"Reid E. Baxter" <[log in to unmask]> wrote in message news:3d6e8ba8$3@skycache-news.fidnet.com... > Well, it looks like fortune has shown down upon me (laid-off last year, working part-time now). I will be moving from California to Bloomington, Ill for a HP3000 position and I was wondering if anyone on the list per chance could clue me into the approximate rental cost of say a duplex as I have quadrupeds kids (dogs). Any other important (weather, etc) or even trivial information regarding this area of the US would be greatly appreciated, on or off list. Thanks for your feedback in advance. Dang - where did you find an HP3000 position? What company? This is actually a twin town. Bloomington to the south and Normal to the north. Normal is the home of Illinois State U (ISU). I got my degree in computer science at ISU. There's lots of rental units near ISU. Large parts of Bloomington are rather run down and old (especially around Miller Park). My folks live in Normal. Normalites kid that Bloomington (to the south) is a little below Normal. Bloomington-Normal (abbreviated BNM) is also corporate HQ to State Farm Insurance, and Country Companies. I haven't really rented my own housing there, but you can get some rather cheap housing. Cheapest is just outside the I-55/I-74 loop. Other than the east side, it gets REAL rural in a big hurry. It might be possible to rent an entire house for $500-800/mo if you locate in a nearby town - say, Carlock (which is 5 miles outside BNM). On the west side of Normal is the big Mitsubishi auto plant. You can rent a house for, say, $700-1100. My parent's 3000 sqft 5BR house is worth all of $140k. The land around BNM is bare-ass naked farmland that's flat as a die. 40 miles west is Peoria. 40 miles east is Champaign-Urbana (U of Ill). There is an Amtrak stop in both Bloomington and one in Normal on the Chicago - St Louis line. Nearby Eureka, IL was the college home of Ronald Reagan. It's hot in the summer (95-100) and humid. It's actually cooler in the summer here in Atlanta. In the winter it can get to -20F. And the wind is like someone is driving knives into your face. A single snowstorm has been known to dump two FEET of snow, but 6-12 inches is the norm. 35 miles west in Morton is a major pumpkin festival. The main event is a Punkin Chunkin contest to see how far you can hurl a pumpkin. Different categories are catapult (Trebouchet), and Air Cannon. I've seen pumpkin air cannons 300 ft long (segmented barrel) that has hurled pumpkins 2000 yards. Example Pumpkin catapults/Trebouchets: http://www.worldchampionshippunkinchunkin.com/machines/pages/apair_of_trebuc hets_jpg.htm Example pumpkin cannons: http://www.worldchampionshippunkinchunkin.com/machines/pages/airing_up_jpg.h tm http://www.worldchampionshippunkinchunkin.com/machines/pages/2ndamend_jpg.ht m http://www.worldchampionshippunkinchunkin.com/machines/pages/road_warrior_jp g.htm http://www.worldchampionshippunkinchunkin.com/machines/pages/unisold_jpg.htm http://www.worldchampionshippunkinchunkin.com/machines/pages/smlin2_jpg.htm * To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, * * etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *