We had an interesting (to me) experience yesterday, but in the final analysis it''s about as normal as cheese on apple pie. I'm a city boy through and through, and one of the attractions of O'Fallon is that it too is technically a city with a population in excess of 80,000 people. But this is Missouri, and O'Fallon is 30 miles away from St Louis so that the city people here are not like the city people around Chicago. I've told you about some of the things my neighbors do which apparently are perfectly normal around here but totally foreign to me. I think part of the difference I observe in the culture has to do with the fact that a lot of the people I live with have rural roots. Many moved to the big city of O'Fallon after they gave up the farm. Or after their parents quit farming. Farmers are not like city folks, and I can sense the difference but I can't define it. LOL
Yesterday wife and I were in the kitchen doing lunch. She was at the table eating her victuals and I was messing around the counter trying to decide on something I would like to prepare. The weather was absolutely perfect so that all the windows could be open and allow the warm spring air to flow through the house. Wife had returned from a shopping trip before she prepared lunch and left the garage door open. If we had a screen on that entry door to the garage it would have been open too. But no screen and the door was shut. We heard a knocking on that door, which is VERY unusual. Any deliveries or solicitations occur at the front door after the doorbell was rung. So, who was knocking on our door? The rear door nonetheless. I headed toward the door to see who was there when it suddenly opened. A charming older lady came in smiling and greeted me. I smiled and welcomed her. She continued past me and headed toward the kitchen where wife was seated with her lunch. This visitor announced that she was here to "pick up Bree." At that point she realized Bree wasn't here. We don't know anybody by that name. Obviously she was in the wrong house and we all laughed about it. She claimed her son gave her directions which somebody got wrong, but no harm was done.
No harm was done, but back in the Windy City if you enter a house from the garage without being invited in, more likely than not you will be shot first and questions asked later. LOL It was unusual for anybody to come to our hose via the back door, but then, the garage door was open. That was unusual for us to do in the first place, but down here it means don't bother using the front door. I've seen this approach with my neighbors. People drive up the driveway and head to the rear door, be it in the garage or around the back. In fact the people directly across the street have two kids and I often see friends being dropped off or picked up that very way. So, this charming older lady thought nothing of walking into a strangers' house and marching right into the midst of things even though she admittedly didn't know where she was, or was supposed to be. She had no fears and probably does this on a daily basis with people she knows. In fact I bet most if not all my neighbors do the same thing. I was amused, but after giving it some deep thought, I am totally befuddled by the mindset that allowed this to happen. It's innocuous to be sure, but a first time occurrence in my 76 year history.
Friendly Neighbor
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Re: Friendly Neighbor
You don't have to define it, it is what I was raised with, including big city life, hi hi.
You can take Gomer out of the country and place him in the city, but you can't take country out of Gomer.
Vice versa for a city slicker, hi hi.
Now if that don't beat all, now that's what you call old towne down home country. Come on in was the norm!
When I was growing up, we never locked our doors, and when neighbors came, they always came in through the breezeway, a closed patio like area between the house and garage, all under the same roof, and most would knock on the back door first, then crack it open and yell, it's only me, Bill from next door.
That was the kind of life where I was raised, hi hi. Loved it too!
You can take Gomer out of the country and place him in the city, but you can't take country out of Gomer.
Vice versa for a city slicker, hi hi.
Now if that don't beat all, now that's what you call old towne down home country. Come on in was the norm!
When I was growing up, we never locked our doors, and when neighbors came, they always came in through the breezeway, a closed patio like area between the house and garage, all under the same roof, and most would knock on the back door first, then crack it open and yell, it's only me, Bill from next door.
That was the kind of life where I was raised, hi hi. Loved it too!
Re: Friendly Neighbor
I'm with you. Our unexpected visitor reminded me of the good ol' days when we actually knew people who might be interested in visiting us on purpose.
