<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:o =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word"><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1522" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE>@page Section1 {size: 8.5in 11.0in; margin: 1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; }
P.MsoNormal {
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"
}
LI.MsoNormal {
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"
}
DIV.MsoNormal {
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"
}
A:link {
COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline
}
SPAN.MsoHyperlink {
COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline
}
A:visited {
COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline
}
SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {
COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline
}
SPAN.EmailStyle17 {
COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-style-type: personal
}
SPAN.EmailStyle18 {
COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-style-type: personal-reply
}
DIV.Section1 {
page: Section1
}
</STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY lang=EN-US vLink=purple link=blue>
<DIV><SPAN class=100534310-16012006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Hrafn,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=100534310-16012006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=100534310-16012006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Northern Ansteorra is a very friendly and (reasonably) low cost area in
which to live. The average income is slightly lower but so is the cost of
living. Based on an on-line cost of living calculator, Oklahoma City is about
19% cheaper than Portland Oregon. There is a lot of trucking activity and mostly
flat roads. We don't have a lot of snow and ice but few people know how to drive
in it when it does come. We do have a lot of sunny days. Temperature extremes
are usually about 1-2 weeks per year each of below 20 and above 100. Oklahoma
has the most man-made reservoirs and recreational lakes of any state which add
up to over 1 million acres of surface water and over 2000 miles more shoreline
than the Atlantic and Gulf coasts combined. We also have a small desert and lots
of caves.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=100534310-16012006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=100534310-16012006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>The
SCA in Northern Ansteorra is very friendly. There are 9 active
groups including 4 baronies and 1 group that is at the level to become
a barony or province. There are guilds for just about any interest
including a very talented Brewing Guild in the Barony of Namron (Norman OK). We
have more than a dozen events each year within the region. It is rare
to have more than a 3 hour drive from the Barony of Wiesenfeuer, Oklahoma
City. You can attend 3-4 per month if you are willing to drive up to 6
hours. We are involved in one of the major wars (Gulf Wars) each spring which is
about 10 hours from OkC. We do a lot of camping events starting in February and
going until November. Many of the campgrounds have cabins and almost all have
flush privies and showers. Event attendance is 100-125 for small events and
upwards of 300-400 for large ones.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=100534310-16012006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=100534310-16012006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Don
Elric Dracwin</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=100534310-16012006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=100534310-16012006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>P.S.
Gas prices are about .05-.10/gal cheaper in OkC than what Ld. Arthur
Blackmoon reported in Tulsa.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
northern-bounces+dracwin=cox.net@ansteorra.org
[mailto:northern-bounces+dracwin=cox.net@ansteorra.org]<B>On Behalf Of
</B>michael<BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, January 16, 2006 12:14 AM<BR><B>To:</B>
Ansteora List<BR><B>Subject:</B> [NR] Considering a move; An Tir to
Ansteora<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Good gentles, allow me to make
myself known: I am Michael the Big, known in the wider world as Mike Heywood,
Trucker and Adventurer, and in the SCA as either Michael the Big or, more
recently as Hrafn Kettilsson. My purpose today is to inquire after the
conditions in northern Ansteora. You see, things in An Tir are getting
expensive, and while I have a nice enough job to provide most of the time for
my family, there are months that don’t quite cover themselves. Such is
the nature of the open road, a harsh mistress. Only yesterday, I was
removed forcibly from work as my truck jackknifed and destroyed itself.
Fortunately, I was injured only mildly (I’ve gotten as bad from a weekend war)
and the company is large enough that they won’t have trouble getting me
another truck. As a trucker, I can house my family anywhere with little
difference to my job.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">So how is it over there? Would we
find ourselves at home, do you think?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Hrafn<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>