Learn me- moving to Florida.

logdog wrote:

mndsm wrote:

Enyar wrote: Why Orlando?

It's a really long story.

Amy?

Something like that. I don't really want to let the cat out of the bag yet. Just trying to be ready.

Are wifey and kiddo coming with? Otherwise not sure why you'd be bringing two cars...

Just kinda confused with the short-term part of the plan, along with the aforementioned how someone tried kill you thread thing.

mndsm wrote:

logdog wrote:

mndsm wrote:

Enyar wrote: Why Orlando?

It's a really long story.

Amy?

Something like that. I don't really want to let the cat out of the bag yet. Just trying to be ready.

Guess the wife wasn't as cool about her as you stated?

There are definitely two Floridas, basically divided by a line across Lake Okeechobee. North, basically Old South, with some real Red Neck parts. Below the Lake, much more a combo of New York / East Coast refugees and Latinos. Dade County, Miami, is 80% Latin. Not much English spoken there. I live in Ft.Lauderdale, just north of Miami. We like it here. Nice mix of cultures, Not too much crime, living costs are a bit higher than Orlando, but much nicer. If you are a marine mechanic, you would get a good job in 15 minutes here. West coast is much more Mid West people, not as much Latin, but a good bit there now. More laid back than the East side.

mtn wrote: Are wifey and kiddo coming with? Otherwise not sure why you'd be bringing two cars... Just kinda confused with the short-term part of the plan, along with the aforementioned how someone tried kill you thread thing.

Oh right, I forgot about that thread.... mndsm, you live a much more interesting life than I want. Good luck man, I hope all this works out the way you want it to.

turboswede wrote:

mndsm wrote:

logdog wrote:

mndsm wrote:

Enyar wrote: Why Orlando?

It's a really long story.

Amy?

Something like that. I don't really want to let the cat out of the bag yet. Just trying to be ready.

Guess the wife wasn't as cool about her as you stated?

It's the wife's idea. Like I said. Long story.

mtn wrote: Are wifey and kiddo coming with? Otherwise not sure why you'd be bringing two cars... Just kinda confused with the short-term part of the plan, along with the aforementioned how someone tried kill you thread thing.

Short term was a typo. Should say short version. I'll tell more later. Florida man is not an issue.

1) Don't take advice from anyone who hasn't lived in Florida. There are so many misconceptions about FL from folks who have spent a grand total of "one week at Disney" here. Ignore them. That said, CWH lives here and has good advice--- especially about S. Florida.

2) The bugs are far, far worse in MN (in the Summer) than they are here....seriously. If you are near the ocean bugs aren't really an issue at all. (Mosquitoes were much worse in Illinois than they are here) We do have giant flying cockroaches (Palmetto bugs), but they aren't all that common, and they don't live in houses like dirty Northern cockroaches. Keep in mind, Orlando will have more bugs, and more humid, stagnant heat as it's inland. Get as close to the Ocean as your situation allows.

3) Summer is hot...yes, but once the sun goes down, it drops to 75-80 degrees and it's nice. You can actually do things outdoors at night in the Summer without wearing an entire Carhartt catalog--- like you'd be wearing in a MN Winter.

4) Your body acclimates to the humidity--- seriously. It will take a while, but you'll get used to it, and eventually your body will crave humid weather---especially your skin. No more need for chapstick, or skin lotion in the Winter.

5) The cost of living in Central FL is cheap, and the general education level is low. If you are educated and hard working, it's pretty easy to be a "big fish in small water". It's very laid back here..... and good workers are hard to find. Having a Mid-Western work ethic will treat you well.

6) I"m not a big fan of Orlando, as the traffic on I-4 is a pain, but Cocoa Beach is only 45 min away, Daytona an hour and a 1/2 and Tampa about an hour. Orlando does have significant crime.....so pick where you move carefully.

7) Get a boat. At least 50% of what makes it great down here is water-related. There is an amazing amount of natural beauty in FL that is best found on the water. Boats are everywhere and cheap (for a small one at least). Depending on where you are, you'll see manatee, dolphin, alligator, osprey, and fish galore on a daily basis. When was the last time you made eye contact with a wild dolphin? Down here, it's a pretty common thing. (and extremely cool)

8) Make sure your A/C is working, or sell your car in MN before heading down. Cars without working A/C aren't worth very much at all down here. On the flip-side, 4x4 trucks don't command a premium in FL like they do up North, and as long as you aren't on the ocean, things don't rust.

