[Porsche-O-Phile]

Left CA after the 2009 crash. There was literally NO work to be had. None. It was scary as hell - lost the house, depleted all savings and had a new baby at the time. I sent out over 200 resumes, got two interviews which were both “geez we love your credentials and ability and really want to hire you but we just let a bunch of people go ourselves, so...” (so why the fk call me in for an interview then? But they did...). So I got a job offer back on the east coast after 10 months out of work and bolted.

Anyway, I watched from afar while the anemic “recovery” sputtered for nearly a decade under Prez. Zero and his America apologizing, business-hating policies. I really wanted to get back to the west coast but just couldn’t justify it. There wasn’t enough work, there was not enough of a “recovery” for several years despite a few leads and possibilities - too risky. So I dealt with living in the northeast for a few years... aside from being closer to a few family members who live back there I really didn’t like it at all. Just not my thing - I can’t stand cold and there’s simply not a lot of tolerance for “outsiders” there. In 2017 I got the chance to come to HI for some defense work and never looked back. It’s been the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. I’m busy as heck, working my butt off and while there are certainly problems here and I’m far from relatives I don’t regret doing it one bit. I do keep getting offers for work back in CA now but no thanks. We do a lot of work for agencies and clients back there too but the current arrangement suits me fine and I like being based here even with it being expensive and kind of isolated at times. Pre-COVID I was flying out to CA every couple of months but haven’t since January (Ige’s quarantine policy kebashed all travel...) Word is that trips MAY be coming back by the end of the year. I’m curious to see what’s happened in CA first hand and if it’s as bad as I hear...

CA will always have a special place in my heart - Yosemite, King’s Canyon, Sequoia, San Diego, Avalon / Catalina, Joshua Tree... Absolutely amazing places. When it was good it was amazing - lots of energy and innovation and creativity. When I left it was just decimated. It seems to have bounced back a lot but it sure took its sweet time doing so and probably won’t ever be like it was in the 1990s / 2000s. C’est la vie. Wouldn’t mind taking a trip down to Baja like in the good old days either at some point...

I think if I went back to the mainland I’d consider TX first but wouldn’t be too likely to do CA unless it was an offer I couldn’t refuse... I’m not optimistic about the state’s direction or future growth opportunities but for now there’s still stuff going on there (gov. work anyway...)