"No, I Don't Want to Live On The Moon." What Places Have You Considered Living or Things You Wanted to Buy -- Until You Realized...?

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seoulsearch

seoulsearch

OutWrite Trouble
May 23, 2009
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Hey Everyone,

This is inspired by one of my favorite childhood heroes -- Ernie, from Sesame Street.

One of his well-known songs was called, "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon." (I suppose the modern-day version would be, "I Don't Want to Live On the Mars," with a nod to Mr. Elon Musk.)

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In it, Ernie sings about all the amazing places he'd like to see -- the moon, the sea, the jungle, the past -- but he decides that he would "miss all the people and places" he loves, so in the end, he concludes that he'd just like to visit these places, but not permanently.

I saw an article this morning about the "10 Best Places to Retire in the USA," and among them was a picture of a gorgeous waterfront "neighborhood" in New Hampshire:

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I have to admit. I've always loved the IDEA of a waterfront house, which is odd, because 1. I'm not a beach person. 2. I don't fish. 3. I'm not really into swimming. 4. I don't really want to own a boat.

But for some reason, I've just always liked the idea of being able to look out over water and the horizon, especially at sunrise and sunset:


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But then I start to think about the cost it must take to buy and maintain such properties: the premium prices, the worries about weather, erosion, or your house collapsing into the water, the INSURANCE rates, the PROPERTY TAXES, the LANDSCAPING and the MAINTENANCE...

And suddenly, I realize -- I don't want to live on the water.

For those prices, if I want to look over water and the horizon, I might as well just find a bathtub near a window.

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But, I sure would like to get some friends together and RENT a house on the water for a few days.

Fortunately, I find this to be my own personal "cure" for most anything I might consider spending a lot of money on -- a new car, new phone, furniture, small kitchen appliances, another living space, etc. I start thinking of all the costs/space/work involved and the upgrades to insure/maintain/care for them -- and more often than not, I just stick with what I have.

How about you?

* What are some things you've always wanted, or think you've always wanted? (Certain places to live, type of home, car, phone, things for hobbies, tools, etc.)

* When you measured the cost, was it worth it -- did you go ahead and move or buy the item(s)?

* If you decided not to, what made you change your mind?

* Are you making due with what you have, or still dreaming/saving up until you can get what you have your eye on?


I'd like to hear about some of the things YOU might have, or have had, your eye on -- and do you find it to be worth the cost?
 
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Just today somebody was telling me that I was wasting my potential at my current job. I said, GOOD! Who wrote the rule that I have to do stuff just because I am able to? Are you trying to say I have some societal obligation to fulfill my potential?

I could open a computer repair shop, or a bakery, or a music studio... But then computers and baking and music wouldn't be fun. I like to do something else for money, and keep the fun stuff in my life fun.

Comedian quote:
I blame Oprah. "Now let's take it to the next level." No. Let's not. What's wrong with just doing it and being happy? Why do we always have to push to be extra at everything?

"Be all that you can be." What if I'm happy with what I am? Being all that I can be sounds like a lot more effort than I care to put up. And what would I get for all that effort? More people expecting me to always do more, because I have proven I can do more once.
 
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Once I had a hobby of getting old computers, cleaning them up and finding good homes for them with people who just wanted a basic computer to get online, check email and watch a youtube video. Computers just seemed to find me, and I always found somebody who could use them.

I thought about building custom computers, making it a side business. But God said "Eh, that's not a good idea."

Less than two years later, nobody wanted a desktop computer. I couldn't GIVE them away anymore. They might take a laptop, just maybe, but usually they wanted tablets. Big clunky desktop computers? Pfft! Who needs that?
 
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Lynx said:
Once I had a hobby of getting old computers, cleaning them up and finding good homes for them with people who just wanted a basic computer to get online, check email and watch a youtube video. Computers just seemed to find me, and I always found somebody who could use them.

I thought about building custom computers, making it a side business. But God said "Eh, that's not a good idea."

Less than two years later, nobody wanted a desktop computer. I couldn't GIVE them away anymore. They might take a laptop, just maybe, but usually they wanted tablets. Big clunky desktop computers? Pfft! Who needs that?
Click to expand...
Do you hink companies hiring employees for remote work would use Desktops still?
 
