MexicanYentaAnyone here currently living in Buffalo NY? I’m planning on moving there and would love to follow some locals.
Chris Vreeland@MexicanYenta @TheJen is somewhere in the region & just moved from NM.
@Devils_Rancher @TheJen ah, a bonus! Thanks!
TheJen will not comply@MexicanYenta @Devils_Rancher Howdy! Your handle seems really familiar. Did we follow each other on bird site? I was TheJenNMX there.
@Devils_Rancher @TheJen possibly - I’ve been off that site for many years now. Are you a mefite, by any chance?
@MexicanYenta @Devils_Rancher Not knowing what that is, I'll have to say no. Haha. Yeah, I've been off birdsite too for a good while. Idk.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher ah, just wondered because that’s where I know @Devils_Rancher from.
Where in NM were you? And Texas? I’m down in Alamogordo, and I lived in Houston and Dallas.
@MexicanYenta @TheJen Y’all’s common trajectories is interesting, and I know you align politically- I could have been boosting your stuff into each other’s timeline.
Anyway, welcome to my sleeper cell, where the first rule is we don’t talk abou… dammit!
@Devils_Rancher @MexicanYenta HAAAAHAHAHA
It's very possible. Anyway, welcome. I am happy to help however I can. Not been up here long, but have learned a few things.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher thanks! I’ve been stalking the Buffalo subreddit for several years now, so I feel like I know a lot about it, but I always have weird questions pop into my head. Like I do wonder about the quality of the Mexican food from the perspective of someone who’s had REAL Mexican food. 😆
@MexicanYenta @TheJen Mexican food is like the #2 question after the cost of rent/real estate. 🙂
@Devils_Rancher @TheJen and the cost of rent/real estate is one of the main reasons people choose Buffalo.
@MexicanYenta @TheJen I had a roommate from there in the early 80’s and he was a refugee from the lake effect snow. But Austin was really cheap and easy to live in back then.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher and the snow now is not as bad as it used to be. Although this year has been pretty intense from what I’ve seen.
I stalk a webcam there mostly to watch the weather. 😁
I stalk a webcam there mostly to watch the weather. 😁
@MexicanYenta @Devils_Rancher We're closer to Rochester and I was expecting feet of the stuff. Nope. It's not nearly as bad as I expected. About the same as we got on the mountain.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher oh, Rochester is my backup in case Buffalo doesn’t work out for some reason. I want to visit the farmers market there; it looks really nice!
@MexicanYenta @Devils_Rancher we haven't been yet but we got here in late summer last year. It's definitely on the itinerary.
@Devils_Rancher @TheJen I stalk a webcam in Rochester too. 😂
@MexicanYenta @Devils_Rancher Haha I did that for about a year before we moved up here. :)
@MexicanYenta @Devils_Rancher But so far we really like it. We're in the country in a tiny little burgh with 1 stop light. It works for us. :)
@TheJen @MexicanYenta That sounds delightful. I have always lived in a big city but I’m aging out of the hustle and bustle.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher I want a country house on a couple of acres, but right outside those two acres I want there to be a walkable neighborhood with coffee shops and music stores and Asian food. 😁
@MexicanYenta @Devils_Rancher believe it or not, there is some of that here.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher hmmm…I may have to DM you later and ask for details about that. I haven’t seen it in my online browsing.
@MexicanYenta @Devils_Rancher Churchville is like that. So is Brockport.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher I will check them out, thanks!
@MexicanYenta @Devils_Rancher All the houses are mostly old houses, they don't tear them down for mcmansions like in TX. There is definitely not the sprawl like that either. No planned communities, no subdivisions, nothing like that. My house was built in 1900 as was most of the ones here in this little community. These folks fix them up and just keep them updated.
@Devils_Rancher @TheJen yeah, I’ve noticed that and I love old houses, so that works for me. No HOA’s, either.
@MexicanYenta @Devils_Rancher Yeah, none of that nonsense.
@Devils_Rancher @MexicanYenta we bought a foreclosure old house sight unseen for cash because we're a little crazy like that, but honestly, real estate up here is extremely reasonable.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher wow thats brave! I spend hours looking at 100+ year old houses for sale and wondering what horrible surprises wait inside.
@MexicanYenta @Devils_Rancher we're remodelers so it wasn't a huge deal for us. Do the work ourselves. This is house # 4.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher ah ok. I’ve done a lot of DIY in the past but at this point, I’m ready to retire but can’t yet, and I don’t want to deal with a lot of big projects. I’m ok with doing cosmetic stuff, but I don’t want to be fixing leaky roofs or redoing plumbing.