I read things here and there about evildoers roaming the countryside, but that doesn't seem to be a big issue with the local folks. They still leave their keys in the car while shopping, and only begrudgingly close their garage doors. I love the atmosphere, but as I mentioned elsewhere these really friendly people of O'Fallon have a way of keeping their distance too. My neighbor to the east is one of those obvious examples of being aloof. We lived next to each other for nearly five years now but I've spoken with them no more than two or three times. However, one day I was out there doing something by the garage and a gentleman from next door came over to say hello. It was Kevin, the father of either the landlord or landlady next door; I am not certain which. Kevin and i had a good chat but I did not see him again for maybe a year. He came knocking on our front door one summer day (our garage door was closed) just to say hi. Then he immediately stepped inside and I had to get out of the way to let him in. I didn't invite him in because at first I didn't recognize who he was. My wife of many years had her leg in a cast at the time and Kevin went right up to her and started chatting about it as if they were old friends for many years. It was amazing. Again, about a year later, Kevin came knocking again. This time wife answered the door because I was in the Command and Control Center doing what I do best. Wife called me over and said this man claims he knows me. It took a few minutes for me to figure out who he was, but he had no problems continuing the long established friendship with conversation. Apparently he had some kind of heart problem which is why he wasn't around sooner.
I like Kevin. He's probably about my age and is a very friendly type of individual. But Kevin doesn't live around here. His son/daughter does. The contrast between the two generations is in your face obvious. We have had conversations with some of the other neighbors, but nobody ever came knocking on our door just to say hello. I will say that I am amazed at the people directly across from me, the Figg family. They brought us cookies the very first year we lived here and have kept it up each Christmas so far. That is outstanding, I will admit. And they do wave at us and will say hello. But they never came over to visit like Kevin nor did they ever invite us to their pool parties. LOL It's a strange situation, Gary. All I can say is that it's a good thing I'm a curmudgeon.
I read things here and there about evildoers roaming the countryside, but that doesn't seem to be a big issue with the local folks. They still leave their keys in the car while shopping, and only begrudgingly close their garage doors. I love the atmosphere, but as I mentioned elsewhere these really friendly people of O'Fallon have a way of keeping their distance too. My neighbor to the east is one of those obvious examples of being aloof. We lived next to each other for nearly five years now but I've spoken with them no more than two or three times. However, one day I was out there doing something by the garage and a gentleman from next door came over to say hello. It was Kevin, the father of either the landlord or landlady next door; I am not certain which. Kevin and i had a good chat but I did not see him again for maybe a year. He came knocking on our front door one summer day (our garage door was closed) just to say hi. Then he immediately stepped inside and I had to get out of the way to let him in. I didn't invite him in because at first I didn't recognize who he was. My wife of many years had her leg in a cast at the time and Kevin went right up to her and started chatting about it as if they were old friends for many years. It was amazing. Again, about a year later, Kevin came knocking again. This time wife answered the door because I was in the Command and Control Center doing what I do best. Wife called me over and said this man claims he knows me. It took a few minutes for me to figure out who he was, but he had no problems continuing the long established friendship with conversation. Apparently he had some kind of heart problem which is why he wasn't around sooner.
I like Kevin. He's probably about my age and is a very friendly type of individual. But Kevin doesn't live around here. His son/daughter does. The contrast between the two generations is in your face obvious. We have had conversations with some of the other neighbors, but nobody ever came knocking on our door just to say hello. I will say that I am amazed at the people directly across from me, the Figg family. They brought us cookies the very first year we lived here and have kept it up each Christmas so far. That is outstanding, I will admit. And they do wave at us and will say hello. But they never came over to visit like Kevin nor did they ever invite us to their pool parties. LOL It's a strange situation, Gary. All I can say is that it's a good thing I'm a curmudgeon.
Re: Friendly Neighbor
My wife and I went across the street to visit our new neighbor about two months ago.
This came after we talked at the mailboxes a few times.
I don't get out much, but the frau is down by the road every day and they talk.
We used to talk with the neighbors next door to the west, even exchanged gifts a few times.
Now they just go about there business and rarely even say hi anymore.
The neighbors to the east have always been problem folks.
We thought we finally got a nice couple, but they are never home, seems they are actually living somewhere else.
Then one door down from them to the west, we have continuous noise pollution that starts around 9 am and doesn't end until after 10 pm. So loud they actually do rattle our windows, and that is from two doors away.
There have been a few weeknights they have kept going until around 3 am.
I think this is one of the reasons our other neighbor never comes home anymore.
Times and people change. Right after I moved here, everyone up and down the street were great.
Then little by little they have all died off, or moved, or never leave their house due to illness.
Sound familiar, hi hi.
This came after we talked at the mailboxes a few times.