9) Last year on December 30th I was 30 miles off-shore fishing the Gulf Stream in 80 degree weather. A few days like that, and you'll agree that dealing with a little heat in the Summer is worth the pay-off.

10) You will never have to use an ice scraper again, and your feet will never be wet and cold--- unless you step into the beer cooler!

Enyar wrote:

Lof8 wrote: I've lived in FL my whole life and love it here. But I would never live in Orlando. The traffic is awful and you're not on the coast. I have friends who love it there though. Good luck.

+1

Not to mention there is a Cobra that got loose from someone's collection, that FWC still hasn't found. Besides that. ORLANDO SUCKS, hot, traffic, rude people, etc. I'm not a fan.

So what's happening with the mx6 if this comes true?

Need someone to look after it while you're gone.

I need the hood off that MX6, orrrrr i can put a huge vent in the hood of the other one, since now he'll really have no excuse to not do the GRM Challenge.

1kris06 wrote: So what's happening with the mx6 if this comes true? Need someone to look after it while you're gone.

Kris, keep your mouth shut- but if this happens, the mx6 will go. Cheap.

Swank Force One wrote: I need the hood off that MX6, orrrrr i can put a huge vent in the hood of the other one, since now he'll really have no excuse to not do the GRM Challenge.

I'll be less than 2 hours from Gainesville.

I can only imagine the stories that will come of this.

so can we call him "florida man" yet?

mad_machine wrote: so can we call him "florida man" yet?

I'm not there, yet.

Swank Force One wrote: I need the hood off that MX6, orrrrr i can put a huge vent in the hood of the other one, since now he'll really have no excuse to not do the GRM Challenge.

Make me an evo vent.

I lived in Orlando two different stints for a total of about 2.5 years. If I were moving down there I think I'd go to Pensacola or somewhere close to it. Good luck.

So- here's the uh....long version.

I am in fact, chasing my Amy. This is all at my wife's urging. I would never even consider any of this unless she told me I needed to go. Apparently she's seen some change in me, and recognized that my happiness is elsewhere, well before I did. I actually fought it every step of the way but I cannot avoid it any more.

The backstory- we met in math class when we were 15. It had to have been fate because my class load got berkeleyed up and I got dropped into an ap class I hadn't signed up for. We became friendly. We went to home coming. She somehow got me to try out for a play at school (I.....yeah stages not my thing). Basically, I was completely smitten with this girl. However, we never became romantically involved. She dated s string of shiny happy people, I...dated no one because I was a shy nerd in an abusive home. But we were always very close. People regularly commented they thought we were a couple. We were both entirely too scared to admit to it....so we drifted apart. She went into the military. I- proceeded to attempt to piss my money from my trust fund down a hole buying happiness.

Then, one day, she returned. Shed left the military under pregnancy rules and not gone back. She married a man named James. I knew right away, he was definitely Florida man. He had this egotistical air about him, and I could read the abusive dick in his tone. I could also tell, she wasn't happy. I had just gotten dumped in spectacular fashion and pretty much didn't care about life. But I cared deeply for her. So, I threw caution to the breeze, and started working a plan to get her and her daughter out. I had money, and little sense of self preservation. One night I met her at work. We were laboring under the auspices that they only had one car, and she had it.

We didn't count on him being able to get a ride. He attacked me physically. In short, I got my ass handed to me. I made a conscious choice not to fight back, because I had a plan. I figured if I got him arrested, I had better chance of getting her time to get out.

Didn't work. He never saw a jail cell for it. I got seven stitches and permanent migraines. Anyhow, two nights later, I get a frantic call. He's flipped E36 M3 and attempting to go to Florida right now. He had however, left for the bar. I had a window. I told her to pack her E36 M3. I grabbed some friends in case things got ugly and went in the dead of night in the middle of berkeleying January to get her. We vacated her to a women's shelter across the metro- knowing he had no chance to find her.

Then things got ugly. He lost it. He tried every trick in the book to flush her out. He faked a suicide attempt. He checked in, then out of a psych hospital. He wrote her countless emails. None of it worked. So- he decided he was going to have me killed. I'm a little murky on the details here, but it was somehow propositioned to her father that someone be paid to murder me. Now, her father didn't like this guy as much as I didn't, but he's made some mistakes in the past and has a record, so he's got to be real careful. So he called the cops. The cops called the bca, and it was planned that he was going to go down for conspiracy to commit murder. Charges didn't stick because no money changed hands.

Then, she went cold. I was driving one day and saw her truck, and she was with him. I was crushed. I had thrown myself out of a burning building and she's back with him.

