For the past 15 years or so I've been longing for a slower pace of life.
I don't want sound all 'hippie' and stuff, 'cause i ain't one of them long haired, unwashed weirdos, but the years I've spent living in a place where the "forests" consist of yearly burning scrub (and few trees), rivers have cement bottoms, and anything called a lake is totally man made(and regularly stocked) has gotten a bit old. Everything here is fake and preplanned.
Basically, civilization in southern California doesn't just happen. It is scheduled.
Sure, I've never really lived anywhere else, and it's easy for me to fall victim to "the grass is always greener" mindset. But I do know what I don't like, and I know what I want. This place has too much of one, and not enough of the other.
One big factor that makes it hard to continue living here is that so many others have come here from elsewhere, driving up the cost of housing to ridiculous levels. Here, in the working class neighborhoods of Southern California, where the houses were built back in the late 50's, the starting prices are in the high 400's (for a 1200 sq ft fixer). If you rent: a bare-bones,roach-infested two bedroom pad in the barrio starts at $1200.
As I don't much favor living with roaches or barrioistas, my rent is much higher. And increases yearly, without fail.
Factory wages, on the otherhand, are declining in real value.
In short, I can no longer afford to live here anymore. And I'm tired of chasing the ten hours of overtime every week to make it happen.
True enough, I've made a shitload of bad moves over the past 20+ years that put me in exactly this place I find myself in.
With one exception:
Over a decade ago, I'd made an investment in some acreage in another place,far,far away, and am now about to see the fruits fall from the tree. The means to my ends are not far around the corner.
So yeah, it's time for me to do what I've always wanted to do, but for various reasons could not.
No more excuses.
It's time for me to go.
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The Recovery Edition
"Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down."
13 comments:
Is California still part of the United States, anyway?
Whither thou goest, pilgrim?
Canada is calling you...Gino.
Just leave the political baggage at the border and you'll do fine here.....or anywhere actually...
Still lots of places for you young wanna be hippies .... LOL....
From one of them weird old hippy types.....
Stilll waiting on summer up north here...... :o)
Ok Ok so it does have a few drawbacks......:o(
kris: not for much longer.
RW: i'm lookin at austin,TX and ft smith AR. AR is looking better by the day, and TX less so.
anon: must be kiddin,eh?
beer costs way too much for me to live confortably, but then, it IS better beer.
Austin TX - the most LIBERAL place in the Lonestar state. Ok yeah - moving from The People's Republic of California to The People's Republic of Austin. Ho boy.
i never heard that before.
personally, as a general rule, i'd prefer not to have 'TX' at the end of my address, but i promised to give the place a look-see. that, and paris,TX also.
Every other Texican I've ever known disavows Austin without being prompted.
Hey Gino,
If I could leave Queens NY for the midwest plains of ND and KS you can manage any place you choose. :)
The only problem with life out this way is the lack of job opportunities, trust me, it sucks. Hope you've set your hopes on a state that is not set on meeting their budget on the backs of the poor taxpayers like KS is.
Thinking of you!
Trisha
ox
thanks, trish.
ft smith does indeed have a strong job base, especielly in my line of work, and offers the most opertunity i can find that close to the ozarks. with the ozarks being my final resting place someday. i love it there.
RW: hmm. maybe thats why the blonde keeps insisting on round rock, specifically, as opposed the larger place next door, austin?
her family is heavily texanated.
but they're great folks, anyway. ;)
The only problem with Texas is that if you are not from there, you're really not welcome there. Sure they're polite, but you'll never be one of them. Wait, that's how I feel about everyone who moved here to Colorado from elsewhere. Nevermind.
Personally, I love Tex-ass. Austin is a lovely area, hill country you know. Housing is cheap. If I HAD to live in Texas, I'd choose San Antonio.
My best to you in this decision.
I have to say it cracks me up that Stacy wrote Tex-ass. That's exactly how we pronounce it in my family ;)
I've lived in several VERY different places, and I like here best -- but I know you and I have very different personalities. What kinds of places are you thinking of? You might like Colorado Springs, where I'm from... super conservative, clean, gorgeous, and much cheaper than LA.
Although, you can't buy liquor on Sundays. Which is just retarded.
not looking for conservative in a GOP/political sense, but in a more traditional/cultural sense.
most importantly, i want open space, job opportunities, cheap houses, and affordable land to buy (and hunt on.)
texass is looking less and less by the day, much to the blonde's dismay.
LOL, yea we call it Tex-ass here in our home; heh.
Colorado's economy is healthy. There has been a recent rise in home foreclosures but it is believed to be caused by people getting in over their heads rather than job losses. The Springs is a lovely area, and we almost purchased land outside of there rather than outside of Canon City like we did. Denver's amenities are overwhelming, it's no longer the notorious "cow town". I love my home state, I don't ever see me leaving it. Southern Colorado has massive amounts of BLM land, which was one of the reasons we purchased the 35 acres that we did. Hunting, fishing, etc. is abundant throughout the entire Rocky Mountains. But, growth here has made going to anyplace north of I-70 difficult. Too many people. Sorry for rambling. Keep us updated.
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