A few ?'s for my So-Cal TR brothers..

[turbolou]

Reply

If I was young & just starting out CA would not be my first choice. Austin Texas, or N.Carolina I would give some serious consideration to. Unless you are wealthy with a college degree & good skills all you will do is struggle.

 

[turbo39151]

Sounds like you're determined to learn the hard way...

Here's a link to take a look at. There are more cities to view but this was my home...

San Diego, California (CA) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, move, moving, houses news, sex offenders

CA weather is the best! Other than that, Lou is right, you WILL struggle.
I have a friend who earns $6k -9k per month and all he does is struggle. Does not own a home but had a share of a boat, a new truck and a new bike. Even with all this cash coming in the boat and bike are gone and he's barely scraping by.

Good Luck.

 

[turbolou]

Reply

Sounds like you're determined to learn the hard way...

Here's a link to take a look at. There are more cities to view but this was my home...

San Diego, California (CA) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, move, moving, houses news, sex offenders

CA weather is the best! Other than that, Lou is right, you WILL struggle.
I have a friend who earns $6k -9k per month and all he does is struggle. Does not own a home but had a share of a boat, a new truck and a new bike. Even with all this cash coming in the boat and bike are gone and he's barely scraping by.

Good Luck.

This is off point a bit but.Before I would go & blow money on toys I would make sure I had a safe place to park them. What is it with young people would rather party & blow their money on nonessentials & live on rent. I have heard all the stories about how it's too expensive to buy a house well it isn't now. You make hay while the sun is shining save money when the slow times come & things are cheaper jump on the opportunity.The second most important thing or maybe the first is to find the right mate. Take the blinders off & hook up with the right person. Somebody with a brain that can be an asset not a hindrance to your future. Now I'm old & still refuse to retire cause I love to work & what I do. If you like what you do it is said you will never work a day in your life. Why am I preaching this cause I hate to see wasted life & blown opportunities.

 

[meanchicken]

This is off point a bit but.Before I would go & blow money on toys I would make sure I had a safe place to park them. What is it with young people would rather party & blow their money on nonessentials & live on rent. I have heard all the stories about how it's too expensive to buy a house well it isn't now. You make hay while the sun is shining save money when the slow times come & things are cheaper jump on the opportunity.The second most important thing or maybe the first is to find the right mate. Take the blinders off & hook up with the right person. Somebody with a brain that can be an asset not a hindrance to your future. Now I'm old & still refuse to retire cause I love to work & what I do. If you like what you do it is said you will never work a day in your life. Why am I preaching this cause I hate to see wasted life & blown opportunities.

Dang, Lou.
I'm all goose bumpy.

To add to that....I'll offer my own additional 2 cents....
Stay outa debt!

If you can't afford to buy it with cash, then it's not meant to be right now. As Lou said....save.

The only exceptions to that rule would be if you are buying a house and need to mortgage it,...then just don't buy one that is more than you can actually afford otherwise it won't matter how much $ you earn...you'll be house poor and won't be able to do anymore than they guy making $8/hour bagging your groceries.

Same with cars....if your budget says VW, then don't go buy a BMW.

Now let me address the comments about college degree's etc.
Now I aint one to brag...but....
I graduated High School with a 1.772 GPA (I know...who'da thunk it )
...I spent more time at the beach then in class.....
My SAT scores were on par or better than all my friends who went off to college.

Joined the Navy straight out of school and got my tech training there in Advanced Avionics and after 6 years of service. I got out and went to community college to get my AEE while I worked full time as a tech....married the wrong woman....got into heavy debt (took several years to recover) and got divorced....
I did all the above ....plus I received two Presidential Nominations to go to the Naval Academy (different story), and beat cancer (Also a different story), got arrested a couple times (another story)...by the time most of my friends who went to college (UC Berkley, SJ State, etc.) graduated.

Before I went for my AEE, I was out-earning them when they graduated, and am still out-earning them.
In fact most of my college graduate friends (a couple of them are PhD's) didn't even get into jobs that had anything to do with their degree....not totally by choice....and are still trying to pay off debt associated with their college years.

Most of my success... if you want to call it that...came from hard work, common sense, good career decisions, listening to folks who I know are more experienced than I am.....and just getting along with people and being a problem solver rather than a problem maker.

My point....Lou already made it....do what you like to do.
I'll add...and work hard at it...do it right....and don't be a pain in the @$$ to others while you do it...don't burn bridges behind you....

