Chris, This may be the line of the decade: "The California legislature: It’s like somebody put a whorehouse in a mental hospital." It will be a long time before someone tops that.
Well, some might consider that an insult to whorehouses and mental hospitals. And it's not like a pig pen as they are relatively clean and intelligent.
How about a collection of Retards in a cesspool with fidget spinners.
Yep. Gay man here. And after 40 years of living a very good life in coastal Southern California, I am leaving. Sad to say, but the clown car show of California politics is disgusting. At first, I asked myself “why am I the one who is leaving?” I pay my taxes and live by the rules. But after watching the aftermath of the LA area fires and the response (??) of our elected leaders ( Fire the Lesbian- she is disposable) and let the fucking voters eat shit. I am done. My house will be sold in the next 2 months and I will be gone by the end of the year.
Upstate South Carolina. I love it here. Try to avoid HOAs though. They suck everywhere. I'm blessed to live in a field with no "next door" neighbors :)
Same here. I'm in a lake community in northern SC. Paradise. I don't even want to visit San Diego again. Just hope all the NY transplants stop voting blue!
I have not lived in SC but I’ve heard the taxes are obscenely low. I’ve talked to more than one person from New Jersey who escaped to SC for the tax benefits. Cali transplants would probably fall over looking at SC tax rates.
The difference between the Californian legislature and the Oregon legislature is the one has beaming facial tans and the other has a grey-green death face palour
Check out our funky little barrier island in Florida… Flagler Beach.. it’s the best kept secret in Florida… we’re surrounded by nature and state parks and the intracoastal waterway and the ocean… and down by the intracoastal waterway you can launch your boat or kayaks into the intracoastal waterway…. and here on the island….we’re not car dependent and we can walk …ride our bikes or drive our golf cart to anywhere on the island. And we have a farmers market on Saturday.. a post office.. library.. a park for the children and there’s picnic tables for the family picnics.... and a tennis court.. walking and biking trails… and we’re less than 30 minutes up A1A to St. Augustine and Washington State Park and Marineland .. and Ormond by the Sea is only 14 miles south down A1A.. and of course one mustn’t forget the old scenic highway… Highbridge Road …lush old tropical Florida.. there’s a bait shop.. fishing spots .. a boat and kayak launch site.. picnic tables, etc.. the state parks here are clean and there are bath facilities in the parks. Anyway… you can find a variety of YouTube videos about Flagler Beach and the areas that I mentioned.. oh and one more thing about FB … the motto is please don’t make me cross the bridge… because the best thing is that everyone delivers!!! Groceries.. Publix and Kroger’s …Amazon and Chewy’s … there’s even a small grocery store on the island… hair salons.. spas and restaurants.. and a fish market and local shops… a dentist.. doctors office and a veterinary clinic… we live on a beautiful tree lined hammock…and we’re only 3 blocks to the ocean and we grow all of our vegetables and herbs. What more could one ask for? Good luck with your search and I hope you find a better life outside of California. PS as my step son likes to say… you all live in paradise .. sadly he’s in California… and I agree that we do .. and we’re blessed. Again.. good luck 👍 to you and your family.
We’ve visited that area twice. Once a bit north of you in Cinnamon Beach and once right in Flagler on A1A. Beautiful place. We enjoyed it both times. I’m a northerner so the heat can be a bit oppressive for me in the summer but memories of that fade fast, so I will return. You forgot to mention the ice cream!
Sorry I hit send by mistake.. I think you might be thinking of Sally’s ice cream shop across from the beach.. on A1A in Flagler Beach.. it’s still there… but under a different owner… actually ..some folks live here in the winter months and go north for the summer months..
Flagler Beach has grown a little bit.. I hope you get to return soon.. and I’m happy to hear you enjoyed your visit to paradise.
Florida is full. No offense,would love to have you, but in the last 15 years my sleepy little town ten miles down the road from Flagler has become a metropolis. I wondered why they made dunlawton eight lanes. They were thinking ahead for once.
