Escape from CA Part 2 FS: 100% off gear!

The gov'ment don't let us drive on the beach in San Diego or anywhere else in California except Oceano Dunes. And at Oceano, 90% of folks have Mexican flag whips on their buggies or trucks, and of those, 20% are the disrespectful type, driving too close, passing on the right, while accelerating and kicking up beach sand on my Jeep. Where I'm going, shit like that don't happen. Probably because you never know who will be carrying, so it's best not to be rude.



There's no way California would ever open its beaches to traffic for a variety of reasons:

1. West coast sand is too coarse. City slickers will come and get stuck. I saw this with my very eyes. No, your Subaru AWD won't cut it. You will get stuck.
2. Californians simply could not handle it. Too many people, too rude, too many drunks, too stupid. It's like what I always say: people get the government they deserve. There's a reason why Iraq was stable with a strong dictator; but with democracy, the people only kill each other.

 

That's what I'm thinking. Real estate where I am at has gone crazy. I live just west of El Lay proper, just outside of LA School District, which everybody hates. With insanely low mortgage rates and work from home, house prices got jacked up like crazy in certain neighborhoods. Two houses down the street sold for over 1.2M and 1.5M. One was a flip and the other was a remodel. We are talking about 1800 sq. ft. homes. Folks moving in are from the likes of Westside LA and Santa Monica with the 900 sq. ft. homes and shit school districts. Families with young kids, not too different from ourselves several years ago when we moved in, except these guys have Porsche SUVs and Teslas (the expensive one, not the cheap one).

There's no guarantee this will last. Last two election cycles had gov't sponsored propositions to increase taxes. One went through, the other didn't, just barely. State wanted to kill Uber and Lyft, thankfully, people weren't that stupid. However, it's only a matter of time. I expect there will be more propositions to increase taxes. State gov't pension burden is insane. Tax revenue to turn to shit because of all the businesses that had to close permanently courtesy of Lord Newsom's edicts, not to mention folks like myself and friends who have moved out. It's only a matter of time before California ends up like the world in the film Elysium. Actually, it already kind of is like that. Gated communities around my neighborhood while streets near downtown are littered with human feces.

 

LOL, Austin is nice. But if I wanted California, I would stay in California. I knew guys at a company who moved to Austin 10 years back. Austin today isn't anything like Austin when I watched Austin City Limits on PBS as a kid in the 80s. The traffic in Austin is horrible. The vibe is a little SF Bay Area, a sprinkle of El Lay, but with a Texas twist. Lots of tech bros on mountain bikes and gals in yoga outfits meditating by Lady Bird Lake. I know the deal. It's so so cliché. The airport signs say stuff like "Keep Austin Weird". LOL, it so ain't weird. Weird is Santa Cruz or Corpus Christi. It's nice knowing that Austin won't be far away though. I know I'm in Austin because the drivers are more in a rush, more folks trying to get pole position to the next light or to the highway onramp. Not quite California driving, but very close, and familiar.

Dallas is nice. I'd be there if I had a need to be there, but I don't. Super flat and no water though. Working from home has changed everything. If I lived in Texas, I could be a Best Buy Geek Squad moron, and still get by.

 

VPI TNT3 price lowered to $1700.

 

LOL, no other city in the universe I have visited reminds me of a Sim City game than CC. CC is like early to mid-game Sim City, with heavy industrial zones complete with smoke stacks, oil containers, and a port, light industrial zones next to that, medium density residential not too far from these, suburban sprawl light residential and commercial on a corner, two tall buildings that comprise a high-density commercial zone downtown, and an upscale residential zone on the island!

I'm always worried that when I move to a new place, people will look at us funny. Our real estate agent was clear that they didn't want Californians bringing their politics with them. So far so good. We were super respectful, courteous, and even picked up the use of sir and ma'am. Evidently we were well liked enough that the we weren't even asked to put down a security deposit on a temporary place we will be staying until we sell our CA house. I guess we passed the test. Pretty sure I will be one of 21 Asian people on North Padre Island. My son commented that his sister will be prettiest most exotic girl on campus. Ugh.

I figure certain parts of Texas aren't any different from SBAF. Be respectful, don't be an ass, and things will be fine.

 

We got a kick because the election isn't over yet in Texas! Tons of Trump / Pence signs. We for sure will be putting a Trump / Pence bumper sticker next to our CA license plates! Talk radio even got my wife (she voted for Biden) to believe in voting irregularities!

Local ocean fish from that area. Black Drum. It's a little bit like cod, same tenderness but with better texture (less flakey) and sweeter. Big family plate (partially eaten) and a beer. $42 fed my family of four.


This is the fish:

 

Wyoming is beautiful. Great for outdoorsy types. That's Fuji Velvia slide film below.
SINAD of film is x100 worse than today's digital.

 

Property tax is the same or slightly less if apples-apples 'cause the same house in similar type area will cost 1/3 to 1/4 as much in TX. A property close to the beach near Malibu will be millions and millions of dollars in CA. The kicker is no income tax for Texas. I have no doubt that taxes will increase in CA within 10 years. If not property, then sales tax, gas tax, car registration tax, income, or other extra taxes tagged on via "special" measures. It's inevitable.

 

Hsu sub sold.
Price on the TT reduced to $1400!

 

You win here! Drop by any time.