Premium gas is back below $3.00 per gallon in San Diego, and I filled the tank up on the GS for $12 and a bit. That’ll last me through the next work week.
There’s change you can believe in.
So, yah, I’m back to commuting via moto, these days. Perforce, actually. On account of the fender benders and such. Not me, mind, but my sainted wife.
It was a mutual back-up scenario in one of those parking lots so common here in Southern California: Painted as though the whole world drove Mini Coopers, when in fact – as everyone knows perfectly well – they all drive SUVs and steroidal minivans, and that. The great, rough beasts. Whilst talking on their cell phones, and gesticulating with their mitts. The horror.
So anyway, the dealership said it’d be four weeks until her auto-voiture was out of the body shop. To our consternation and dismay. Knowing, as we did, that it didn’t take four weeks for those stout Bavarians lads to assemble the thing, and themselves taking beer breaks ever so often.
So she gets my little car, and the Biscuit keeps the ancient Caravan, and your correspondent is left for to make his way to the salt mines and back on a two-wheeled conveyance. It’s not so bad, commuting on a bike in the big city. Put aside the risk of maiming, not to mention the untimely. On account of all the lane splitting that’s in it. Not to mention fuel costs. Saves time and money, and who’s to question that?
Sure, it puts you off your morning coffee on the drive down south. Not to mention the NPR. Which combination, when neglected, used to be a double plus ungood. But what with the public broadcasting radio journalists all sounding like breathless adolescents on laughing gas these last days and the thermos in the tank bag, I’ll chalk that up as a push, and make good time as I’m on my merry.
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Speak, muse, and tell me of the relative merits of South Carolina living. A demi-hemi-semi potential opportunity having arisen, with housing options to be pursued betwixt the resort coast of Hilton Head, and the headquarters down in steamy Savannah.
Having already taken my fill of knowledge about the Lone Star State from occasional readers generous with both time and insight, not to mention a preliminary interview with such as might have paying work summers else than Sandy Eggo. Thanks to those that offered.
Accustomed as we are to living on the edge, ourselves job-seeking in an as yet unsettled economy. On account of all that toxic debt.
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Speaking of viral (?) we’ve received just gobs of traffic in these our humble digs, wanting to know all about that killa thrill gent who landed ever so bravely on a wing and a prayer, apparently for the benefit of a viral marketing campaign. That sells sweatshirts, as best as I can tell.
But for your real landing thrills, you might do well to study on the skill of one Ernst Udet in between the War to End All Wars and the one that followed after.
The engine was out for that last bit, which no doubt gave Bob Hoover a wild notion of his own.
Udet was not shy while actually in the game as well. Sixty-two kills and lived to tell the tale. 62 to nothing is like dividing by zero, it can’t be done, except when it is.
Those were days.
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Speaking about flying blind. Geez
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Prop 8 succeeded in changing the California constitution, despite a very great deal of money thrown at it by all the usual suspects. To tell you the truth, gentle reader, I’m sick to death with all of it. Never in the course of human events, have so few so agitated so many. And for what? Recognition? Tax breaks? Hospital visiting rights?
Whatevs.
The anti’s pitched this as a “civil rights” issue. Like marriage is a civil right.
You have to get a marriage license, duddn’t matter where you place your wedding tackle. If it was a right, could the state license it? Can you think of any other right the state gets to license? Can it license your right to free speech? Does the state license your freedom of religion, or right to assemble?
Can any right the state deigns to license – licensing implying the right to say “no” – really be a right? Because what the state can grant, the state can take away. Which would, it seems to me, make it something other than a “right”.
The state’s interest in regulating marriage is to ensure that the next generation is born without burdensome genetic disadvantages. Which is why brothers and sisters are proscribed from marriage, as are intergenerational familial relationships. The state also has an interest in a stable two-parent relationship, that environment being thought best for the formation of future citizens.
Like any of that still matters.
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It’s GM now that is running out of cash and looking for a handout. While promising that this is the last time. Ever. Mistakes were made, and that. Ever so sorry. Too big to fail, and so on. Ante up.
