Birds take a dump every 15 minutes. They normally do it away from their nesting or eating areas, unless they get lazy, hi hi.
Then some birds don't care where they are, but often aim for freshly washed cars and windshields, hi hi.
We did too, regarding no chickens, until last year, now they allow you to have a couple of hens, but no roosters at all.
Of course, when you live on the city/county properly line, the hens go visit the roosters, or the roosters come to visit the hens.
I never see the hen that comes to visit us much during the day, except around lunchtime, since that is when I chose to put out some food for her. Now she has left us one egg every other day in a tilted over plastic bucket in the greenhouse. I promptly move them to the refrigerator.
Back home, I hat a pet rooster when I was young, a beautifully colored Bantam. Nobody ever complained about him.
Windows 12
Re: Windows 12
My guess is that all the folks living in my neighborhood are no more than two generations away from living on a farm. Because of that background I would make a guess that most of my neighbors would not object to chickens running around my back yard, or in their own yards for that matter. But, people go nuts when they live in a planned community. They have to have it managed by an outside company and then organize into different associations to be sure not a single inch of real estate falls short of the thousands of encumbrances they make up. This managed community life is so contrary to country living that I don't understand why more than a handful of people live inside it. There is no beauty in everything looking the same and arranged in ticky tacky style that would make even Barbie and Ken disgusted. I'd probably regret my neighbor having a rooster that crows every morning before I'm ready to get out of bed, but I'd like the option to try it. Personally I see irony in the skies when those ugly looking buzzards fly around looking for road kill. I guess they are not bound by the HOA philosophy. LOL
Re: Windows 12
Oh My, I had an aunt who lived in one of them closed gated communities. It did have some benefits if you never wanted to do anything except sit inside and watch TV. But if you were a do-it-yourselfer, they are definitely not the places you want to live.
In my dad's subdivision, you could not have a commercial vehicle parked in there overnight.
Even when dad used one of the flower shop trucks to go on a fishing trip, they squawked about that too.
He got even with them though. Right before a big fishing trip, he would buy a huge step-van for the greenhouse, and use it for the fishing trip before it had any lettering on it. Since it was not lettered up the subdivision couldn't complain about it, hi hi.
We have a few super big hawks we see flying around over here every now and then.
In my dad's subdivision, you could not have a commercial vehicle parked in there overnight.
Even when dad used one of the flower shop trucks to go on a fishing trip, they squawked about that too.
He got even with them though. Right before a big fishing trip, he would buy a huge step-van for the greenhouse, and use it for the fishing trip before it had any lettering on it. Since it was not lettered up the subdivision couldn't complain about it, hi hi.
We have a few super big hawks we see flying around over here every now and then.
Re: Windows 12
Actually it's only hearsay that the buzzards are in fact buzzards. They could be hawks or some other large bird. The point I find ironic is that whatever they are, they are scavengers feeding off the pristine real estate regulated by the HOA. LOL
To be honest with you, if I could afford to live in one of those upper class gated communities, I would not be a DIY man. I'd have the resources to hire people to do all the trivial stuff. A greenhouse would be located on the roof of one of the buildings overlooking the lake and forests, and that's where I imagine me getting my hands dirty as a man of wealth. My people would bring all the gardening supplies to me via the service elevator, and should I deem it necessary to shop the nurseries in person, my chauffeur would be ready at a moment's notice.
I don't think I would change my interests and devolve into a boob tube viewer. I'd still chat with you from my control center that is connected directly to the Internet via my Cisco Nexus 400G switch and all the the fiber optics it would take to get 100GB bandwidth. Well, I saw it all and how it is possible to live that way. Some folks think I'd be disappointed and not all that content because money can't buy happiness. Maybe not, but it does help attain peace of mind.
To be honest with you, if I could afford to live in one of those upper class gated communities, I would not be a DIY man. I'd have the resources to hire people to do all the trivial stuff. A greenhouse would be located on the roof of one of the buildings overlooking the lake and forests, and that's where I imagine me getting my hands dirty as a man of wealth. My people would bring all the gardening supplies to me via the service elevator, and should I deem it necessary to shop the nurseries in person, my chauffeur would be ready at a moment's notice.
