Live Free or Die!
Jun. 3rd, 2005 07:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
auntiemeeshThat's New Hampshire's state motto, and boy do they take it seriously.
First of all, I have to say that New Hampshire is just absolutely a gorgeously beautiful place in which to live. I'm in the midst of the White Mountains, with Mt. Washington only a 20-30 minute drive away (to the base of the Auto Road, at any rate). Although we have just started this week to get hot, summer-like temperatures, the trees are still only just beginning to leaf out. Everyday as we drive through the mountains we see more green and less bare branches, so the slopes of the mtns are very colorful. There is the light green of new leaves, the red of buds, the white of blossoms, the darker green of maples and other trees that are already fully leafed, and the deep green of evergreens, although there is also a lot of red from conifers that have dead needles on their branches.
Yesterday we went Moose Hunting. There is an access road that leads up to logging trails, and the moose can be found in the marshy bogs near the road, especially near dusk. It was early in the afternoon but nonetheless, there were three moose standing by the side of the road, looking majestic and silly at the same time, munching on grass or leaves or whatever it is that moose graze on.
However, there are some things up here that take a little getting used to. For instance, I'm trying to get my license while I'm here. At the age of 33 and having never had my license, this is a little more intimidating than it would be if I was sixteen, but I'm going to do it. It was an interesting experience, trying to figure out what needed to be done in order to get a license, because things are done a little differently here, than what I'm used to.
There are no learner's permits in NH. Anyone over the age of 15 may drive on the road as long as they have a licensed adult over the age of either 24 or 25, I can't remember which. Once you are ready, you take a vision test, a written test and a road test. This is pretty much the same as in PA, except in PA the vision and written tests come before you are allowed anywhere near the roads and you may only drive (supervised by a licensed adult) once you have successfully passed both tests. Also in PA, you have to get a physical stating that you are physically capable of driving a motor vehicle.
There is also no state requirement for auto insurance here, although it is strongly encouraged. Apparently banks will still require insurance if you take out a loan to buy a car, however. Along with these lacking laws, there is no seat belt law over the age of 18, no helmet requirement for motorcyclists over the age of 18.
I found out today that there are very few logging restrictions in NH as well, which is a very bad thing for the forests here. The loggers have all come in from Maine and Massachusetts where the restrictions are much tighter, and they are cutting far faster than is sustainable for the forests. So there is much concern in the state government that the logging industry will crash and it will be years before the forests grow back enough to sustain logging again. I'm sure this would mean a great loss of revenue to the gov't, which is their main concern, but it is also a terrible ecological problem.
On the plus side, I got behind the wheel and started driving today. I drove my sister around the block once and then she drove me to a parking lot to practice. And no, it wasn't because I was so bad, lol. It was because there were a number of small children riding their bikes on this road and it didn't seem wise to have me tooling around out there right beside them. We went the to college where my sister and brother-in-law both teach, which has a huge empty parking lot. It is, incidentally, where they teach people how to drive the semi-trucks, so it has all sorts of good markings.
I drove around and around for about five or ten minutes and then we headed back. So it wasn't a huge lesson, but probably about all that my sister's nerves could take. I will get better. I've done this before and my mind remembers what needs to be done, but my limbs have forgotten how to do it, so I just need to reacquaint them with Mrs. Gas and Mr. Brake and all the other things that go along with driving.
I'm having some trouble these days with lj and I don't know if it's an lj problem or something with my sister's computer (yes, I'm still on her computer with the dial up). I can't update from the bar at the top. I have to go to my user info page and click on the little blue pencil to get be able to compose a post. Also, and I'm sure it's just my sister's comp. being cranky, I have to refresh constantly in order to see the most recent posts and comments. I mean, when I come to lj and go to my flist, I have to refresh immediately before it will show me the five or ten most recent posts and when I click on a specific post, say one that I commented on yesterday, I will immediately have to refresh before it will show the comment I posted. Grr! It makes it difficult. However, I'm happy to have any internet access at all, and will just continue to use this until we get the DSL ordered. Once I'm back on my own little computer, I'll have a lot more leisure to sit back and read stories and such. For now, that will have to wait. Although I may download some of the talechallenge stories onto my little portable drive and read them from the comfort of my own computer, off line. :)
On Wednesday I was out and about, running around with my sister, and we stopped for dinner at a local restaurant. It was around eight o'clock and my thoughts flew to Pittsburgh and the FCG. I imagined them, at Hunan Kitchen, sitting around eating and talking and pranking one another. I hope you had a good time, guys. My sister did her best to fill in, but it just wasn't the same.
First of all, I have to say that New Hampshire is just absolutely a gorgeously beautiful place in which to live. I'm in the midst of the White Mountains, with Mt. Washington only a 20-30 minute drive away (to the base of the Auto Road, at any rate). Although we have just started this week to get hot, summer-like temperatures, the trees are still only just beginning to leaf out. Everyday as we drive through the mountains we see more green and less bare branches, so the slopes of the mtns are very colorful. There is the light green of new leaves, the red of buds, the white of blossoms, the darker green of maples and other trees that are already fully leafed, and the deep green of evergreens, although there is also a lot of red from conifers that have dead needles on their branches.
Yesterday we went Moose Hunting. There is an access road that leads up to logging trails, and the moose can be found in the marshy bogs near the road, especially near dusk. It was early in the afternoon but nonetheless, there were three moose standing by the side of the road, looking majestic and silly at the same time, munching on grass or leaves or whatever it is that moose graze on.