Keep this compulsory redistribution of wealth up from those who make it to those who’d like it, and they orta just call the darn things Ladas, issue us all a chit, and ask everyone to queue up. Wait your turn there, boy-o, and no jostling.
The short term lesson apparently being that the feds ought not to have let Bear Stearns go down. The long term lesson, I suspect, is that they shouldn’t have bailed out the rest of them.
There’s no middle ground between the market – that’s us – choosing winners, and the state choosing them for us. There’s no comparative virtue between letting a thousand small businesses be taxed and/or regulated to death, and bailing out a single plutocrat. There’s a lot of people employed by GM. But:
From a two-person software start-up to a fleet of trucks helping to build cities, the small-business sector catalyzes economic expansion by:
- making up 99.7 percent of all U.S. employers, meaning that only 17,000 companies, or 0.3 percent of all employers, have 500 or more employees;
- generating half the nonfarm output of the U.S. economy, and employing about half of all Americans not working for government, while adding 60 to 80 percent of net new (nongovernmental) jobs annually;
- comprising 97 percent of exporters and producing 29 percent of all export value—key points when we consider that exports have accounted for about 25 percent of U.S. economic growth over the past decade and support an estimated 12 million jobs;
- winning nearly 24 percent of all government contracts, ranging from ship construction to printing brochures.
Who’s looking out for them? One man!
Last month we were told that the “banking system” was at risk because investment banks no longer trusted one another. This month we’ll be told that the automotive industry won’t survive unless the government takes (or borrows) money from those of us who ordinarily wouldn’t have spent it on whatever it is they’re making. All for the greater good.
Like people would stop needing loans, or stop making money offering them. Like people would stop needing cars, or earn money selling them.
Hospitals are next, I reckon.
Yes, we have no sausage.
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Golly. There I was having an easy-going Friday Musings and got all quasi-consequential on us. Apologies, regrets, gomen nasai.
It might be the ticking clock that has us in a mood. It’s our birthday Sunday, precious, and we’re about to be ever so much more superannuated. Which isn’t bad, given the alternatives.
But neither is it nothing.
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Just the one flight tomorrow, but it’s with Earl the Pearl. We’ll get through.
Have a great weekend!
Savannah – Hilton Head from San Diego would be a major adjustment on account of the humidity. You have to force yourself to breathe and June through September you break into a sweat as soon as you open the door. Far worse than old VA.
Have a great birthday weekend. Beats the alternative! Don’t think old, think vintage… heh.
In addition to the humidity, in South Carolina one must learn to deal deal with a much greater range of Insects and Reptiles as compared to SoCal. The capitalization is purposeful.
Having lived in both places, I must say that there would have to be a significant positive pay or job satisfaction differential to get me back to South Carolina.
$2.25/gal by my house in Sacto.
Getya a Pat Conroy book, google Ossabaw Island, Sapelo Island and visit http://www.alancampbellstudios.com/gallery/america_southeast.html
Definitely different from SoCal, but you might like it.
Lex,
I say go for it, have you checked out Clay Lacy at Van Nuys ? Then you could stay in place .
http://www.claylacy.com/?
During a A-4 Tracom video series shoot, he flew with us in 1990. I ‘taught’ him how to fly an FCLP at El Sweato in his Lear 25 from the right seat after one formation shoot. Flying is a disease! You may get a taste without moving.
Udet suicided in 1941. With his plane, allegedly unhappy with the war and all that.
SC is hotter than three hells in the summer, but you know that. Its the South…
San Diego is beautiful, but SC has its own positive merits. I personally love living in the South and hope to get back there upon retirement… since S. FL is most definitely NOT the south.
Charleston and Savannah are two treasures of the South. Don’t forget the major bonus of living back in the Old Country, Lex: grits
SC is one of the reddest of red states and would probably be the last state to ever go blue. So you would have that going for you too!
I must say that being closer to Charleston is preferred to being closer to Savannah. Hilton Head is definitely habitable.
We are considering a move to Charleston, if an opportunity opens up as promised, but it will not please this Florida girl to be so far from the gorgeous beaches here.
Plus side: better restaurants and boutique shopping in Charleston. Savannah is a lovely place to visit.
