mnmlst's Journal: Texas vs. California

Obligatory post...

I am literally surrounded by moving boxes here in Texas having just relocated from Southern California. First, let me say that Texas/Louisiana is home. I was raised here and my heart NEVER left, in spite of some lengthy stays in California, Minnesota, Maryland, West Germany, Saudi Arabia, Nevada and Florida. After travelling all over a bunch of other places and living in quite a few, I have literally concluded there is no other place on Earth I would want to live than Texas. As far as I am concerned, this poll is flamebait intended to stoke up the Slashdot masses against President Tweedledee so they will elect Tweedledumb. Fifty years from now, the Republic of Texas will be as Texas as ever and nobody will be able to spell Cheney.

California on the other hand is a never-ending drama of lurching from one bunch of stupid silliness to the next. OJ Simpson, Scott Peterson, Gray Davis, rolling blackouts, a useless assault weapons ban, worker's compensation insurance as high as my state income tax each paycheck, NIMBY, say No to Wal Mart, etcetera, etcetera. The place is beautiful with dramatic, contrasting landscapes, but the people seem to be in an alternate reality from the other 49 states. I'm not even counting the Northern Californians who are in an alternate dimension. As soon as a news story caption says "San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Walnut Creek, etc", I brace myself for more insanity. "Money grows on trees, XXXXXXXX is a racist, save the YYYYYYYYY, the U.S. is ruining the planet, and now let me get back to my racist, stereotyping publication that wraps itself in an absurd patina of liberalthink and this overpriced cup of shade-grown, Fair Trade, coffee." Details at 11.

Honest to God, I just couldn't take it anymore. My children were showing signs of becoming backtalking brats more likely to say "Yeah" to a senior citizen than "Yes, sir." Mama and I decided enough was enough and we are back in the bosom of Texas. Country music on the store soundtracks, warnings about where you can't carry in your concealed handgun on the store entryways, people who don't stare at Western hats and boots, cheap everything, low taxes, and an independent, self-reliant spirit that doesn't go running to Austin for another government program every time another challenge comes down the pike. If you need help, go to your family, friends, neighbors, church, and then the government. That might occur to Californians more if their families didn't live in the Midwest or East Coast, their friends weren't their real estate agents/mortgage bankers, their neighbors weren't erecting barriers everywhere, and their church wasn't in court for offending atheists with religous symbols. California is great for many people, but if it was THAT great, it wouldn't have such a phenomenally high turnover rate. You will now officially need to pull up in front of my house with an Armored Car full of cash to get me out of Texas. After one month in California, I was convinced I had "idiot" stamped on my forehead as I was suddenly being charged a 25% or higher premium for EVERYTHING. For those of you still getting fleeced by the Golden State, I just moved another Native Californian away... The sooner you get out of that nuthatch, the sooner you can apply some of that home equity to an actual home, as opposed to a 1600 square foot poker chip.