Thursday, November 8, 2012

South Carolina: A love-hate relationship...

So I think I've mentioned this before but just in case I haven't, I'm originally from Connecticut.  A lovely place to grow up for the most part; 4 distinct seasons, hockey and soccer are very popular, people are to the point, a history lesson to be had in just about every town, and everything is very close together - what's not to love? To say coming to South Carolina for college was a culture shock is an understatement.  After college, I really never expected to live in the state of South Carolina again.  Well, you know what they say about never...

So here's my little list of pros and cons about South Carolina:

Cons

1.  Home and former employer of Gov. Mark Sanford.  You know that Governor who disappeared, telling his staff he was hiking the Appalachian Trail but was really in Argentina visiting his mistress while his wife and kids were wondering where he was (along with the rest of the state)?
2.  Home of Rep Joe Wilson, the Congressional Representative who yelled "You lie!" when President Obama was giving his State of the Union a few years ago.  Ok, that was kind of funny if for no other reason than it's the truth - I don't think there is any politician alive who knows how to be honest.
3. In my lovely little town, they are suing the former city manager to get his severance package money back, money they offered him.  Amount they want him to pay back - $1.1 million, amount they've spent in legal fees to get said funds back - $2.3 million...I must be missing something here...
4.  The world revolves around Clemson or Carolina football even though 95% of the fans did not attend either school.  I cannot even begin to tell you how sick I am of orange.
5.  When I first moved back to SC, I was coming from Houston, the 5th largest city in the country.  And for the 2 years I lived there, we never had a serial killer.  Within the first 2 months of being back in SC, you guessed it, serial killer on the loose - what gives?
6.  Recycling is optional.  What?!?!  So we end up with idiots who leave things on the side of the road (or in the middle of the road) that do things like this to my trailer:


 

Pros

1.  This is a biggie - some of the cheapest gas in the country: currently in the neighborhood of $2.88/gal.  Now that's $2 more per gallon than I was paying while in college 10 years ago but whatever - it's still cheaper than most of the country.
2.  Seriously, some of the best sunsets I have every seen and this includes all the ones I saw while deployed on a ship (middle of the ocean = almost zero light pollution = amazing views of the sky especially sunrises, sunsets, and the stars).

 

3.  Plenty of horse stuff - 1.5 hours to Tryon, 2.5 hours to Aiken, 4 hours to Southern Pines, 5 hours to the Virginia Horse Trials, and 6.5 hours to Lexington, KY.
4.  Where else can you shoot an opossum at midnight in a residential neighborhood and not worry about the neighbors calling the cops?  Please note *I* would never shoot a poor, defenseless opossum so maybe this should go on the Cons side...
5.  South Carolina doesn't tax my Navy drill pay.  Now that I've mentioned that, why do I have to pay federal taxes on my drill pay?  Couldn't they just pay me $100 less and save me the trouble of having to file?  Seems logical to me...
6.  While I may complain about the heat, you really can ride all year long if you're not a baby like me.  Ground doesn't freeze like it does in New England and while we may get a few cold snaps, things warm right up, sometimes a little too much...;)

 
Charlie enjoying the lovely fall weather - sunny and 65.

I've got a lot more things to add to these lists so maybe I'll revisit this topic but I need to plan a little better next time as I'm a little light on photo evidence.

 
Charlie modeling his lovely fleece - please ignore the mess in the background.

As for the Pony, he's good.  Enjoying the weather and keeping his older girlfriend on her toes.  More on him and our plans this weekend if I manage to get all my school work done.

11 comments:

  1. Charlie is looking awesome! I also stayed where I went to college, but it wasn't as dramatic as your move. I'm jealous of your closeness to eventing heaven!

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    1. Thanks Jen! He's almost as cute as Connor but not quite. I seriously covet your pony - too bad I'm 5'8" and my feet would probably drag on the ground if I got a pony...;) But I still want Connor in spite of how ridiculous I would look!

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  2. Charlie is so handsome. He and Hue are twins with their coolers :) It looks great are Charlie. I bet he doesn't try to do the same demo derby on his (classy horse...).

    I have friends in Landrum, SC and it is so beautiful there. I visited in May right before it got too hot and I didn't want to leave!

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    Replies
    1. I was so thinking the twin thing too! Especially when I saw a picture of Hue in his navy Amigo turnout - Charlie's got one just like it.

      Landrum is so cute - they have such a lovely little downtown area. I'm really hoping to get a job up in that area as I think Charlie would be quite happy living there. ;)

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  3. Serial killers? No fun. Between your 1200 lb man and your handling skills, I suppose you'd come out fine regardless. ;)

    Love the cooler on Charlie! His wardrobe seems to rival even Cuna's.

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    1. Haha! I hope so - just couldn't believe it when it happened. All my friends from Houston were making fun of me.

      Charlie might be catching up in the clothes department but Cuna is still King of the tack closet! ;)

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  4. Much love for that cooler. He looks quite sharp in it.

    As for the recycling.....that almost scares me as much as the serial killers. Almost.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Megs! Yeah, the recycling thing kinda threw me for a loop - I think this the first place I've lived that doesn't give you a recycling bucket to go along with the trash bucket. :( But never fear - we recycle! :-)

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  5. Charlie is sooooooo cute!!!

    LOVE his new cooler! ;)

    btw your cons crack me up!

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  6. thank you for the pros and cons list! I'm weighing out moving down to South Carolina to be closer to my parents, and since I have lived in Connecticut my entire life (with the exception of Brooklyn, NY for college) your list definitely helped me get a better sense of the advantages. I too love to ride, and while upstate CT is a great place to do so, Im currently living in Norwalk and miss the farm life and open space quite a bit... cost of living and population density is dramatically different as well.

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