However, there are some things up here that take a little getting used to. For instance, I'm trying to get my license while I'm here. At the age of 33 and having never had my license, this is a little more intimidating than it would be if I was sixteen, but I'm going to do it. It was an interesting experience, trying to figure out what needed to be done in order to get a license, because things are done a little differently here, than what I'm used to.
There are no learner's permits in NH. Anyone over the age of 15 may drive on the road as long as they have a licensed adult over the age of either 24 or 25, I can't remember which. Once you are ready, you take a vision test, a written test and a road test. This is pretty much the same as in PA, except in PA the vision and written tests come before you are allowed anywhere near the roads and you may only drive (supervised by a licensed adult) once you have successfully passed both tests. Also in PA, you have to get a physical stating that you are physically capable of driving a motor vehicle.
There is also no state requirement for auto insurance here, although it is strongly encouraged. Apparently banks will still require insurance if you take out a loan to buy a car, however. Along with these lacking laws, there is no seat belt law over the age of 18, no helmet requirement for motorcyclists over the age of 18.
I found out today that there are very few logging restrictions in NH as well, which is a very bad thing for the forests here. The loggers have all come in from Maine and Massachusetts where the restrictions are much tighter, and they are cutting far faster than is sustainable for the forests. So there is much concern in the state government that the logging industry will crash and it will be years before the forests grow back enough to sustain logging again. I'm sure this would mean a great loss of revenue to the gov't, which is their main concern, but it is also a terrible ecological problem.
On the plus side, I got behind the wheel and started driving today. I drove my sister around the block once and then she drove me to a parking lot to practice. And no, it wasn't because I was so bad, lol. It was because there were a number of small children riding their bikes on this road and it didn't seem wise to have me tooling around out there right beside them. We went the to college where my sister and brother-in-law both teach, which has a huge empty parking lot. It is, incidentally, where they teach people how to drive the semi-trucks, so it has all sorts of good markings.
I drove around and around for about five or ten minutes and then we headed back. So it wasn't a huge lesson, but probably about all that my sister's nerves could take. I will get better. I've done this before and my mind remembers what needs to be done, but my limbs have forgotten how to do it, so I just need to reacquaint them with Mrs. Gas and Mr. Brake and all the other things that go along with driving.
I'm having some trouble these days with lj and I don't know if it's an lj problem or something with my sister's computer (yes, I'm still on her computer with the dial up). I can't update from the bar at the top. I have to go to my user info page and click on the little blue pencil to get be able to compose a post. Also, and I'm sure it's just my sister's comp. being cranky, I have to refresh constantly in order to see the most recent posts and comments. I mean, when I come to lj and go to my flist, I have to refresh immediately before it will show me the five or ten most recent posts and when I click on a specific post, say one that I commented on yesterday, I will immediately have to refresh before it will show the comment I posted. Grr! It makes it difficult. However, I'm happy to have any internet access at all, and will just continue to use this until we get the DSL ordered. Once I'm back on my own little computer, I'll have a lot more leisure to sit back and read stories and such. For now, that will have to wait. Although I may download some of the talechallenge stories onto my little portable drive and read them from the comfort of my own computer, off line. :)
On Wednesday I was out and about, running around with my sister, and we stopped for dinner at a local restaurant. It was around eight o'clock and my thoughts flew to Pittsburgh and the FCG. I imagined them, at Hunan Kitchen, sitting around eating and talking and pranking one another. I hope you had a good time, guys. My sister did her best to fill in, but it just wasn't the same.
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no subject
Date: 2005-06-03 04:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-03 04:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-03 05:02 pm (UTC)For the updating from the tool bar thing, you need to enable Javascript in your browser. Your sister probably has Javascript disabled for security reasons, especially if she's using IE. If you download the newest version of Mozilla's Firefox browser, you should be okay with enabling Javascript.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-03 05:10 pm (UTC)you need to enable Javascript in your browser
That makes sense. I not going to make any changes on P's computer, however. She has it all set up the way she likes it. I'll just have to remember to click on the little button on the user info page. As long as I can do that, it's no biggie. Now if that didn't work either, I'd be one unhappy puppy. LJ is my only link with my life, these days. My sister and her husband are great, but man, I need something to do. No internet (except when I'm on her computer) no cable and no tv at all after they go to bed (the noise would disturb the
dogsgirls and I don't have a headphones jack on the tv)so past nine o'clock it's sit and stare at the walls time. I'll get used to things, I'm sure, but the evenings are long when there is nothing to do./whine
no subject
Date: 2005-06-03 05:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-04 08:40 am (UTC)I think the 9pm issue will work itself out. The girls don't seem to freak out if I move around or make a little noise, so if I can rearrange my room a bit to have the tv closer to the bed, I'll probably be alright. The main problem is just not having anything to do or work on at the moment. I have to get started on the costuming, but I need materials which I don't currently have, so this afternoon it's off to internet land for me to do some shopping. :)
no subject
Date: 2005-06-06 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-03 05:31 pm (UTC)Parking lots are wonderful places to learn to drive. I think that's how our whole family learned.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-04 08:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-03 06:02 pm (UTC)Oh and lots of luck with getting your license! :)
no subject
Date: 2005-06-04 08:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-03 07:12 pm (UTC)My PC at home has decided that it doesn't like me posting on LJ any more. I can only seem to post successfully from my portable *shrugs*
Good luck with the driving :-D
no subject
Date: 2005-06-04 08:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-04 09:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-03 08:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-04 08:46 am (UTC)*come to New Hampshire...come to New Hampshire...*
What was that? No I didn't hear anything...
*whistles and looks innocent*