You aren't the first midwestern boy I've heard say that about Cali.... I can see it too. The weather here in OK keeps you guessing....

When we were out in phoenix it was perfectly clear, a light breeze, and they talked like that was the way it always is, just hotter in summer... It'd take me a while to get used to that....

the creepiest part of being out here...once you're out in the high desert, you go back in time 50 years. the little shanty towns, the old cars still on the road, the weird people. you really do feel like you went back in a time machine. when i lived in that rv, the closest gas station had the mechanical pumps. the grocery store next to it had a mechanical cash register. use your credit card? HA! cash only. there is a bar that is exactly like Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club right by there...called Wing and Prayer (complete with a real airplane half sticking out of the side of it.) truly a weird place. if/when i move from here, i will have an indelible mark in my mind.

Hahaha! The desert out here is great. :)

im half tempted to put a transfer into Santa Barbara. it would only be a $40,000 a year paycut.

I think SB would be pretty boring. You'll deal with the commercial traffic, but also a lot of weekend warriors. But way less traffic than what you are seeing now.

oh definitely...it would be much less traffic. from a quality of life standpoint, id rather live there. when LA Center started 75 years ago, it was originally in Burbank. When they built the new facility, they had 3 locations planned for it. LA Proper, Camarillo, and Palmdale.

of those three, camarillo would have won out with me. ha!

QOL - yes. COL - no. :D

most of the centers were revamped in the Cold War....most aren't actually in the city that they're named after. In case the russians nuked a city, the centers were less likely to be blasted. or conversely..if they went for knocking out the airspace system...the cities would be safer.

live in ventura...and commute! yes, cost of living would blow there.

k0nichiwaaa

hola

dave, what time does the 405 calm down going towards van nuys in the mornings? i have to go pick up the fiat before work tomorrow. i work at 1300.

That would be a very good question! I have no idea. Since you are not heading into L.A., I think late morning would be better. Even if I do have to get up early (:D), I never see the stretch you will drive.

i figure i'll leave here around 0930. hit that area by 1015.

Even if it takes longer than 45, the drive back will be a lot quicker.

So Embraer, you sit in a tower somewhere?
Dave, have you asked him permission for a flyby yet?
And if negative, because the pattern is full ,did you do it anyway?

Mike sits in a windowless brick building out in the desert. (Sorry to make it sound so dull)

I don't need his stinkin' permission to do a flyby! :D

that's true! you do need permission to land at the field that my facility is located at...and you most likely won't get it though ;) fly-bys are free. haha!

in europe they call my job Area Controller. here' im a Center Controller. (or Center 'Shroom as a joke. they keep us in the dark and feed us crap.)

Isn't your designation - ARTCC?