flatdawgs

lol yes - power out since 6 last night (and still), large tree fell on a bus up the street - fortunately nobody on it but the driver, who's okay.

Jeez, Pato - now tell them what the minimum wage is here - soon will be $20.26 where you are; a bit higher in Seattle. I'm more than fine with that but it does make a difference in prices. (We're basically neighbors; my Dad went to Bothell HS.)

I walk out of my grocery store in Portugal paying about 40% less for basically the same stuff I get here in the US. The produce quality in particular is substantially better there as well.

Don't recall Bosa dancing much last Sunday. Of course, he spent most of his time on the sidelines watching his team lose.

And that's fair. I'm just here to watch Texas put an immense beat down on Oregon when the time comes.

That was us at the beginning of the season. Somehow we fixed that and got worse. Luckily I only went to the home games this season.

Mister, we could use a man like William McKinley again....

You just wait. She's always going to be "in another room."

Hell, I already owe my soul to the BrisketCanecutter store.

Can't wait to go down to the corner and trade in some more dólar blue.

maybe maybe maybe I'll be there regardless

@Sbbruin, can we at least go back to the old Pac-8?

Portugal is somewhat similar re banking (I have an account in a Portuguese bank). One advantage of course is that Portugal is part of the EU and so everything is portable between EU countries - same with mobile phones, etc. In Portugal you must first obtain a NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal or tax ID number). This requires a bunch of paperwork including a background check here and a narrative stating where all your funds are sourced from. It was time-consuming although not particularly challenging. I highly recommend obtaining a local immigration attorney to assist with everything - mine is reasonably priced and extremely helpful. Note that many banks in the EU and elsewhere overseas will not take American clients due to the long reach of US financial laws. The political situation here had nothing to do with my starting this process - what's left of my family live in/are citizens of the UK, 2.5 hours from Faro rather than 9 from Seattle, and I speak some Portuguese - and at the moment I keep less than $10k in my account there to avoid the annoying US FBAR reporting requirements. Residency is a completely different kettle of fish; there are several possibilities depending on how long you wish to remain in country each year. Like here, it's 5 years minimum temporary residency before you can apply for permanent residency or citizenship. You need the NIF and bank account for any of the residency visas.

You're not wrong. It is, along with the 100+ degree humid weather in the Gulf countries, the most miserable weather there is. We are masters of layering when it's time to be outside (and honestly stay in a lot, plus it's dark 15 hours a day in December anyway). However, you're an hour away from the cold, clearer weather in the mountains, and two hours from the high desert (and there are about 6 billion daily flights to Hawai'i, Tahiti, Mexico for when you just can't stand it any more, usually by February lol). IMPO the summers more than make up for it - 80, sunny, light until 10pm, no humidity, few if any bugs. Winter is the price we pay for the beautiful, verdant scenery.

I'm from here, and yeah - lights are your friend during the "cozy season" lol. I've been to a lot of places (maybe almost as many as Inka) and the summers up here are unparalleled anywhere, but the piper must be paid and now is the time. Getting up into the mountains helps if you get into the snow stuff; the sun is normally out more up there on the east slopes. I've met quite a few expat Texans in the past few years who've made the move.