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BS: What do we know about Guam?
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: SINSULL Date: 16 Apr 03 - 07:08 PM Congratulations, Brett! I would have more trouble wih squishy sea slugs than snakes. Ask AllanC how NOT to handle a snake. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: katlaughing Date: 16 Apr 03 - 06:38 PM I think sometimes it is ALL CLOTHING is superfluous!! Whoo-Hoo!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Naemanson Date: 16 Apr 03 - 06:19 PM I walked out of the office this afternoon to meet icy winds and cold rain. Hard to believe there is a land where sweaters and jackets are superfluous. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Amos Date: 16 Apr 03 - 05:01 PM Don't sweat the temp, Brett -- if you are overheating a 98.6 engine and it's pushing 100, a dip in 80 degrees will feel just fine! A |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: MMario Date: 16 Apr 03 - 04:55 PM aND THINK OF WHAT YOU'LL SAVE ON GROCERIES - 'CAUSE THEY'RE SUPPOSSED TO TASTE JUST LIKE CHICKEN! okay Sinsull - how come I'm afflicted with DAMNCAPSLOCK all of a sudden? |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: catspaw49 Date: 16 Apr 03 - 04:39 PM I always found that a 5 Iron snaps their heads off really nice! Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: katlaughing Date: 16 Apr 03 - 03:59 PM Well, if ya bleieve the old cowpunchers |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Naemanson Date: 16 Apr 03 - 02:15 PM I hear they are nocturnal and crawl up into bed with you. I'm not worried. Snakes are what they are and cannot be worse than blackflies and mosquitoes in the spring. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: katlaughing Date: 16 Apr 03 - 11:44 AM Spaw! I'll have you know my nephew-in-law hasn't even mentioned snakes, not once!!*bg* |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: catspaw49 Date: 16 Apr 03 - 11:29 AM Yes Brett, it's true....When the fronts move through and the snows blow in cold, I too will think of you lying on a secluded golden beach under azure skies.......with a snake crawling up your ass. Congrats my friend!!! There is nothing like a new adventure.....or a snake bit ass either for that matter. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Alba Date: 16 Apr 03 - 11:19 AM WAY TO GO BRETT. MAY all the POSITIVES by far outweigh the Negatives. Now Voyager.......I will think of you on the golden beach, under the Azure sky next Winter as I dig my truck out for the umpteenth time LOL. I admire your Spirit of Adventure and wish you only the Best.. A:>) |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: katlaughing Date: 16 Apr 03 - 10:49 AM Oh, wow, Naes!! Congratulations!! My sister, bet's, son-in-law is there right now. He's supposed to come home in June, but who knows with the military? He told his wife, my neice, that he's playing ball a lot and getting tan! Wow, I really admire your courage and being so open to such change. And, I am envious of the indgenous music you will get to hear! Wow-oh-wow!! luvyakat |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Naemanson Date: 16 Apr 03 - 10:32 AM I have been offered the job and I have told them I would take it. By June I expect to be the Mudcatter farthest from Mudcat Central. I am excited and scared. Wish me luck. Mark Cohen, is the offer of a bed still open for visitors? |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Naemanson Date: 20 Mar 03 - 09:22 AM Still Dithering.... I just talked to the Army in Germany and the job doesn't sound like much of a challenge. And it's a long way from the water. Guam, on the other hand IS a promotion. And there's plenty of water... |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Naemanson Date: 19 Mar 03 - 05:03 PM If you are interested here is what I've found on Guam. Official Site is the official web site. There are some pictures here. There are more Pictures here. And then here is the CIA page on Guam. It looks pretty good but I'm starting to have second thoughts. You wanna know what is stopping me? I looked at the water temperature. The water runs in the mid 80s! How do you find relief from the heat in bathwater, no matter how pretty? Dithering. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: MMario Date: 19 Mar 03 - 12:52 PM commerce department - Guam |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: GUEST,Dreaded Guest Date: 19 Mar 03 - 12:46 PM The brown snakes are tree climbers and eat groundnesters eggs and tree nesters eggs. They also blow out electrical juncture boxes. I know when I was there I saw one bird, aside from chickens. One bird in a year. It stopped traffic and a nearby school was trotted out to look at it. I hope the birds have made a comeback since then. There's no rabies on Guam, so there are lots of dogs and cats in the jungle (call them 'Boonies'), so maybe the dogs have taken care of the snakes. The dogs and cats aren't wild, either. Friendly. You want a pet...just whistle. Should be websites or e-mail directories with Guam addresses. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Naemanson Date: 19 Mar 03 - 12:27 PM I wonder if there are any people from Guam with whom I could open an email correspondence. How does one find people on the web if you aren't looking for someone to date? |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull Date: 19 Mar 03 - 07:35 AM HEllo, i don't know anything about Guams, i'm not even sure waht a guam is, i think they are some kind of dangerous wild animal, probably like a tiger or something, best tjing is to keep right away from them.john |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: open mike Date: 19 Mar 03 - 01:25 AM My son-in-law is Guamanian, or Chimorro, and they have a close family. And a large one. He has a cousin who teaches scuba diving and they have lots of family members back on the island, though quite a few of them have re-located to the mainland. There are beautiful, huge land crabs there and much of the food they fix has either fish or coconut milk in it (or both!) I understand the elctricity on the Island is from Diesel generators..might make for a great market there for solar panels!! His grandparents have chickens, turkeys and pigs-no snake problems. People are friendly and laid-back. He did not see any snakes, only pictures of them and that people laugh about that nat'l geographic. He saw a lot of birds--the coldest temp. in winter is in the 70's. He was there in November, and would encourage you to go there too. He said that it is a wonderful place and you should check it out! |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Sorcha Date: 19 Mar 03 - 12:33 AM The snakes sound pretty nasty........I don't want to go there. I'll just keep dealing with winter. Take lots of hot baths. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: GUEST,Dreaded Guest Date: 18 Mar 03 - 11:40 PM Yeah...there are lots of small bars and such there...live music. It's closer to Asia than the US, so American music is real popular. Lots of jungle, too, if a person should have to hide. And the snakes are big but not poisonous, hide from people. You could probably eat them. I recall eating worse things over there. Here's a piece about Hawaii that made me wonder about Guam: Smokestacks in Hawaii I know the sources are suspect, but if you glean through the doubful to the basics, there is some pretty disturbing information here. Like in Texas, we have Czech troops hidden here and there. That makes me nervous because all the old Warsaw Pact countries have a 'specialty' area in which their military excels. For the Czechs its bio and chemical hazard cleanup and warfare. Russian Troops A person could probably escape all this by living off snakes in Guam. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 18 Mar 03 - 10:30 PM Brett, I have a singer/songwriter friend who spent a couple of years in Guam while her husband was in the Navy. I think she did pretty well, gigwise, while she was there. I've sent her an email asking her to post here. Bruce |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: harpgirl Date: 18 Mar 03 - 07:52 PM I think you should go visit Guam, Brett and then decide! harpgrrl |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: GUEST,Guest riboflavin Date: 18 Mar 03 - 07:40 PM Not to be gross or anything, but are the brown tree snakes......edible? |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: GUEST,Dreaded Guest Date: 18 Mar 03 - 05:43 PM Well, Guam and Puerto Rico are tied into the Federal Reserve IRS system in some weird way (to make the illegal income tax legal the Federal Reserve has to have it's 'Treasury' technically in offshore possessional territories, or something...still trying to figure it out), so maybe Guam will get a pass when the troops start moving. And there DOES seem to be a weird kind of love-hate split between people on Guam...go to the mainland, miss the island and vice versa. I think a lot of it is TV and what we're taught to want. But if a person can make do with less and enjoys a really different experience, Guam is quite an experience. