another reason I hate living in town

glenn kangiser · January 19, 2008, 07:48:08 PM

Welcome to Nazi Germany. Next thing you know they'll be wanting your kids to report suspicious activity in your house.

StinkerBell · January 19, 2008, 08:12:19 PM

Glen, some schools already do this....... $:-\$

January 19, 2008, 08:56:17 PM

And if you home school your kids, then the neighbors will report the suspicious activity... probably the same neighbors who fault you for a dog too stupid to come in out of the rain.

glenn kangiser · January 19, 2008, 08:58:32 PM

They had the cops standing by with hand on gun at the last parent teacher conference I went to-- yes --- specially for me, and I don't even consider myself a criminal. I only told them what I thought. Imagine me now.

glenn kangiser · January 19, 2008, 09:01:01 PM

That's why I like to avoid the ignorant masses and choose my friends myself. Civilized people can be a real pain. Grrrr.

January 20, 2008, 01:45:25 AM

I found a property in the area we're looking that was 40 acres... in the middle of nowhere... it's lookin' better by the minute!

Willy · January 20, 2008, 02:03:47 AM

Quote from: Homegrown Tomatoes on January 19, 2008, 06:06:56 PM
Arrrrggghhhh! Back to the original reason for this post! I stopped to take a break from working on the house this afternoon to see the county sherriff's vehicle pulling up to our house. I walked out to meet them, and they told me that they had a complaint from one of my neighbors about my dog being out in the cold. Granted, it is really cold today... but he didn't go out on his run until 1 PM, and then had only been out a few hours, during which time his water was thawed and he had access to a dog house and food. I'm guessing it is the same lady who stopped and bawled me out last week because the dog was sitting in the rain. When I was standing there talking to the cops, Ornery dog started barking and wagging all over, excited to see company. They looked at him and kind of laughed and said, "Well, we're not saying that there's any problem with the way the dog's being treated, but you can pretty much expect more problems with this neighbor if you don't keep him in your house." I told them my suspicions that this was probably the same lady who chewed me out a week ago when it was 50 degrees because he was sitting outside of the dog house in the rain. They just laughed and shook their heads. I am moving... that's all there is to it. I absolutely hate living here.... We've lived here for three years and this woman never once stopped to introduce herself or have a civil conversation and yet rather than come down here and rationally address what she sees as a problem, or to find out if there actually IS a problem, she calls the cops on us. Thankfully THEY were good-natured about it. We brought the poor, mistreated mutt in and put him in his kennel.... One month... I want to be out of here in one month!

I would have to laugh them off the place my dogs love the cold being Newfoundlands it is in there blood. Mark

Homegrown Tomatoes · January 20, 2008, 09:20:45 AM

That's what I'm saying... this dog is a spitz, like a smaller American Eskimo. He absolutely relishes the cold weather. His coat is so thick it's hard to find skin under there (although we did because he had a bath and grooming less than two weeks ago.) Last night after dark, I snuck him back out and let him loose again for a while (less than an hour). I made sure to get him in quickly lest psycho-dog-lover-woman was cruising the neighborhood looking for things to complain about by the rather bright light of the moon! Even our big beardie likes to go out and roll in the snow. Summer is much harder on either of them than winter is. That's OK, I'm moving one way or the other!

glenn kangiser · January 21, 2008, 03:36:47 AM

What a coincidence-- our moon was bright too.

Our dogs are black and white and must think they are part skunk because they chased one for the second time and got sprayed for the second time. Did I mention that they are hard headed. Have to figure it out for themselves.

January 21, 2008, 06:28:55 AM

the only thing you can do with a skunk is shoot it...Traps are no good...Your cats will keep going in the trap for the stinky food..*LOL*

Homegrown....I hope you get the 40 acres...that sounds wonderful.. where are you moving to?

