Just an emotional rant. I guess I can’t really complain here in public. Just some days you wake up to a different reality of friends and family than other days.
Monthly Archives: August 2008
Road Trip Stats
Leg 1
Gas – $13.06
Gas – $26.00
Gas – $10.00
Left Dallas @ 8:30am
Arrived Roswell @ 3:14pm.
Leg 2
Gas – $35.37
Gas – $35.50
Gas – $25.00
Left Roswell @7:04am
Arrived Phoenix @ 4:07pm
Leg 3
Gas – $25.00
Gas – $25.00
Left Phoenix @ 10:52am
Arrived Redlands @ 4:24pm
Gas Total: $194.93. I left with a full tank which costs around $55.00. So final total: $249.93.
Hotels: 2 nights using reward points. So no expense.
Trip to LA and Santa Monica
So it is settled! This weekend I will be driving to LA and Santa Monica to sightsee and to really see the places. Might have to make more than one trip and might have to go to different parts each time just to really see the LA area.
I will take the camera with me and take enough pictures for you all to see and enjoy as well. Have to first empty out the card and save all the pictures off.
The apartment search has been going slow. Went to the Olive Apartments yesterday. The apartments are next to a church. The church custodian is also the apt. mgr. Nice fellow. He was nice enough to talk and explain that he just rented out the last unit avaialble. And recommended other places to try and other methods to find apartments. This is driving me crazy. Thinking about trading the stang for a Chevy van or something and just living out of the van. Will allow me to move more and worry less about lodgings. Well, only wishful thinking. Bathroom and shower will be a big problem. And that’s a hassle I’d rather avoid. Otherwise, the plan could really work. With the VerizonWireless internet conenction using PC Card, it should be fine to work remotely and not have to really need a landline and DSL.
Back to reality. Another option is to drive further north to San Fransisco and just find a place there. In terms of apartments, Cali is expensive. Hotels are expensive. In San Fransisco hotels are like $250 a night for regular hotels.
This whole trip needed to be better thought out.
The issue with lodgings is not due to any problem with my current setup. My uncle and his family are more than welcoming and very nice. They are very generously letting me stay here rent free and mooch all the free internet service that my work requires. But at some level, it feels like even tho I’m with family I’m still not home.
Accordings to the latest polls (of friends and acquaintances), I’d be an idiot to try to move out.
So What is The Verdict on California
Well, what is the final verdict? Was is all worth it? Was is Is it still fun? What is the city of Redlands like? How does it compare to a place like Dallas? Dallas, TX is where I started. Well Dallas is the offical address but it’s really Addison. But in broader terms Dallas, to the natives, includes Dallas, Addison, Richardson, Carrollton, Plano, Garland, Frisco, Lewisville, etc…. Especially when out of town. Or when referring to the general location. So how does this place compare? It’s only fair to compare with a known alternative to have a relative judgement so one can understand the unknown in terms of the known. Ok, enough big words.
Dallas, is a so much an unfair comparison. Dallas is a big place. A very big place. Redlands, is a small town. It’s a small enough town to where 5 minutes in one direction will take you to Loma Linda, and 10 in the other to Yucaipa. Then 5 minutes past Loma Linda you see San Bernardino. Saint indeed. It’s the biggest of towns. When lost, one is instructed to look for signs pointing to I-215 towards San Bernardino. Then further out you see Ontario. Going east from Redlands then you have Loma Linda, San Bernardino, Rialto, Ontario. These plus other small towns are all together the Inland Empire.
So the comparison is better between Dallas and Inland Empire.
Again, Dallas is a such a big place. Such a melting pot of people and lifestyles. I didn’t appreciate it enough. Inland Empire pales. It’s sort of a town split along further mini-town lines each with their own rules. Very old. Not polished. Sure it has it’s Smiley Heights area which has the million dollar homes. But that area is one main street and some culdesacs hanging off of it.
In terms of Walmart, there’s only one seen around. There’s a Von’s. There’s a Stater Bro’s everywhere. It’s a little annoying. No decent hair stylists. Meaning known stylists. And such other things.
In so many ways there’s no comparison. It would be comparing apples to oranges. So with appreciating Dallas, we leave this topic for a later post.
Final Set of Pictures From Road Trip
The last leg of the journey on the road trip was on Aug 11th, 2008.
This is the final set of pictures from the Phoenix to Redlands trip. First the pictures are posted in a table and then the comments at the bottom.
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1 – That’s just first time there was something green in California. Until that point it was all desert and lifeless palm trees.
2 – Don’t pick up hitchhikers. Well, duh! State Prison is a little far out in the desert. Wonder how long it takes to get people there.
3 – Is that General Patton’s tank? Or does it belong to somebody from the same era. Didn’t get the opportunity to read the signs. The temperature was over 100 degrees.
4 – General Patton Museum. Just so hot that Museum on one end of the rest stop and the food on the other left no doubt as to which side had water and which side would be the saner choice. So long General Patton. Thanks for what you did. Mostly, thanks for the random quotes you enrich people’s email signatures with throughout corporate America.
