I remember alot of my friends as well as Myself saying we'd "never move out of the Bay Area". It's hard to do actually. If you weren't raised there, you won't get it. Say what you want about San Francisco, but beneath the facade of "bleeding heart liberals" and "raging homosexuals" is a rather beautiful city with lots of history and some really cool crap to discover. I was born there, and we lived there until I was 2. We then moved to the Peninsula (San Mateo County) where I've lived in various cities until about 2 years ago. How can you not want to live there? In San Francisco you have the SF 49ers and the SF Giants. Across the Bay in Oakland you have the A's and the Raiders and the Warriors. Down South in San Jose you have the Sharks and the Sabercats and the minor league San Jose Giants baseball team. There are at least half a dozen or more venues to see live concerts in. There is mass transit that will give you a break from driving to work if it happens to be close to where you work. You've got the Golden Gate Bride; easily one of the most recognized landmarks in the world. The cons: it's extremely expensive to live there. Brian was the first. He was tired of the rat race (then again he lives in San Jose which has 1 million people and is a large metropolitan city......I'd want to move too) and he and Chrissy and their adopted daughter Kailyn moved to Kauai. They lived there for a couple of years, but now are back in San Jose. They didn't like it too much out there. Being a white, blond person in Hawaii tends to make one a target for discrimination. Funny huh? You know my story by now, I moved to Tennessee about 2 years ago. I miss my friends and family being close by, and I miss the tolerant attitudes and diversity of the Bay Area. I also miss the drivers, believe it or not. At least people in the Bay Area know how to drive on a freeway! Things are a bit cheaper out here. Cathy and I get by on a lot less than we would out in California. The one thing I still won't get used to out here (and it still bothers me) is that religion seems to be everywhere, in everything; basically shoved down your throat, and everyone accepts it!! Schools have prayer meetings before school hours around flag poles, I thought we had a separation of Church and State in this country?
Back on topic. So Brian sends me an email the other day asking which one of these places is close to me????? In it was a list of Hospitals where he was looking to do his internship when he finishes his Doctorate in Psychology that he is currently working on. One of them was Vanderbilt University in Nashville (a top medical school). So it looks like Brian may be moving out here in a year or two! Next I find out the Perfect Line was interviewing in the LA area (Orange County actually; Irvine I believe). A few years ago he quit his job that he had been working at since he was 17! He's 33 now and has been working in IT since the age of 17. He lucked out and was in the right place at the right time. He has no degree, just certifications and had been making 6 figures for 10 years or so. He bought a house in San Mateo, decided it wasn't what he wanted and sold it. He then moved in with a friend in SF and has been living there for a few years now. I guess he's been retired long enough now and wants to get back into working. He has also been entertaining a change of location. He talked New York, even Toronto, but has settled on So Cal. So to save money on travel and to make it easier to interview, he's announced he is moving down there in June sometime. He's having a big going away party....wish I could make it. Mom and Dad surprised me when they were out here. They really liked the new houses and it sounded like they were seriously considering moving out here. That would be nice. Considering the fact that they paid cash for their house in Elk Grove (200,000 at the time) with the money Dad got from splitting up of Grandpa and Grandma's Estate and it's doubled in price since; Dad says it's worth 400,000 now! Heck they can buy a new house out here with multiple bedrooms and 3.5 baths for 240,000 and be a few blocks away from me. Time will tell.
Ciao for now.
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