| Author | Message | ||
     Lemonchili_x1 |
you can find these all over Long Beach.... lol Sounds like a fun place!  That you have a place to stay, upon arrival, will make it a lot easier to find "the right place" for you. Yes! I'm lucky to have such good friends, all met through BadWeb  Any of the above cities would be good... Check the places out at night and the weekends too. Cool. I feel comfortable that I can find something that will suit, even if spending a little more than I thought I would. Good tip on checking out nights/weekends! Sounds like you're having adventures of your own Court! Portland sounds like a really cool place to live with a great music scene and amazing mountain biking. It's been on my radar for a while, but there's no work in the north-west, yet, but I think I'll find a way to make a trip up there to check it out... Oh, and it's the city with the highest number of strip bars per capita  I will be keeping options open! Part of the job is that I may need to relocate to a project for a few months, and I've said I want to do that to see as much of the country as I can As soon as I get to the U.S. I'm heading straight to Boston for a week or more to do some training/handovers... Brisbane to Boston in January is going to be a shock in more ways than one I'm sure  | ||
| No_rice |
Lol! Yes, yes it will! Im doing something february, similar to what i did last time we saw each other this spring... Instead of GA and Cali to ride bikes, then to CO to ski... This time its a week in wisconsin snowmobiling, then straight to a week in mexico, then a couple more days snowmobiling... lol | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
Awesome!!!! | ||
| Court |
Keep me posted when you go to Boston . . . I'll be at Harvard for 2 weeks in January. | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
Will do! And people wonder why I want to live in California...  https://www.thrillist.com/eat/los-angeles/sidecar- doughnuts-the-best-donuts-in-santa-monica | ||
| Crusty |
Brisbane to Boston in January is going to be a shock in more ways than one I'm sure It certainly will. I much prefer going from Boston to Brisbane at that time of year. | ||
| Slaughter |
Word to the wise - if you don't have a GPS, and intend to navigate Boston, GET ONE!! I have never been as lost as when I thought I could navigate using a road map in Boston!!! | ||
| Damnut |
Hey Graham...... When in Boston give me a shout. I can pick you up and we can go for a ride, I have a couple of tubers and an XB. might be a little chilly but I've been know to ride in some cold weather. Or I could take you to see some live music in town. | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
That would be cool! Once I have dates I will be in touch for sure! I need to catch up with Shawn P when in MA too! | ||
| Damnut |
I have his number, let me know if you need it. | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
A little update among the crazy season... I've been working for Distech from Australia for a couple of weeks and it's going well, though the time zones are messing with my head. Depending on where you are working and where you "need" to be . . . . I'd keep your options open. There are some amazing places all over the USA. Court might have been more right than he realised  Now that I'm getting stuck into the projects plans have changed a bit. The biggest project I'm looking after is in Washington DC and my boss and I decided it makes a lot more sense for me to be based there for the next year or so. I don't really know much about DC but I'm reading heaps! It's a bit of a change, a bit more unknown for me, but definitely an adventure!!! The visa process is moving ahead slowly but surely. I'm hoping that I'll arrive in DC in mid to late January. I'll still have other projects and will be travelling a bit. Boston for sure to catch up with my boss, California, and possibly Columbus OH. | ||
| Court |
You'll love the East Coast. I live in Manhattan and there's an electricity ..... That draws 475,000 tourists a day here. Hahaha..... But, if you get to the West Coast I'll be at a science symposium at The Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA for the last week on January. Looking forward to having you here in the USA where we can keep an eye on you! | ||
| Ceejay |
DC is a pretty good sized place and can be a real hit or miss depending on where your at. I'm a more of a fan of Baltimore (it's hard to tell going from one to the other) but regardless, if you've got to head in to an office daily find a place real close(walking or biking distance) or get something within walking/biking distance to a rail line. traffic can be a real bit-- and I know plenty of folks that can take a 45 min walk to work and do vs. driving 1.5 hrs…On the Western or SW edge of DC you'd be a veritable stone's throw from the northern section of the Shenandoah National Park/skyline drive, and further on down the Blue Ridge Parkway. The SE side has the upper portion of the Chesapeake Bay, boats, crabs, and all the beauties that water brings... I grew up around columbus and lived there for 15 years. There's (or used to be) some real cool honky tonks on the outskirts of town and the downtown can be a fun place too (especially if you like to drink beer and watch hockey). I think they put up a gambling hall but that was still in the works when we moved. The german village is pretty neat place but you really have to pay attention as you can end up in a heap of trouble in a heartbeat. The areas around 5th ave and neil ave were working at improving their image not to long ago and may have gotten that accomplished, but I've always enjoyed the rougher around the edges places so I wouldn't know. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I'm about an hour from Columbus if that gets serious. If you end up there, you need a dirt bike, some great public riding areas within a few hours. It's the Midwest of the USA, so a lot of what you have heard about it is wrong (or at least misses the point). I have family in the DC / Virginia area. If it were me, I would structure everything about moving there to manage the "commute" problem. My family seems to accept it and tolerate it, but it would drive me batty. But the DC area *would* be an incredibly cool place to live "for awhile". So starting there as somebody new to the country would be really neat. | ||
| Glitch |
My nephew lives in DC | ||
| Court |
In the Eastern USA … Commuting considerations trump everything. A week ago… At the conclusion of the six month long project… I walked away from the office for a month. I parked my car and am going totally public transportation, here in Manhattan, till mid January. If I had to drive the places I'm going it would take hours and the parking would be insane .... Both find unit and paying for it. Depending out what you're going to be doing, and how much you'll be moving around, in the Washington DC area I'd try to find a place… As suggested… Within walking or bicycling distance. | ||
| Reepicheep |