Bible_Locket said:
Do you hink companies hiring employees for remote work would use Desktops still?
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Depends on the use case and budget.

But it still wouldn't be a job for me making their computers, or even finding old computers for them. They would be better off just getting cheap old boxes on eBay and turning them into thinclients.
 
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Lynx said:
Once I had a hobby of getting old computers, cleaning them up and finding good homes for them with people who just wanted a basic computer to get online, check email and watch a youtube video. Computers just seemed to find me, and I always found somebody who could use them.

I thought about building custom computers, making it a side business. But God said "Eh, that's not a good idea."

Less than two years later, nobody wanted a desktop computer. I couldn't GIVE them away anymore. They might take a laptop, just maybe, but usually they wanted tablets. Big clunky desktop computers? Pfft! Who needs that?
Click to expand...

It's amazing how fast things changed in the used computer business. When I started, I could make $100 per computer. My final deal was a bulk purchase from a company that was upgrading their IT system. I paid $100 for 50 PCs. I managed to sell 3 and give away 10. I was lucky enough to find an amnesty disposal day that took the rest of them. In all I had more than a month of time invested in them, and I made a total of $350 in sales.
 
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Bible_Locket said:
I thought about moving to Iceland.

View attachment 291971

Then I learned only 2% of the country has trees.
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Oh my goodness, no trees would definitely be a deal-breaker for me.

I had family living in Arizona, and when I got there, the mountains and skies were BEAUTIFUL, but I was like, "You have no trees!!"

My family was like, "We do too!"

And I was like, "Those are SHRUBS, not TREES," as I was used to majestic maples and charismatic conifers, which their surrounding neighborhoods did not have.

I may not be a tree hugger, but I do feel like somethings missing if I don't see trees!!
 
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Lynx said:
I thought about building custom computers, making it a side business. But God said "Eh, that's not a good idea."

Less than two years later, nobody wanted a desktop computer. I couldn't GIVE them away anymore. They might take a laptop, just maybe, but usually they wanted tablets. Big clunky desktop computers? Pfft! Who needs that?
Click to expand...

I love stories like this, where God warns people ahead of time because He knows what's coming.

It's funny how, when I was growing up and computers were coming onto the scene, it was assumed that if you "got into computers," your future was set.

Nowadays, I've heard channels saying that learning to code is basically worthless? (I'm not sure if that's true?)

It's amazing -- not always in a good way -- how things can turn on a dime.
 
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Australia...
I know people who moved there to live but came right back to New Zealand after trying it out.
Too darn hot.

Temperatures upwards of 35 degrees celsius...intolerable
 
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New macbook but then my cousin fixed it so I don't need to buy a new one. It's more than 10 years old. Still works. Saved me $2495.99
 
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Lanolin said:
Australia...
I know people who moved there to live but came right back to New Zealand after trying it out.
Too darn hot.

Temperatures upwards of 35 degrees celsius...intolerable
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I have always wanted to visit Australia and New Zealand... I am fascinated by the way Aussies and Kiwi's talk!!! They could be reading out of the dictionary and I wouldn't care -- I could listen all day.

Unfortunately, these days I don't think I could handle the long flights due to motion sickness, but it's nice to dream.

(And I admittedly subscribe to a few YouTube channels just for the hosts' particular accents.)
 
Lanolin said:
New macbook but then my cousin fixed it so I don't need to buy a new one. It's more than 10 years old. Still works. Saved me $2495.99
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That's fantastic! Praise God for people willing to share their tech skills.


I was proud of hanging on to my phone for 6 years, but my brother told me the security updates for it had stopped in 2023. 😲

So I had to pony up and buy a new one.

I thought about getting a top-of-the-line so I wouldn't have to update for a while, but wound up getting a model from a year or two before -- which saved quite a bit of money as well.
 
seoulsearch said:
I have always wanted to visit Australia and New Zealand... I am fascinated by the way Aussies and Kiwi's talk!!! They could be reading out of the dictionary and I wouldn't care -- I could listen all day.

Unfortunately, these days I don't think I could handle the long flights due to motion sickness, but it's nice to dream.

