u/isuckatreaper29

Is it like that everywhere in the world now? Born and raised in the US, idk if this is specific to it, but it's just exhausting how everyone is constantly trying to make money off of you.

My car insurance doubled last month without any apparent reason. Paid to see the doctor a couple of weeks ago, and instead got sent a midlevel who sat with me for like 20 secs. I went house shopping with my cousin today, and like half the homes had insane monthly HOA fees for like what? Why do you always have to battle with stupid insurance claims? Why does it feel like you're constantly having to fight to avoid getting ripped of?

Getting out of the military and have a gov civilian job offer at both these places. My wife and I are in our late 20's and visited both, but still undecided. Can't say we love hiking vs swimming more than the other.

We found Colorado Springs much more scenic. Probably one of the most beautiful places I've been to in the US. Only think I didn't like about CO was how isolated it seemed, even with Denver close by.

Six hours from Virginia Beach, you've got about six different major cities, which I love about the East Coast. VB is kinda uglier outside the beach areas but still a great location. Colorado Springs seems to be growing a lot as well with cooler things/more developments than VB.

Anyone whose lived in either, which did you like more?

Looking for a home there now. I know schools aren't the best and we will be having kids in the future. The other thing that's sorta keeping me away is the HOA fees and fear of those going up all the time.

That said, I heard it's a very safe area, convenient, and overall a nice community being near a golf course and all.

Any input/advice for anyone who's lived there? How was your experience?

Looking for a home there now. I know schools aren't the best and we will be having kids in the future. The other thing that's sorta keeping me away is the HOA fees and fear of those going up all the time.

That said, I heard it's a very safe area, convenient, and overall a nice community being near a golf course and all.

Any input/advice for anyone who's lived there? How was your experience?

Boom. Boom.

Two loud foot stomps echo from the same spot where the bear came from and shake the ground beneath us.

“What on earth?” My uncle gets up, swivels his head around until he finds the culprit. He doesn’t say anything but falls to his knees.

I look up to find what the bear is running from.

It emerges slowly from the cedar tree gate.

My eyes know what it is. I'd seen pictures of it in books. In slideshows in science class. In 4K movies at the cinema. I have a couple of action figures that look just like it on my dresser.
But my brain cannot comprehend it. Cannot make sense of it in any way. What is in front of us doesn’t exist. Shouldn’t exist. Hasn’t existed for hundreds of millions of years. Only on screens, pages, and museums were they witnessed.

I think of Ben in AP Bio. They called him a madman. A nutjob. Doohyun and Serena ridiculed him in front of everyone. But he was right. All those conspiracy theories were right. All of them.

What emerges from the forest and stands in all its glory, hungering a couple of meters from us, is a living, breathing dinosaur.

The only species that comes to my panicked mind is an Allosaurus. It's a carnivore, certainly, smaller than a Tyrannosaurus, I think, but I couldn’t imagine anything bigger. It's treacherously imposing all the same.