Life in the Midwest

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

We have a large business presence in the Kansas /Missouri area. Our company moved their office from... something or other park... overland? to Olathe. Employees were not happy about that. I believe the taxes are higher on one side of the border or the other. Sounds like DVS could tell you about this. Point being, if you are closer to the border, make sure you are living and working on the correct side, If you have a choice...

 

[isabellepain]

nope.

Anyone in ohio knows about cow tipping!

 

[DVS]

We have a large business presence in the Kansas /Missouri area. Our company moved their office from... something or other park... overland? to Olathe. Employees were not happy about that. I believe the taxes are higher on one side of the border or the other. Sounds like DVS could tell you about this. Point being, if you are closer to the border, make sure you are living and working on the correct side, If you have a choice...

Could it be Overland Park? That's a nicer city than Olathe, but neither of them are that bad.

Yes, the taxes are higher on the Kansas side, but both of these places are on the Kansas side. In fact, they are side by side. Overland Park is larger so per household, I'd guess taxes could be less than per household in Olathe. 20 years ago, Olathe was once just a city south of Kansas City, but expansion has turned it onto a suburb.

As far as I'm concerned, the Kansas side is better than the Missouri side. There are nice areas all around Kansas City, but Olathe and Overland Park seem to be booming because they are in Johnson county Kansas. That's the 75th richest county in the country.

 

[MeekMe]

I'd take a hurricane over a tornado any day. I've spent many days throughout my life huddled in a house with boarded up windows and no power.

We do have tornados as well, though. I remember one year going across the river to a family members house on Chistmas Day. It was rainy, and altogether dreary. After spending a few hours on the beach side, we drove back to the mainland (this was a ten minute drive, at most) close to dark.

The power was out and roads were trashed. We were pretty confused on the way home. Later, we found out a tornado had ripped apart several homes and apartments. It was a sad kind of Christmas Day.

 

[DVS]

Anyone in ohio knows about cow tipping!

We have that, as well as snipe hunting.

 

[isabellepain]

Ohhhh I forgot all about snipe hunting!

 

[DVS]

I'd take a hurricane over a tornado any day. I've spent many days throughout my life huddled in a house with boarded up windows and no power.

We do have tornados as well, though. I remember one year going across the river to a family members house on Chistmas Day. It was rainy, and altogether dreary. After spending a few hours on the beach side, we drove back to the mainland (this was a ten minute drive, at most) close to dark.

The power was out and roads were trashed. We were pretty confused on the way home. Later, we found out a tornado had ripped apart several homes and apartments. It was a sad kind of Christmas Day.

A tornado can come through and take out your neighbor's house and leave yours untouched. A hurricane usually damages a whole area, so there's less survivor's guilt from a hurricane.

Of course, some tornadoes can get very large and just flatten a whole town. Some can be get very strong and become a mile wide or more. Those can be so strong, that they're worse than a hurricane. An EF4 of EF5 won't leave much behind. This is the damage of the EF5 in Joplin, MO in 2011. When you have winds over 200 mph spinning in a tight circle and with the suction from the pressure changes drawing things up into the funnel, it's just amazing how things get chopped up and spit out.

Greensburg, Kansas after an EF5 in 2007.

 

[BiBunny]

We have hurricanes and tornadoes both here. I live far enough inland that most hurricanes have dissipated by the time they make it up this far (usually). It can get pretty rough, hurricane-wise, on and near the coast sometimes, though.

The very best thing is when a hurricane more or less burns itself out on the way inland and yet still somehow manages to spawn tornadoes from itself, anyhow.

 

[Shankara20]

We have that, as well as snipe hunting.

Crap! My snipe hunting license has expired.

I expect Gov. Brownback has upped the fee


PS: we have 5 BDSM groups in central Kansas the last time I counted....

 

[Ahlam]

Coolness. Thanks for the tips, guys! I'll return and ask some questions later when I'm not multi-tasking.

 

[DVS]

Crap! My snipe hunting license has expired.

I expect Gov. Brownback has upped the fee


PS: we have 5 BDSM groups in central Kansas the last time I counted....

I get my license renewed every spring. I've found the snipe come out more often after a spring rain, kind of like morel mushrooms. What type of snipe to you have over there? We have both brown snipe and striped snipe. Brown snipe are slow, but they have nasty teeth, kind of like an opossum. Striped snipe are damn fast, but they sure like to munch on the shrooms. So, if you happen to see the striped type of snipe, you can pretty much guess there's some shrooms near by.

The truth is, I've never seen a live snipe. The only type of snipe I've seen is a dead one and most of those have been the brown. I think badgers like to eat brown snipe. I think the striped type of snipe is faster than the badger. So, seeing a badger or a brown snipe isn't a sure thing that there are morels around. And a striped snipe is so fast, they're gone by the time you can even get them in your sights.

