yeah, like I said I'm masking a vast generalization in the term "the North". more like "big cities in the north" perhaps.

The pace of the lifestyle was surprising, too. To be kept waiting for 0.5 seconds at a traffic light was cause to lay on the horn and spew profanity. Down here most people won't honk till the light has almost turned red again.

Oh yeah, and I'd never seen real double parking before either. I saw a guy travelling in the right hand lane of traffic slow down, I thought he was going to parallel park along the curb until I realized there were no spots. He just sticks it in park in the middle of (what I considered) a flowing lane of traffic and walks inside the 7-11. I was floored, I had never seen that before.

Had the same thing happen with one of the website sponsors. I just happened to check the order the following day to check for status when I discovered the pump I ordered was discontinued. I called to ask if I could substitute and was told I could not since the order was completed. I didn't get upset but expressed my dismay. They took my order for a substitute pump and waived the shipping charges. Like you, I wish they had told me in the first place, but I ended up getting what I wanted after giving them a polite call.

At least you got enough to make the shipping worth it.

I once ordered a jersey (at a good price that got it sold out) and a few incidentals totaling around $5. They shipped the little stuff and sent the sorry about the jersey. Paying $6 in shipping on a $5 order was a bit hard to stomach.

I understand what you're saying. I'm originally from southern Indiana, moved to south Florida, Massachusetts, and back to south Florida. I lived outside Boston for 9 years. I can remember traveling back to southern Indiana and needing a day to get over the culture shock. Just wasn't used to people being friendly. It's sort of a paranoia that somebody wants something from you. I can remember Boston magazine writing an article about some guys that traveled to Houston for the Super Bowl and having that same paranoia while in Houston. Here in south Florida I think there is a mix of "North and South" since so many people here have moved from up north. You have those that are friendly and polite but others that seem rude. The difference to me is that those that seem rude here have an arrogance about them that I don't recall when living up north.

I'd forgotten about double parking. I haven't seen that since I left Chicago. I'm glad that I live in Missouri now. I miss the ethnic restaurants, though. I'd love to eat a nice, hot Gyro sandwich but I can't find anybody who does real Gyros here.

haha, well this thread is officially off topic.

I may be biased (being a southerner), but I do find it interesting that the migration only seems to be one way.

Off the top of my head I can think of at least a half dozen people I know that have moved down here from the north and stayed, and I honestly can't think of one that has moved north and stayed. I know it's a small sample size, but maybe there's a reason for this trend, just sayin'...

Mac

I think it used to be that way with more that moved south rather than north, but I do believe it is changing. I know of what are referred to as "halfbackers". Those are people from the north that moved to Florida. After determining Florida wasn't for them, they moved half way back to North Carolina.

A lot are leaving Florida because it's become very expensive to live here. Property taxes and homeowners insurance are extremely high.

I also find a lot of northerners do not like south Florida and do not have anything positive to say about living here. I don't understand why they continue to live here. I don't really like it here, either, but I moved back here for family reasons.

I also wouldn't consider south Florida to be the south. Geographically...yes. Culturally...no.

Having grown up in Iowa I can tell you that it's planned. The yearly temperatures in Iowa vary by about 130 degrees and a lot of people can't handle it so we ship some of them out to other areas of the country. It works out pretty well because it raises the average IQ in both states.

(May the games begin.)

On a completely unrelated topic, I just got off the phone with the internet retailer and got my BB tool shipped free. Had to ask once, then tell them (politely) that it was what they needed to do to keep my future business, but they did it without much fuss. All is well. I guess that means I have nothing to do now but work on this presentation I'm dreading giving tomorrow.

Mac

Uh - Aren't you hijacking your own thread back to it's original topic? I'm not sure that's allowed.

Good luck on your presentation tomorrow. It's looking like I'm going to be smowbound for another day.

Yeah, what's the big idea steering this back to the original topic?

Congrats on getting your shipping issue resolved. It would be nice if it was handled by the retailer and not the consumer, but that's not likely to happen with this retailer or most others.

I may miss the north, but I must say at this time of year that I'm happy to live in the south. It's supposed to "cold" down here. Probably will be in the 60s.