gunfighter said...
TexanByBirth,
Rick--A hearty congratulations to you! I had to laugh at your signature since I was a "darn" Yankee with an office in a very small West Texas town. My clothes, language, and religion were different than all the others in that town. I was a Mobil Exploration Drilling Supervisor for many years until Mobil sold out to Exxon. When I left for Yankee land in the Midwest I'm sure that to my friends there I was still a Yankee. The only problem was that I returned with a "Southern Drawl"-lol.
All the best to you!
Bill 
Bill, we've lived near Nashville now for over 5 years, and it doesn't seem we've picked up much of the local accent. Being kind of a cosmopolitan area, it's not that strong here and varies a lot by individual.
People still ask my wife where she's from; her Michigan accent is pretty strong and hasn't changed. She was taken aback when one of her friends here said, "Oh I just love listening to your accent". Of course, she's thinking she's not the one with the accent! We all do, just different kinds.
Accent and dialect to me are sort of the music of language. I love them.