I don't get out much, but the frau is down by the road every day and they talk.
We used to talk with the neighbors next door to the west, even exchanged gifts a few times.
Now they just go about there business and rarely even say hi anymore.
The neighbors to the east have always been problem folks.
We thought we finally got a nice couple, but they are never home, seems they are actually living somewhere else.
Then one door down from them to the west, we have continuous noise pollution that starts around 9 am and doesn't end until after 10 pm. So loud they actually do rattle our windows, and that is from two doors away.
There have been a few weeknights they have kept going until around 3 am.
I think this is one of the reasons our other neighbor never comes home anymore.
Times and people change. Right after I moved here, everyone up and down the street were great.
Then little by little they have all died off, or moved, or never leave their house due to illness.
Sound familiar, hi hi.
Re: Friendly Neighbor
In the final analysis, I came to Missouri to die. The trend is for me to die alone and unnoticed. I don't go out much so that the neighbors would not be suspicious of my absence until the mailbox filled up and there was no more room to add anything to it. That could take months to happen. At the moment the kids talk to me via the clever phone messaging system. That doesn't happen every day and it would not be unusual for me not to reply to everything they write. There is a certain kind of comfort here that I didn't experience near the Windy City. It's nice to be left alone, but as soon as I walk out to the back yard I'm in the line of sight of at least ten neighbors. My old house had a forest and an acre of land that separated me and the closest neighbor. It's kind of odd. Those folks out back can just about reach out and touch me; they live so close. The people out front to whom I have spoken on occasion need to walk a few steps just to hear what I'm saying. It seems like the further away they are the friendlier they become.
By far the majority of the neighbors are raising a family at home. Most of the rest are pregnant and expecting a family. A few, very few, of the neighbors seem to be of Social Security age. I know of one who lives way down the block next to the token black family. I've never heard a disparaging word about old people or ethnic groups. Everybody is accepted, and I think I know why. It's those 43 pages of covenants we all live by and are enforced by the HOA. If you so much as leave your unlicensed truck parked in your driveway out of the way from any traffic, POW. Your neighbor calls the meter maid who gives you a citation for violating some obscure rule. They give you a couple weeks to fix it before they take you to court. If that same truck had a valid tag on it, nobody would give it a second look. So, when you follow the rules, all the rules, nobody gives a hoot. In fact they tend to ignore you. I follow the rules, plus I'm one of those senior citizens everybody cares about but leaves to themselves.
This place is so plain vanilla that when I die it will be out of boredom.
By far the majority of the neighbors are raising a family at home. Most of the rest are pregnant and expecting a family. A few, very few, of the neighbors seem to be of Social Security age. I know of one who lives way down the block next to the token black family. I've never heard a disparaging word about old people or ethnic groups. Everybody is accepted, and I think I know why. It's those 43 pages of covenants we all live by and are enforced by the HOA. If you so much as leave your unlicensed truck parked in your driveway out of the way from any traffic, POW. Your neighbor calls the meter maid who gives you a citation for violating some obscure rule. They give you a couple weeks to fix it before they take you to court. If that same truck had a valid tag on it, nobody would give it a second look. So, when you follow the rules, all the rules, nobody gives a hoot. In fact they tend to ignore you. I follow the rules, plus I'm one of those senior citizens everybody cares about but leaves to themselves.
This place is so plain vanilla that when I die it will be out of boredom.
Re: Friendly Neighbor
I've only lived one place that had an HOA, and that was my house in Creve Coeur, and it was a fairly lenient HOA on top of it all.
They did control what color you could paint your house if you chose to change colors. I thought this was good since they already had a whole list of approved colors, and what I wanted to do was on it. You could not paint your house bright purple with yellow stripes, hi hi.
For almost all of the years Debi's parents lived here in this subdivision, and as I said, most were their relatives anyhow.
But nearly all the neighbors were their same age, buying here after the war, so most were in their late 20s at the time.
Then they all grew older, and older, and older, and it wasn't until after they died off that other age groups appeared, and quite often it was their kids who took over for a while, until they could afford a new house elsewhere.
And due to the age of the subdivision, many of the houses were bought by landlords to rent out.
It wasn't until after a few houses burned down, or were razed, that newer homes started to appear in this subdivision, and then even the older homes, many of them got remodeled on the outside to look more like the newer homes.
