A New Year Public Service Message

[Lee DeRaud]

To those of you watching the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl game on TV: these are NOT live events. They were recorded months ago on the same soundstage used for the Apollo moon landings, with the aid of a ton of very expensive special effects provided by George Lucas and James Cameron.

The winter climate in Southern California, in spite of what you think you're seeing on TV, is roughly the same as Buffalo, NY, except with more wind. The summers are more like equatorial Africa, except for a few weeks in September when the wildfires reduce the humidity slightly. Wherever you are now is certainly a better place to live and there is absolutely no reason for you to even think about moving here.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Did I mention the earthquakes?

[Mike Soaper]

Yeah but, are the wait lines at Disneyland tolerable?:)

[Jim Matthews]

You forgot the flying snakes, Drop Bears and Sharknadoes. The fact that all your Chalupas are made in Belize is enough for me to cancel my train fare.

[Lee DeRaud]

Yeah but, are the wait lines at Disneyland tolerable?:)
Having been to both Disneyland and Disney World, I'd have to say that's one of the (few?) things the East coast does better. :)

[Bill Dufour]

The quake this week was over 500 miles away. My sister said her house had no damage at all just all the cabinet doors and drawers opened a few non-breakable items fell on the floor. made for a sight to see in her little downtown as many shop windows broke and workers got paid to put stuff back on the shelves.
Do kids back east get taught to stand in doorways? She said it lasted long enough for her and her family to get to separate doorways.
Bill D

[Curt Harms]

Having been to both Disneyland and Disney World, I'd have to say that's one of the (few?) things the East coast does better. :)

How about hardwood? We got lots fo' (relatively)cheep.:). And rain .... we don't rely on neighboring states for water.

[Jim Koepke]

we don't rely on neighboring states for water.

My recollection of water in southern California is it is some of the nastiest tasting water of all the places visited in my life.

Those other states must not be sending their good stuff.

jtk

[Keith Outten]

What we do have in the eastern USA are the original 13 colonies that were responsible for eliminating a King and all of the stripes on the American flag belong to us. We also have the greatest shipyard in the world, NASA, the largest Naval base, almost all of the battlefields and we are rich in hardwood forests and agriculture. Although we don't have many tornadoes or earthquakes we do experience the majority of the big storms. We can get all of the fresh water we want just 30 to 90 feet from the grass we walk on in most areas.

This is not a contest, we have just been here longer then you westerners and have made good use of our time and resources :)

[Lee DeRaud]

Well, THAT turned dark in a hurry, didn't it?

[Bernie Kopfer]

Out where I live in eastern Washington we live in constant fear of St Helens blowing again. We hope we fought off the American natives for the last time, and we were told that we would soon have electricity available for the first time, but we do worry about the Columbia river going dry. Living off the grid is a way of life here. Leaves little time for woodworking which out here means chopping wood for heat.
if you are thinking of moving west I would encourage you to consider central California. You can help them rebuild from the the ground up, fire will make you have to do that.🤣

[Ron Citerone]

I love PA, where I have lived my whole life and will probably be here in the end.

With that said, San Diego was the one place I vacationed that I was tempted into staying.

[Keith Outten]

Well, THAT turned dark in a hurry, didn't it?


No! Not dark at all Lee we just have a totally different experience living on opposite coasts.

[Curt Harms]

I imagine where we grew up influences our preferences. I cannot imagine living somewhere where the predominant color is brown rather than green. Let me qualify that -- green without irrigation. I've spent a little time in the Southwest and it's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. I'm sure many people born and raised in the Southwest feel the same about the eastern half of the country.

[Lee DeRaud]

I imagine where we grew up influences our preferences.
Full disclosure: I'm an Air Force brat.

The thing is, I grew up in Alaska, New Jersey, Georgia, Colorado, Virginia, and Florida, then (finally) came to California after grad school (in Colorado again).

So yeah, where I grew up influences my preferences. :)

[Myk Rian]

Just wondering, did LA ever recover from the Vornado and is the La Brea collapse into a hole repaired? Did the escape from LA really happen?
I have so many questions to ponder.

