Yeah...fire away!!
Some of my best lessons in life were from people who vehemently disagreed with me.

ugotme-

Yo buddy,

you ever do the 5 am "bakery ticket" deal at Bethpage black?

Well said. I agree.

LOL yes I have. Lived about 1.5 miles from the courses.
Get there around 3:30 - get a ticket to go in.
Sit there until the cage opens and stumble in.

BUMMER - But ya gotta do what ya gotta do !

Oh Rats
 

Here is a little brujaja. See if you can figure it out for me in a better way than I handled it.
Neighbor caught 8 rats. I live backed up to a wildlife wetlands,big area. I told him he could throw the bodies out into the wild area. Another neighbor with small dog[ don't get me started on that] walks by and starts telling us we are wrong and don't do that as her dog is in danger from wildlife. We ignore/ reply nicely hope she moves on and minds her own business as we are standing on my property discussing the rat problem.Next day more rat bodies,busbody neighbor with dog again voices opinion strongly about us doing wrong. We suggest she come get the bodies and dispose of them her way. She declines tells us to bag them and put them in the dumpster at our club house[which is illegal]. We have words,well I have a few choice words for her that I am repenting of as I type. Husband then comes over and retells us what to do nicely and that I am bad[which I was] for being so brutal verbally. His solution is no more legal than hers. I call HOA and ask what to do and they say bury the bodies in your yard or wetlands as each resident is responsible for his or her own yard and pest problems:undecided:. A few days later we find a rat that has been poisoned with deadly poison on someones lawn. So what would be worse for the neighbors baby,err dog,wildlife which already exists in the area or rat poison set out in someones yard?

I've owned 7 new homes before moving to TV, each one I paid to have a privacy fence installed. I also had a dog most of the time. It obvious this person with the dog should have a privacy wood fence and in the meantime when they take their dog out, they should be on a leash. I would of somehow suggested they should purchase a privacy fence if they choose to be not involved with the neighborhood rat problem.

I also had a similar problem. I once lived backed up to Pensacola Regional Airport. It was all pine trees but you could hear the jets since we were only about 800 from the runway. We also had a rat problem, big rats would build under my pool shed. We had a privacy fence since we had a swimming pool and two dogs. My shed was one of those prefabricated steel buildings in the corner of the lot. Once I built a concert slab for the shed, no more rats. The rats seem to love the damp cool shaded ground created by the shed sitting on bare earth.

/

Barefoot, I agree with you except for one thing you said... "I don't think anyone intends to be mean." I have to strongly disagree with that as I and at least two other people I know have been victimized by someone who is being intentionally mean and I have even filed a complaint with the Admin when I've seen it being done to others. I'm not going into details so I can avoid reliving the hurt and depression a few have caused me, but I will say that when someone you don't even know digs into your personal life outside TV or TOTV, you know that they're not only being mean, but also intentionally disrespectful and hurtful. Nuf said before I need earplugs to hold the steam in!

This is so true. I have opined about a few issues that were just opinions based on my own feelings or such. But, there have been times were I have commented on situations that I know for absolute fact, but still had to defend myself. Not a big deal, since I love the banter, but you can read a post anymore and know exactly what the next few responses will be. But as I tell my students all the time, you can't tell tone or voice from an email or a text message and they can easily be misinterpreted.

WE have groundhogs that tunnel under our shed up here in Vermont......
My husband put some D-con under the shed and that seemed to get rid of them. Prior to that, he used a have a heart trap on our others..

They used to have an entire apartment house complex under our shrubs on the back hill........with buroughs and "rooms" etc.......my husband caught them for years in "Have a heart" traps and took them away.......
Still the neighbors' groundhogs would come to feast on the stuff in the traps........they ate anything. I'd see them running down from up on the neighbors' hill to ours.......

Why is it , though, that rats have a worse reputation than groundhogs?
Groundhogs are also in the rodent family and way larger......I began taking pictures of all of them as they would come down and sun themselves on our patio.......or on the tree stumps........we finally had all the shrubs excavated........the boulders excavated......destroying their habitat........and first put on a huge Trex deck.........and screened in half of that deck into a three season sunporch.........and haven't seen one in several years...........fingers crossed. They were ornery groundhogs once in the trap. He would take them away to the edge of town, to a farmer's field and dispose of them.