I don't think I would change my interests and devolve into a boob tube viewer. I'd still chat with you from my control center that is connected directly to the Internet via my Cisco Nexus 400G switch and all the the fiber optics it would take to get 100GB bandwidth. Well, I saw it all and how it is possible to live that way. Some folks think I'd be disappointed and not all that content because money can't buy happiness. Maybe not, but it does help attain peace of mind.
Re: Windows 12
We do have a few buzzards down here, but they normally stay in the larger forest areas where dead meat is plentiful.
By all rights, technically, I should be rich right now instead of in the poorhouse.
There are bad people out there that can destroy anyone they so desire.
And then their is the government and their crazy taxes.
Did I tell you that our taxes here DOUBLED this year. Crazy!
You know I spend from around 8 am until 9 pm daily, up here in my office on my computers.
They definitely are time wasters if one is not careful, hi hi.
And I"m known as a good time waster!
By all rights, technically, I should be rich right now instead of in the poorhouse.
There are bad people out there that can destroy anyone they so desire.
And then their is the government and their crazy taxes.
Did I tell you that our taxes here DOUBLED this year. Crazy!
You know I spend from around 8 am until 9 pm daily, up here in my office on my computers.
They definitely are time wasters if one is not careful, hi hi.
And I"m known as a good time waster!
Re: Windows 12
There must be some kind of perverted balance in the nature of things because by all standard reckoning I should be living near the poverty level. That may still be in my future, but at the moment I can afford a comfortable way of living here in Missouri. If I stayed in Illinois, by the way, I would be nearly $60,000 poorer due to real estate taxes that double one year. I have no idea what they did since I left but I know they didn't go down. Missouri will do the same, I'm sure. It isn't cheap to run a city, a county, or a state. I feel very very lucky because I made some meager investments when I was working and the company I worked for gave me an unexpected pension when I left. My wife's contributions from her pension and SSA benefits are what is making retirement bearable.
Now, if there was only something that could be done about getting old and staying healthy, life would be perfect. LOL I just want to remind you that tomorrow is my scheduled hernia repair surgery and I might not be here to send you replies. I don't think I'll be down for more than a couple days so don't go away disappointed if I am AWOL for a while.
Now, if there was only something that could be done about getting old and staying healthy, life would be perfect. LOL I just want to remind you that tomorrow is my scheduled hernia repair surgery and I might not be here to send you replies. I don't think I'll be down for more than a couple days so don't go away disappointed if I am AWOL for a while.
Re: Windows 12
Our taxes here just DOUBLED this year. Good thing the frau is working, hi hi.
I hope your surgery goes smoothly and you heal up super fast.
I hope your surgery goes smoothly and you heal up super fast.
Re: Windows 12
One of the reasons I'm living in Missouri is that our property tax doubled one year to bring us to a total just short of $10K. It was about ten years ago and the economy was not in good shape at that time too so that the taxes actually dropped around a hundred dollars the following year. The rate continued to remain low but the assessed valuation and various county adjustment brought that following taxes up again to just short of $10K. It was at that time what wife and I put s lot of our savings into updating the house so that it could be sold quickly. My first year's property tax here in O'Fallon was just shy of $3,000. It went up about a thousand since we live here. I know that sounds like a lot but compared to the Chicago area it's a bargain.
I'm only going to reply to this post today and get to the others tomorrow, hopefully. The surgery went very well according to the doctor but the anesthesia was a real knock out. I'm still feeling the effects today but should be ready for a longer session on the computer by tomorrow.
I'm only going to reply to this post today and get to the others tomorrow, hopefully. The surgery went very well according to the doctor but the anesthesia was a real knock out. I'm still feeling the effects today but should be ready for a longer session on the computer by tomorrow.
Re: Windows 12
When I moved down here 20 years ago, we only got two tax bills, one for the front lot, and one for the back lot.
Combined they only came to around 250 bucks, which was a jump up from 198 the previous year, before I took over the taxes.
The second year, we still only got two tax bills, front and back lots. Combined they were like 305 dollars.
