Jana 6: What's in Store for 2018?

[SeekingAdventure]

I think it is hilarious that 13000 is called a small town. I know in perspective, it is small, but in my village, theres 2000 people, and yeah, it sucks. 

We are somewhat outsiders because my mom is not from here, even though my dad grew up here, he's still not considered 'village-native', which is ridiculous. I was in a music group, and everyone was related to someone higher up, so everyone had better chances at playing the nicer and better parts, even if their skill level didn't match up, just because they knew someone. When I was gone for a year, and I came back, people hadn't even realised I hadn't been there for a year, whereas they celebrated a guy returning to the music group after taking 6 weeks off, to a point where they went to his house with an actual present basket, in order to 'convince' him to do something that was planned all along.

Sure enough, when I said enough and I quit, they were absolutely flabbergasted and didn't understand why, and kept asking me to come back, but I never got a present basket, so I didn't .  The main reasons to quit were that I had a job that I needed to focus on, because at the end of the day, I'm not gonna live of the pleasures of being overseen but on the money I have to make to scrape by, and I had also changed a lot in the year I had left, and wasn't the little shy 12 year old anymore that had started 8 years prior, but instead a 20 year old who had opinions and was sick of being overseen because I didn't have family ties to the music group.

Also, I love to travel, and loads of travelling does not work very well with very regular rehearsals for annual huge concerts, especially if you travel for 4 or 5 weeks at a time 2 months before that, so that also factored in there.

 

I was bullied all the way from primary to secondary school in my village, and then I got to high school 20 minutes away, and surprise, somebody knew somebody who went to secondary school with me, they heared some of the absolute bullshit stories and it continued for another 5 years. 

Ain't village/small town life wonderful? 

[QuiverFullofBooks]

7 hours ago, Shadoewolf said:

Mountain Home. 

My kinfolk dragged me out to Mountain Home to eat catfish at Fred’s last year. It was fine, but I’ll bet there was a decent place closer to civilization.

[SamiKatz]

18 hours ago, SeekingAdventure said:

I think it is hilarious that 13000 is called a small town. I know in perspective, it is small, but in my village, theres 2000 people, and yeah, it sucks. 

We are somewhat outsiders because my mom is not from here, even though my dad grew up here, he's still not considered 'village-native', which is ridiculous. I was in a music group, and everyone was related to someone higher up, so everyone had better chances at playing the nicer and better parts, even if their skill level didn't match up, just because they knew someone. When I was gone for a year, and I came back, people hadn't even realised I hadn't been there for a year, whereas they celebrated a guy returning to the music group after taking 6 weeks off, to a point where they went to his house with an actual present basket, in order to 'convince' him to do something that was planned all along.

Sure enough, when I said enough and I quit, they were absolutely flabbergasted and didn't understand why, and kept asking me to come back, but I never got a present basket, so I didn't .  The main reasons to quit were that I had a job that I needed to focus on, because at the end of the day, I'm not gonna live of the pleasures of being overseen but on the money I have to make to scrape by, and I had also changed a lot in the year I had left, and wasn't the little shy 12 year old anymore that had started 8 years prior, but instead a 20 year old who had opinions and was sick of being overseen because I didn't have family ties to the music group.

Also, I love to travel, and loads of travelling does not work very well with very regular rehearsals for annual huge concerts, especially if you travel for 4 or 5 weeks at a time 2 months before that, so that also factored in there.

 

I was bullied all the way from primary to secondary school in my village, and then I got to high school 20 minutes away, and surprise, somebody knew somebody who went to secondary school with me, they heared some of the absolute bullshit stories and it continued for another 5 years. 

Ain't village/small town life wonderful? 

I grew up in a town of 5,000 and for the first ten years, didn't even live in town but about 10 miles outside of it.

My father's family had a reputation of "hillbillies" so that followed me throughout the time I lived there.  When I was around 16 a woman said to me "I know you're a  *last name*, but I really like you anyway".   We also had that issue of you not being "from" the town if you weren't born there.  Even for people who had lived there for years.

Small towns, man.  I live in a large city now and always say I did my small town time, no need to repeat it.

[Iamtheway]

Nothing is close in bigger cities, unless you and all of your friends can afford to live right in the city centre. 

We moved to my hometown (20.000 people) from Stockholm (not a huge city internationally, but it’s what we have) and everything is easier here. We live in a house that costs 1/5 of what we got when we sold our one bedroom apartment. We are close to family and can walk to the shops. We can bike to the center in 15 minutes. Or take the car, the parking is free. We have a 10 minute drive to the lake and a 30 minute drive to downhill skiing in winter, there are crosscountry tracks that I can see from my window. We can easily drop by my sisters house in the afternoon for a quick play with the cousins before dinner. 

Stockholm (that I actually do love) has more shopping, but everything I need can be found here. There’s more culture, museums, theatres and art there, but that is not something we do every week anyway so once we’re tired of the things we do have close to here (more then one might think) we can take a weekend away for that. Stockholm is only a few hours away by train. 

I miss very little there. 