If you want to find REAL BORING, come down here to Knoxville, hi hi.
There is literally nothing to do here, hi hi.
But then at my age and health condition, I'm content just sitting at my computer all day.
They did control what color you could paint your house if you chose to change colors. I thought this was good since they already had a whole list of approved colors, and what I wanted to do was on it. You could not paint your house bright purple with yellow stripes, hi hi.
For almost all of the years Debi's parents lived here in this subdivision, and as I said, most were their relatives anyhow.
But nearly all the neighbors were their same age, buying here after the war, so most were in their late 20s at the time.
Then they all grew older, and older, and older, and it wasn't until after they died off that other age groups appeared, and quite often it was their kids who took over for a while, until they could afford a new house elsewhere.
And due to the age of the subdivision, many of the houses were bought by landlords to rent out.
It wasn't until after a few houses burned down, or were razed, that newer homes started to appear in this subdivision, and then even the older homes, many of them got remodeled on the outside to look more like the newer homes.
If you want to find REAL BORING, come down here to Knoxville, hi hi.
There is literally nothing to do here, hi hi.
But then at my age and health condition, I'm content just sitting at my computer all day.
Re: Friendly Neighbor
When people whine to me, I listen intently. My only comment afterwards generally is something to the effect that many things we bring upon ourselves. So it is with my situation here. I didn't have to live here. We had other cities and states on our list. I was told in advance that the social structure here was highly family oriented, Catholic, and, how can I say this politely, politically conservative. We were looking for an old house because we knew they were built better than what is happening in this century. I lived without an HOA for 71 years and even those neighbors who customized their homes deliberately to not look like the others were accepted. Not only that, when they sold their homes there was no shortage of buyers. I guess plastic windows are a requirement in Missouri. I've never seen a house down here without them. Wood must be outlawed or perhaps disintegrates in all the summer heat. They leak and the seals are guaranteed for not one day longer than ten years. My metal clad wood windows exposed to the brutal Chicago weather lasted the entire 25 years I lived there. I knew all these things ahead of time, and still chose to move here.
A few unexpected discoveries were made once we settled in. I knew the food would be different, and it didn't bother me for a year or two. It was fun exploring the landscape trying to find what I was accustomed to cooking. Well, as I said, it's plain vanilla here. Ethnic food exists, but it's fake. Salsiccia seems to be the popular style "Italian" sausage if you live in Missouri, St Louis in particular. Never heard of it in Chicago, and there was a time when the Italians owned Chicago. Chicago style Italian sausage is not Salsiccia; the former has flavor and good taste. I can find German potato salad, but veal for schnitzel only exists at one store for a few weeks out of the year. Asking for Spätzle only gets me a confounded look. They say I can get all the Polish rye, sausages, and pork that you would find in Warsaw if I don't mind traveling 33 miles eastward to St Louis. They sell kielbasa here, or I should say kielbasa flavored hot dogs. Basmati rice can be found if you know where to look for it at Schnucks. You can't get it in an Indian cuisine restaurant because, well, those kind of places don't exist in O'Fallon, St Charles County, or the entire state of Missouri as far as I know. And the list goes on and on. I'm not starving here, but the variety of food I enjoyed a few years back is non-existent in this state. And even the food I can get and enjoy must be cooked on an electric cook top.
Life can be pretty boring for an outsider like myself, but as I said I chose to come here. I knew adjustments would be needed, and I'm doing my best to adapt. I'm certain there is much to do if I don't mind traveling a bit to do it. And if I reached out to those aloof neighbors, how could they ignore me? So I'm a victim of my own choices, like we all are. In spite of all that, there is one discovery I made that is extremely delightful, and I know you will appreciate this. The cost of living and the associated quality of life here in O'Fallon is substantially improved over the Chicago suburbs from whence I came. Up there I was on the exact same fixed income that I am here and was breaking even. If I stayed up there until I died, I'd run out of retirement funds in about a dozen years. The real estate taxes in particular were a killer. We just bought two new (for us) automobiles from CarMax by using the money I didn't have to give to the county of Cook wherein I used to live. The remaining cash is about the same as the cost of the two cars. After five years of living here I am 20% ahead of the game, and that is compounded each year I don't spend it. I don't know what the future holds, but at the moment it doesn't look like I will run out of cash before I die.