Around November of our second year, the City ANNEXED us, effective on January 1, the new tax year.
Come tax time we got FOUR Tax Bills. The normal two from the County, and now two from the City.
The county tax bill stayed about the same 308 dollars, and the city was was 335, for a total of 643 bucks.
Now, before the city annexed us, we had excellent service from the county.
The sheriff patrolled our street at least once per day, and some days twice a day, usually weekends.
The road maintenance department would mow and/or maintain the shoulders of the road, which means mowed our ditch too.
And once a year, the watershed company would come by and scrape out the ditch so it was clean again.
After the annexation, we never saw a single police car, unless they were on a call.
No more shoulder maintenance or mowing. This is when I redesigned the ditch and kept it mowed myself.
We've NEVER seen the watershed company come by since then either.
So, for double the taxation, we are getting less than half the services we used to have.
Our real estate taxes have been going up about 7% per year ever since, until this year.
Our combined city/county taxes jumped this year by 90% and are now 1,400 bucks for this years taxes.
Needless to say, everyone is screaming bloody murder over it, but it won't do any good.
Realize, we live in a poorer area of Knoxville, so our real estate taxes are nothing at all like the middle class and upper class areas. My neighbor across the street moved to a middle class area and he complained about his tax bill being 2100 bucks, it is now over 5000 bucks. So he upped and moved back into this area once again.
I hope your surgery went well and you are on the mend, and without too much pain.
Combined they only came to around 250 bucks, which was a jump up from 198 the previous year, before I took over the taxes.
The second year, we still only got two tax bills, front and back lots. Combined they were like 305 dollars.
Around November of our second year, the City ANNEXED us, effective on January 1, the new tax year.
Come tax time we got FOUR Tax Bills. The normal two from the County, and now two from the City.
The county tax bill stayed about the same 308 dollars, and the city was was 335, for a total of 643 bucks.
Now, before the city annexed us, we had excellent service from the county.
The sheriff patrolled our street at least once per day, and some days twice a day, usually weekends.
The road maintenance department would mow and/or maintain the shoulders of the road, which means mowed our ditch too.
And once a year, the watershed company would come by and scrape out the ditch so it was clean again.
After the annexation, we never saw a single police car, unless they were on a call.
No more shoulder maintenance or mowing. This is when I redesigned the ditch and kept it mowed myself.
We've NEVER seen the watershed company come by since then either.
So, for double the taxation, we are getting less than half the services we used to have.
Our real estate taxes have been going up about 7% per year ever since, until this year.
Our combined city/county taxes jumped this year by 90% and are now 1,400 bucks for this years taxes.
Needless to say, everyone is screaming bloody murder over it, but it won't do any good.
Realize, we live in a poorer area of Knoxville, so our real estate taxes are nothing at all like the middle class and upper class areas. My neighbor across the street moved to a middle class area and he complained about his tax bill being 2100 bucks, it is now over 5000 bucks. So he upped and moved back into this area once again.
I hope your surgery went well and you are on the mend, and without too much pain.
Re: Windows 12
i understand annexation. The house we built near Chicago was in unincorporated Cook County. However, we were surrounded on three sides by the village of Roselle, which for some reason I don't recall had jurisdiction over our property and all the building codes that go with it. They would not issue us a residency permit unless we incorporated into Roselle. The part that really was confusing is that all the plat maps showed us to be located in unincorporated Schaumburg. Who owned what or had legal jurisdiction didn't matter as far as the real estate taxes were concerned. The taxes were payed to Cook County and they forwarded the funds to the various services and school districts. The village of Roselle might have got a cut, I don't recall now, but it was small if anything at all. It turned out that the incorporation into Roselle was a good idea in that they were giving us more service than did the county sheriff.
The problem with being part of Cook County is that it was totally dominated by the City of Chicago. Thus whatever it took to run Cook County included whatever small part they played in the Windy City machine. The only itemized tax that actually went to Chicago was the sanitary district fees. Everything else was provided by the county, the township, and of course the village of Roselle. I don't know the justification for our taxes doubling when they did. It seemed to be that all the surrounding counties were doing it, so why not Cook County too? I have to say there was no shortage of services but I certainly didn't get $10K worth of county government support. The school district got the bulk of my taxes and I believe that was what determined the income the county needed every year.
