In other words a cesspool of humanity with the best climate in the world, which has pretty scenery too.

I call it PARADISE LOST. Too many people discovered paradise, moved in and fked it up. I remember sitting on the patio as a kid, smelling the Orange blossoms and seeing ALL the stars in the sky... Listening to Gun Smoke on the radio..how is that for going back to the day...

Or seeing Liz Taylor stopped next to us at a stop light one Sunday evening on Wilshire just east of Rodeo in BH. Eddie Fisher and Liz were in a Turquoise 57 Chevy 4 door Sedan. She in the back and Eddie in the shotgun. We waved they waved the light changed and they went their way we went ours.

Come spend a week at the Ritz Carlton in Monarch Beach, or the Montage Laguna Beach. You'll see why the entire earth has a hard on for California. There is no finer spot on the planet, everything considered.

That is waaay cool, Tabs!!

My good friend of 43 years had a big house on the hill right behind the Ritz in Laguna Nigel... He recently sold it as he is close to 80 for a smaller house on a hill in Dana Point. He is a Nebraska boy. He and his wife have PhD's from SC.

My neighbors growing up built spec houses in the early 70's in Monarch Bay (110K and it took them forever to sell) just south of Laguna Beach.. They really got rolling when they would buy a beach shack on Balboa Island in the 60's, put a duplex on it and flip it. She was the daughter of the guy who founded McGuires Mirrorglaze polish co. He was a Marine who fought on Iwo. My neighbors across the street had a little bungalow rental just south of Laguna in the 60's. He was a chemist for Avon in Pasadena.

Crown Valley Pkw was NOTHING but cow pasture back in the 70's. Now it is stop lights practically every block...

I gots a rolladex in my head don'tcha know...

Thx..we didn't think anything of it..it was just the way it was.

With any place it's the people, weather, and geography. You get to pick two.

Ha that's spot on... In NM it's the latter two :)

In CA as a tourist.. I have enjoyed all three..

I remember taking the Union Pacific train out of the UP station in downtown LA...and returning from grandma & grand pa's house in Detroit. You had to change trains in Chicago for a commuter to Detroit. I remember the Las Vegas station and Denver stations as stops across country..and the endless Prairie in winter time...That was Christmas 59.

I remember touring the Ford plant in DEtroit when they were making the 57 Ford Fairlanes...also the Ford museum...grandpa wouldn't go as he said he had enough of it as he helped restore stuff in there. He was a Speciality Mold Maker that started work in the Rouge in 1916.

Tell that to the Jews in 1930's Germany.

The ****tiest thing about CA right now is the cost of a good college education at a state school or UC. When I went to school, I paid $6K a year tuition. Borrowed the money at a decent (but not amazing) rate and then paid it off within 3 years on a regular entry level salary. It's nearly triple that now + the increase in cost of living and the entry-level wages that haven't kept up make it impossible for someone who's smart and hard-working to move here and find a clear path to moderate success.

Wow. Well... this thread took a turn. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...leys/shake.gif

It is a simple commentary about a fallacious criteria.

4 years cost my Dad apx 5K. It was about 210 a qtr at that California University by the Sea and Beach. So about 650 a year in tuition.Which considering was quite a bargain.

I find that many who have the most problem with California in general haven't really experienced it. Fly over millions that have never left their counties with preconceived notions gathered from watching the Kardashians.

I grew up in a small farming community in Central Illinois where our diversity was measured only by hair color.

The Navy changed that in 1983. August of '85 with orders in hand I drove my 280Z to the land of the sun, straight to the jewel of the Bay,,,,,,

Alameda.

Three major things happened to me in the four years I was stationed on the Enterprise.

First, as she is wont to do, the sea got her gaffs in me. Oh, I had dipped a toe in the Atlantic a couple of times growing up but, four years in the Big Blue did me.

Second, I quickly figured out why I always seemed slightly out of place in Illinois. Not a Farmer but, begot from sharecroppers and factory workers. Not really a heavy metal stoner, not really a hick from the sticks though I grew up on the river, hunted and fished with the rest of my hunter/gathers. It's beautiful country, I ache for the family that still lives there but, the Navy revealed the natural undercurrent of the ole homeplace.

A lack of diversity.

No shortage of that with my travels overseas nor, when I was home ported. SF became my playground.