If you have a dream to come to Cali and live, then come on out....don't let anyone tell you, you can't do it; that part is up to you.
Just make sure you have an escape hatch and can bounce back out if things are not what you hoped they'd be.
Are there lower cost and less regulated places to live in the US?
Sure!!!!
But none of them have the things to offer that California does.

Costa Mesa is not a bad town, but like any town...depending on where you live, the security of your possessions can be good to not so good.

OK...so maybe I just gave a buck fiddy rather than 2 cents....

I also have this schpiel about wearing sun screen....but it's taken...:biggrin:

 

[ALVAROG1983]

Reply

this is off point a bit but.before i would go & blow money on toys i would make sure i had a safe place to park them. What is it with young people would rather party & blow their money on nonessentials & live on rent. I have heard all the stories about how it's too expensive to buy a house well it isn't now. You make hay while the sun is shining save money when the slow times come & things are cheaper jump on the opportunity.the second most important thing or maybe the first is to find the right mate. Take the blinders off & hook up with the right person. Somebody with a brain that can be an asset not a hindrance to your future. Now i'm old & still refuse to retire cause i love to work & what i do. If you like what you do it is said you will never work a day in your life. Why am i preaching this cause i hate to see wasted life & blown opportunities.

you couldn't of said it any more clear x2 you should be a mentor at your local high school better yet go to a south l.a. School or east l.a. More candidates in those areas that need a good role model like you.


Al

 

[turbolou]

Reply

you couldn't of said it any more clear x2 you should be a mentor at your local high school better yet go to a south l.a. School or east l.a. More candidates in those areas that need a good role model like you.


Al[/QUOTE/ Thanks I think it's up to the older guys to share a little experience to pass along.Otherwise what good are we. With younger people sometimes they are more willing to listen to some one parallel to themselves.After all who ever listened to their parents certainly not me. But I have several younger friends who I feel that they are wasting a precious recourse called time.One of them recently sold his Buick for 10 cents on a dollar & swore was going to spend the money on a condo or town house & build equity. What did he do went out & bought another money pit.I'm not saying don't have fun but by the time half your life is gone you should have something to show for than a bunch of rent receipts & E.T. slips.

 

[02WS686GN]

I'm determined to stay single, marriage isn't for me. Finding a good woman these days that doesn't want to control every aspect of your life, doesn't want every dollar in your bank account but all the while who doesn't want to have her cake and eat it too is like finding a winning lottery ticket in a bag of old reciepts. I'll be 30 this coming May and I've dated a lot of women. Both physically beautiful and physically so-so. Everything from 18 to well, let's just say middle-aged and from all types of backgrounds, education levels and social statuses. I hate to say it (sorry ladies) but it's true. I was one of those guys who always preached "keep an eye out for the right one" but as time goes on it's not looking that promising. I've experianced/seen/heard too many horror stories and nitemare tales I don't even want to delve into on here of all places. Women changed for the most part from what they were, even as recent as 20 years ago. It's no longer dad goes to work at the 9-5 while mom stays home, stays loyal and cooks and cleans all day while the kids are at school. I'ts more like dad goes to work while mom sits on AIM, Facebook and MySpace all day flirting and making arrangements with other men and trying to figure out how to blow more of dads hard earned savings, then ultimately leaves dad for another guy and gets (at least) half of the estate. Betty Crocker has left the building. Sad, but true. Besides all of that, with how crazy society has become these days, I couldn't even see raising a kid(s) in this enviroment anyway. God bless all those of you who do. What's it going to be like in another 20-30 years? I'm all for casual dating. But true love, marriage, kids, etc. just isn't in my vocabulary anymore. But you never know..

As far as budgeting/spending is concerned, I'm well past the "young-stupid-kid-blow-every-dollar-you-make-phase" and I guess you can say I'm almost kind of a hermit since I have absolutely no party life anymore and that's what all of my "friends" around here do. For example, a friend I grew up with who's also my age, makes slightly more than me (as a pharmaceutical assistant), but has no savings, lives in his grandmas basement, drives $1000 beater cars (and replaces them everytime something even very minor goes wrong) and goes out and drinks all night, everynight of the week. Still trying to live the college kid life at 30 I guess, even though he never even finished college. Then gets jealous of me when I buy another car and/or can't figure out how "I have all of this extra money". It's just how you manage your money..