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Naemanson Date: 18 Mar 03 - 04:06 PM I have dreams of living on the island, in a house looking out to sea, spending weekends on my boat, sailing out to fins a reef for some spearfishing for sunbathing or just for sailing to and back again. Attire would be standard tropical attire of shorts, light shirt, straw hat and sunblock. Snorkeling gear would never be far away. Nights, after a meal of local food or my own seafood, I would sit on the patio and listen to the surf and then fall asleep with the seabreeze wafting through the curtains. Sure, during the week I have to work in an office but it is the off time that defines your quality of life. And then there's the reality of those damn snakes.... and the typhoons.... and the humidity.... But I'm not worried about the Chinese or any other outside threat. Terrorists do not loom large in my life. I'm not a Republican so paranoia and fear are not part of my makeup. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: M.Ted Date: 18 Mar 03 - 02:02 PM I can't speak from direct experience, as Dreaded Guest does, but my Aloha Band used to provide music for three sisters from Guam who danced for luaus and similar events for the Pacific ethnic communities in the Bay Area--The dancing and the food were great, and the folks are wonderful and warm--The island cultures and ecosystems are very fragile, and most folks had an underlying sense of sorrow about cultural and ecological losses--most felt torn between Western Culture, Island roots, and Asian roots--Few economic or educational opportunities mean that folks tend to go away for school and work-- My guitar partner from the band said he lived Stateside until he missed home-- then went home and lived there until he got claustrophobic, then lived stateside, then went home-- Based on what they told me, I would be hesitant move there-- |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: GUEST,Dreaded Guest Date: 18 Mar 03 - 01:31 PM I spent a year on Guam. Great place. Hot and humid, but no worse than Houston. Military on north and south ends of islands. If you live on-base it's just like anywhere else. Off-base is pretty different. Lots of Japanese tourists, lots of Japanese hotels on the beaches in Agana, the capital. The Chamorros are the indigenous people...nice folks. Beautiful language with hardly any consonants. Snakes from cargo ships in WW2 have decimated the birds, and that's the strangest change...no background sound of birds. If you like to scuba and snorkel, then take the paid vacation to Guam. Second only to Palau as a desirable diving location, from what most say. I spent all the spare time I could in the water. Incredible. Coral reefs are as close as a dry lander can come to visiting another world, in my opinion. On the downside, guns are tightly regulated. And you'd be in the way of the Chinese invasion force which will sweep across the Pacific to 'assist' America when our CIA govt calls on 'foreign assets' to help fight terrorists. If you're a civilian, you'll be ash. If you're military, you'll probably be OK. Same as in Europe or here, though, I expect. If you've never been to a tropical place, Guam's nice. The breezes keep the air as clear as any I've ever seen. And with the turquoise water and greens of the vegetation, I can see why Gaugin stayed in Tahiti to paint. Suggestion...get a good digital camera if you don't paint or have no interest in diving. Really, it's incredible how beautiful the place can be. You'll wish you'd brought a camera, and things on the island are expensive and are always slow to arrive...'on the next ship'. I hope I never hear that phrase again. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: catspaw49 Date: 18 Mar 03 - 01:24 PM And they'd walk in and say, "Gee Brett...I didn't knw you were from Texas......" Don't go to Guam man.......Ocean? Well, Mannheim is only 150 miles from the Swiss border and they just won the America's Cup.......... Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Naemanson Date: 18 Mar 03 - 01:04 PM Maybe I should have made this thread a comparison thread. BTW, Sage, if I were to go to Guam I might be the only liberal among all those conservatives but I'm sure I could hold my own. They'd get the idea when they saw the sign on my door that says, "Somewhere in Texas is a village missing an idiot." |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 18 Mar 03 - 12:31 PM My sister travels to Germany every couple of years to meet a friend who works there in a situation like yours sounds like, at a military installation as a civilian. They rent a car or buy rail passes and travel around a few European countries for their few weeks' vacation, seeing a lot and shipping purchases home (or buying stuff small enough to fit in a backpack to carry home). Gets my vote also! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: katlaughing Date: 18 Mar 03 - 12:28 PM My brother really loved Heidelberg, too, when he was stationed in Germany. Lots of incredible history and culture to explore there, to say nothing of a few Mudcatters "in country." Glad you liked the site, Naes. Have fun exploring! kat |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: jimmyt Date: 18 Mar 03 - 12:12 PM Manheim is a neat location in Germany Very near Heidelberg, the Neckar river valley, couple hours at most to France and Switzerland. Sure would get my vote over Guam! |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Naemanson Date: 18 Mar 03 - 11:44 AM Wow, good information. Thanks for the info on the island. I told them I would be interested in being considered but that I would prefer Europe over Guam. The snakes seem to be quite the problem. Snakes as a rule don't bother me but too many would be a problem. I like the cultural site, Kat. Lots of good info there. I'll need to study it for a while. You're right, Sage. We did talk about it and they did seem to home in on that to set me up. Still, I am also being considered for a post with the Army in Germany. That, at least, is in Europe even though they have winter. Manheim is a long way from the ocean though. |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Bullfrog Jones Date: 18 Mar 03 - 11:17 AM No problem -- just pack a few mongooses (mongeese?)! BJ |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: katlaughing Date: 18 Mar 03 - 10:39 AM Here's a Guam government page about the indigenous culture, esp. the dancing and music, which I really like: clickety. I went looking for info earlier this month when it looked as though my neice's husband might be shipped out there with the USAF. So far that's been put on hold. However, the snakes would be enough to put me off forever!! I saw the same special Spaw did, I am sure. Gave me the heebeeGeebees! kat |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:50 AM Brett, I think we spoke of this backchannel a bit. It is my understanding that there is a very conservative population there, religiously and politically. I see this as a negative, but that's just me. They're a Reagan/Bush/Bush sort of crowd, electorate-wise, with the usual attached socially restrictive baggage. You know, it's kind of like that one tree in a big empty field, isn't it? We talked about all of the possible interesting islands out there, with the exception being Guam, and darned if your ship didn't aim straight at the island you were probably trying to miss! I think you'd survive, however, and might have some interesting snake stories to tell when you SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: jimmyt Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:21 AM yeah, and they are about as delecate and sensitive as roaches, the go everywhere and anywhere. and they are not a pleasent secretive snake They have a bit of an attitude!!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: MMario Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:13 AM that's roughly one snake to avery 43 foot square piece of land! |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: catspaw49 Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:10 AM Screw a buncha' Guam Brett...............I saw a special awhile back on Discovery I think, chronicling the saga of the Brown Tree Snake and that was enough for me. The damn things came in not by design, but on a supply ship just after WWII and they have reached a density of 10,000 snakes per square mile although this site uses a figure of 13,000!!!! Geeziz.....if it was only half of that.......a quarter of it......say 2500 snakes per square mile......it's still more than I'd like!! Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: jimmyt Date: 18 Mar 03 - 08:41 AM I have a friend that went there for a year. As I remember, it has no real indigenous population, water is very nice, but lots of sea slugs that squish between your toes, they are harmless. Large AMerican Military staging site, American protectorate so you would be still under the same IRS situation. A few years ago, some genius decided to introduce the brown tree snake to get rid of the rat problem. THe snakes decided it was easier to get rid of the songbird problem, and they were very efficient at it. Essentially there are no songbirds left in Guam. THe snakes, mildly venomous, have spread like wildfire there, they can't contol the poplation of them and it had become a very big problem. If you hate snakes, think twice about the place. |
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Subject: BS: What do we know about Guam? From: Naemanson Date: 18 Mar 03 - 08:33 AM I have received a preliminary job offer to go to Guam for the next few years. This is a radically different destination from my original intention of going to Europe. But then this winter was enough for me and in a moment of weakness I put in notices of interest for places that don't experience winter. So what information do we have on Guam? Does anyone have personal experience? |