Homegrown Tomatoes · January 21, 2008, 08:18:19 AM

DH hasn't officially accepted the offer yet. In fact, he is at another interview today in OKC... but the job in Wichita has the best relocation package of any job I've ever seen (in addition to paying for the whole move, they also will buy our house if it doesn't sell within 60 days, and with the housing market the way it is right now, that is a lot of peace of mind!) The area I'm looking at is south of Wichita... if you get far enough out of town, the prices come down considerably. It's not quite home, but a heck of a lot closer. Besides, I looked around at land prices near my hometown, which is east of OKC, and boy! has it gotten high-dollar. I can't believe anyone would pay $9K an acre for that area, but that is what a lot of the listings are running. Shoot, about 12 years ago, my grandma sold one of the prettiest farms in the area for $1K an acre... I wish she'd listened to us and kept it then instead of being pressured into selling it. (It was bought by a private prison, and they built a women's prison on our family farm... saddest thing I ever saw.

The prison company really put a lot of pressure on Grandma to sell, and told her that she'd be holding the town back if she didn't, etc., and brought up many times how she was too old to take care of the place alone, etc.) If the offer in Wichita is the only offer he gets, we'll probably jump on it, and even if the company he's interviewing at today makes him an offer, unless they can match the relocation package and the vacation offered by the Wichita company, we're probably moving to Kansas. I've warmed up to the offer much faster than I expected... I really want to be back in Oklahoma, but even the biggest companies he's interviewing with there have pretty much told him that they won't offer that kind of relocation. Considering there are 119 homes for sale in our current area in WI, and a lot of them have been on the market at least since last summer, I can't see us risking being stuck with a mortgage payment here and a rent/mortgage payment there, too. Because of our exorbitant property taxes here, our house payment would be hard to make concurrently with another house payment of any type...even with good relocation benefits. The last thing in the world I want to happen is for us to move to temp housing in the OKC or Tulsa area and then in a couple of months when the money for temporary housing runs out and our house here still hasn't sold, we're homeless with two little kids and a newborn. To me, it is the only practical and responsible thing to do, and setting emotions about red dirt and my favorite state aside, the two main reasons for moving south were: to have land and to be closer to family. This move will get us about 10 hours or more closer to family, and we can actually afford land there, whereas if we stayed in WI, I don't think we could ever afford land, even though DH makes good money. It is too easily eaten up in the cost of living and taxes here. So, that said, I hope we get 40 acres in Kansas, too...

Soon!
My poor dog is suffering having to be inside all the time... (though when I took him out in 20-30 minute increments yesterday, I put him in the outdoor kennel so that if the crazy lady came by, she'd have to trespass in order to even see him, and then I could call the cops on her for prowling around on private property.) Besides that, did I mention how COLD it is here???

Homegrown Tomatoes · January 21, 2008, 08:20:03 AM

Quote from: glenn kangiser on January 21, 2008, 03:36:47 AM
What a coincidence-- our moon was bright too.

Our dogs are black and white and must think they are part skunk because they chased one for the second time and got sprayed for the second time. Did I mention that they are hard headed. Have to figure it out for themselves.

Well, Glenn, they probably come by the hard-headedness honestly...

StinkerBell · January 21, 2008, 11:36:44 AM

Ahhh Essence of Pepe Le Pu!

glenn kangiser · January 21, 2008, 11:44:50 AM

Quote from: Homegrown Tomatoes on January 21, 2008, 08:20:03 AM
Quote from: glenn kangiser on January 21, 2008, 03:36:47 AM
What a coincidence-- our moon was bright too.

Our dogs are black and white and must think they are part skunk because they chased one for the second time and got sprayed for the second time. Did I mention that they are hard headed. Have to figure it out for themselves.

Well, Glenn, they probably come by the hard-headedness honestly...

That was very low, Homegrown. I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you a time out.

The Kansas deal sounds pretty good.