Oh. You must enjoy drinking your air through a straw. You don’t mind gills growing on your neck, do you?
Best food evah: Low Country Boil!
Lex, one right that the state does license is the ‘keeping and bearing of arms’. Not that I much care for it, being of a more libertarian bent than most Americans. I don’t care who another cares to call a spouse, long as they are of consenting age. The current concern is whether 8 was an amendment or a revision.
Love SC. Spent several different weeks at Beaufort (that’s the one with the long “u” sound — as opposed to Beaufort with the long “o” sound up on NC) flying with the VMFA’s. Mrs. Nose and I used to vaca yearly in Hilton Head when we were DINKers. We enjoyed it a lot, but it is oh so very southern and damned muggy.
I agree with Bou, the south ends somewhere just north of Orlando. Florida south of Orlando used to be attached to Long Island. Sometime in the early to mid 60’s it broke off and translated in a southward direction.
And, just as an aside, Texas ain’t south. Texas is Texas, and Texas is good, but Texas ain’t south.
As for marriage among anatomical equals, I feel the same way about that that I feel about education, privacy, voting rules, and other items not specifically enumerated in our Constitution: It is for the various states to decide. If you don’t like Connecticut’s laws, don’t live in Connecticut, etc.
Born and raised in Playa Del Rey, Ca. Now retired for the last 10 years in RURAL SC. I mean rural, I live 6 miles outside a town with ONE traffic light. Pro: Cost of living, $1.90/gal,
slow pace of life, wide open undeveloped spaces, no pollution, friendly people, conservative. Lots of places to fly small a/c, and drive sports cars or motorcycles-fast.
Con: All of the above if you like high prices, crowds, and PC liberals. The roads here are bad but uncrowded. The drivers are really bad. Too humid July thru Sept. Prehistoric classes of bugs and flying things with stingers.
It all depends on what you like. I love San Diego, my sis lived in Cardiff by the sea, but I can’t handle the population density and how it affects every facet of daily living. Once you taste this area, SoCal is too much of everythig.
Manhattan Beach here, Bill, and a terrific place to grow up; Sand Dune park and bike rides to King Harbor on the Strand. The 60’s & 70’s in the South Bay was a good time in a good place.
SoCal has grow’d aplenty in the last 40 years, and there’s a lot that’s gone missing. There actually used to be breaks in civilization between LA and the border.
Some random thoughts about South Carolina:
1) Great beaches with water warm enough to actually swim in.
2) Great seafood.
3) Hot & muggy – many folks consider it uninhabitable between June & September.
3) Speaking of June & September, did anyone mention hurricanes?
4) Would be a radical cultural change from SoCal. Depending on your views, this may or may not be a bad thing.
5) WRT to Savannah, I recommend reading “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” as well as the already suggested Pat Conroy books.
6) Hilton Head is basically a vacation/retirement destination for rich folks, with the amenities to go with it (golf, etc.) Nice, but not cheap.
Lex –
I’m going to agree with JR on this one.
My experience in S.C. is limited, having spent most of my time there studying in the hallowed halls of Nuclear Power in Charleston, but I did enjoy my time there.
Yes, Hurricanes and Humidity. But it is back to the South. Where else can you wear your seersucker and be complimented?
I’d say go for it, variety being the spice of life and all.
Eh, don’t sweat the hurricanes. There are enough of us that live in ‘cane country to talk you through it.
Hell, you’ve probably been through a few and I missed the post!
And as we all say, the heat and humidity, all of which you know of, but they invented this stuff called air conditioning and really… its the bomb.
As I tell people that live in the Great White North, “Y’all stay inside in the winter, we stay inside in the summer…”
And as your other readers have commented, Charleston rocks. I spent a lot of time there, out at CAFB, when we were just fielding the C-17. GREAT low country food as Joan said, very very fun city.
Cap’n,
Several reasons the USMC put its Recruit Training Depot on Parris Island are: humidity, insects, gators and the occasional tropical storm. Apparently those ingredients build character.
I do believe Hilton Head is within the same general area.
Even tho’ both locales share the same initials, South Carolina is not Southern California. Slower pace of life, tobacco, rice, more tobacco, cotton and did I mention tobacco? The I-95 corridor is home to some of this country’s largest drug/money transport operations.
