• For now, the US has very advanced health care with some of the best hospitals and specialists in the world. We'll see what we end up with after they're done fiddling with it. Again, Ms. Basenjimamma can tell you better what's in Texas.

    You are welcome on these shores! That goes for you, too, Ms. Petra from Slovakia.

  • Houston

    Kim, I am from Sweden, came over here in 1991 as a 19 yr old (oops, I just gave away my age…) to stay with a family and work as an Au-Pair, never went home again..Got a green card (that took forever, apparently my lawyer thought I should've been hispanic,much easier to get a green card for them...it took, with mail problems and reapplying, all of 11 years, yes 11 years to get it.) and the rest is history..
    As far as medical and all that , here in Houston, we have one of the most advanced and forward going medical centers in the world, specifically cancer related and heart related. I once worked for the Debakey family, Dr Debakey is the one who invented the Mash units in war settings, and he also did one of the first heart transplants..

    Houston is huge though, but the country around is very spacious and with freeways you can get to places quickly, even though you live let's say a few hours out..in the middle of Texas nowhere.

    Good luck in your dream indevours...you got me thinking too...maybe Emu's or Ostriches is in our future...


  • @Basenjimamma:

    Hi Kim and Kas..What a wonderful dream…go grab it and reign it in...

    Texas would be great, lots of land, very big state, extremely friendly people (remember I came as a foreigner, from Sweden and texans have by far met my friendly european needs:)), economy has been better here in the south, more so then in the north...
    the weather is warm, especially along the coast, vs towards Dallas or way inland..BUT along the coast you have the issues of potential hurricanes, inland you have tornadoes..they are very rare, but something you might want to keep in mind.

    I looked up some sites on Ostrich farming in Tx, check them out..
    http://www.rm-ostrich.com/
    http://www.wildcanyonostrich.com/ostrich_ranch_contact.htm
    http://www.ostriches.org/

    We would love to have you here..

    Except…they don't speak English in Texas..... 😉 JUST kidding!


  • @AJs:

    ]For now, the US has very advanced health care with some of the best hospitals and specialists in the world. We'll see what we end up with after they're done fiddling with it. Again, Ms. Basenjimamma can tell you better what's in Texas.

    You are welcome on these shores! That goes for you, too, Ms. Petra from Slovakia.

    Ha, ha….if you can afford it!!!


  • @Quercus:

    Ha, ha….if you can afford it!!!

    +1.

    We might have an advanced healthcare sysem, but it is one that functions very poorly. Too many people are uninsured/underinsured because of the costs.

    And that's all I'll say about that. 😉


  • I don't want to get too far into this debate. I will only say that for those who think the federal government has a right to get involved in individual mandates needs to read the Constitution again. It's up to the States individually to do this. I won't address this again because I don't want to get an argument started.

  • Houston

    and as a foreigner I've got to say…as the biggest and best country in the world(that is what the ad says right?), I think it sucks, that it is what it is, but meddling..no thanks.


  • The medical care doesn't "suck." We have some of the best in the world. The way we pay for it does. However, if we didn't pay for it the way we do, advances wouldn't have come as quickly or as efficiently.


  • @AJs:

    However, if we didn't pay for it the way we do, advances wouldn't have come as quickly or as efficiently.

    :rolleyes:

    That's my last comment on this subject.


  • @Basenjimamma:

    and as a foreigner I've got to say…as the biggest and best country in the world(that is what the ad says right?), I think it sucks, that it is what it is, but meddling..no thanks.

    He, he…funny 🙂 I LOVE my country...I don't want anybody to have any confusion about that. And we have the potential to be among the best in every aspect of life on earth...but we are far from perfect; and for some reason we have a hard time admitting that other countries just might be onto something, if they conduct business in a way differently than we do.

    I think Americans, as a whole, need to take a seriously hard look at ourselves, change the things than need fixed, and try to live up to the reputation we 'think' we have in the rest of the world.

    And with that, I will get down off my soap box 🙂

  • Houston

    No, no..the medical service doesn't suck, the fact that so many don't have insurance suck, the fact that it costs an arm and a leg to get insurance suck and the fact that we might not have a choice come soon, suck..sorry about my wording..
    I am very happy to live here in the states, but yes, some things could be made better for many people..


  • Alas, we are imperfect…the state of humanity. There is no perfect answer because there are no perfect people.

    But back to the original subject, I would be happy to welcome Buana (and Petra from Slovakia) to my home. We're like a large family over here. We say what we want about each other, but let someone else get into the mix and look out! Once someone is part of the family, it applies to them as well.


  • Politics aside, I made the big move five years ago. I decided I wasn't a tree and didn't have roots in the ground so I could go wherever I pleased. I'm so happy I did.

    Of course, I'm going to suggest to you to visit the North Georgia Mountains or somewhere in the mountains in TN or NC. The weather is never extreme and the land is quite cheap these days, not to mention the scenery is lovely. There are lots of horse and cattle ranches, farms, and people raise Llamas and Ostrich in the area, too.

