I'm pretty sure every state has "a certain type of people".

Sorry you've had this experience. I don't have anyone specific to recommend, but offering maybe something helpful that I've tried? I have noticed that when I start a doctor's visit by letting them know I'm pretty anxious, it tends to go more smoothly. They seem to adjust their approach accordingly. Medical practitioners are unfortunately pretty rushed these days due to the staffing shortages and for-profit healthcare structure. Best of luck to you finding someone that you feel comfortable with!

Would you prefer a certain county or area of the state?

No no, you make a great and important point. Don’t tell anyone in this sub, but I actually split my time between VT and CT. I have an apartment in a smaller town near New Haven. I rarely, almost never see pride or BLM stuff down there. Pride more, but still not much. Then you hit a small rural town up here and it can seem like every other house has something on display. It is only comforting for me because I’m very aware of the reality underneath that welcoming veneer. I do also see far more Trump flags and stuff in VT. Hell, there’s one house along route 4 by Killington flying a confederate flag. Imagine being a Vermonter and flying that shit… believe me, I’m very aware what the message under the “real Vermonter” dog whistle discourse is about. I’m from there and they’ve been telling me I’m not a real Vermonter my entire life 🤷‍♂️ so, please know my prior message was not intended to suggest safety, but the presence of community within an often ignorant and hateful society.

Bolton Valley is looking for people

I've got solar panels, a 18kw battery, and I'm about to buy a generator.

We lost power for 3+ days recently. The battery lasted about 12 hours, and I do need to figure out why, but a propane generator with batteries is (IMHO) what you want, even with solar.

I ran off the batteries for 4-5 hours at a time, and used battery powered lights. My network was on a separate ups, but that was only good for a few extra hours.

I got lucky and was able to charge the battery when the sun came out, but without a generator you're at risk of losing food.

Oh yeah, I have a wood stove and a propane stove, so I wasn't suffering, but if sun hadn't come out, I'd have been SOL...

I just did this. $16.99 for a 30 amp breaker, 17.99 for interlock kit, 124 for 20’ of 8/3/g, 67 for outside plug. I had a gen and cord.

One consideration is that when you use propane in small amounts they charge you quite a lot per unit so running the generator can be pretty expensive.

I do like the idea of the battery and solar and you may get rebates there.

Of course as I joked on a previous thread, I spent about 7k on a generator 15 years ago and have since only lost power for about 6 hours since.

You, lol, you’re the type of people op’s wife’s coworker is talking about. And also the reason I love Vermonters

I see BLM and Pride flags all over New England and NYC. (Well, I’m not in Maine or NH much, so idk about up there.) Tbh, the less diverse an area is, the more you see those flags IME. In NYC, i see them in gentrifying neighborhoods that are changing from white working class to middle/ upper class. In my urban, actually diverse city in CT, you see them, but not nearly like you do in say, rural / small town western Mass. I think the perception of more BLM or Pride flags can give one a false sense of security. I’m not trying to be a “flatliner” jerk, but OP says his wife is Hispanic, so I think it’s a point I’m willing to get downvoted for.

Pretty much every business I know is looking for good help.

Hahaha hopefully!

They'll come for you first Debbie downer!

The truth is out there.

There are certain types of people here, that's for sure.

She goes by 'buckthorn'

came here to say this LOL

For sure. I bet a lot of folks are thinking about it right now especially

It's not wrong. Typical LifePo4 cannot be used in freezing temps. It causes lithium plating. There are some new lifepo4 batteries that have slightly different chemistries to allow for cold weather down to -4f, but you won't find that in typical off the shelf home power products. If you heat the battery then fine. That's not uncommon and exactly my point. At any rate, who wants to test out their $10k battery and see how it behaves in cold weather.

A 20kw propane generator uses ~1.5 to ~3.0 g/hr depending on load. So say 2/hr that's 2g/hr*24hrs= 48g/day. Do the math for an extended outage. A 500 gal propane tank has 300g usable capacity.

Thanks! You posted a ton of good points as well.

I think this is a topic a lot of us think about, and it's really hard to get good information without a lot of marketing fluff from all the industry players. Luckily there are lots of smart folks here in VT that are willing to share thoughts and ideas.

Best in the state! ☕️

That was beautiful! Thanks!

We have solar and a gas generator. Super grateful for both systems. It really wasn’t that big of a hassle to have the generator installed. We used Taylor rental and they made all the arrangements for the install. Speak to Harveststar if you haven’t already they are awesome with solar and if they don’t know about it they will know who to talk to.

You might enjoy this video from my dashcam.I usually go 5-6 MPH over the posted speed limit but this day I was in absolutely no hurry (going posted speed of 35 mph ) when this old Volvo tailgates me. If he/she had flashed headlights/honked horn like an emergency situation I would have pulled over.Instead they passed at 50 mph on a curve,cut me off and ,,,,
https://youtu.be/fuDzdPJI9es

I was born in Vermont, lived all around the US working for the IS Forest Service, and am now back home in the state I love. Vermont is unique. We have a small population that is based on citizen democratic participation. We have annual town meeting days, where, depending on where you live, everything closes down and we decide on budget and other community items. Many of us are outdoor enthusiasts. We like our privacy, but are good neighbors, in general. We DO lack racial diversity, and racism is here, but no more than in any other place I have lived. About 30 % of voters voted for Trump. 70% vote Democratic/ Progressive. I’m an out gay progressive, but my Trump flag flying neighbor and I are cordial to one another. I’ve lived in Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, New Mexico, Montana, California, Oregon, Washington and New York. Vermont is 100% the best state I have ever been in. The sense of community here is amazing. We are a long way from perfect. But you can definitely find your true home here. I hope you make the leap.