Third, I met a fourth gen San Franciscan and like the sea,,,,, You might say that was the last straw but, truth be known, I'd have stayed after discharging regardless.

I moved into my house in '89 and haven't left. I live pretty much equidistant between Rcooled and Ron Dent. Ron and I probably go to the same landfill. :D:D I have redwoods at my back, the sea a 10 minute walk to my front. The Monterey Bay (Central Coast) is unique IMO and I've done a fair amount of traveling for work (CONUS and OCONUS) and that's not sales meetings and sightseeing but, living and working for months at a time.

In my little slice of heaven, four hours in any direction provides such variety of experiences. Hell, If I get hankerin for a little country living, I can head up to Lake County to the Inlaws' ranch.

I don't plan to leave when I retire. IF I want winter, I'll head up to Tahoe for some skiing or head back to Illinois for the XMas holidays. I'm a Hwy 17 warrior and the reward is gathered each time I roll into the hood and it's 68-75 degrees when the Valley is pushin up against triple digits.

As RCooled explained so eloquently, the richness of the diversity here is amazing. To those millions of flyovers, it's the stuff of nightmares. I'm fine with their misconceptions, don't need everyone on the planet trying like hell to get here. My now fifth gen daughters literally don't know what it's like to have racist thoughts or tendencies since they were completely immersed in racial and cultural differences from the beginning. Seeing no color is second nature to them. A far sight from how I grew up and that's how I like it.

Like anything else, you get what you pay for. Premiums are high but, worth it for the quality of the life here IMO.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1493788061.jpg

So you moved to Vegas for the trifecta of misery?

There's some fine surgeons here that can help you with that, tabby.

Surprise to hear so many pro Ca folks here.

I have been here since 74 as a little boy and have not lived anywhere else, so this is home. Retirement maybe in 7-10 years, who knows? Guys like me just don't retire. I can't stand the thought of letting my men go as they are good guys that help me build this lil' company. My wife is from here too so our plan is to stay and keep living here until we can't climb up and down stairs to get to out little slice of paradise down below. I have 3/8 acre of wild canyon, along with all my neighbors, we have the whole hill side to ourselves right in the middle of a big city. Can't beat that. Its just too much to do here and I like the city (we like the different ethnic foods)with all its amenities all within a 15 min drive. I can always get a small cabin in the woods 3 hours away and go there for the solitude any big city lacks. 3 hours, so you can't beat that.

I have been to lots of places in the US and Canada, nothing is like CA. Maybe I am used to the way things are here, but its like anything else, the good outweighs the bad by a mile. I don't shoot guns, have a few cars to monkey with, but who know if that will be important as I get older? The stupid laws and regulations chaps my ass like rent control, but hey, I wear shorts and tee shirts all year long. Now, only if some of those who dislike Ca can just go home and visit and unclog our fwys for a little I will be happy. Oh yeah, the central coast is our escape a few times a year.

Being a Brother of the Cross we follow the Benedictine Monk Peter Damian in the practice of Dies sanguinis.

The desert has an austere beauty for the pennant. The 115* temperature cleanses the sin, and the debauchery of pagan revelry tests your faith. Amen.

This town is a microcosm of the world. I can be in NYC, walk across the street and be in Paris, Venice, N Italy or Romes Caesar's palace. Down the street are the pyramids and next to that Mandalay... all a slot pull away from each other...

Besides that this town has a lot of amenities, from boating on the lake, hiking in the desert and mountains, golf, shooting world class entertainment, food and shopping. It is a major tourist and convention destination in the world. The Chinese, Japanese, Gulf State Potentates, and Euros flock here...many owning million USD condos. It is also has NO STATE INCOME TAX, where property taxes are much like Cali's. In this state you can own machine guns, silencers and short barreled weapons if you so desire, so long as you have the Federal tax stamp.

And there is less congestion...at rush hour you might find your self in bumper to bumper traffic but by the time you change the radio station you are on your way again. Coming up the 215 belt way at 9 or 10 PM you are the only car on the road. I call the bumper to bumper traffic the mini LA traffic experience... And NOW WE HAVE THE RAIDERS...yaay

The bad is the summer heat is relentless..from June through September it never stops being hot. The rest of the year is really pleasant.

You have to find the screw first in order to tighten it up.

Well, someone definitely has a raging boner for California.