the vehicle that someone else brought in from a nicer climate (and is believed by the seller to be worth its weight in gold), or the vehicle that you bring in from a nicer climate yourself. And in the latter two cases, you'll just see it rot away if you drive it in too many Michigan winters. It's Three-Car Monte.

I was referring to sliding on ice and snow, actually... and, actually, the hellacious road conditions, since we had mentioned that already!

[Dan A.]

I was referring to sliding on ice and snow, actually...

That was me when I drove on accumulated snow for the first time (in about January of 2019). At that time, my car was shod with well-worn tires better suited for summery conditions. I made it home okay, but slipped and slid the whole way down Woodward Avenue. It was probably better that the accumulation occurred while I was at work; if it had happened overnight, I likely would have called in. The car now has better tires, but driver skill is still sorely lacking.

[Nanohedron]

Aaaaaand now we made it to 76F in MPLS today. That's 24.444C, Right Ponders. Might not mean much to you, but getting to 76F on a November day in the Upper Midwest is crazy. Nice - but crazy. Damned weather can't make up its mind...

[Katharine]

I was referring to sliding on ice and snow, actually...

That was me when I drove on accumulated snow for the first time (in about January of 2019). At that time, my car was shod with well-worn tires better suited for summery conditions. I made it home okay, but slipped and slid the whole way down Woodward Avenue. It was probably better that the accumulation occurred while I was at work; if it had happened overnight, I likely would have called in. The car now has better tires, but driver skill is still sorely lacking.

Oh, mine was some lovely black ice on a day when the roads looked dry. It was a spectacular one too, involving both sides of a freeway (I mean, why do things halfway...).

And then just the fun ones... the blizzard where they didn't close the office, halfway there I said "forget it" and turned around... the time I had to come home from somewhere in a whiteout where I literally could not see five feet in front of my car (only time in my life I've ever white-knuckled a steering wheel; still no idea how I found my exit ramps)... people I've stopped and dug out of snowbanks... blizzards where it took me two hours to get home from work... the one where the SUV in front of me lost control and narrowly missed me as it zoomed across the ramp we were on, etc.

Driver skill is mostly just about "go slow, keep distance from other people in case you can't stop or they start spinning, know what you'll do if you slide, and don't yank the wheel too hard/much if you do" (this last was part of my problem in the aforementioned black-ice incident). I've even had a few minor slides that, once I knew nothing bad was going to happen, bordered on fun.

Aaaaaand now we made it to 76F in MPLS today. That's 24.444C, Right Ponders. Might not mean much to you, but getting to 76F on a November day in the Upper Midwest is crazy. Nice - but crazy. Damned weather can't make up its mind...

I am SO CHUFFED about the next week, lol. (Okay, our weather is not as nice as that, but still, upper 60s and into the 70s next week!)

[fatmac]

Skidding - always turn into it, to get out of it.

[PB+J]

The DC region where I live has a lovely fall and spring and a pleasantly cold winter. We usually get into the teens (@110-12 for you celsians) a couple weeks a year. I love the cold; i love the way everything looks different--the bare trees, the brown grass. In winter I can hardly remember what summer looks like.

I hate the summer around here, really detest it. Hot hot hot and humid. In the 90s every day, with thick heavy air. If my wife and I ever think about moving I think about going north.

Now it's true snow can be a PITA. So I think coastal north--Maine, Nova Scotia. The expensive places