As far as any overhead I have, I think a cell phone is, sadly, now a necessity these days. My WS6 I bought new and has long since been paid off. The '87 Buick I just bought in May and unfortunately, I still owe on, but I'll already have it paid off by this years end, thanks to my self-discipline with my money. I would've waited to pay cash for it, but the family member I bought it from needed the money ASAP and couldn't wait. Long story. It also would've been paid off sooner, but you know how these Buicks can nickel and dime you to death even if they're slightly neglected when you find them. :redface:

The main reason I'm selling the GTP is the basic fact that after 12 years and 225k (hard) miles it's day is coming to an end. Too many creaks, rattles, squeakes and just too many general mechanical and cosmetic foibles that I no longer want to deal with this car anymore. I've even went as far as replacing most of the suspension, I bought another complete L67 (still sitting on the garage floor) and had the tranny rebuilt last winter after it went. Overall it's been a good car, but I kind of outgrew it I guess and I'm ready for a replacement. I don't even like it enough anymore to go through the hassle or pay someone else of going through the hassle of putting the new motor in when it goes. The used cars I've been looking at are in the $15k-$20k range, which again, doesn't really seem out of the question. I want something cool, classy, nice, fast, late-model GM. The '04-'05 CTS-V seems to fit the bill for me. I guess it kind of represents where I'm at in my life now.

Boats, bikes, planes, etc... I have absolutely no interest in. Impressing the 90210 crowd doesn't appeal to me either. The women from that area especially, are all about that $$$$.. so why even bother? There's always someone with more $$ than you anyway.

Just realized I wrote a novel, sorry guys, I can do that sometimes.

P.S, Lou, when I do get my Buick out that way you'll have another customer.

 

[turbolou]

02WS686GN,Since you mentioned this I think it's interesting to talk about real issues sometimes beside what ever else. First of all women want real men,They are insecure creatures & look for a replacement for their fathers.Where as men are just the opposite. You find a women that hates her father & I would run in another direction.If you find a woman who uses her womb as a device to turn a man into a slave & not pull her load, another bad idea.A real good judge of a man or woman is look at the parents.Thats where it all starts. I will argue with anyone children of divorced or single parent family's have it rough right from the start.My wife is from the east coast & had strict up bringing & her mother is in her 90's & still works hard & keeps busy my wife the same. Look no further than the mother to see what your buying into.If shes fat, sloppy & lazy.Good chance the apple falls not far from the tree. I think the prettier the woman the more useless.just like animals the pedigrees are higher maintenance. Mutts seem to better pets.In troubled relationships the hardest thing to judge is yourself.I seen several good women turned into raving bitches cause the guy is a loser.They usually dont stick around. No relationship is perfect & only a fool argues with a women.How about compatibility,thats something that takes a little time to figure out. If you have a self centered or selfish nature another deal breaker.I can't figure out whats so hard about all this. It's just common sence. But if all else fails I would try sheep !

 

[gnbooster87]

02WS686GN, I think it's interesting to talk about real issues sometimes beside what ever else. First of all women want real men,They are insecure creatures & look for a replacement for thier fathers.Where as men are just the oposite. You find a women that hates her father & I would run in anouther direction. If you find a woman who uses her womb as a device to turn a man into a slave & not pull her load, another bad idea. A real good judge of a man or woman is look at the parents. Thats where it all starts. I will argue with anyone children of divorced or single parent familys have it rough right from the start.My wife is from the east coast & had strict up bringing & her mother is in her 90's & still works hard & keeps busy my wife the same. Look no further than the mother to see what your buying into.If shes fat, sloppy & lazy. Good chance the apple falls not far from the tree. I think the prettier the woman the more useless. Just like animals the pedigrees are the most trouble. Mutts make better pets.In realation ships the hardest thing to judge is yourself.I seen several good women turned into raveing bitchs cause the guy is a loser. They usually dont stick around. No relationship is perfect & only a fool argues with a women. Or if your self centerd or selfesh another deal breaker. I can't figure out whats so hard about all this. It's just common sence.

i think you should write a book.....with color pictures in it

 

[02WS686GN]