So, I guess what I'm saying is it might not be necessary to get your snipe license renewed. If the type of snipe you have in your area is the striped type, it's not likely you'd ever get one in your sights to even shoot at. So, why even take a gun? No gun, no license needed. Because you can't even get a striped type of snipe in your sights, I just take a bag when going snipe hunting. The bag isn't for a snipe, it's for the shrooms that you'll find.

Oh, if you didn't know, you really can't plan on finding morels. The legend goes, you find the most when you aren't looking for them. That's really how snipe hunting got to be so popular in this area. You go hunting for snipe and you just happen upon the morels. If you go planning on finding morels, you won't find many. And if you go prepared with a bag, you might not find any.

The best way to find morel shrooms is to make it seem like you're snipe hunting. And like I said, the striped type of snipe really like morels. you see a striped type of snipe, look for morels. And the only bag you should have is one you'd normally have with you for carrying your catch of snipe. You can't go morel hunting. Like I said, that's how snipe hunting got so popular in this area.

As far as upping the fee, maybe he likes morels so much, he thinks upping the fee for snipe hunting will discourage people. Maybe somebody needs to take the Gov snipe hunting.

 

[CutieMouse]

I'd take a hurricane over a tornado any day. I've spent many days throughout my life huddled in a house with boarded up windows and no power.

And I'll take a tornado over a hurricane in a heartbeat.

Weird storms came through yesterday. 3-5 INCHES, in one afternoon. I was in training for a new job, and things got bad enough that the police officer on duty got a call that all cops were ordered to shelter in place.

Which means management went "That's it!" and they evacuated the entire store.

Weird, weird day.

 

[DVS]

Crap! My snipe hunting license has expired.

I expect Gov. Brownback has upped the fee


PS: we have 5 BDSM groups in central Kansas the last time I counted....

Are you complaining or boasting?

 

[Sir_Winston54]

And I'll take a tornado over a hurricane in a heartbeat.

Weird storms came through yesterday. 3-5 INCHES, in one afternoon. I was in training for a new job, and things got bad enough that the police officer on duty got a call that all cops were ordered to shelter in place.

Which means management went "That's it!" and they evacuated the entire store.

Weird, weird day.

I've lived in a Tornado Alley zone (SW Oklahoma, 9 years), Hurricane Alley zone (Tampa Bay area, 31 years), Hurricane/Tornado Alley zone (just east of Tampa, 8 years), and would just as soon pass on all of 'em.

But... "All cops shelter in place?" Crap, dood, I'm moving! Oh, wait, now I live in a state where blizzards can and do happen any time between mid-September and the end of May, and they close the state. Seriously, they essentially do.

 

[Shankara20]

Maybe somebody needs to take the Gov snipe hunting.

I'd rather he be out hunting snipe and not running the State into the dump.



ps - I shot at a striped snipe once but missed
oh well, perhaps this season...

 

[Shankara20]

Are you complaining or boasting?

Boast?
Me?

Never...

 

[Netzach]

Ok, other than the punchline of a Cheers episode and a notorious string-along, what is the point of actually hunting snipe?

I mean I love sandhill cranes, but I understand that they taste like T bones and there are enough of them that I don't have a problem with a small take. Snipe? Are they a pest? Do they taste good?

Guess I haven't lived here long enough.

 

[Shankara20]

what is the point of actually hunting snipe?

They make a delightful stew.

 

[DVS]

They make a delightful stew.

Nah, you're lying. The meat is tough and stringy. Well, maybe you're talking about the brown snipe. Pure gristle, if you ask me (where's the smilie for uck?). Inquisitive, I looked up Snipe on the Internet. It's not that bird. Snipe must be midwest slang for another name. Of course, I've never really seen that many of them, but all I've ever seen them do is run like lightening through brush. If it were a bird, why not fly away? And like I said, the brown ones have teeth similar to an opossum. I've never seen a striped type of snipe that wasn't moving. Those suckers are faaaaaaast.

 

[DVS]

Something else that I've noticed living on the state line of Missouri and Kansas. The Walmart stores (yep, I am lower middle class and we shop Walmart) in Missouri are all 24 hour large stores, like the super Walmarts used to be. My sister has one about a mile from her. In Kansas, not all are 24 hour, but we have some. I have to drive 10 miles to find one. The one nearest to me (within a mile) is not 24 hours.

Now another thing that's different is Kansas has Walmart grocery stores. It's just a 24 hour grocery store, like any other, but it's got the Walmart name on it. My sister was over in Kansas one day and she said she'd never seen one of those before. Crossing a state line is like going into another country sometimes.