I had talked to our state representative about the tax situation in that she came around every election to see how her constituents are doing. That was nice and she sympathized with poor retired me paying such high taxes. But it came down to her suggesting we move somewhere else if we can't afford where we currently lived. So, here we are in O'Fallon.
The problem with being part of Cook County is that it was totally dominated by the City of Chicago. Thus whatever it took to run Cook County included whatever small part they played in the Windy City machine. The only itemized tax that actually went to Chicago was the sanitary district fees. Everything else was provided by the county, the township, and of course the village of Roselle. I don't know the justification for our taxes doubling when they did. It seemed to be that all the surrounding counties were doing it, so why not Cook County too? I have to say there was no shortage of services but I certainly didn't get $10K worth of county government support. The school district got the bulk of my taxes and I believe that was what determined the income the county needed every year.
I had talked to our state representative about the tax situation in that she came around every election to see how her constituents are doing. That was nice and she sympathized with poor retired me paying such high taxes. But it came down to her suggesting we move somewhere else if we can't afford where we currently lived. So, here we are in O'Fallon.
Re: Windows 12
Where I lived in Creve Coeur was unincorporated also, but we had excellent county services.
There were a lot of benefits to staying unincorporated.
The downfall was, being bordered by three or four cities, and each one of them tried every year to annex us, and we had to go to the polls 4 times a year to turn them down. It was getting tiring, and less and less folks went to the polls each year. The last we won by a very slim margin, so we decided the next time Creve Coeur tried to annex us, we would vote for it, mainly to prevent Chesterfield or Maryland Heights from getting us.
We lost a lot of wonderful things after that took place too.
One we didn't like was we had to use the city trash collection service, which was now paid for in our increased taxes.
The sad thing is, we had Wilson Refuse privately for many years. They picked up our can beside the garage, we didn't have to haul them out to the street, and our last year before being annexed, the fee was only 15 bucks a month.
But there was 30 bucks a month added to the taxes to cover the city trash pickup service, and we had to haul our cans down to the street after dark, and pick them up after the trash men came, which was impossible for most folks since they were at work.
The other thing was, we had beautiful white concrete streets throughout our subdivision, and a large excess amount of funds for street maintenance in our coffers. But when the city took over, the took all that money and burned it up in one year by putting a thin layer of gravel and blacktop over the top of our pristine white streets. Made it so dark down there at night you couldn't see anything anymore. Took three more years to get TWO street lamps installed.
I could probably list over a dozen services we lost when we were annexed.
I don't know what the heck is going on out in California, but just in our small little area, we have over 150 new residents in South Knoxville, who moved here from California. Another 80 to 100 have moved here from southern border states.
If we had that many move into South Knoxville, I wonder how many moved into the other areas of Knoxville City?
The doubling of taxes does not go to fund added services, it goes to fund massive pay increases for the poly-TICK-ians, and each of the new departments every new poly--TICK-ian creates when they first get into office.
One of our crooked Mayors we had here, created over 20 new departments for various things, costing us mega bucks to staff, and the supervision costs for those departments was astronomical. The sad thing is, NONE of them were needed for anything important.
There were a lot of benefits to staying unincorporated.
The downfall was, being bordered by three or four cities, and each one of them tried every year to annex us, and we had to go to the polls 4 times a year to turn them down. It was getting tiring, and less and less folks went to the polls each year. The last we won by a very slim margin, so we decided the next time Creve Coeur tried to annex us, we would vote for it, mainly to prevent Chesterfield or Maryland Heights from getting us.
We lost a lot of wonderful things after that took place too.
One we didn't like was we had to use the city trash collection service, which was now paid for in our increased taxes.
The sad thing is, we had Wilson Refuse privately for many years. They picked up our can beside the garage, we didn't have to haul them out to the street, and our last year before being annexed, the fee was only 15 bucks a month.
But there was 30 bucks a month added to the taxes to cover the city trash pickup service, and we had to haul our cans down to the street after dark, and pick them up after the trash men came, which was impossible for most folks since they were at work.