The Metro subway in DC is a federally funded local system, so it's pretty awesome, but also pretty crowded. Pretty much like the Tube in London, but with slightly less polite people (DC isn't that bad, but London is *freaky* polite for a big city). I imagine it fills up at rush hour though. | ||
| 86129squids |
I've never lived in a "big" city (Tampa for 6 months doesn't really count), but if I did I'd really be keen on using public transportation and bicycling. Heck, with all the various options for ride-share ideas, even hourly/daily cheap car rentals, I'd see about eliminating the need for a "cage" altogether. Atlanta and other cities I've been in would make me seriously think about giving up on-road motorcycling, due to the sheer numbers of homicidal moron drivers. Unless I could store my MC's on the far outskirts close to the open roads or something, I'd switch to dirtbiking or at least a D/S setup. Good luck Graham! I once visited Baltimore, LOVED the waterfront and Fell's Point... had a very limited time in the DC area, but it seems to offer a lot of good stuff too. I'm still aggravated that I didn't get to go to Nashvegas with you after Glitchfest... would LOVE to run around my old hometown there with ya... get somewhere close to the BRP, and I'm certain our paths will cross again someday!  | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
Cool, cool, cool!!! Thanks for the feedback and thoughts! I'll still be doing the home based office, so no regular commute thankfully, but thoughts noted. I figure I'll be going to site (C Street NW) once or twice a week, the Metro or bicycle sounds like the way to go. Just about to head up the coast for a couple of days. Have a great Christmas everyone!!!! | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
Plans are coming together! While I don't actually have it yet, my Dept of Labor paperwork has been certified so I can actually apply for the visa itself and book the visa interview. Allowing a few days here and there for approvals I expect to arrive in DC around 20th January! Trying to work out where to live is challenging, not really knowing the city. I'm following the Metro lines as well as cycling paths and mountain bike trails. There are a few long cycling path/trails on the Virginia side which are appealing. I'm looking at craigslist for apartment rentals, is there a better site? So far I'm looking at areas around: Springfield/Franconia Tysons/ On the other side of DC, Silver Spring is closer to downtown and seems reasonably priced. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I have family in that area, PM me an email and I'll put you in touch with them by email and you can ask them more specific questions... I was chatting with them over Christmas... moving somewhere that manages the commute problem is 9 of your top 10 things to work out. | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
PM sent, thanks heaps I did a little more looking last night and I think living within walking or short cycling distance of a Metro station is do-able. I'm mainly looking at apartments/condo's and many also seem to have shuttles to the Metro stations. Falls Church is another area that looks ok | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
I've been in touch with Reepi's family and they've been a great help, thanks heaps Bill! Both the Silver Spring area and the greater Arlington area are looking promising. It's now looking official... I have my visa interview booked for 14th January and I'm taking a punt and booking my flight for 23rd January. I've got more than enough paperwork to satisfy everything so I'm hoping the visa interview is a straight forward process I now have a lot to do! I've ordered a skip bin to throw out a lot of stuff, and bought a whole heap of plumbing fittings to fix a few things around the house... I still haven't sold my Buell X1, which is a bit of a worry... So I'm checking on how much it will cost to ship it with me. I don't think it will be worth the cost of shipping plus changing over the headlight, speedometer... What are the chances of registering a Buell X1 with a race kit in Virginia?  | ||
| Reepicheep |
Registering costs won't be that high regardless. Most states are probably somewhere in the $50 to $200 range. A few states tax you on the value of the vehicle (Indiana?), but even then, the bike just isn't worth much cash wise anymore, so that won't be bad. Legal wise, it might be a pretty big headache. You need a title to register the bike, and the title comes from a manufacturer certificate of origin. Without one of those two things, it can range from hard to impossible to register a bike for the road. You can probably find an already US titled tuber here in the states for $1000 to $5000 depending on condition (with the $5000 one being a jaw dropper) pretty easily. And I can't imagine you could ship your current X1 for less than $1000. So even selling for a loss is probably a win. Continue seeking other advice here on location also. I hooked you up with geeks, commuters and project managers and a runner (though his email address changed). You probably also want data points from skiers, musicians, surfers, and maybe some others that came to America from different locations. They will have insights we lack that may be important. The east coast is a *great* "landing spot" for coming to the country, especially the DC or NY area. So much to do... | ||
| Buellish |
As Bill says,sounds like a headache. https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/vehicles/#titling_imp orted.asp | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
It really does sound like a headache. At the very least I'm guessing I'd need to find standard exhaust and ECM... Too hard basket! A couple of friends here have offered to store it if it doesn't sell, so that's my backup. Thanks again for putting me in touch, I'm cool with geeks etc Another friend here has put me in touch with an Australian living in DC on the same visa I'm working on, and he's a sometime musician as well | ||
| Ceejay |
VA will tax you on your property, not terrible, but still bothersome. Somewhere around point nine percent down here, but will be more in the burbs of DC. Like reep stated, it'd be cheaper and much less headaches to buy a new to you one here. There's a couple of X1, s3, m2, etc within about 2 hrs of you and should be cheaper than the dc metro area, try Richmond, Virginia beach, Winchester, etc. also some triumphs are lurking in those areas too. (Message edited by Ceejay on January 16, 2016) | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
Thanks Ceejay! It's all good, I sold the X1W! It's going to live with an S1W and an S1 drag bike Visa approved, I'll be in the U.S. in a week!!! The adventure really begins now!  | ||
| Zac4mac |
Have a safe trip Graham. Don't forget to swing by Colorado when you head west. Come to Berthoud and see our "new" shop. Zack | ||
| 86129squids |
Wow- I'm envious of what you're doing, you're gonna have an abundance of awesomeness for a good while! Holler when you make it to East Tennessee, good buddy, and be safe! |