From my way of thinking, Virginia Tidewater area or North Carolina provide much of the same charm as Charleston and Savannah, but without the hassle.
Our good host casually mentioned:
Just the one flight tomorrow, but it’s with Earl the Pearl. We’ll get through.
Earl the Pearl Strickland?
The world-class pool player?
The John McEnroe of the billards world?
The incredibly talented and explosive player who (when his game is on) dominates and delights the Church Of The Green Felt?
Wow.
Or is there some other (pretender) with the title ‘Earl The Pearl’ ?
Impressed and Curious, Peter Warner.
World class pool player – boy do those words bring back the fondest of sunday afternoon memories with my dad. Minnesota Fats and Willie Mosconi being his particular faves. Thank you for that “remote memory download” Peter W.
Lex – Happiest of Days to you!!! It ain’t nuthin but a number Sir.
Savannah is highly recommended.
Mongo,
Manhattan Beach was and is awesome. There was a girl who lived right on the strand…….. I’d give about anything for a time machine.
It doesn’t take too long to adjust to the humidity, although it’s never too pleasant and bou has a point about the a/c. Having lived South, West and Northeast, South is still my fav, but it’s also home which counts a lot for me.
You mentioned a job in Texas the other day Lex… I live near Ft. Sill in SW Oklahoma, we haven’t paid $2 for a gallon of gas in a couple of weeks… I was in Bartlesville OK the other day and paid $1.83
Just sayin’…
US car companies going under and all that. I am torn.
On the one hand you have the line of logic that says, “The banks are getting it, we should too. After all, we actually make a product and will effect hundreds of thousands of workers who work for the suppliers who make the parts for us.”
On the other hand you have the fact that a year ago, the industry was on the verge of turning things around if not for the trifecta of steel prices doubling, gas prices going to $4.00/gal, and then the mortgage/banking crisis. If given a loan, how can you guarantee that it will help you survive? What forces outside of your control will contribute to your failure to make any money in 2009?
All this has to be weighed. CAREFULLY. Michigan has had its own recession going for about the last six years. If even one (GM, Ford, or Chrysler) goes down, the others will soon follow. You see, all three share the same suppliers and if, say GM and Ford had parts made by supplier X and GM goes under, X will not be able to sustain its Ford product. Then X will go out of business, forcing an emergency re-sourcing in an environment in which dozens of suppliers will be in the same situation. Realize, too, that the US automotive industry is the largest industrial base in the country. Do we really want to lose that? Think about WWII and who made our planes, tanks, and guns.
Admittedly, I am biased, for I have a job at stake, but I do believe these issues are potentially as serious, if not more so, than the whole mortgage/banking fiasco.
I live in a small town very near to the state capital. I can tell you that living in this state is not like living anywhere else I’ve ever been. There are some real drawbacks to living here, just as I’m sure there are to everywhere else. But the positives? I just moved into a new construction home on 1/2 acre. 3000 square feet, 3 1/2 baths, two car garage, every amenity… the builder even threw in a 42 inch hdtv! Less than 250k. I defy anyone in Southern California to match that deal. Less than $2.00 for gas right now… and the Gamecocks are 7 and 2. And as has been mentioned in these very pages, how can you not love a place where the flowers of Southern culture can be found in a stadium on Saturday afternoons cheering for their Cocks?
Peter W,
Obviously you’ve never heard of Earl “The Pearl” Monroe. I’ll bet Strickland’s (great billiards player) handle came fron Monroe’s. He was pure silk and the quickest l to R jump shooter the game ever developed..product Winston-Salem and NY Knicks if’n I remember right. He had big gap in his front teeth he kept a chunk o’gold in.
I can’t see him wanting a flight that comes with a sickbag though…maybe though.
b2
Not too bad an area (I was born at Savannah when Hunter was an AFB). Dripping humid, fire ants, high density altitudes. Beaches aren’t bad, slower life style, and cheaper to live than Dago. Plenty of pine trees to cushion your bad landings.
Looks like a Gulfstream. You wanna be a bus driver?