Hacker News Reader

Comment by JCharante | Hacker News Reader

I'm also in the Portland area (first time I'm able to say that without having to include the state) and grew up here. Also haven't come across another HNer.

I know it's the second most rural state, but the Portland area seems urban enough to offer a variety of places to purchase food, so I don't completely understand how so many Dollar stores seem to thrive here especially with a Walmart nearby.

I've only been going up to Rangely for the past few years, and I've always wondered what type of store there was before IGA, because it doesn't seem to cater to a low income crowd like dollar stores in general.

I've never had an encounter with dang but hopefully dang won't be too harsh, this is just too special of an occasion.

View on HN

You live in the big city! My town name consists of a single letter and has six residencies. I'm out past Rangeley.

Rangeley has a buttload of money. There are some poor, but not many. They only have 1200 residents, or so. However, they can swell to ten times that size during tourist season. They love them some tourists.

And, yeah, this is a definite rarity. I've browsed for years, joined almost two years ago, kept lurking to get the feel if things, and just started posting a few months ago.

I have no idea what was there before the IGA. I suspect that building has always been an IGA and has been since the 60s. That's going by the architecture internally.

There are an insane number of places to eat and the community is doing something all the time. I can live anywhere in the planet, for the most part. I live here.

It's a downright Mainah convention! I'm accepted as a native, but I came here to go to boarding/prep school as a kid. Kents Hill, no apostrophe. I'm quite partial to the lifestyle and people.

I should be quieter. People will start moving here.

Funniest bumper sticker ever: Welcome to Maine; Now go Home!

It's been an IGA as long as it's been there, I think. I think I remember it being built, or maybe expanded, but that was way back when I was a kid and my Dad was cutting wood for DC Mortons - their garage was where Boss Power Equipment is now.

I bought a substantial (obscene really) amount of land that had been owned by a paper mill. It hadn't been harvested since the 80s and it's a working forest (TSI, sustainable) now. I know how it's done, have the gear, and can log safely - I just can't do it at the speeds they do it at.

These days, there's little logging left. They still have the festivals with the demonstrations and competitions, though.

The lumber quality wood from my land goes to turning and some specialty mills - some goes down to Belgrade (Hammond). Over in Vienna, I've got a bunch of commercial blueberry fields, about 400 acres.

So, I've tried to fit in and the natives accept me as one of their own. I still call them the Village People, though.

You can tell when they've accepted you. The gossip is no longer about you - and now they tell you gossip about the new people. I moved here after selling my business and built a giant house.

The locals would come sit in my future driveway and talk about me. Sometimes, they'd spend the whole day there. So, I made it a point to hire anyone who asked. That worked wonders.

I paid people to teach me how to hunt, fish, use a chainsaw, process meat, preserve things, grow a garden, etc...

It's been VERY different than what I'd expected when I opted to move here. It's been much better, actually. It's the first place I've ever called home - which might explain my gushing about it.

Just out of curiosity, how did you find out about HN?

Someone linked me because they thought I'd be interested. I'm a retired mathematician, hackerish, and investor.

"Most rural", interesting. I haven't found the rank but I see VT is #1 "most rural" which I assume is % living in areas considered 'rural'. Surprising to me, as I certainly don't consider it to be a sparsely populated state-- and in fact, it's the 38th most densely populated state, between Colorado and Oregon. Fascinating.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com