The other thing was, we had beautiful white concrete streets throughout our subdivision, and a large excess amount of funds for street maintenance in our coffers. But when the city took over, the took all that money and burned it up in one year by putting a thin layer of gravel and blacktop over the top of our pristine white streets. Made it so dark down there at night you couldn't see anything anymore. Took three more years to get TWO street lamps installed.
I could probably list over a dozen services we lost when we were annexed.
I don't know what the heck is going on out in California, but just in our small little area, we have over 150 new residents in South Knoxville, who moved here from California. Another 80 to 100 have moved here from southern border states.
If we had that many move into South Knoxville, I wonder how many moved into the other areas of Knoxville City?
The doubling of taxes does not go to fund added services, it goes to fund massive pay increases for the poly-TICK-ians, and each of the new departments every new poly--TICK-ian creates when they first get into office.
One of our crooked Mayors we had here, created over 20 new departments for various things, costing us mega bucks to staff, and the supervision costs for those departments was astronomical. The sad thing is, NONE of them were needed for anything important.
Re: Windows 12
We talked about immigrant migration in other threads, but as you pointed out it's not only people from outside this country who are migrating. For at least a dozen years now Silicon Valley has been losing residents due to the high cost of living. Most of those LA folks are migrants that end up in places like Colorado where there are still mountains and plenty of human amenities to be had. The irony in that kind of migration is that the influx of new residents is causing the taxes to increase not to mention the exponential growth in housing prices.
So, why Knoxville? Albeit a lovely place to live, I'm sure, it's not like Boulder, Colorado. It's dirt cheap by comparison. Plus Knoxville and vicinity does not have a lot of wild fires, torrential rains, earthquakes, or astronomical costs of living. A lot of people have been displaced due to natural disasters in California and many of them are not wealthy. Then there are folks who have been displaced by various wars around the world and could not sustain a living in a place such as California. I don't know any more than you do about it, but all the above is my best guess.
When I had to incorporate into the local village my house was brand new. Prior to that it was vacant land for about twenty years. All I really knew about the county services were what the local residents told me and they didn't like having to incorporate either. But they did. I was very pleased with the way the village kept the streets, collected trash, provided water (which they bought from Chicago), and gave us fire and police services too. It all came at a high price, but a lot came with it. I just could not see taxes doubling in price in one single year.
So, why Knoxville? Albeit a lovely place to live, I'm sure, it's not like Boulder, Colorado. It's dirt cheap by comparison. Plus Knoxville and vicinity does not have a lot of wild fires, torrential rains, earthquakes, or astronomical costs of living. A lot of people have been displaced due to natural disasters in California and many of them are not wealthy. Then there are folks who have been displaced by various wars around the world and could not sustain a living in a place such as California. I don't know any more than you do about it, but all the above is my best guess.
When I had to incorporate into the local village my house was brand new. Prior to that it was vacant land for about twenty years. All I really knew about the county services were what the local residents told me and they didn't like having to incorporate either. But they did. I was very pleased with the way the village kept the streets, collected trash, provided water (which they bought from Chicago), and gave us fire and police services too. It all came at a high price, but a lot came with it. I just could not see taxes doubling in price in one single year.
Re: Windows 12
We have had like three major forest fires here in the past couple of years. Places like Pigeon Forge lost a lot of businesses on the east end of town.
The Knoxville Utility Board, KUB, that we call Knoxville Unreliable Board, wastes more money than Carter's has pills.
But they don't have anything to show for all the extra costs. No real improvements.
I once did a comparison between St. Louis County, and Knox County, on the number of miles of freshwater pipes, and the number of sewage pipes, and the number of watersheds they maintained.
KUB was more than double the cost per mile for freshwater, four times the cost for sewage piping, and about the same on watershed maintenance. Which as I mentioned, is no longer really maintained properly down here.
We have one of the highest wastewater rates in the country, about midrange on water, and much lower on electric.
The Knoxville Utility Board, KUB, that we call Knoxville Unreliable Board, wastes more money than Carter's has pills.
