They may not have doctorate degrees, and may not have even finished high school. That simply means they lack a formal education. It does not mean they're not smart. No, they have to be pretty smart 'cause Mother Nature weeds out many of the dumbest. They are often mechanically inclined, as well. I think the word I'm looking for is 'ingenious.' However, I'm kinda inebriated and there's many words to choose from. Clever, practical, pragmatic, industrious, and determined - those are all fine words. These are, of course, just broad strokes that I'm painting with and not all Mainers are the same. They're also not the same if you change regions, or if you go to more urban areas. **Now, I shall give you an example!** For those that don't recall, I bought the neighboring farm for a variety of reasons. My *actual* primary reason was because I didn't want shitty new neighbors. The farm was the closest property that wasn't owned by me. I like to make noise and have fun. The owners of the farm not only didn't mind, but they'd often come investigate and hang out with me - or wait and ask me about the noise when they next saw me. By noise, I mean set up stuff like an entire night of various bands playing music on my lawn. Yup... My seventy and eighty year old neighbors will come over and join us - so long as they had their work done and would still be able to attend to their day's work back on the farm. I've had 'em dancing on my lawn, on multiple occasions. They also took care of the environment. No, they're not environmentalist hippies - but they didn't rape the forests, poach all the furry woodland critters, and leave messes for the EPA to come in and scream about. They don't leave derelict vehicles scattered throughout the property where they leak fluids into the soil. (They drain the fluids and leave the old tractors and farm trucks as decorations - but they're drained and not harming the environment.) It's a matter of respect for them - they respect the land that provided their livelihood. If they chop all the trees down, they'll have no more trees to harvest, that sort of thing. I didn't want some asshole from New York coming in, starting a pig farm that'd fail and then they'd have to chop the trees down to afford the taxes. That'd trash the land and, more importantly, they might not like that I make the entire valley echo with music. They'd change things - and I like things just the way they are. That is, after all, why I live here. I didn't move in and be the asshole new neighbor from out of state (or, as they say, "from away"). I sure as hell didn't want anyone else to do that - at least not in my neighborhood. I moved in and, for the most part, I adapted to fit within the community. In my opinion, that's the correct way to do things. (Obviously... If it wasn't how I felt I should do things, I'd have done things differently.) So, I bought the farm. (The story is actually much, much longer!) Anyhow... Mainers are smart... Word gets out about this sort of thing. Another neighbor put two and two together and realized that I didn't want shitty neighbors. I went out with some friends tonight and bumped into that neighbor. We engaged in some small talk. I like this neighbor, I really do. They're awfully busy, so I don't get to see them that often. But, they have a cunning plan! They're testing the waters. They let me know that they're "*thinking about*" selling the place. They're the *next* property in line, in that direction. They're down past the farm and quite a ways down the road. When I realized what they were doing, I didn't mince words and directly asked 'em if they were trying to see if I was interested in buying their acreage. They said they were. I said I wasn't really interested at this time and didn't see any reason why I'd actually want their acreage. Which is when they told me that they were going to sell it to his brother-in-law from Massachusetts. (Which Mainers often call 'Massholes.") I immediately called their bluff and we laughed a great deal. I don't think he even has a BIL from Massachusetts! I know damned well he didn't even ask his wife - 'cause she asked him what he was on about when she heard us laughing. Clever, very clever. If you're curious, they've only got like 35 acres with a four bedroom house and a two bay garage. It'd be a nice starter plot for someone - and everything's in fine condition, so there's no need to repair the house. It's not a fixer-upper, or anything. I guess the place was built in the 1980s. It's even got a finished basement. He also says he doesn't care what his wife says, and he'll sell the place for $150,000. I'm pretty sure that's not actually true - 'cause his wife is bigger than he is. But, the point is that he's smart. If he can sell it directly to me, he doesn't have to pay the realtor anything and doesn't have to deal with the hassles associated with putting it on the market. And, he knows damned well that I don't want shitty new neighbors. No, I'm not buying their property! I don't need it and I don't even want it. If a shitty new neighbor moved in on their property, I'd not even have to deal with 'em. They're too far away for me to give a shit. Still, their idea was brilliant, as was their ploy to threaten me with a "Masshole."