[Lee DeRaud]

Just wondering, did LA ever recover from the Vornado and is the La Brea collapse into a hole repaired? Did the escape from LA really happen?
I have so many questions to ponder.
Movie magic: all of those happened in Orlando.

[Kev Williams]

Well, THAT turned dark in a hurry, didn't it?

TURNED dark? lol....

[Curt Harms]

Full disclosure: I'm an Air Force brat.

The thing is, I grew up in Alaska, New Jersey, Georgia, Colorado, Virginia, and Florida, then (finally) came to California after grad school (in Colorado again).

So yeah, where I grew up influences my preferences. :)

You got to experience quite a variety.

[Keith Outten]

Having been to both Disneyland and Disney World, I'd have to say that's one of the (few?) things the East coast does better. :)


Whoa! Just trying to point out the there are more than just a few things the east coast does better then the left coast. Unfortunately we also have to contend with Washington DC which is the biggest headache in the country. Last but not least our population is not decreasing, people from the west are moving east.

[Lee DeRaud]

Last but not least our population is not decreasing, people from the west are moving east.
From this perspective, that's a feature, not a bug. :)

(Note also, since you appeared to miss it, that's the whole point of my original post.)

[Keith Outten]

OK, I missed the point somehow but I have re-read your original post and still can't connect.
Your population reduction seems to involve replacing some of the tax paying citizens leaving your state with non citizens who don't pay taxes.

In case you missed it on the news yesterday we had a 27 hour traffic backup on Interstate 95 in Northern Virginia and one of our Senators was caught smack dab in the middle of it, I am happy that he experienced a little bit of what the working class has to deal with in the course of a regular day minus the snow.

[Lee DeRaud]

(Note to self: never try to explain a joke.)

[Donald G. Burns]

To those of you watching the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl game on TV: these are NOT live events. They were recorded months ago on the same soundstage used for the Apollo moon landings, with the aid of a ton of very expensive special effects provided by George Lucas and James Cameron.

The winter climate in Southern California, in spite of what you think you're seeing on TV, is roughly the same as Buffalo, NY, except with more wind. The summers are more like equatorial Africa, except for a few weeks in September when the wildfires reduce the humidity slightly. Wherever you are now is certainly a better place to live and there is absolutely no reason for you to even think about moving here.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Did I mention the earthquakes?


Lee, I grew up in Buffalo and lived in S. CA for 25 years. I must say that Buffalo has some of the nicest pure white beaches in the world if you can stand the 5' of snow in them. S. California, on the the other hand, can't make a decent chicken wing let alone beef on weck. Plus, the fruits and nuts in the Buffalo area grow on trees while in S. CA they can be found on the 405 at 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10 AM and once again 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 PM. However, S. CA really needs more people since there's still a few acres out near Palmdale that haven't been concreted over yet and turning into sub-divisions. <SEG>

PS - going along with those 3 important words in your sig, don't forget that once the pin is pulled, Mr Grenade is no longer your friend.

[Keith Outten]

There is someone else here who has experienced a "Super Storm" that drops down out of Canada across one of the Great Lakes and leaves 4 foot of snow on the ground in just a couple hours at 50 degrees F below zero. These can make a Southern Boy run for home, to the locals its no biggie :)

[Lawrence Duckworth]

There is a "Super Storm" that drops down out of Canada across one of the Great Lakes and leaves 4 foot of snow on the ground in just a couple hours at 50 degrees F below zero. :)

could build a wall :)

[Keith Outten]

I know you have seen pictures of snow banks on the edge of roads up to 12 feet high on each side. That is what it was like for me about mid winter going to work every day in Oswego NY. On a regular day it would snow from 6 to 18 inches and then the wind would blow the snow everywhere. At the power plant we had colored ropes that connected every building and there were colored maps on every door so the night shift could find their way when they needed to move between buildings as the wind and snow blew so hard if you lost the rope from you hands you could be lost just inches from a building.