January 21, 2008, 12:18:14 PM

Ah, but you see, Glenn, that was good-natured teasing because I mean that you are hard-headed in the nicest possible way, and deep down I might possibly even harbor a hint of admiration for it.

That said, the only thing worse than the smell of a dirty, wet dog is the smell of a dirty, wet, skunk-sprayed dog... sure takes long enough to wear off... You'd think they would learn, but I'm convinced that some dogs actually think of it as perfume. We used to have a red heeler who was all the time getting sprayed by skunks... I used to wonder if he was trying to herd them?

I am pretty set on the moving thing. DH hasn't called yet from OKC after his interview (I expect him to call between 2-3PM before he gets back on the plane.) However, during the previous interviews with this company, they did say that they don't offer the relocation benefit of buying your old house if you can't sell anymore. They did put him up at the Marriot, which he said was really nice and he could see all of downtown from there.... I figure if they want him badly enough, they'll match what the other company is offering him, and if not, that's OK, too. There are also two companies in Tulsa interested in him, but they're not moving fast enough, and we're going to end up making a decision and moving before they ever get on-site interviews set up, at this rate. I've already set up tentative plans for mom to come house/kid/pet sit for us so we can go hunting for a place to live next month if we decide to move to Wichita. The kids are excited at the prospect and keep packing all their junk into random boxes and covering it in Scotch tape... what a mess.

glenn kangiser · January 21, 2008, 01:05:42 PM

Ahhh, she admires me.

These dogs have Queensland in them also. I had to run out to the Jeep in my moccasins the other night and two of them were walking on and biting at my shoes and the third was jamming me in the rump with her nose. Quite cold and wet. They are a bit hyper especially if you haven't been around them for a bit.

With the economic downturn in progress, it is good that he can find more than one offer. Hope the best one works out.

Homegrown Tomatoes · January 21, 2008, 01:18:31 PM

sounds about right for those ornery devils... ours was a great dog, especially for us kids. When I was about 15, my grandpa was having surgery in Kansas City, and I was taking care of the farm for them while they were gone. Red the cowdog was never one to bark or bite (unless he was playing rough), but he was great about looking out for us. An elderly friend of my Grandpa's had come to help me get the peaches in, and he had gone out to the orchard right after sun-up. I'd pretty much forgotten he was even there. Meanwhile, I was canning peaches and tomatoes as fast as possible when I heard Buford (the family friend) hollering for help out in the back yard. He was screaming, "Call off your dog! Call off your dog!" I went out back and told Red "Enough!" and he let go. Buford had reached for the door handle without knocking first, and Red lunged without so much as growling first and snatched Buford's hand, pulling him away from the door, growling, and chomping down pretty hard. By the time I ran out the door, the dog had dragged Buford halfway across the yard. He left a few dents in the old man's hands, but I guarantee you Buford always knocked from then on.

Erin · January 21, 2008, 06:45:16 PM

Quote from: Homegrown Tomatoes on January 20, 2008, 01:45:25 AM
I found a property in the area we're looking that was 40 acres... in the middle of nowhere... it's lookin' better by the minute!

You'd better not be looking in NW Kansas, because that piece is ours! As soon as the sellers realize it's not worth 50% more than market value.

edited to add: Oops! Just got the last page and realized you're not getting that remote.

Homegrown Tomatoes · January 21, 2008, 07:09:15 PM

Hee hee, not quite. Hope you get your place, too. Hope the sellers come to their senses soon. When sentiment is involved, sometimes folks expect you to pay for their nostalgic feelings about a place, not it's actual worth. No, we'll be getting as close to the OK state line as we can while still maintaining a decent commute to Wichita, if we do end up moving there. DH had another interview today in OK, and it also looks like they'll make an offer...don't think they can match the other place, though, but we'll see... besides, OKC is so sprawling that it is really hard to get out of the city and still be within decent driving distance (unless I want to be next door neighbors with my dad, which I don't)

You know that old saying "familiarity breeds contempt"?