A few unexpected discoveries were made once we settled in. I knew the food would be different, and it didn't bother me for a year or two. It was fun exploring the landscape trying to find what I was accustomed to cooking. Well, as I said, it's plain vanilla here. Ethnic food exists, but it's fake. Salsiccia seems to be the popular style "Italian" sausage if you live in Missouri, St Louis in particular. Never heard of it in Chicago, and there was a time when the Italians owned Chicago. Chicago style Italian sausage is not Salsiccia; the former has flavor and good taste. I can find German potato salad, but veal for schnitzel only exists at one store for a few weeks out of the year. Asking for Spätzle only gets me a confounded look. They say I can get all the Polish rye, sausages, and pork that you would find in Warsaw if I don't mind traveling 33 miles eastward to St Louis. They sell kielbasa here, or I should say kielbasa flavored hot dogs. Basmati rice can be found if you know where to look for it at Schnucks. You can't get it in an Indian cuisine restaurant because, well, those kind of places don't exist in O'Fallon, St Charles County, or the entire state of Missouri as far as I know. And the list goes on and on. I'm not starving here, but the variety of food I enjoyed a few years back is non-existent in this state. And even the food I can get and enjoy must be cooked on an electric cook top.
Life can be pretty boring for an outsider like myself, but as I said I chose to come here. I knew adjustments would be needed, and I'm doing my best to adapt. I'm certain there is much to do if I don't mind traveling a bit to do it. And if I reached out to those aloof neighbors, how could they ignore me? So I'm a victim of my own choices, like we all are. In spite of all that, there is one discovery I made that is extremely delightful, and I know you will appreciate this. The cost of living and the associated quality of life here in O'Fallon is substantially improved over the Chicago suburbs from whence I came. Up there I was on the exact same fixed income that I am here and was breaking even. If I stayed up there until I died, I'd run out of retirement funds in about a dozen years. The real estate taxes in particular were a killer. We just bought two new (for us) automobiles from CarMax by using the money I didn't have to give to the county of Cook wherein I used to live. The remaining cash is about the same as the cost of the two cars. After five years of living here I am 20% ahead of the game, and that is compounded each year I don't spend it. I don't know what the future holds, but at the moment it doesn't look like I will run out of cash before I die.
Re: Friendly Neighbor
Since I was raised in the mid-west, that is where all the foods I like are located.
Moving south is about like your moving from Chicago.
One of my favorite foods is BBQ Spare Ribs, and they never heard of them down here.
Most of the things these southerners think are great, I couldn't stand to eat.
Perhaps that is why it is easy for me to keep my weight down, when most folks down here have a round shape, hi hi.
There were tons of cultural areas around the counties that surrounded St. Louis county, and we often traveled to many of them for lunch or dinner. There were also many I didn't know about until I was dating Barb and she took me to her favorite areas, but once again, I didn't like those kinds of foods, hi hi.
The taxes in St. Louis County, especially Personal Property Taxes were real killers.
On my car they were over 600 bucks per year, not counting the plates and stickers.
They say we don't have personal property tax down here, but that is a lie, they just call it a different name, but at least it is cheap compared to St. Louis. Our Wheel Tax is only like 60 bucks a year, and it only came about about a decade ago.
Although they are old, both of our cars and our house is paid for in full!
Which helps with our budget!
Moving south is about like your moving from Chicago.
One of my favorite foods is BBQ Spare Ribs, and they never heard of them down here.
Most of the things these southerners think are great, I couldn't stand to eat.
Perhaps that is why it is easy for me to keep my weight down, when most folks down here have a round shape, hi hi.
There were tons of cultural areas around the counties that surrounded St. Louis county, and we often traveled to many of them for lunch or dinner. There were also many I didn't know about until I was dating Barb and she took me to her favorite areas, but once again, I didn't like those kinds of foods, hi hi.
The taxes in St. Louis County, especially Personal Property Taxes were real killers.
On my car they were over 600 bucks per year, not counting the plates and stickers.
They say we don't have personal property tax down here, but that is a lie, they just call it a different name, but at least it is cheap compared to St. Louis. Our Wheel Tax is only like 60 bucks a year, and it only came about about a decade ago.
Although they are old, both of our cars and our house is paid for in full!
Which helps with our budget!