Living in this kind of environment was unbelievable for people who were not locals, but the locals just took it all in stride...just another day. Funny what humans can get used to over time. When i saw the first snow plows in the late Spring when I got there I had to ask what kind of machines they were because they were monsters, never seen anything like it in my life. I did boot camp in Illinois in the early 1970's and saw a lot of snow but nothing like upstate New York. Even though the weather in Oswego was brutal to me the locals had their annual town party in Winter at 30 below zero, nothing but a regular day to them. Oh yeah, we didn't get any visitors in the Winter because cars had to be winterized or the transmissions and rear ends would freeze solid because the fluids were to thick for the temperature. We were told not to take our cars south of Syracuse NY unless the fluids were changed back to normal.

Even on the East Coast we have unbelievable differences from North to South. Most Yankees know better then to wander north of Syracuse in the Winter time.

[Derek Meyer]

I've driven through parts of Idaho where the snow was 12 feet high on each side of the road. It's like driving in a very long tunnel.

There'a a recreational area about 50 miles east of my town that gets a large amount of snow in the winter. A few years ago, I talked to a friend of mine who has a cabin out there. He said that, at that time in January, they had 11 feet of snow on the ground. The people who live out there or have houses or cabins put plywood over their windows and let the snow pile up, then get out and shovel thier roofs to keep them from caving in. Snowmobiles and snowcats are about the only way you can get around out there in the winter. It is truely beautiful there, though. The town is called Elk River, Idaho. It's also a sportsman's paradise for fishing, hunting, camping, etc., at other times of the year.

[Donald G. Burns]

Keith, I grew up in the snow belt of Western NY. It doesn't (normally) get as cold as the northern part of NY, but we do get our share of white-outs. As a kid it was normal to have our schools open with 1' to 2' of fresh snow overnight. A couple of times we kids had to get out and push the school bus through a large snow drift. I too when to boot camp in Great Lakes, IL where -20 to -30 degrees wasn't rare. After 6 years in the navy I returned to W. NY and went through the blizzard of '77 (209" of snow) and spent over a week stuck at my parents house due to a 20' snow drift preventing normal (the large ones) from opening the road. A special machine was brought in to open the road. In winter of '77 (end of 77- beginning of '78), which was only a little bit better (201") than the year earlier, found my future wife in Buffalo for graduate school coming up from E. PA and got a dual education. First, at the UB and the second in what a winter in Buffalo was like. I introduced her to the Bills football over the next couple of years and it amazed her that tailgating and filling a stadium to overflow wasn't a problem in January. January football is back this year for Buffalo. Go Bills!

[Lee DeRaud]

I'm always struck by how much the local mind-set affects people's perception of the weather, AKA the "It's a DRY heat" syndrome.

I lived in northern Virginia in the mid '60s. I don't know how it works now, but at the time VA was still hung up on being part of "The South", to the extent that Fairfax County owned maybe five snowplows total. Every year we could count on getting about three times as many "snow days" off as the schools just across the river in Maryland.

[Keith Outten]

Donald, I lived in Oswego from 1983 to 1985. Two long Winters for someone who saw Winter re-defined. The average snowfall at the time was 326 inches.

Lee, last year Gloucester County Virginia closed schools because it was supposed to snow the next day and it didn't :) People here are afraid of snow. We used to get at least one decent snowfall every year of 6 to 8 inches, in a bad year I have seen it snow 25 inches a few times and the state closed down. I have seen the York and James rivers freeze over when I was very young but we just don't have those kind of temperatures here anymore, not for 50 years. There are more snowplows in Oswego county NY than exist south of the Mason Dixon Line.

I live just 75 miles east of the capital of the Confederate States, I think that is the deciding factor of whether Virginia is a Southern State even though we are considered to be in the south east or Mid-Atlantic geographically. My first ancestor came to the Eastern Shore of Virginia in 1634 and 90% of my Dad's family were farmers that never left The Shore. My Mother's family was also here in Colonial times. One of her ancestors signed a loan for George Washington, you can see that I am pretty sure about my heritage and where my ancestors have been historically. My home town is the oldest continuously settled Anglo-Saxon municipality in America est 1610 just three years after Jamestown. It's less then two miles from my back yard to the Yorktown battlefields and 30 miles to Williamsburg, I grew up learning about our History because it happened here and we are very proud of Virginia's participation in the founding of America and that our greatest document was written by one of our own. The British hated Virginians so much that when they burned our Liberty Tree they dug up the roots so they could burn them too :)