But they don't have anything to show for all the extra costs. No real improvements.
I once did a comparison between St. Louis County, and Knox County, on the number of miles of freshwater pipes, and the number of sewage pipes, and the number of watersheds they maintained.
KUB was more than double the cost per mile for freshwater, four times the cost for sewage piping, and about the same on watershed maintenance. Which as I mentioned, is no longer really maintained properly down here.
We have one of the highest wastewater rates in the country, about midrange on water, and much lower on electric.
Re: Windows 12
I recognize the point that politicians are in a position to take advantage of the system. They should not, but they do. In addition to the apparent corruption there is what I can only kindly call intelligence. Some folks are better at running large scale operations than are others. Thus when you are not as clever as the next guy, it's likely to cost you more to keep up the service you are trying to provide. A lot of that has been visible lately due to all the people quitting their jobs during the pandemic. Their replacements are not seasoned workers and it's pretty obvious when you try to deal with them. All I can think is that the crooks in Knoxville are not as clever as the crooks in Chicago, for example.
I'm pretty sure the drought we have experienced lately has affected way more than California. Heck, I've seen reports of wild fires in Illinois and Missouri just last fall. They weren't large such as the ones out west, but they were damaging nonetheless. The fires in California are not what you have seen in in places like Pigeon Forge. They were magnitudes of scale larger and many many more people were displaced by them. California is heavily populated in the first place so that any natural disaster would affect a large population of people. Some folks were forced to leave due to destruction and others just got tired of it all. I'm pretty sure Knoxville isn't the only place receiving such migrants, but it seems like it could be an acceptable alternative to California.
I'm pretty sure the drought we have experienced lately has affected way more than California. Heck, I've seen reports of wild fires in Illinois and Missouri just last fall. They weren't large such as the ones out west, but they were damaging nonetheless. The fires in California are not what you have seen in in places like Pigeon Forge. They were magnitudes of scale larger and many many more people were displaced by them. California is heavily populated in the first place so that any natural disaster would affect a large population of people. Some folks were forced to leave due to destruction and others just got tired of it all. I'm pretty sure Knoxville isn't the only place receiving such migrants, but it seems like it could be an acceptable alternative to California.
Re: Windows 12
Well, they are still clever enough to stay out of prison, where they belong!
We've had a few tech companies move her from California, they were smart too, built outside of the clutches of the city limits, and just far enough from the line it is doubtful they will get annexed. Most of them are between Knoxville and Oak Ridge.
The locals out that way call the area Robotic Range and a few Robot Rangeage Ditch, hi hi.
We've had a few tech companies move her from California, they were smart too, built outside of the clutches of the city limits, and just far enough from the line it is doubtful they will get annexed. Most of them are between Knoxville and Oak Ridge.
The locals out that way call the area Robotic Range and a few Robot Rangeage Ditch, hi hi.
Re: Windows 12
What you say is quite right. Not only are individual residents migrating back east but so are businesses. Apparently there is too much of a good thing going on in California and it's costing the people a bundle. I'm not surprised that the relocated companies found places that are beyond the reach of big city politics. Motorola had full time employees scouting the country for exactly those kind of situations. The only real issue with distancing yourself from the city is that you also distance yourself from the labor pool. If your new business is big enough, there won't be enough local people available to hire. Attracting folks from those cities you are trying to avoid is not easy. Nobody likes to travel more than an hour to get to work.
Re: Windows 12
It's only about a 10 minute drive out to Seymour, and about 20 minutes to Oak Ridge.
Lot's of companies have moved out of Knoxville and into Seymour. Including big retailers like Walmart, and lots of offices, and the industrial is more toward Oak Ridge.
The biggest shopping area around here now is way out in Turkey Creek, just outside Knoxville City Limits, and there is a 10 year moratorium on them trying to annex that area.
Lot's of companies have moved out of Knoxville and into Seymour. Including big retailers like Walmart, and lots of offices, and the industrial is more toward Oak Ridge.
The biggest shopping area around here now is way out in Turkey Creek, just outside Knoxville City Limits, and there is a 10 year moratorium on them trying to annex that area.