[geeks] Back to the land of the big PX

[Chris Byrne]

>On Behalf Of William S
> 
> I understand your reasons for wanting to return to the USA
> but assuming you were open to other countries in your 
> "neighborhood"...
> 
> How about France (I have seen some very cheap houses
> there), Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium?
> 

I had thought about it. I am an EU citizen so I could work anywhere in
the EU, but honestly, I ont really want to live in a non-english
speaking country on a permanent basis right now. The effort of
readjusting to an entirely new language and culture while trying to find
work is just a bit much for me to handle. Although in my time at Dell I
learned that I remebered a lot more of my once fluent french than I
thought. Not enough to live, but enough to get by, and I pick up
languages very quickly. 

I do like amsterdam. It's a great city to live in, but the taxes are
just ridiculous, and I want to be able to own guns again, and a car. And
I want to fly again as well. I havent managed to fly since 1998 and
that's really bugging me actually. 

I had also thought about Australia. I love Oz, and I've got some really
good friends down in Melbourne but they recently outlawed private gun
ownership, and honestly I think I want to be near my family for a while.


> Where I live now in Amsterdam rental is probably equivalent
> to what you would see in Boston. 
>

Well a nice three or four bedroom place in the immediate Boston area
would run you anywhere from 1k to 2k these days depending on the town,
neighborhood, and commuting convenience. Double that for anything close
to downtown, or most areas of cambridge, brookline, belmont etc... Right
now in South County Dublin (admittedly a very nice, somewhat rich town)
I'm paying 1650euro for a nice 4 bedroom place. I figure if I went back
to the boston area I'd pay about the same for about the same. 

Chris Byrne