Stores that are in Missouri aren't in Kansas, and visa versa. Some restaurants of one name closed down in Missouri and they still thrive on the Kansas side. And one thing I really forgot, which is damn stupid for the Kansas government. Beer sales! In Kansas, you can get 3.2% beer in a grocery store, but to get the real 5% as well as whiskey, bourbon, etc. you have to go to what's called a "retail liquor store". Oh, and you can't get any of it on a Sunday! Not even the 3.2 stuff in a grocery store.

Now, just across the state line in Missouri, and you can get anything and everything in a normal liquor store. None of that 3.2 crap, either. And this is the really weird part. You can buy it on Sunday! Now, I understand how some states still have blue laws and all, but just like when I talked about the concealed carry laws that were different in MO and KS. In a medium to large city like Kansas City, the state of Kansas is losing tax dollars by shutting down all liquor sales on Sunday.

And I'd guess the owners of those "retail liquor stores" get pissed when they see Kansas people take that short drive across the state line to Missouri, before the Chiefs game on Sunday, for those last minute liquor sales. There are a few just over the state line and they are always very busy on Sunday.

Another thing that's weird is fireworks. In Missouri, it's against the law to shoot off firecrackers and I think it's also against the law to shoot off pop bottle rockets. But, in the night, you can see across the state line and there's all sorts of pretty things flying through the air. And I live in Wyandotte county Kansas, where everything goes. Sales and shooting off any fireworks that are made. In the county about 1 mile south of me (the rich Johnson county) the law is similar to Missouri. It's illegal to sell or shoot off pop bottle rockets as well as many other kinds of fireworks with a report. Well, to be even more confusing, there are legal sales in Missouri, but many community laws won't let you shoot them off.

In Overland Park, KS, until a couple of years ago, you were REQUIRED to have a shake shingle roof. It was the law. So, 99% of the roofs are of dry wood shingles. One pop bottle rocket landing on your roof could be a serious thing. A shake shingle roof in the heat of July is like kindling! The hot sun takes a roof up to near burning temp, then a pop bottle rocket gets it to flash point in a hurry.

We hear of roofs catching fire in Johnson county, every year, around the 4th of July. I guess the kids bought their pop bottle rockets in Wyandotte county and took them back to Johnson county. We're a lot cheaper where I live, and in some cases, cheaper is smarter. I've got a common ordinary asphalt shingle roof. No pop bottle is going to bother it at all.

It's impossible to police these things, but it's like illegal smuggling of contraband, when you think about it. Beer on Sunday? They want you to be sober in Kansas! And fireworks that could start a fire? Not in Johnson county. But in both cases, nothing stops someone from going across county or state lines to get what they want. So, you see a drunk in Kansas, he's probably made a recent trip to Missouri. And a roof fire in Overland Park, KS could more than likely trace the sale of that pop bottle rocket to my county. I guess laws were meant to be broken!

 

[tallandtrainable]

It's impossible to police these things, but it's like illegal smuggling of contraband, when you think about it. Beer on Sunday? They want you to be sober in Kansas! And fireworks that could start a fire? Not in Johnson county. But in both cases, nothing stops someone from going across county or state lines to get what they want. So, you see a drunk in Kansas, he's probably made a recent trip to Missouri. And a roof fire in Overland Park, KS could more than likely trace the sale of that pop bottle rocket to my county. I guess laws were meant to be broken!

Which is why the restrictive gun laws in places like New York and Chicago don't work very well at keeping guns off the streets. When you can drive five hours from Chicago down to rural northern Missouri or over into Iowa and have your straw buyer buy five or ten guns then drive them back to Chicago in less than a full day no one has any trouble getting one, not the criminals and not the citizens. All those laws really do, is give the local cops an extra charge to bring or a way to hold someone.

Yeah, it is funny how the laws vary. MO used to have very restrictive blue laws, but now doesn't have any. The push to get gambling and the lottery legalized was something to see too if you lived there when it happened. Now it's all accepted as 100% normal.

Also IL is considered a high-tax state, but if you cross from Southern IL into St Louis city and county the RE taxes are almost as high in some part of the MO side and if you include the MO personal property taxes, local taxes could be higher in some cases.

 

[cookiecat]

What an odd bump of a four year old thread about the weather. Fun to read though.

 

[PapaRomantic]

What an odd bump of a four year old thread about the weather. Fun to read though.

I thought the same thing. But it's nice when the midwest gets a little attention, even if it's for the weather and gun laws and buffets!

 

[bluekitty69]

England feels so safe!
I have been to Florida three times, two out of the three I encountered a hurricane, no tornados.

England not safe! You have banngers and mash!..what ever the hell that is!...

 

[tallandtrainable]

What an odd bump of a four year old thread about the weather. Fun to read though.

I thought the same thing. But it's nice when the midwest gets a little attention, even if it's for the weather and gun laws and buffets!

I'm kind of an odd guy. lol.