Re: Friendly Neighbor
I think you have the right idea when it comes to finances. When I retired a new household rule was put into effect. No outstanding credit is allowed for more than 30 days. We paid off the house, the cars, the credit cards, and have been paying cash for everything ever since. Odd as it seems, we probably are buying more now than when we ran a high balance on multiple credit cards. LOL The idea, of course, was to preserve whatever savings we had. It's inevitable that the time will come when (most likely medical) expenses become so great that we will need to dip into our reserves. Before we moved here the plan was to buy one more car with our savings and that would be our last one. I guess that is what happened, but I never expected our savings to increase. We have some investments in equities too and those have increased over the years as well. But that is totally out of our control in that the ebbs and flows of the market determine the value in those funds; not to mention the effects of inflation. So, I must agree with you that living debt free has been the plan ever since we stopped working for a living.
Spare ribs ... mmm, yummy. There is no shortage of that meat here in the STL metro area. In fact they went one step further (down the rib cage) and also have St Louis style ribs. While both of those are fine, especially when BBQ-ed outside, the first choice of ribs in this house is baby back ribs. As it happens I also like beef ribs, but only the boneless short rib variety. I cook those is a crock pot with BBQ sauce and we feast on it every time. I am slightly surprised to learn that spare ribs don't exist down south. Speaking of which I expected to see an abundance of Southern Fried Chicken now that I'm 300 miles to the south of my birthplace. Well, as I said many times, people here are plain vanilla. I can get catfish sooner than Southern Fried Chicken. That's not a bad deal for us because we minimize the frying of anything. It's just that I can't remember the last time I ate a fried chicken leg. I'm not sure I was married yet.
No doubt there are a gajillion attractions within driving distance I have yet to discover. About the only thing I have a desire to do is go up that Arch I've heard about nearly all my life but never got close to it. Chances are I never will get a close look because my wife of many years is allergic to heights. She shudders when we have to cross a bridge when driving and no way are we going to end up on the observation deck of anything taller than she is.
Spare ribs ... mmm, yummy. There is no shortage of that meat here in the STL metro area. In fact they went one step further (down the rib cage) and also have St Louis style ribs. While both of those are fine, especially when BBQ-ed outside, the first choice of ribs in this house is baby back ribs. As it happens I also like beef ribs, but only the boneless short rib variety. I cook those is a crock pot with BBQ sauce and we feast on it every time. I am slightly surprised to learn that spare ribs don't exist down south. Speaking of which I expected to see an abundance of Southern Fried Chicken now that I'm 300 miles to the south of my birthplace. Well, as I said many times, people here are plain vanilla. I can get catfish sooner than Southern Fried Chicken. That's not a bad deal for us because we minimize the frying of anything. It's just that I can't remember the last time I ate a fried chicken leg. I'm not sure I was married yet.
No doubt there are a gajillion attractions within driving distance I have yet to discover. About the only thing I have a desire to do is go up that Arch I've heard about nearly all my life but never got close to it. Chances are I never will get a close look because my wife of many years is allergic to heights. She shudders when we have to cross a bridge when driving and no way are we going to end up on the observation deck of anything taller than she is.
Re: Friendly Neighbor
I too pay off my credit card every month, just to make sure I don't end up in debt again.
I also don't buy any of the things I used to buy that were for short term use then set aside and never used again.
My dad could really do up a bunch of racks of spare ribs like nobody else I knew. They always came out perfect.
I'm sure a lot of that had to do with what prep-work my mom did ahead of time so dad could get all the praise, hi hi.
Although I used to climb those 1000 foot tall radio towers for a few years. Not I'm terrified of a 6 foot ladder.
The most scary part about going up in the arch is the tiny elevator car ride. It has to tilt and turn on the way up.
If you are at all claustrophobic don't go, hi hi. Being inside the top is no different than being inside an office building.
Beautiful view from up there! Hey, I proposed to Debi at the top of the Gateway Arch! So nervous I put the ring on her wrong hand, hi hi. No biggie, we just flipped the picture over backwards, hi hi.
I also don't buy any of the things I used to buy that were for short term use then set aside and never used again.
My dad could really do up a bunch of racks of spare ribs like nobody else I knew. They always came out perfect.
I'm sure a lot of that had to do with what prep-work my mom did ahead of time so dad could get all the praise, hi hi.
