Arizona: Home is where the heat is.

[Shockeye]

Now I just need to get a car because it appears impossible to live in Phoenix without a car, and I'm also hoping I can find me a tech job once I get out there (probaly impossible, retail 4 life!!1!!).

Car, yes.

http://www.jobing.com use zip code 85025 for central Phoenix or 85301 for west-side.

[Teleku]

Out of curiosity, what the hell is wrong with California?  Leave LA out of it, that’s a shit hole.  I don't really like Southern California in general (though San Diego is a fairly cool place to live, or at least go to college in so far), but the rest of the state is very nice, and very beautiful.  Northern California is similar in climate to Oregon, and a very cool place to live (grew up their).

[Joe]

What about trips to Mexico from Phoenix, from the map I stare at all day it seems the closest city would be Nogales, and that is the place where the feds busted those guys smuggling heroin in cocaine (not sure if I want to visit).  I guess the best thing would be to drive to Mexicali or Tijuana?

Drive to San Diego and take the train into Tijuana. That way, you have an American hotel where you sleep, and it's a 30 minute ride into the land of donkey shows and discount merchandise.

[Teleku]

Yeah, they just completed the trolly line to San Diego State.  Now there is a direct train line straight from my college to Tijuana.  I foresee no problems with this!

[Llava]

For how many square feet of living space, and how many people using the shower?  Because I find it amazing that your water/ trash is less than just my water/ sewer in the middle of the midwest. (Without watering the lawn I add, as I sadly look at the brown mess it's becoming.)

1,595 of living space.  It's my house and my brother lives with me, just the two of us.  But then, he doesn't shower as much as a normal person...  So probably together, we count as 1.5 people in terms of shower use.

[Trippy]

Out of curiosity, what the hell is wrong with California?  Leave LA out of it, that’s a shit hole.  I don't really like Southern California in general (though San Diego is a fairly cool place to live, or at least go to college in so far), but the rest of the state is very nice, and very beautiful.  Northern California is similar in climate to Oregon, and a very cool place to live (grew up their).

Yes the weather here in Northern California is arguably the best in the US (Redwood City and Oakland regularly duke it out for that title). Unfortunately the housing prices here are absolutely unbelievably ridiculously fricking expensive. Any of you thinking about moving here should just stay the hell away.

[Trippy]

I still even have hopes for New Jersey... we'd better hurry, it's almost time to leave this state.

As much as people knock it, there are some great places in New Jersey without guidos, smog, or crack houses.  :P

The upper end of New Jersey (basically anything north of Newark) is incredibly beautiful. At a previous job I was sent out a number of times to Woodcliff Lake to work on a project with Sony (also home to BMW NA) and that area is really nice. In contrast Newark is a total dump. It looks like something Terry Gilliam or Tim Burton would put together to represent a modern-day version of Industrial revolution-era England with smokestacks and soot and grime everywhere.

[Signe]

Ah... now I'm in the mood to get stoned and watch Brazil.

[schild]

Ah... now I'm in the mood to get stoned and watch Brazil.

There's a great Brazil reference in Splinter Cell Chaos Theory. Where you claim that you're Tuttle, a well-armed and easily aggravated heating duct repairman. It's good stuff.

[Rasix]

Here's what I paid this last month for utilities:

Electricity: $165.72
Trash/Water: $66.47
Gas: $17.05

I think my electric bill is less and I'm in a 2100 sq' 2 story (kept at 76).  But, in Tucson we're on average about 5-10 degrees less.  Trash/water/sewer is about the same and I've got my small lawn to thank for that.

I don't mind the heat but I've been here for all of my 26 years.  I don't do anything stupid though like trying to play basketball at noon on an outdoor court.  We've had a remarkable amount of rain for us this year and it's manifesting itself in rather nasty ways.   On Saturday my cats dragged a 2' garden snake into the living room at around 6am.  I'm not terribly fond of snakes.  Then, Sunday while I was taking out the trash, a rattlesnake slithered across my yard.   Now I'm going to drop the chicken wire across my back gate another inch and try to sure up the other holes in the defenses, all while praying the snake doesn't come back.  Right now with all of the different methods the critters have found for penetrating my yard, it often resembles a mini wild kingdom.

Yah, it's horribly hot here, but I'm not a fatass so to me it's a lot better than it being incredibly cold or raining all of the time. 

[stray]

Btw, Rasix....Are you a Sun's fan?

[Rasix]

Btw, Rasix....Are you a Sun's fan?

Not really, until recently.  I don't follow the NBA much, and when I did it was during high school when I was a Bulls fan because my best friend was.

They're an amazing team to watch though.  And really, even when I wasn't a fan, they were a treat to go see live.  Only NBA team I really make a point to watch currently.   

[schild]

There's a reason Ookiih and I hadn't heard of Cafe Lautrec.

Two decades ago, this bar was known as Cafe Lautrec, one of the most popular nightspots in the city. It was a crowded, grungy little dive, where local legend Johne Forges tap-danced his way across the bar top on weekends while a jazz band wailed away. Lautrec was the proverbial watering hole where no one cared what you did for a living, what you were wearing, who you were there with -- a rarity in Washington.

