Cost comparison - Some of you were wondering....

[TarmacLady]

Hi, y'all -- I've been asked several times about what it costs to have pavers installed for a driveway here in the Colonies.

I had a quote just last week at $1.50 (about 80p) per square foot for tearup and haulaway of my old drive, and about $5.00 (about 2 quid 80) to lay the pavers. It's not accurate, but that works out to about 8 quid per square metre for tearup and haulaway, and about 22-25 quid per square metre for the new pavers.

What makes me cry is the vast acreage of our driveway, courtesy of the original owners....!

[Tony McC]

A useful ready reckoner when dealing with area data from the colonial types is that there are very, very roughly 10 of their olde-worlde sqaure feets to each of our much more sensible square metres.

So, excavation and cart away in Floridashire at 8 quid/m² is remarkably cheap, but probabl;y due to lower hgaulage costs and (I assume) an absence of landfill taxes, and 22-25 quid/m² to supply and lay pavers is again, much lower than the 'going rate' in Britain and Ireland, where supply and fit, excluding any exc+ca is around 30-35 quid/m².

What sort of price are you paying for the blocks, Amy? No labour, no bedding; just the blocks, delivered to site?

[lutonlagerlout]

when i visited atlanta in 2003 i was pretty shocked by how menial construction workers are there compared to here,western europe is a great place to be a builder money and prestige wise.
i saw a gang of mexican brickies working in 100 f heat and they were going like dogs ,when i asked their ganger man (white sitting in air con pick up) what a brickie would earn a shift he said about $100 for a 10 hr shift. as i said to the immigration man at the airport thanks, but no thanks.
in the states i think i would rather be a lawyer heh
cheers LLL

[dig dug dan]

Hey LLL I have relatives in Atlanta (jasper, about 70miles north to be precise) I vist every year if I can. How do you find Atlanta airport?You collect your bags, check them then they take them away from you again and put them on a train, and you collect them at the front of the airport. Very confusing!! And immigration is always a long queue. Every time we have been we have had the same guy!

[lutonlagerlout]

well when i went it was the william hartsfield but i think they were going to co-name it with some civil rights fella,my lot live in roswell which is like 20 miles north and buckhead north in atlanta which is a suburb.
the old immigration lads were right on my case convinced i was going to live there, i actually drove from atlanta to tupelo mississipi and then to memphis in a day(approx 700 miles) then went to nashville via many civil war battlefields in a day,then drove to lynchburg and back to atlanta in a day,ridiculous amount of driving in 3 days ,but for your bonus question;
why did i go to the aforementioned places?
atlanta itself is fun (coca cola museum,CNN building ,5 flags over georgia) but the pubs are a pile of crap
i was asked for ID going into a biker bar on the I:19,
anyway being 36 at the time i got the hump with the doorman.
he pointed out that georgia state law says that any person just drininking in a sports bar must have photographic ID
so i says "oi ,you wheres your ID?" to possibly the biggest,meanest ,hairiest ==you get the pisture==biker in the bar,
quick as a flash he showed his drivers license
Doh!!! 25 minute walk back to the hotel to get my passport,then 25 minute walk back to learn that the bar shuts in 10 minutes
this is pretty much standard holiday fare for me,wherever i go
dont forget the brucie bonus
cheers LLL

[dig dug dan]

your tale makes me smile of when my grandfather went out there for christmas to see his daughter, and he was asked for id. he was 82! he only had the old style driving licence, and had to get his passport!!
Coca cola place. All i remeber was the "free" sample area full of fat americans filling up thier flasks!
incidentally, don't you mean 6 flags? and what was it like I would love to go. My missus wouldn't ride a rollercoaster if they paid her a million , but i love em, and an annual pilgrimage to Alton towers each year is a must!

[lutonlagerlout]

tell the truth dan i couldnt remember the number of flags but i knew it was a few yep i was in that sample room of the coke museum like willy wonka's factory,and yes i did drink about 28 quarts of ,mountain dew,sprite,coke,fanta and a gazillion other teeth rotters.
by all accounts the theme park is well worth it we went to look but it was closed but it looks the bees knees.
i know within a 10 minute walk of my step nan's house i counted 40 different fast food chains
johnny rockets was my fave
i feel myself putting on weight writing this lol
cheers LLL
dont forget the question?
:p

[lutonlagerlout]

ever tried one of those sky coasters dan?
i did 1 in florida that was 300FT high,that was scary
also i did the ride on top of the stratosphere tower in las vegas
have a look
read down the page,imagine being stuck on a rollercoaster 1,00ft up???
haha
LLLLhere



Edited By lutonlagerlout on 1172100004

[TarmacLady]

I haven't a clue why, but entering the US anywhere (even for residents) entails claiming your luggage, then rechecking it for your connection...doesn't make a lick of sense, but it's been that way since long before 9/11...and it's the only country I know of that does it that way.

<laughing> Jasper is no more Atlanta than Chichester is the City of London! My ex-inlaws lived in Roswell and May-retta -- pretty, but are just too busy now.

The skyrides are lovely, especially on a nice day -- just sort of lazily gliding to nowhere, really -- but nice if it stops for a few minutes. They do get a little scary, though, when the wind picks up!