@MexicanYenta @Devils_Rancher Yeah, we're basically rebuilding a good chunk of it.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher ha, I’m tired just thinking about it!
@TheJen @MexicanYenta I have admired your restoration efforts from afar. We’ve had a lot of work done on our 90 year old house this year, but a lot of it has been out of my reach. We had to pull permits to update the electrical, had a 12-foot sliding glass door replaced, the list goes on. (The electrician said “Wow! I’ve never soon one of those panels before. Cool logo!”)
My wife’s not budging though. She’s just nailed down here. We talk about getting out but it never goes anywhere.
@Devils_Rancher @MexicanYenta At some point the heat will be unlivable. Desertification will take over.
@TheJen @MexicanYenta Yeah, I have seen scientific studies that prove the “100th parallel” dry/wet divide is moving solidly east of the SA, Austin, DFW corridor. As you may have seen, I’m replacing our lawn with cactus. It’s getting weird.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher people here still have lawns. It infuriates me. But as water gets more and more expensive, they’re getting rid of them because they can’t afford them.
@MexicanYenta @TheJen It will all be dead in a year or two no matter what, so I’m slowly replacing it with graven and native desert stuff. But that’s expensive too! I need to find someone out around Del Rio who will let me come dig up a bunch of garbage plants like agarita, cows bane and lechugilla.
@Devils_Rancher @TheJen we have some stuff similar to lechuguilla out here that doesn’t need watering at all. I can send you some seeds, they’re all over the parking lot at work.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher oh, I just remembered - some types of rosemary grow great here and in the Palm Desert area while being completely neglected. I can send you a rooted sprig of mine.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher it’s much bigger now. We never water it or anything. And hollyhocks are considered invasive weeds here, I can get you seeds for them later in the summer.
@MexicanYenta @TheJen We had some rosemary and I went to war with it after a few years! I want to try to keep it as native as possible so some lechugilla would be perfect.
@Devils_Rancher @TheJen I’m not sure if that’s exactly what it is but it’s similar. I’ll go take a pic right now.
@MexicanYenta @Devils_Rancher Sages also do extremely well in dry climates.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher the leaves are thinner but it seems to be a similar type of plant. There’s tons of seeds left over from last fall.
@Devils_Rancher @TheJen it attracts pollinators. Lavender does well here too, and it attracts hummingbirds.
@MexicanYenta we have some sage and the bees love it!
@MexicanYenta @TheJen It’s some sort of agave or yucca, and would probably do fine! I want some ocatillo but the nurseries around here think those are worth 100 bucks!
@Devils_Rancher @TheJen I can send you as many seeds as you want. Do you need more than this? We have several of these plants in our parking lot and they all have seeds.
@MexicanYenta Don’t go to any more trouble- I’m sure that will be plenty. Need to read up on how and when best to sprout them. Thanks!
@Devils_Rancher well if it’s not enough, they’re right outside the door and I pass them on the way to my car. No trouble at all!
@MexicanYenta @Devils_Rancher Piñon pines also grow well with no care. And the nuts are delicious.
@TheJen @MexicanYenta Not a bad idea! I do have a spot for a tree. Trying to keep our mature live oak alive for now, but there’s a spot to the west of it. My bigtooth maple is turning out to be pretty hardy too.
@Devils_Rancher @TheJen I forget - what’s her reason for wanting to stay?
@MexicanYenta @TheJen 3/4ths the granddaughter 1/4 inertia.
@Devils_Rancher @TheJen understandable but frustrating. Tell the kid to move too. 😁
@MexicanYenta @TheJen I wish, but the daughter-in-law has made some questionable relationship decisions and is currently married to a Texas redneck. The mental landscape may shift when my MIL is no longer with us, but I think she has some good years left in her.
@Devils_Rancher @TheJen well that sounds like a shit mess. I’m sorry. ☹️
@MexicanYenta @TheJen I’m ok, myself, for now. Would like more than anything to go “home,” but that’s SF and utterly out of the question.
@TheJen @Devils_Rancher yeah. That’s me and NYC. Buffalo is me making do. But I keep hearing that SF prices are coming down.
@MexicanYenta @TheJen I have looked- our 4/2 in central Austin = a 2/1 in the outer Excelsior. If we move, the buying price has to be a substantial enough difference that we gain some real savings. Eastern Tennessee is cheap, probably for a reason, but as an outdoorsy person, would suit me well. Too red. N. California gets cheaper as you get beyond commuting range from the bay area- Ft. Bragg would be great. Chico, Redding, etc are too much of a fire risk.