[xlurker]

While there is a city about an hour away, I live in a small town. Population of about 3000 spread out over 33 square miles.  I love it.  I come from just outside NYC, so it isn't as if I don't know a city--I just don't prefer it.   While I know people, I am basically a loner and like it that way.  In my woods no one is able to see if my lawn is mown, my garden weeded or if I am au natural in the hot tub.    I paint and crochet and refinish furniture I find at the side of the road (only if it has good bones!)  there is no one around to judge what I do because they can't see what I do.  The down side is, when the car's in the shop your feet are cut off--I'm not even in the village to walk to a store.  That, and I hate ordering on line.  I seem to be very tactile, and don't like buying something I can't feel.    I am kind of the eccentric lady who collects odd pieces of wood and always has a camera on hand.... 

[Mama Mia]

It’s so interesting to hear people’s experiences and takes on different living situations. I guess I live in a medium size town ? Suburb ? About 50,000 - 100,000 within the general area - Another 50 k ish in the next largish town over - which is a 10 minute drive. City with a million + a half hour drive. 7 or 8 million in the whole metropolitan area which stretches about 3 hour drive from end to end. 

It’s interesting hearing about people knowing all about your lives. Even though it’s basically suburban, I’ve known VERY few of my neighbors by name. Even when I lived near them for years. As a kid in a house I knew other kids. But my parents didn’t hang out with the neighborhood parents. Living mostly in apartments and condos as an adult - I’d know a few people, but not many. People might wave. Occasionally you’ll introduce yourself. Especially if you have kids the same age you might become friendly, But people tend to keep to themselves. Is this the norm ? 

[Pecansforeveryone]

I have lived in small towns and Tucson, which is maybe a million in the metropolitan area. It was so spread out it felt like more 4 towns of 250,000. The neighbours that I chit chated to I never caught their names. In the small town of 5,000, I knew one neighbour by name and was friendly with, and that's partly because we had a mutual acquaintance. I have never felt like I really connected with or was friendly with my neighbours, regardless of town size. 

 

[Kaylo]

I live in a town of 2000. Love it. Guess I’m a piece of shit.

[HurricaneBells]

Where in this thread does it say you're a piece of shit if from or if you like living in a small town? I see a lot of people who had bad experiences with it and do not care for it but that doesnt make those who do shit. Your opinion is just as valid as anyone elses so I dont think you need to feel like you will be judged because you personally like it. Good for you! Ftr, I would love to live in a small town to experience it but cities for me are for visiting, too many people and i dont like people LOL 

We have 24 hour service station 500 metres away, supermarkets that are open til midnight and 24 hour kmart within a 5 min drive inour neck of the woods (suburban oz). Lastly i prefer to drink at home and if not, plenty of places in walking distance so im pretty happy with the "burbs" bout an hour out of Sydney

[tabitha2]

Ya’ll remember the Them song from “Green Acres” ? That’s me! Keep your hay and chores  give me  Penthouse views and stores!  

Small towns in Texas are full of charm and friendly folk but more than a week of looking at Cattle and fields and driving 30 miles to a Wal Mart would drive me cuckoo. I find being surrounded by tall buildings very comforting. 

 

[church_of_dog]

This only works using American measure of 'feet' rather than meters (though using meters makes it even more awesome from my perspective) but my policy is that in order for me to even consider a town as a place for me to live...

 

...the elevation must be greater than the population...

[Sky with diamonds]

I can't wait ntil I move home to my tiny community of less than 200 people. Words can't say how much I miss it. 

Alberta for nearly 13 years has been very interesting to say the least. I will always be thankful for it...but my heart has always been and always will be on Da Rock...even with my ass in Alberta.

[Joyfully Available]

So... I follow Pickles on FB... I’ve been blocked from commenting apparently but I can still see her posts. What’s the deal with Jana being previously promised to a boy many years ago? Anyone got the details? 

(Hope I’m not ruffling feathers mentioning Pickles.) I occasionally read her posts but wonder about what she really knows. Sometimes I agree & other times she just seems a little nutty... 

[singsingsing]

5 minutes ago, Joyfully Available said:

So... I follow Pickles on FB... I’ve been blocked from commenting apparently but I can still see her posts. What’s the deal with Jana being previously promised to a boy many years ago? Anyone got the details? 

(Hope I’m not ruffling feathers mentioning Pickles.) I occasionally read her posts but wonder about what she really knows. Sometimes I agree & other times she just seems a little nutty... 

It's apparently a rumour that Pickles heard from - get this - a friend of a friend of a Duggar insider.

Yeah. Really.

[Rachel333]

17 minutes ago, singsingsing said:

It's apparently a rumour that Pickles heard from - get this - a friend of a friend of a Duggar insider.

Yeah. Really.

Haha, so even I am closer to the Duggars than Pickles's "source."

[SamiKatz]

35 minutes ago, singsingsing said:

It's apparently a rumour that Pickles heard from - get this - a friend of a friend of a Duggar insider.

Yeah. Really.

It's probably that poster who swore up and done Jessa was pregnant last year.  Which turned out to be balonious information.

[Rachel333]

1 minute ago, SamiKatz said:

It's probably that poster who swore up and done Jessa was pregnant last year.  Which turned out to be balonious information.