Our cousin in New Jersey would say that we should take them at least ten miles away or else they will come back and he swore that ours were the same groundhog.........not true. I had pictures of them all and they were all different colors, different sizes, just different.............but he insists that groundhogs will find their way home again. These were huge critters.

Still, I'd rather have a groundhog than a rat. We do have chipmunks running all over the back and front..........they are rodents also.

Yes we all do......but I think it's two different things.

The folks who are so picky that nothing in this world satisfies them.
That is truly annoying. We all know them. Every tidbit of food is poison to them. Or, those who cannot "live and let live".......or feel it's only their way or the highway.

This is not quite the same as someone asking a question or doing research to get the general lay of the land.......or expressing an opinion or wondering how certain things are...........that is curiosity.

I cannot understand why anyone would even be chatting on TOTV unless they enjoyed the opinions of the wonderful folks who participate.....that doesn't mean everyone has to agree with everyone all the time..........
Most folks are researching for their ultimate retirement relocation.......and simply looking for the honest facts........

Our first impression of The Villages was that it was beautiful, well groomed, very green for Florida.......and nicely laid out , with all the services one could ever ask for...........it will be our final destination.

At age 68 , in a long term marriage of 48 years, we are not swingers nor anything more than retired grandparents looking ahead to more sunshine and less snow...........

And yes, our creaking joints prove to us that we do have arthritis and the wet days, the humid days and the cold snowy days give us more pain.

It's a fact of life......... After one week of steady rain up north here, with flash flooding, we had severe pain........then a dry day or two.......then rain and humidity again...........we could keep a graph on how the humidity affects our pain...........it has to be the same or worse in Florida.

It might be BETTER in Florida.........as our temperatures are LOWER , even with the humidity. I've kept a record, and when the temps are higher, our joints and old bones do feel better...........

I wouldn't wish arthritis on anyone's dog..........so, to some it is an issue.
Pain is aways an issue. Mobility is an issue.

I've come to the conclusion, we can be up here in the humidity or in sunny Florida in the humidity.........and as someone "very wise" said recently, ....at least we wouldn't have to shovel it. I liked that response.

Peace.

I agree with you, that is why I visit and hardly comment.

Mickey.........you took the words right out of my mouth and the thoughts right out of my head........if that is possible.

We also met the very nicest people when we were there, who stopped to chat, sat with us.......everyone had "time" to show kindness and give friendly advice or tell their story of moving to TV. We will always remember that kindness.

Now, TOTV does pass the time for us in the cold frozen tundra of
the north or rainy periods such as we've been in recently...........or for those, who are taking a break while "downsizing" our family sized homes to put on the market prior to relocating to TV....down the road......

But, often I wonder, "With all the activities, and all the golf, and all the wonderful things, indoors and out.........why is everyone on TOTV chatting?"

I guess because at our ages, we all need a rest now and then......
Not to mention, a challenge for our brains........so many folks on TOTV have words of wisdom to share......from years of living and experiencing life. That's the part I enjoy.

I think if you voice a complaint on a discussion board you should be prepared that people will discuss and not everyone will agree with your point of view.

Agreed - the problem is not discussion or different points of view - the problem is when the OP starts getting blasted for their thoughts or opinions.:cus:

I'll tell you something I have noticed. I'm sure you have noticed that there are one or two people on this website who are extremely popular. They have lots of friends on their friends list. So you post a "complaint" and if they are the first to reply negatively, all of their friends take it as a signal to pile on.
And once a thread has a negative bias, it often tends to stay that way.

Possible Reasons:

1) They see this board as a sales tool and think that negative complaints will hinder sales.

2) Politics: You might not fit their idea of what they think you should be. So they set about teaching you a lesson.

3) They have nothing better to do and think it's fun to give someone a hard time.

4) They can't think for themselves so they follow a ring-leader who has some ax to grind, whatever that might be.

This post is, IMHO, exactly the problem that is being discussed here. If someone has a different opinion than another poster, they are labeled, accused of ulterior motives, giving others a hard time and being ringleaders when they are stating their OWN beliefs. This isn't a podium for only the OP's point of view, it is a for opposing points of view and discussion. Why would someone post on a forum if they only wanted to hear their own opinion or rant?