A dispute among the owners shuttered Cafe Lautrec in 1998, and set off a chain of events that left regulars confused and frustrated. Lautrec reopened in summer 2000 but closed soon after. The bar became Cafe Aristide, then closed again. Rechristened Cafe Toulouse in 2001, it closed two years later, sat vacant for a time, reopened and shut down late last year. (If the current incarnation isn't successful, what are the odds another restaurant will pop up as Cafe Bruant in a year or two?) Hoping to bring some stability is new owner Stoyan "Stan" Tzenkov, who until recently ran the neighborhood's Cafe Sofia -- a restaurant with a nod to his Bulgarian roots. Tzenkov says Sofia was doing well, but he wanted "something bigger, and this is on the main strip."

No longer the gritty little club Lautrec himself might have enjoyed, it's still a little rough around the edges -- notice the nicks in the walls? -- but the room has been dressed up with dark wood, flickering candles and simple wooden tables and chairs (though there are now white tablecloths at dinner).

[Llava]

I think my brother's to blame for the electricity bill.  I put the thermostat up to 77 or 78, he keeps putting it down to 73.  I need to kick his ass and tell him to either deal with the heat or start paying the bill.

[Pococurante]

One thing about living in Arizona- suddenly temperatures in the 60s become intolerably cold.

I knew I had finally acclimated to Texas when while dirivng around with the windows down one day I started shivering and did a double-take on the readout showing 85 degrees... 

[Yegolev]

The upper end of New Jersey (basically anything north of Newark) is incredibly beautiful.

What?  You must mean somewhere off the road from Newark Intl to Giants Stadium.  Way off the road.

[Zephyr]

The upper end of New Jersey (basically anything north of Newark) is incredibly beautiful.

What?  You must mean somewhere off the road from Newark Intl to Giants Stadium.  Way off the road.

There are some places in the northwest part of the state that made me think I had left Jersey, Sussex and parts of Warren/Morris counties to be exact.  I jog along the D&R canal now and used to jog along the boardwalk in Spring Lake when I lived at the shore, both very beautiful places in their own ways. 

[Yegolev]

both very beautiful places in their own ways.

I bet she has a great personality, too.  Tell me if you think east Penn is beautiful, so I can properly gauge your tastes.

[MrHat]

On a side note, I move to Baltimore in a few weeks.

From Westminster, CO. to White Marsh, MD.

Go me.

[Viin]

Bummer. Westminster is nice, especially the Jeffco side.  :-D

[Ookii]

On a side note, I move to Baltimore in a few weeks.

From Westminster, CO. to White Marsh, MD.

Go me.

Well at least you aren't in Baltimore Baltimore, man that totally sucks, I hope you know what you're in for (I would suggest quickly learning where to go and NOT GO in Baltimore before you start exploring).

Of course since I'm in Bethesda and schild is in College Park we should all go out drinking, preferably somewhere like Bill Batemans.

[MrHat]

On a side note, I move to Baltimore in a few weeks.

From Westminster, CO. to White Marsh, MD.

Go me.

Well at least you aren't in Baltimore Baltimore, man that totally sucks, I hope you know what you're in for (I would suggest quickly learning where to go and NOT GO in Baltimore before you start exploring).

Of course since I'm in Bethesda and schild is in College Park we should all go out drinking, preferably somewhere like Bill Batemans.

I would, except my parents & bro and my fiancee's parents will be staying with us till about the 10th of August or so.

Why do I keep hearing that Baltimore sucks?

[Yegolev]

Why do I keep hearing that Baltimore sucks?

I didn't let my speed drop below 50mph anywhere in Maryland, and I could tell Baltimore sucked.

[MrHat]

Why do I keep hearing that Baltimore sucks?

I didn't let my speed drop below 50mph anywhere in Maryland, and I could tell Baltimore sucked.

The question was Why.

[schild]

Because Baltimore is a giant ghetto with a 2x2block paradise in the dead center of it. There's nothing else to say other than the entire city is crap. Bethesda ain't too shabby. There are some really nice suburbs just north of Baltimore (mostly Jewish). But the city of Baltimore? It's a metropolitan abortion.

[MrHat]

Then I should clarify that I'm not moving to Baltimore.

I'm moving to Maryland, and just happen to be North East of Baltimore.

[Signe]

I went to Inner Harbor once.  It was nice.

[schild]

I went to Inner Harbor once.  It was nice.

Did you get in and out via harrier jet? Do you remember the surroundings? Were you shot at?

Are you writing us from a supercomputer on the other side?

[Signe]

You are such a little smart ass.

[schild]

You are such a little smart ass.

At least I'm not a kitty on lettuce and cheese pressed between a toasted potato roll.

[Llava]

At least I'm not a kitty on lettuce and cheese pressed between a toasted potato roll.

Ooooooh, BURN!

[Signe]

I've been having food dreams.

PS   I'm gonna kick your ass, Llava.

[Ezdaar]

Bit late to the thread but I'm moving to Tempe at the end of the month from San Diego. I'm somewhat frightened at how many of you live in SoCal or Phoenix, I thought I had more of a buffer zone.

On a serious note though I'm amazed at how much cheaper everything is in Arizona. It's at least half as much as things in San Diego. I'll actually be able to live on what the university pays me.

[TheWalrus]

Do they still have those specatacular locust and bee swarms in Az? Or was my childhood just blessed?

[Yegolev]

On a serious note though I'm amazed at how much cheaper everything is in Arizona. It's at least half as much as things in San Diego.

It's more like things in San Diego cost twice as much.  Then again, all of the heat and scorpions in AZ means there is a lot of unclaimed equipment laying around.