Years go by. Occasionally I check up on her (one might call it Facebook stalking) to make sure she's still ok. I get married. I love my wife. We have a son, who is now 4. I finally move into a pair of jobs I like. I start to get my E36 M3 together, get my migraines and other mental health issues in order. I'm doing berkeleying awesome. That brings us to......

I'm on Facebook, and I notice, she's gone back to her maiden name. Her daughter, has taken her maiden name. This....piques my interest. So, I ask a mutual friend, and it turns out, she's finally left him. This is when temptation hits overdrive. I need to know why. Even if she never speaks to me again I have to have an answer. So, with clearance from my wife, I send her a message. Making sure she's OK. She messages me back, begging me to forgive her for what happened.

As it turns out, her life went to hell after. He no longer treated her as a wife. She was basically a slave. He had a live in girlfriend. He never laid a hand on her again, but he was a tyrant. She had 0 freedom and he blamed her for everything. Her daughter started developing major mental health issues as a result. He blamed her for his record and how he could never get a job. She worked hard enough that they got a house. The live in girlfriend turned him on to drugs. First pot, then pills, and eventually heroin. They would regularly fight as men do. He bled "Amy" dry. They lost the house. They were evicted from an apartment. She was eventually living in a week to week sleazy motel. They got kicked out of that when Florida man and his girlfriend got into a fistfight and the cops got called. Eventually, the girlfriend left. Amy sneaked enough money to buy her own car. One night, he "attempts suicide" by slitting his throat with a box cutter. Total attention call. Eventually it gets so bad she sends her daughter to live with the grandparents.

Eventually, she gets out. By the time I find her, she's been gone nearly a year. He disappeared after she left. He had actually popped up the same week I did, to start divorce proceedings so he can get va housing. He is currently homeless and living in a 91 mustang. She has a nice 3br in a gated complex.

And this is where I make a terrible decision even worse. Her and I start talking regularly about our last what ifs and the like. Turns out, there is a whole lot of unfinished business there. As I am telling my wife about it she blindsided me. My wife is buying me a ticket to Florida to go see her and finish business and all that entails. She is doing it because she sees how happy reconnecting has made me, and all she wants is me to be happy. Upon announcement of that whole development, things start getting even deeper. It's determined that we likely should have been a couple from day 1. Keep in mind, my wife knows all of this. I stop drinking during our conversations so I have some sort of filter. My wife then does the unthinkable.

She contacts Amy. Her and Amy have talks. Amy and I Have talks. Wife and I have talks. Wife drops bomb. I want you to go be with her. I want you to be happy, and I can tell she is the one for you. Keep in mind, I have no intention of leaving my wife or my child. However- my wife just split it wide open.

We start talkimg openly about divorce. Not maliciously.... Almost like what's for dinner. Custody, who gets what, the whole bit. I'm still denying this is going to happen. Amy suddenly starts talking as though this is going down. Wife drops bomb on Amy. Sends message that says "please take care of him, I love him very much".....berkeley me. Wife starts planning on me leaving. I start to see fissures in my logic. The whole time I'm trying to deny what has become readily apparent with this woman. Then Amy drops a bomb. She asks me if I will teach her daughter to drive. Her daughter is now 15. She's 100% dead set on me being there. My wife is 100% dead set on me being there. So-

I let go. I finally own up to 20 years of feelings and unfinished business. It is pure fate that has put us on this path. I have to accept that we are meant to be. I don't want to be all romantic, but we truly are soulmates, and we always have been. We could just never admit it to each other. She admitted to me, and I finally said the same.

So here we are. I'm going to get divorced, move to Florida, and chase my Amy. It's the single dumbest berkeleying thing I have ever done in my life. But I cannot stop myself, and no one will let me. I know its insane, but with an opportunity like this, you do it.

Look a little further west. Lakeland is a cool little town

Oh, I left out all the sex and stuff because...family forum.

Dude you'll fit right in down here! Come on in the water's nice and good luck in your new life!

Be skeptical and self preserving.
I have a past love that I would have done anything to get back with. That person when through about half (maybe a 3rd) of what transpired here. When the opportunity to rekindle sort of presented itself, I realized that the person I was in love with no longer exists. Those years in between and those experiences she had changed her. Changed her in ways that are irreversible. Her name is the same but she had become a different person (or maybe I had become a different person) but our paths diverged too greatly.

Wow.

Yep, that sounds like an awful idea. Welcome to Florida.