    If you don't want to live in the USA, Chile is wonderful. Have you traveled there? Before I moved to GA, I was looking at vineyards in San Rafael - Mendoza, Argentina. Also, Chile was an option as the climate is lovely and the government much more sound than Argentina's. The fear of unstable governments in SA made me decide to stay in the USA. I picked out Blairsville, GA, on a map and moved, sight unseen. This is home and I love it.

    Now, my dream is to buy a place with more land so I can raise chickens, rescue burros/donkeys (so many people have them here), horses, goats, and, of course, a few more dogs.

    Today's temp at 2 pm EST is 68 degrees in November.

    There is a Gorilla rescue about 20 miles from here. http://www.gorilla-haven.org/ Also, another nearby ranch has rescued Buffalo.

    Whatever you decide, please tell us about it.


  • @Vicki:

    Politics aside, I made the big move five years ago. I decided I wasn't a tree and didn't have roots in the ground so I could go wherever I pleased. I'm so happy I did.

    Of course, I'm going to suggest to you to visit the North Georgia Mountains or somewhere in the mountains in TN or NC. The weather is never extreme and the land is quite cheap these days, not to mention the scenery is lovely. There are lots of horse and cattle ranches, farms, and people raise Llama's and Ostrich in the area, too.

    If you don't want to live in the USA, Chile is wonderful. Have you traveled there? Before I moved to GA, I was looking at vineyards in San Rafael - Mendoza, Argentina. Also, Chile was an option as the climate is lovely and the government much more sound than Argentina's. The fear of unstable governments in SA made me decide to stay in the USA. I picked out Blairsville, GA, on a map and moved, sight unseen. This is home and I love it.

    Now, my dream is to buy a place with more land so I can raise chickens, rescue burros/donkeys (so many people have them here), horses, goats, and, of course, a few more dogs.

    Today's temp at 2 pm EST is 68 degrees in November.

    There is a Gorilla rescue about 20 miles from here. http://www.gorilla-haven.org/ Also, another nearby ranch has rescued Buffalo.

    Whatever you decide, please tell us about it.

    I am really good friends with the woman that runs Gorilla Haven. Jane Dewar…she is having a rough time trying to keep enough support of her facility. There really aren't THAT many gorillas that need 'rescued'...and the establishment isn't taking her project very seriously, sadly. Chimps...now that is another story...this country could probably support about a billion chimp and monkey rescues...


  • Depending on where you look in California there are some nice warm places where they have ostrich and emu farms. The down side is the cost of living in California is higher than in other states.


  • @lvoss:

    Depending on where you look in California there are some nice warm places where they have ostrich and emu farms. The down side is the cost of living in California is higher than in other states.

    I would agree… there are lots of ostrich and emu farms here, especially in No California where the climate is moderate year round... the most problems we have are that rain season is November to March and then NO rain at all.. makes B's a bit difficult in the winter season.. but the temp is pretty mild year round... personally I love it... no humidity...


  • @tanza:

    I would agree… there are lots of ostrich and emu farms here, especially in No California where the climate is moderate year round... the most problems we have are that rain season is November to March and then NO rain at all.. makes B's a bit difficult in the winter season.. but the temp is pretty mild year round... personally I love it... no humidity...

    It really is, perhaps the most perfect climate in the world 😉 and one of the most beautiful places as well. Whenever I visit my sister in Northern Cal…I wonder 'why the he!! don't I live here???"


  • @Quercus:

    It really is, perhaps the most perfect climate in the world 😉 and one of the most beautiful places as well. Whenever I visit my sister in Northern Cal…I wonder 'why the he!! don't I live here???"

    EXACTLY…. of course the cost of living is terrible.... and the state is ready for bankruptcy... but hey.. the weather is super!!!! Coming from the East Coast for the first 32 yrs of my life.. I have decided there is no place else I would rather live


  • @tanza:

    EXACTLY…. of course the cost of living is terrible.... and the state is ready for bankruptcy... but hey.. the weather is super!!!! Coming from the East Coast for the first 32 yrs of my life.. I have decided there is no place else I would rather live

    Yeah, and me growing up in Seattle (but originating elsewhere)…I love having the ocean, mountains and forest so close...yet it rarely rains there. Now, my sister was BORN in Seattle...she complains about it being too hot, and not enough rain and clouds in NorCal....crazy!


  • I suggested Texas because the climate is warm, the cost of living is low relative to, say, California or Arizona, the politicians haven't outlawed everything and the taxes are relatively low.

    I, too, lived in California for a few years. I lived in the Mojave Desert and loved it out there. I escaped, however, when they started outlawing some of my legally obtained possessions and then expected me to turn them in.

    After I left, I was charged income taxes for the five years following my exodus. I had a lien on my credit and didn't know anything about it until I tried to buy a house somewhere else. I had to prove to California that I had moved…dig up W2's, tax returns, copy of my driver license...and it still took two years, numerous phone calls to the Tax Payer Advocate and three emails to Gov. Schwarzenegger's office to clear it up. Needless to say, I didn't get to buy that house. And a record of the lien stayed on my credit report for 7 years that I had to explain every time I wanted credit.

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