02WS686GN, I think it's interesting to talk about real issues sometimes beside what ever else. First of all women want real men,They are insecure creatures & look for a replacement for thier fathers.Where as men are just the oposite. You find a women that hates her father & I would run in anouther direction. If you find a woman who uses her womb as a device to turn a man into a slave & not pull her load, another bad idea. A real good judge of a man or woman is look at the parents. Thats where it all starts. I will argue with anyone children of divorced or single parent familys have it rough right from the start.My wife is from the east coast & had strict up bringing & her mother is in her 90's & still works hard & keeps busy my wife the same. Look no further than the mother to see what your buying into.If shes fat, sloppy & lazy. Good chance the apple falls not far from the tree. I think the prettier the woman the more useless. Just like animals the pedigrees are the most trouble. Mutts make better pets.In realation ships the hardest thing to judge is yourself.I seen several good women turned into raveing bitchs cause the guy is a loser. They usually dont stick around. No relationship is perfect & only a fool argues with a women. Or if your self centerd or selfesh another deal breaker. I can't figure out whats so hard about all this. It's just common sence.

I agree with you 100% on everything, Lou. Just the point I was trying to make (at least in this area) is that women like your wife and mother-in-law are, at best, a dying breed. It seems any women born before 1970 it's pretty much dead on with what you're saying. After 1975 they're a part of that "me generation" and they're mostly into anyone who will benefit them. Again, maybe it's just this general area (NE Ohio, Western PA) but that's literally all that's around here, PLUS the bad apples you've mentioned in your previous post. I can count on 1 hand how many women in my generation/age group that I personally know that I would consider a quality woman. And they were all scooped up by the time they were 22. Again, maybe it's this area, but I've always been opened minded and gave everyone of them a fair chance. After the relationships were over people would ask me what happened and after I told them, they would look at me with shock and awe and they would always say, "Rick, sorry to hear that. That's bs what they said/did to you and you're way too nice of a guy for that sh*t." Story of my life.

 

[turbolou]

Mean Chicken, your smarter that what you project, Now thats something to crow about.

 

[turbolou]

Reply

I agree with you 100% on everything, Lou. Just the point I was trying to make (at least in this area) is that women like your wife and mother-in-law are, at best, a dying breed. It seems any women born before 1970 it's pretty much dead on with what you're saying. After 1975 they're a part of that "me generation" and they're mostly into anyone who will benefit them. Again, maybe it's just this general area (NE Ohio, Western PA) but that's literally all that's around here, PLUS the bad apples you've mentioned in your previous post. I can count on 1 hand how many women in my generation/age group that I personally know that I would consider a quality woman. And they were all scooped up by the time they were 22. Again, maybe it's this area, but I've always been opened minded and gave everyone of them a fair chance. After the relationships were over people would ask me what happened and after I told them, they would look at me with shock and awe and they would always say, "Rick, sorry to hear that. That's bs what they said/did to you and you're way too nice of a guy for that sh*t." Story of my life.

I guess thats why you see more guys going overseas to find a decent women in these times. One that wasn't brought up by MTV.

 

[meanchicken]

Mean Chicken, your smarter that what you project, Now thats something to crow about.

Ya...I'm tricky that way...I kinda sneak on people...

...but some of the smarts I've acquired in 46 years of well travelled life have moved to places where I have to search awhile to find them at times, due to all the times I've landed on my skull doing stupid chicken tricks.

 

[turbolou]

Our Governor in action.

Gun Rights "Terminated"
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of the People’s Republic of California, has “terminated” the Second Amendment in his state.

The “Ammo Surveillance Act,” Assembly Bill 962, requires California citizens to be fingerprinted and tracked for every single ammo purchase.

By signing AB 962 into law, Schwarzenegger’s liberal Hollywood roots are once again showing through.

Yes, the same guy who made millions sporting every weapon known to man in action flicks is mandating gun owners be treated like common criminals for exercising their Second Amendment right.

On top of that, the bill requires all purchases to take place “face-to-face” effectively banning online and catalog sales. Is this what the Founders intended by “shall not be infringed?”

Thank goodness Article II should keep the “governator” confined to California.

For more information, please read Luke’s post on the NAGR Blog.

In Liberty,

Dudley Brown
Executive Director
National Association for Gun Rights


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[christian237]

yeah this sucks and considering the fact that republicans believe in the 2nd.i this proves his democratic chick is running him just like when he banned the 50 calyes its an xtreme powerfull rifle but hey if u want a big gun u should b able to own it. besides the gang members here have way better guns in better condition then the officers our cops only have glocks.nothing wrong with glocks but hey when a felon walks around with an hk and extended clip u know who has a better political system start buying up ammo i believe this new bill takes affect in 2011 it was hard finding ammo a few months ago luckily my chick surprises me every month with a box or 2