Although I used to climb those 1000 foot tall radio towers for a few years. Not I'm terrified of a 6 foot ladder.
The most scary part about going up in the arch is the tiny elevator car ride. It has to tilt and turn on the way up.
If you are at all claustrophobic don't go, hi hi. Being inside the top is no different than being inside an office building.
Beautiful view from up there! Hey, I proposed to Debi at the top of the Gateway Arch! So nervous I put the ring on her wrong hand, hi hi. No biggie, we just flipped the picture over backwards, hi hi.
Re: Friendly Neighbor
I don't have any feel for the dimensions of the Gateway Arch. It never occurred to me that the elevator up would tilt to follow the curvature. I would not have an issue with the closed quarters, but my wife and her vertigo probably would make it a terrifying ride for her. I've been atop of a few sky scrapers downtown Chicago and I know what the view of St Louis could be like. In fact my wife worked inside one of those skyscrapers for many years. That never bothered her Acrophobia for some reason.
I've read a lot about how to prepare ribs and it's tricky at best. Well, maybe not tricky but there is a definite technique to follow that involves dissolving the collagen. I bought a high tech meat thermometer recently and they have cooking certain foods down to a science. When it comes to ribs there are two or three stages of temperature that the meat must experience in order to dissolve all the connective tissue and make the meat tender. Of course their thermometer would make that job simple. LOL I don't use their approach and as I mentioned earlier baby back ribs are our favorite and that has to do with the fact that there isn't that much collagen connecting the muscle. What is there has to be dealt with correctly, but that's just a matter of slow cooking the rack inside an aluminum foil bag. It works perfectly every time and the only variation is the rub you may select to put on the ribs first. Sweet Baby Ray makes a BBQ sauce for afterwards, and we love that stuff too.
I've read a lot about how to prepare ribs and it's tricky at best. Well, maybe not tricky but there is a definite technique to follow that involves dissolving the collagen. I bought a high tech meat thermometer recently and they have cooking certain foods down to a science. When it comes to ribs there are two or three stages of temperature that the meat must experience in order to dissolve all the connective tissue and make the meat tender. Of course their thermometer would make that job simple. LOL I don't use their approach and as I mentioned earlier baby back ribs are our favorite and that has to do with the fact that there isn't that much collagen connecting the muscle. What is there has to be dealt with correctly, but that's just a matter of slow cooking the rack inside an aluminum foil bag. It works perfectly every time and the only variation is the rub you may select to put on the ribs first. Sweet Baby Ray makes a BBQ sauce for afterwards, and we love that stuff too.
Re: Friendly Neighbor
They've had a few people who made it to the top of the arch that they had to sedate to get them back down again, hi hi.
That's how much the elevator ride to the top scared them.
I guess I like spare ribs the best, because that is what I was raised on.
That's how much the elevator ride to the top scared them.
I guess I like spare ribs the best, because that is what I was raised on.
Re: Friendly Neighbor
They don't make arches as tall as the Gateway Arch which happens to peak at 630 feet. I've been up the Hancock Tower which is (I had to look this up) 1128 feet tall not counting the antennae which make the tip of those 1499 feet off the ground. I see that they now are charging a fee to get in the Hancock observation deck, but when I was there it was free. The ride up to the top of Hancock can be made on a special elevator without stopping. I recall them making a big deal out of how they did it but I don't have a clue now. I can't imagine it being done with cables; it was very smooth and a quick trip to the top. As I recall my ears did not bleed, but they did pop. As far as the Gateway Arch goes I was surprised to read that it is THE tallest one in the world.
Re: Friendly Neighbor
I probably shouldn't mention this, but we had a couple of tall buildings in St. Louis with special Penthouse Elevators. Due to their design, they did not stop at floors on the way up or down, although they could be set to do that, but it would be annoying to many.
These types of elevators always worked in Tandem, when one was at the top, the other was at the bottom. The same sets of cables were hooked to both elevator cars. And up in the top engine building there was a huge idler arm that made sure as the cable stretched, the cars would be in their proper places. Every so often when they were new, or after the cables were replaced, they had to shut them down while they reset the idler arm to take up the slack. So apparently those cables do stretch a lot when they are new. Think of them sorta like a seesaw in a way. The gateway arch works that way too. When one goes up, the other comes down, only in their case it is sorta like a ferris wheel, hi hi.
