When I was living in California, I was constantly fighting respiratory issues due to the pollution, and rode my bicycle when I wanted to go hang out somewhere outside of home. Now I'm breathing free and clear even in pollen season and I have a motorcycle I can lean off on twisty back roads or keep up in traffic on the highway. All for the same income. It really feels like my life is just "more" in a bunch of positive ways since I got out of the Bay Area and back to a saner part of the world. I now have enough data points to say with confidence that I live a much better life in less densely populated, colder, wetter parts of the world. It wasn't just Chicago, it wasn't just working the night shift, it wasn't just the issues inside my head when I was younger

This of course is enough to prove my Anglo-Irish descent even if I didn't look like a giant leprechaun. Happy belated St. Patrick's Day!