clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

It was a very small house in Sommers Montana. Pretty basic would be an understatement. It was so close to a bar that I’d come home and start a fire then go to the bar for a while. The joke was that the bar was so close I could get wasted and crawl home. Back in the mid 70’s you could afford a home but couldn’t afford the mortgage. In 1960 my parents bought a 3 bedroom 2 bath rancher with a full basement in a residential post war subdivision for $13K. Montana housing used to be very cheap, probably because nobody wanted to live in the nation’s ice box. In the winter it’s in the -30s or 40s on the plains and every year for several days a couple times in the winter on the east side of the continental divide. The coldest temp ever recorded in the contiguous United Stated. -72 near Lincoln Montana. Now everyone wants to live in beautiful Bozeman (think Yellowstone w/ Kevin Costner.) Beautiful but so expensive locals can barely afford to live there. All of the “west of the mountains” is stunning, warmer and close to recreation but if you want to work you have to bring you own job.

usnret Loc: Woodhull Il

Way back in the day the Mrs. an me invested in one of those newfangled California king size water beds. Didn't keep it long though. Found out she gets sea sick rather easily.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

No misprint! This special orthopedic mattress tilts at both ends so you can raise your head or feet, or both at the same time. I just need a nice firm mattress myself.

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

Clint - - I understand well
I grew up in CT when snowstorms left 3 - 4 feet of snow on a regular basis.
At my stage of life, I consider snow = powdered heart attack that falls from the sky.
Which is why I live in South Texas these days where snow is ILLEGAL.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

I bought an expanding foam mattress about 8 years ago. It came in a box and expanded to mattress shape when you took it out of the box. When you lay down on it, it conformed to your body shape and gave you great support. At least that's why we bought it in the first place. But the truth is, when you lie down on it, you sink down into a hole shaped like your body. And once you are in that hole and want to roll over or change position, you have to roll up out of that hole to create a new shape. I was fighting the damn mattress all night long. After spending about $500 for it, my wife wouldn't change it so I was not a happy camper until just recently when I finally got rid of it.

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

You got one that was too soft.
The one we bought 10 years ago was Too Firm - we had to request a 2" soft topper.
Absolutely GREAT ever since.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

My wife and I enjoyed watching Living Big Sky. Of course, all of the programs were shot during the warm season. I was always amazed that all of the homes shown were supposed to be heated by one or two fireplaces, and some of them were pretty big. They never said anything about central heating. They were some beautiful homes, but I always wondered how cold they got in the winter.

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

I’ve never seen the program, I’ll watch for it. I think the fireplaces might get used but you’d never get a building permit for a house with just fireplaces for heat. We have a fireplace (stove) that we run all winter long but have radiant heat too. If you left for a day in sub zero temps your pipes would freeze as soon as the fire went out. If the program is about the community of Big Sky then that’s a whole different world. Uber rich. The locals call it Pig Sty, no doubt because of envy.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

It was on HGTV but is no longer listed. It was about couples coming from all over the country to search for houses in various areas and towns of Montana. Each episode would highlight a different town or area around that town and about three or four houses that a couple and/or family would visit. My favorite show was when the couple decided buy land and build a house. They built 8,000 sq. ft. for $800,000.

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

As an old Scoutmaster, I’m used to lying down on the ground and falling asleep. Having a tent was a luxury.

Now if I upset my wife, I’ll end up sleeping on the couch. I don’t mind. It’s like camping!

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

A few years back, one of my kids got me a memory foam mattress. I tried. It took about a week for my back to tell me: no more. I looked things up (doing my GoogleSpert research!) and I found a manufacturer of boat cushion foam. Wowza! I bought a couple slabs of different high density firmness- and I'm happy.
Yes, they also came flat. Thru trials and (many) errors I learned to put the rolled up mattress into a large (ard) size trahs bag and use the vacuum to reflatten it. I could then easily put two into a dust-mite mattress bag, with a heat reflector blanket in between. I now have a nice firm mattress I can summer/winter flip over. Maybe $200 total.