In fairness, that poster never said she actually heard anyone talk about Jessa being pregnant, she was just convinced Jessa was pregnant because of how she looked. So I find it plausible that the poster was telling the truth but was just reading way too much into Jessa's appearance. 

[SamiKatz]

2 minutes ago, Rachel333 said:

In fairness, that poster never said she actually heard anyone talk about Jessa being pregnant, she was just convinced Jessa was pregnant because of how she looked. So I find it plausible that the poster was telling the truth but was just reading way too much into Jessa's appearance. 

Seriously.  I also look like I could be pregnant and I'm in my 50s and past menopause!  

[eveandadam]

I also look pregnant and I am 34. At my last workplace I was asked constantly if i was expecting (and by men, not by women). It was a combination of my looks and the fear that I would soon be gone because of a child.

It is actually illegal to ask if a woman is pregnant at work but they did anyway. And of course I was not pregnant.

My boss used any lame opportunity to test it by calling everyone in the evening and pouring champain or wine for us to enjoy and test. He would always stare at me to ensure I would take a glass or sip or whatever...

[mango_fandango]

Personally I would hate living in a small village where everyone knew all your business. As an introvert I’d find that very annoying and awkward. I much prefer the anonymity of a big city. I’ve seen many introverts say they’d love to live on a remote island, but that would drive me insane! Even staying in the countryside for a weeks’ holiday gets boring. My dad’s friend lives in a rural area; his son (a few years younger than me) got so bored living where he was that he went to boarding school for his final two years of school (16-18). At least his dad was able to afford it. 

Pickles sounds batshit. I visited the page occasionally, mainly because I liked seeing all the old photos of the kids and seeing how they’d changed over the years etc. I rarely looked at the actual page itself. 

[RainbowSky]

On 8/1/2018 at 10:39 AM, KelseyAnn said:

^ This! I moved from a town of less than 2000 to one of 20,000 and I was utterly overwhelmed at first about the fact that stores and stuff were open later than 9 p.m. 

I had the opposite. I moved from a major metro area to (a little house in the woods outside of) a tiny town and was shocked that things were open after 9, you can walk in the Domino's and there aren't bars/bulletproof glass on every storefront. I mean, it's Walmart, McDonald's, pizza, and gas stations/convenience stores open late or all night, but still. That's a huge difference than where we came from that crime is so bad they kick you out of McDonald's for loitering and I had my stroller searched at a grocery store. (This was also because of us being in the unique position of a very small minority of white people in a predominantly black area but that's not the point right now.) 

 

It's amazing how things are different depending on where you go!

[AtlanticTug]

I live in the top 3 of the largest metro areas in the US, and I live in a very central neighborhood. Everything is close by, our commute to work is really quick though not close enough to walk, but our cost of living is stratospheric. Our neighborhood started gentrifying a long time ago but there are still a few streets with tiny little old 900 sq foot houses that go for sale for 7 figures only to be torn down and brand new houses, brownstone-like go up to replace them. Daycare costs are over $2K/month and the waitlists are like 2+ years long. We have access to amazing grocery stores (and no Walmart grocery in sight), restaurants, coffee shops, etc. But the congestion and traffic are horrendous, parking is hard and expensive if you take your car anywhere and it's just a chaotic life. We would LOVE to live in a small town but they really don't need people with our professional training there so we're sort of tied to where we are. I dream of owning more land and I really want a dirt road or at least a loooong dirt driveway. I have no real reason for that. Grass is probably always greener on the other side.

[SamiKatz]

3 minutes ago, AtlanticTug said:

But the congestion and traffic are horrendous, parking is hard and expensive if you take your car anywhere and it's just a chaotic life. 

I used to live in the west end of Toronto (Bloor/Dufferin for the Torontonions) and had street parking for my car, so I always used to joke my life was like a Seinfield episode - if I got a good parking spot I wouldn't move my car!  My friends would be "Why did you take the TTC when you have a car"?  and I'd say "I'm not moving my car, it's parked right across from my house"!  lol.  City living.  Having a driveway is part of the reason I moved to the 'burbs.

[Alice in Fundieland]

I’ve thought about this topic a lot this week. I still live in the city where I was born and raised, which has a population of about 40,000. Not huge, but not a small town either. We are only 1-3 hours away from several major cities. However, this week my family is on vacation and we are currently in a place that has a population of about 4,000. It is beautiful and in many ways I love the slower pace. However, I have become so accustomed to having choices for groceries, restaurants, etc. and those choices are quite limited here unless we want to travel for an hour or two.  I guess a lot of it is what you’re used to, but I’ve discovered that for me small-town life is a great chance to get away and recharge but not the way I want to live every day. 

[Sky with diamonds]

I recently moved across town. Where I live now, is almost like a new world compared to where I used to live. People here have lawns...and gardens. Where I lived before I had a two foot strip of grass that matainece never even kept up this year. Landlord was a pr!ck, so one of the reasons I had to move.

Where I lived in Newfoundland, I had a huge yard and backyard. Cost of living was so much lower than here. I wish I was there than here.  Rent, power, medications take nearly of my parents pension.