(And I admittedly subscribe to a few YouTube channels just for the hosts' particular accents.)
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hmm you may need to book a long distance cruise at least you maybe sick in comfort.

Or you could watch one of Sam Neill's movies...either My brilliant Career, or The Piano, or Evil Angels/A cry in the dark. Meryl Streep does a passable Australian accent in that one, though Lindy Chamberlain was originally from New Zealand
Or Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Sam Neill wrote his memoirs 'Did I ever tell you this?' He might have done an audiobook reading it out loud...check on audible or spotify or Libby for that one.

RIP Sam Neill
 
Yes audiobook he narrated and it's 12.5 hours long
I promise you it's a good one, I've read it (of course)
I heard him speak at the Writer's Festival. He really doesn't like talking about himself though. Plus we learned his birth name actually was Nigel.
 
When I was in grade school, and Lutheran school at that, it was all the rage for girls to get their ears double pierced (two piercings in each earlobe.)

I have no idea why it took off so much, but literally, every girl and their mothers were getting their ears double pierced.

I kind of liked the look when it was a stud and a hoop:

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I was thinking of getting it done for a while (second piercing,) but I'm glad I never did.

I don't have anything against it morally. But as an adult, I wear earrings so rarely that I've had a few times where my single piercings almost closed, and it was a real fight to get an earring through.

Now I wear earrings just enough to make sure the piercings don't grow shut.

Were there any fads anyone else took part of, or wanted to, but changed their mind?
 
I only got my ears pierced when my 'friend' sort of pressured me into it. They got infected and the holes closed up, so I don't wear any earrings.

Will have to think further on the 'fads' aspect. A lot of fads required you to spend money, I guess in terms of making you want to spend or buy something, and as I rarely had much money to spend so it was easy to say no to them.
 
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Lanolin said:
I only got my ears pierced when my 'friend' sort of pressured me into it. They got infected and the holes closed up, so I don't wear any earrings.

Will have to think further on the 'fads' aspect. A lot of fads required you to spend money, I guess in terms of making you want to spend or buy something, and as I rarely had much money to spend so it was easy to say no to them.
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True dat!

I grew up when tattoos were seen as a way of showing you were going against the crowd, and the cool thing to do.

Now YouTube is filled with videos of people filled with regrets -- and getting painful, expensive (and often unsuccessful) laser removals.

I didn't know how fortunate I was at the time to neither have the money nor the interest to get one.
 
seoulsearch said:
Oh my goodness, no trees would definitely be a deal-breaker for me.

I had family living in Arizona, and when I got there, the mountains and skies were BEAUTIFUL, but I was like, "You have no trees!!"

My family was like, "We do too!"

And I was like, "Those are SHRUBS, not TREES," as I was used to majestic maples and charismatic conifers, which their surrounding neighborhoods did not have.

I may not be a tree hugger, but I do feel like somethings missing if I don't see trees!!
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Same here. Trees are a must. The more the better.

A friend was going to be relocated to Arizona for work. They nearly refused the promotion because they aren't fond of batten deserts. They're a tree lover like us.

He did the research first and found out there actually are forests in Arizona.
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I looked it up for this post.

"Arizona is home to over 18 million acres of forest and woodlands. It even boasts the world's largest continuous stand of Ponderosa pine trees, stretching across the high-elevation Mogollon Rim."

Stephen was transferred to Flagstaff.

Flagstaff is inside the Coconino National Forest, which boasts the world's largest continuous stand of Ponderosa pine trees.


He was given a company apartment upon arrival. Now he lives in a nicely appointed log cabin in the forest there.

What a unique State. Part desert,which gets all the publicity,especially Sedona, and then millions of acres of trees.
 
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Lanolin said:
Australia...
I know people who moved there to live but came right back to New Zealand after trying it out.
Too darn hot.

Temperatures upwards of 35 degrees celsius...intolerable
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Arizona's heat is deadly.

Years ago a lady Postal carrier died of heat exposure while on her route.
Postal trucks,UPS and Amazon delivery panel style trucks,do not have Air-conditioning.

Arizona temperatures can reach 120 degrees. The heat index can make it feel even hotter. And in shade it doesn't get much cooler.
 
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