5 – Redlands. Well the destination seemed old and unpolished all of a sudden. Having been here on vacay before the memory made it much more polished and in general a place in California!!!!!. Now it just seemed like any other small town. Maybe a little older and less modernized. A feeling that would be re-inforced throughout the next few weeks.
6 – The University. The town is big enough to have a University. So lay off, Bobby! Quit saying it’s a small place….
Why Would You Do That?
On Friday when I starting driving around town I noticed the gas cap warning light came on. That was a little unsettling. At the next gas station when I stopped to check the cap was completely unscrewed. Mustangs don’t have a lock on the gas door or the cap. So anyone can open the cap.
Well, I always screw the cap in tightly after filling so the only other options is that someone on the street opened the cap. But gas was still at the level that it should have been. No gas missing. So why would someone do that? I guess there’s a small possibility that I may have left it undone. But that’s just so uncharacteristically me that I have a big issue believing that.
Anyway, took it to Ford. They said after tightening the gas cap, it would take 60-80 miles and 3-5 restarts before the light goes away. Today driving back from the Church, the light finally went away. It was a relief, but still a somewhat troubling thought that possibly someone might be opening the gas cap….
Leaving Phoenix Towards Redlands
The last leg of the Trip was on Aug. 11th. It was also the one with least amount of hassle. I guess it was because a conclusion was in sight. However, by the end of the day there was a big headache…. All that driving and sunlight. Plus on that day I was wearing contacts thinking that wearing glasses on the previous two trips possibly contributed to the headache on the previous day. That was an incorrect assumption.
Oh well, from Phoenix to the California border there were few pictures worth posting.
The pictures are in the grid, then notes at the bottom.
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1 – Do they make the tires in this place or they’re just using the name?
2 – Only importance was the movie 3:10 to Yuma.
3 – They misspelled Nuciler. Where’s Homer!
4 – Little fun on the way. Couldn’t max it out ‘coz the road had a bend and the I-10W was just too bumpy to try to go faster.
5 – The open road.
6 – Inspection Station.
7 – So the inspection station is actually the California border. California welcomes you believing you’re a criminal. Arizona welcomes people on a highway, open road, come one come all, but California thinks people should be first inspected.
5 Things about California – First Impressions
So some of the things noticed in Kaliforney so far are worth mentioning. This includes things that are different from Dallas, TX or things that are just plain weird.
Redlands, Ontario and neighboring towns have been referred to as Inland Empire.
1 – Culture – The small town culture is just different. It’s quite bland. There’s nothing to do in these small towns. So you’re supposed to go to LA to have fun. Or to Santa Monica. Or to Riverside. To some other place.
The only people walking around are old people, or really young kids. Not a lot of fun in downtown Redlands. It’s still a beautiful place but less fun unless you already know people and have a big group to hang out with.
In terms of people, most people seem rude and abnoxious. Tailgating seems to be the normal way of driving in Kaliforney.
It seems nice and not nice at the same time. That might be true of any place, I suppose. Just that one doesn’t notice that about their own hometown – Go Addison!
2 – Roads and Highways – Road quality is absolutely abysmal. Driving on most roads is just torture sometimes. Driving a manual car on smaller roads is tough. First gear, second gear, stop sign. First gear, second gear, red light.
Highways seem to be designed so as to rattle cars and shake different parts loose.
3 – Greenery – More green. The roads and mountains are all full of trees and other shrubbery. The palm trees are definitely a nice mood setter. Driving on a road with nice tall trees on either side is very enjoyable.
4 – The Laid Back Feel – Kaliforney definitely has a more laid back feel. Which is nice and better for relaxing. The mountains, hills and winding roads are all very refreshing.
5 – Social Culture – The social culture is not too different from other places. But walking around one gets the feel that the social culture here seem to be about overexploited preteen corporate victims kids wearing their pants around their knees walking around with the same fashion zombie mindset in their $50 haircuts. Sure the parents are the same but there is just so much youth walking around seemingly aimlessly that it’s just kind of sad.
These are just the first impresssions after moving to California. Having been to California before, I know it’s a really nice place and there’s no shortage of nice and responsible people in Cali. It’s not a bad place at all. The above impressions are possibly more exaggerated considering it might have a hint of buyer’s remorse, especially moving to a small town from a much bigger town. This is just an opinion and will most probably change over time.
University of Phoenix
Redlands, CA – For you University of Phoenix student folk.
I was driving by and and didn’t start the camera on time. This was aiming out the window while driving on I-10W 65mph and without looking.
What is in Arizona?
Redlands, CA – So more pictures of Arizona. After reaching Arizona it was hard to take pictures…. It was because of the headache that was the result of driving.
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The road signs are so nice to read. They’re big and well lit at nights.
The Cactus, well you can’t go to Arizona and not shoot a Cactus