I think the arch is only the tallest monument, or perhaps only the tallest arch type construction.
We've waited and waited for Illinois to build a monument of a guy playing croquet, aiming toward the arch, hi hi.
These types of elevators always worked in Tandem, when one was at the top, the other was at the bottom. The same sets of cables were hooked to both elevator cars. And up in the top engine building there was a huge idler arm that made sure as the cable stretched, the cars would be in their proper places. Every so often when they were new, or after the cables were replaced, they had to shut them down while they reset the idler arm to take up the slack. So apparently those cables do stretch a lot when they are new. Think of them sorta like a seesaw in a way. The gateway arch works that way too. When one goes up, the other comes down, only in their case it is sorta like a ferris wheel, hi hi.
I think the arch is only the tallest monument, or perhaps only the tallest arch type construction.
We've waited and waited for Illinois to build a monument of a guy playing croquet, aiming toward the arch, hi hi.
Re: Friendly Neighbor
What a brilliant idea! LOL The blurb I read mentioned the STL arch was indeed the tallest arch structure. There are non-arch monuments that exceed that height.We've waited and waited for Illinois to build a monument of a guy playing croquet, aiming toward the arch, hi hi.
I never would have thought about the "see-saw" approach to elevators. I'm sure there were at least one pair of them, and perhaps more. I'm guessing the cables weigh more than the elevator full of passengers too. The most striking memory I have of my ride is the short time it took to go up 100 stories. In addition to the observation deck elevator(s) the others were segmented by height. One only did the first 25 floors, for example. The next one did 25 - 50, and so on. People actually work in that building and I guess they don't want to wait all day to stop at all the 100 floors of the building.
Re: Friendly Neighbor
Piston driven elevators are limited to 8 to 10 floors, and normally not used in buildings over 4 floors though.
Cable and Reel systems are also limited by how much cable can be wound up on the reel, so 25 floors sounds about right.
Counterweight elevators are limited by how much weight those two top 3 or 4 turn reels can hold. The idler pulley is usually located between the two short turn reels, at least in the ones I've seen.
In the building I owned, although it was only a single elevator designed to bring cars up and down to and from each floor, it used a huge counterbalance weight also, so the reel at the top was only a 3 turn reel. Adjustment for cable length was made right on the heavy counterweight. Due to the age of our elevator, those cables never stretched anymore. But we did have to replace the emergency braking system and upgrade it to modern codes. That was fairly expensive to do also.
Besides the big elevator, we also had a small elevator, not big enough for a human, so was more like a dumb waiter. We don't know what it was used for originally by a car dealer, and about the only thing we could put into it was three of our planting systems, perhaps with a low plant, but not a tall one. The way it was designed, you had to push the button again to get it to go up tot he top floor if need be. It would stop at each floor because a lever bar would trip the stop switch. So if you wanted to send it to the third floor, you had to wait until you heard it stop at the second floor then hit the button again for it to continue.
We didn't use it very often, since we had the big elevator and could load a whole cart full of plants and pots on it, hi hi.
Cable and Reel systems are also limited by how much cable can be wound up on the reel, so 25 floors sounds about right.
Counterweight elevators are limited by how much weight those two top 3 or 4 turn reels can hold. The idler pulley is usually located between the two short turn reels, at least in the ones I've seen.
In the building I owned, although it was only a single elevator designed to bring cars up and down to and from each floor, it used a huge counterbalance weight also, so the reel at the top was only a 3 turn reel. Adjustment for cable length was made right on the heavy counterweight. Due to the age of our elevator, those cables never stretched anymore. But we did have to replace the emergency braking system and upgrade it to modern codes. That was fairly expensive to do also.
Besides the big elevator, we also had a small elevator, not big enough for a human, so was more like a dumb waiter. We don't know what it was used for originally by a car dealer, and about the only thing we could put into it was three of our planting systems, perhaps with a low plant, but not a tall one. The way it was designed, you had to push the button again to get it to go up tot he top floor if need be. It would stop at each floor because a lever bar would trip the stop switch. So if you wanted to send it to the third floor, you had to wait until you heard it stop at the second floor then hit the button again for it to continue.
We didn't use it very often, since we had the big elevator and could load a whole cart full of plants and pots on it, hi hi.