"California, Don't Tread On Me!!!"

Welcome to my segment on California, the State I was born (and mostly raised) in (the first in the Tobin Clan, no less!) and the primary source of my irritation.

Here are the problems with this state:

1.) Housing is ridiculously overpriced here, and despite the house-building boom that is going on in Lancaster and Palmdale, CA, (with wealthy Yuppies retreating from L.A., what I surprise) no one's building any new apartment complexes for anyone under the age of Adult Diapers! Look, I know that as you get older, you can't really take care of a big house like you used to, but those of us that can't afford a house payment still need a place to live! The problem with this is that the people that are Elderly, are around 6% of the population out here, and the people around my age are the vast majority... so who do you think needs apartment complexes built more urgently? That's right... young people, and it ain't happening. I share an $880 a month bill for my rent every month with my room-mate, and I live in one of the more inexpensive apartments in the city (it was around $600 a month 6 years ago) and the apartment average price monthly is from $900 - $1,200 a month. Does anyone else think that's a bit steep for a desert town 60 miles from L.A.? You know why it's steep? We're still considered part of L.A. County, when it's at least an hour's drive away from here! I recently found out that California is one of the Top-2 States in the nation that people are actively trying to move out of, since the housing is so expensive... and if you're lucky enough to get out, good for you.

2.) The Education system in this State has been gutted by Generations of Republican Governors, forcing teachers to stretch themselves even thinner in order to try to properly educate the children going through the school system here. The only problem is that, in spite of State taxes being paid by the 33,871,648 people living here (10% percent of the Nation's total population and don't forget that Lotto tickets help fund the education system here too), none of that money is going where it should: the future of this State. And considering that the population rises with each passing year, it's doubtful that the State is ever going to get it's shit together anytime soon. When I was a kid living here, there were more students going to my High School then there were adults attending at the local Community College, and that was over ten years ago. My Step-Dad Bob told me that back then the area needed four more High Schools, and now they only have two more available (one is still being built). In another 5 years, they'll be needing another 4, and I doubt 1 more would be completed by then... and why is that? The taxes go to L.A.!

3.) I know that a lot of people are bitching right now about how expensive the Gas is in this country, but this summer it's supposed to get to at least $3.50 a gallon here (it's around $3.05 already), and this is the state with the most Hybrids in the country and 92% of Lancaster's population commutes to work! Imagine how much better it would be if we could all afford them (the Governator is currently trying to get tax write-offs for people that do get them)! Right now, it costs me around $200 a month just to get to work and then drive home; I don't really drive outside of that, since I can't afford it, but it would be nice if I could. Kristi normally does the driving during the weekend, since her Honda is pretty nice and gets good gas mileage compared to my 1993 Buick Regal Custom, which has all the fuel efficiency and get-up-and-go of a 1979 Ford Fairmont Station Wagon with a hole in the gas tank and a Anchor dragging on the ground behind it. We consume a lot of fuel in this State, but that's primarily because Public Transportation (buses, trains, etc...) are way, way to expensive and inconvenient to use. I doubt that will change anytime soon, since few things do here.

My problem right now is that I make $28K a year, and at the rate of pay I get now, which isn't bad, in the State of California, it's woefully low (below the State Poeverty Line). If I want to get a house with Kristi and get married, (houses here go from $400K to $1 Million) I'd only be able to afford it in another State. I don't want to have to move to another State in order to have a comfortable life and raise some kids, but with the way things are going, I may not have much of a choice. Canada never sounded like a better place to live...

Take care of yourselves and each other, and I'll talk to you later.

"A Constant Source Of Amusement"

I've been looking at many of the other Blogs on blogspot.com, and I've got a few observations about them. For the sake of time I'll put this stuff in the form of a numbered list.

1.) Most Bloggers have a bad habit of writing about nothing. Don't get me wrong, occassionally that can be cute and charming in it's own way, but I thought that "Blogs" were supposed to have a purpose (personal observations, personal journal, etc...). I looked at dozens of Blogs over the weekend, and I didn't see any reason for them to exist, aside for some sort of ego-based masturbation. Sure, I stroke my own ego on this Blog, but it's also a humor or satire-based Blog, making it for the entertainment of others, and thus, it has a purpose. http://eeeeeekkk.blogspot.com www.seedingspartanburg.com and http://godwhacker.blogspot.com are perfect examples of being topical and timely, and each have something special to offer... and they all do it in an original way.

2.) Most Bloggers are afraid of Spell-Check. This is something that I am also guilty of from time to time, but in general I am very aware of Grammar and Spelling errors; if you're going to write anything, it's always a good idea to write it first in Microsoft Word to make sure that you're spelling and using the right words in the correct way. For instance, there is a huge difference between "Your, You're and Yore", the same with, "There, Their and They're". These are things that are taught in Elementary School, so if you're an adult... try to be mindful of it, it could save you the hassle of potential embarrassment in the future.

3.) Most Bloggers don't like doing any research on a subject. If you're going to write a segment, article, essay or thesis on a subject... do your research. Now, this doesn't apply to everyone, of course, but it does apply to people that like to write on specific subject matter. Religion and Politics are of course the two biggest topics that come to mind. If you want to write about faith as a topic, try to include a little more than, "Jesus is my Lord and Savior" and quote Biblical scripture... that's not good enough. There are absolutes in this world, but there are many holes that could be poked in your beliefs... try to address those so that when people do comment you're already covered your own ass. It's what Jesus would do, isn't it? The same goes for Politics, although this goes out specifically to Conservatives... if you want to write in a manner that only applies to "Ditto-Heads" or Neo-Cons, that's fine... but at least read something first. Anything from the other side would do, as long as you read something, anything at all that backs up what you think. I would include Liberals in this, but Liberals tend to read on and understand many different subjects and are typically educated enough to see that they can be wrong from time to time, but Conservatives have trouble with that. Of course, that's just an observation... if you think I'm wrong, prove it.

4.) There are too many Blogs owned by one person. I noticed this one problem in particular several times. And in every instance that I saw it, it was totally obvious. Apparently, no one told these guys that it's okay to write on a wide variety of topics on the same Blog. If you want to own several Blogs, that's cool... but at least change the Templates so that they look differant from the others that you own. Remember, you're not Rupert Murdoch, you're just a person who writes stuff... the amount of Blogs is irrellavent, it's the content that counts. I could easily have a separate Blog for Politics, Religion, personal observations and my personal life, but I see that as a waste of time... that's why I have one Blog for all of it.

I guess that the main point of this is that if you're going to put your own thoughts and beliefs on the Internet, you should try to at least put out the best stuff that you can, and that's the main reason for my writing this segment. I'm not being judgemental, I'm presenting you with some constructive criticism so that we can all improve and look better in the eyes of those that visit us in the "Blogosphere".