I'm eventually going to have to leave Boston forever.

[EK WAFFLR]

Norway.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Norway.

Tempting, but isn't your food toxic to mere mortals?

I hadn't considered it, but I'll put it on the list if two English speakers could live there and Oslo's got some good molecular biology programs. It will most likely get shot down either way.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

It would be a good excuse to visit, though.

[Ben Shapiro]

Norwegians eat food? I thought they eat snow, and Black Metal?

[EK WAFFLR]

Norwegians eat food? I thought they eat snow, and Black Metal?

Boiled sheep's heads, fish prepared in lye, rotten fish, buried fish.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Norwegians eat food? I thought they eat snow, and Black Metal?

Boiled sheep's heads, fish prepared in lye, rotten fish, buried fish.

Which, to be fair, is all very metal. Nauseatingly, filthy disgusting, but metal.

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

Yeah, I know it's been covered but it bears repeating. Stay away from Philly. Speaking as a former Pennsylvanian, I say this. :P Also, if you don't like shoveling snow . . . PA's probably a bad idea in its entirety. I'm from Clarion and it typically snows from just before Halloween until mid-May. Sledding off the garage roof and putting skis on the pick-em-up-trucks are things.

If PA is an option, I'd hit the Gettysburg area. Handy to D.C. and Maryland and some universities and what-all for the schoolings and the jobings. The cost of living, when I was down there, did not suck hind teat. No idea what it is now, though.

Good luck getting that sorted out. *salutes*

[Suu]

Yeah, I know it's been covered but it bears repeating. Stay away from Philly. Speaking as a former Pennsylvanian, I say this. :P Also, if you don't like shoveling snow . . . PA's probably a bad idea in its entirety. I'm from Clarion and it typically snows from just before Halloween until mid-May. Sledding off the garage roof and putting skis on the pick-em-up-trucks are things.

If PA is an option, I'd hit the Gettysburg area. Handy to D.C. and Maryland and some universities and what-all for the schoolings and the jobings. The cost of living, when I was down there, did not suck hind teat. No idea what it is now, though.

Good luck getting that sorted out. *salutes*

Completely unrelated: I just stayed in Clarion Saturday night.

Carry on.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Yeah, I know it's been covered but it bears repeating. Stay away from Philly. Speaking as a former Pennsylvanian, I say this. :P Also, if you don't like shoveling snow . . . PA's probably a bad idea in its entirety. I'm from Clarion and it typically snows from just before Halloween until mid-May. Sledding off the garage roof and putting skis on the pick-em-up-trucks are things.

If PA is an option, I'd hit the Gettysburg area. Handy to D.C. and Maryland and some universities and what-all for the schoolings and the jobings. The cost of living, when I was down there, did not suck hind teat. No idea what it is now, though.

Good luck getting that sorted out. *salutes*

It seems like one of her draws is the historical angle, so Gettysburg would work. The Massachusetts is ok under conditions throws everything out of whack, because what does that mean? I still have to work out exactly what she wants and what she's willing to give on, which seems to shift here and there.

I'm starting to suspect that her complaint is job satisfaction and details of commute.

[LMNO]

This is going to be painful, but you really have to nail down the pragmatic, functional reasons she Fuckin Hates Boston. 

I dunno how much she buys into all the Rationality stuff, but if you can "taboo" any phrase that resembles "I just don't like it" and ask what it functionally is she doesn't like, that might clear some stuff up.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

This is going to be painful, but you really have to nail down the pragmatic, functional reasons she Fuckin Hates Boston. 

I dunno how much she buys into all the Rationality stuff, but if you can "taboo" any phrase that resembles "I just don't like it" and ask what it functionally is she doesn't like, that might clear some stuff up.

I know. And that's a little hard to hammer out.

I mean, if Massachusetts is still on the table, we're both happy, I just need to figure out what her Bay State parameters are, and see if they're compatible with mine.

I also have to figure out what my deal is now that I'm like, well, I could do this and that would would be cool...

I think my main thing with Boston is that while people may come and go, there's a sort of stability to it. It's not the place so much as the groups of people.

For example, I can't remember the last time we met up. I like that that possibility is there because I consider you my friend. I enjoy your company. I also enjoy the company of other people who live in Boston. If you left Boston, well, that's on you, and I wish you the best, but if I leave Boston, I leave everyone. Part of the reason I suggested maybe Chicago is that we already had friends there and friends that were soon to move there. Part of the reason I am ok with moving to Ireland is because the other half of my family is there, even though I had no previous inclination to move there on a permanent basis (I figured a summer-winter retirement deal).

[LMNO]

Hmm.  I'd recommend taking all "locations" off the table, and you both make a list of what you're looking for, in fairly large terms. 

Climate, Employment options, average living wage, average rent/housing market, urban/suburban/rural, all of that, but WITHOUT naming a city.  Talk out what kind of environment you both want to live in, together.  DON'T PUT A GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION ON IT. 

After you've talked about the kind of life you want to live together, THEN see where on the map that fits the best.  And do A LOT of research.  You both might find a "micro climate" that suits you perfectly.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Hmm.  I'd recommend taking all "locations" off the table, and you both make a list of what you're looking for, in fairly large terms. 

Climate, Employment options, average living wage, average rent/housing market, urban/suburban/rural, all of that, but WITHOUT naming a city.  Talk out what kind of environment you both want to live in, together.  DON'T PUT A GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION ON IT. 

After you've talked about the kind of life you want to live together, THEN see where on the map that fits the best.  And do A LOT of research.  You both might find a "micro climate" that suits you perfectly.

That's pretty solid advice.

I think the urban/suburban/rural is probably going to be the trickiest, along with employment options.

I definitely prefer an urban environment. One of the things that really bugs me when I'm in Ireland, or at least the part that the other Twiddletons live in, is the isolation, the quietness, and how dark it gets. Don't get me wrong, I like it there, but in small amounts. I get uncomfortable.