Our thoughts and feelings about where we live...

We all live in different parts of the world, so I figured it'd be interesting to hear from everyone about where they live. We all know about Tim's love for the Arizona desert.

Here are my thoughts...

http://hddvdreviews.blogspot.com/2009/03/austin-blows.html

I like this one!

Eddie -- Have you ever drive in New Delhi? or any part of India There is no lane system. Everyone honks. And don't even talk about speeding. Austin does not have worst drivers in the world yet.

All you need to know is that Detroit sucks. Weather sucks. Sports teams (mostly) suck. Economy sucks. Roads suck. Job market sucks.

If you move here, I will kill you.

Seriously.

Jason

And where are you moving to now, Eddie?

I'm currently unemployed and looking for work just about anywhere along the West Coast. Phoenix has been a . . . well, it's your average large city. It's pretty much full of the same headaches as Eddie described. At this point I could use a change, and move close to friends and family. My days here in Arizona are numbered, it's just a matter of when it will happen.

My intention of living in Phoenix was to get away from that damn pouring rain of the Northwest. Well, after 15-years of 99-percent sunshine and blistering hot summers, I've had enough and will gladly go back to more, shall we say, seasonal weather.

Ok, the obvious pro to living in Phoenix is while all you "north" folk are freezing your butts of, us Arizona folks are enjoying perfect weather. It does present the illusion that it's such a perfect place to live . . . then comes that nasty summer, and it's a long ass one when you live here! However, summer does come with Monsoon Season, which is spectacular to see every night as large thunderstorms pass through the valley.

The other thing I have admired about Phoenix is it really is a simple city to get around in -- meaning it's very difficult to get lost. Check it out on Google maps and you'll see that the entire construct of the city is nothing but one giant grid. 99-percent of our main streets run exactly north-south, east-west.

There are the usual headaches as all cities tend to have. We, too, have very bad drivers, cell phone abusers, rude people, photo radar on freeways, boarder jumpers, domestic crime, drugs, rapists, murderers . . . yeah, great place to raise a family!

Nevertheless, the one true thing that has irked me more than anything in Arizona is the lack of wage compensation. Trying to get a competitive, decent salary out of employers here is like pulling teeth! I've applied to places all up and down the West Coast that have no issues with the compensation asked for. In fact, many recruiters have submitted me for more than I was asking. But not good old Phoenix! The city has always been an uphill battle in getting the compensation you deserve, or want.

The other bad thing that gets my ire up is the lack of really good Chinese Food! I've been here for 15-years and have only found one place that comes close to the awesome Chinese food I used to get back in Portland. It took me two-years to find passable house fried rice and Lo Mein. It was just a few years ago that I finally found a place that made Egg Foo Young right -- ingredients IN the paddy, not poured over the top! The joke down here among peeps is, "It's Mexican cooks making your Chinese food. What do you expect?!"

Oh, well, the time has come for change, and I certainly welcome it.

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[Post edited by Tim Raynor on Mar 27, 2009 - CDT 3:03 PM]

tim,

this is where i'm going:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VFCRDw8tOl4/Sb9QWbUz2oI/AAAAAAAAAlE/PnxICm2NUgw/s1600-h/UT+Dallas+test.JPG

you're right about cell phones. if a person is really that impt, then he wouldn't be driving but would be sitting in the back talking on his phone while his chaffeur drove. since you're not that impt, GET OFF THE DAMN PHONE!!!

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[Post edited by posters5 on Mar 27, 2009 - CDT 3:21 PM]

Eddie,

They can't be worse than California drivers, or at least not nearly as amusing in their creative interpretation of common sense road rules.

When I was in California for four years, I thought I missed the change of seasons back in Philadelphia. Being back in Philly, I realize how wrong I was.

Congrats Eddie! The one time I was in Dallas, it was miserable since it was so cold and we didn't plan for it. But I wanna go back, well equipped this time.

Jason, Detroit sucks

ranjan: i haven't been to india yet, but i was in china in 2005. amazingly, people there actually drove better than the idiots here in austin. the entire city needs to be given a new driving test.

chris: as "bad" as hell-a driving can be, it was better than driving in austin.

jason: dallas is nice...it's actually got museums worth visiting, unlike the sorry excuses for gift shops that we have down here in austin.

the theme of this thread--"the grass is greener..."

hey, tim, i know you love kung pao enchiladas.