Florida will be the best state to live in according to the Mega Regions map.. America 2050 Mega Regions.. and please note and ask yourself why do we have Brightline.. SunRail and Amtrak trains.. and buses and shuttles .. trolleys and golf carts… actually.. people come and go ..they buy and sell ..and then stay or leave… I’d rather spend my golden years here in Flagler Beach than anywhere else..because we have everything that one needs and we have a hospital that is only 10 minutes away if necessary. And one doesn’t necessarily need a car.. because at least here we’re not car dependent and that’s a good thing if one finds that they can’t drive anymore… one must think of these things as we age and we choose Flagler Beach because we can age in place.
And another thing is.. why be car dependent or living out somewhere in the bush or the woods.. living remotely in remote areas of rural America… there’s No hospitals.. grocery stores .. doctors are limited and besides that we’re allergic to the SNOW and Cold.
We were blessed to have lived and worked in the bush of Alaska and we lived in the jungle of Costa Rica 🇨🇷 where we owned a sport fishing lodge and in our golden years we would much rather enjoy the sunshine than freeze in the cold winter months of the year and haul wood for the wood stove.. wood cook stove.. and chopping wood is not fun anymore… things to really ponder 🤔
PS I grew up in the mountains of WNC Asheville and my farmer he grew up on a big Hop ranch in Washington state. And ask yourself this what kind of transportation does NC offer besides owning a car ? And the same goes for Washington state…
At least we can hop on Brightline train to the ferry terminal and then hop on a ferry to Bimini for a little R& R .. and fish for the weekend.
And have you heard about the new community called AGRI-Hood .. that they are developing in Green Cove Springs Florida?
All of the houses will have gardens and not lawns and there will be a farm on the property and a school that will teach children how to grow their vegetables and herbs and they will learn life skills and become self sufficient. Novel concept.
Lol me thinks it's too late anyway. Been here since 2011. Moved from LA. Tried going back a couple of times. Big mistake. California is just a disaster, which is sad, because I really loved it there. It took me a while, but Florida has really grown on me, and FB really is special.
My biggest problem is that we've never made friends here. We were cynical gen x art school kids always hanging out with the weirdos, but most of them are infected with the mind virus.
We still have a few friends in NY and LA, and see them once in a while, and keep politics on the down-low. Even so, they think we're nuts. most of the time we're just hiding out.
And I understand how you feel about making friends here… because it hasn’t been easy finding like minded people .. because me and my farmer … he grows all of our vegetables and herbs… and we have walked many different paths in life and we aren’t your typical gringos.
We use to live in the bush of Alaska and the jungle of Costa Rica 🇨🇷 but we didn’t know each other in Alaska ..we met …many years later ..in the jungle of 🇨🇷.
So it’s been quite hard for us to… getting to know the average gringos. But that’s okay ..because they don’t understand us and we don’t understand them.
Just recently .. we met two fantastic people and they are not your typical folks. They’re adventurous like us. And they live a very low key self sufficient lifestyle.
We have family in LA .. and they do often remind us that we live in paradise and we agree that we do..
we just wish that they would leave LA and settle in FB.. but that’s another story.
You know something …that I find funny.. about the people in California …who think they are so cool and hip …and actually they’re not… because I find them too be very closed minded … because they don’t want to travel to other states and see how real folks live.. …
and how we’re open and free in Sweet Florida… is a great music 🎶 video .. by the Van Zant Brothers… it’s a great tribute to our great Governor DeSantis who kept us open….
and please remind your friends that we have a train.. trains ..that run throughout the state of Florida … actually …they … the LA crowd.. they are the ones who are missing out on life…
because our family member saw Freedom.. when he was here during the Plandemic because we were open and California was locked down tighter than a fiddle…
Here’s some places to explore in Florida… The Old Sugar Mill Plantation in Deleon Springs.. make reservations to enjoy breakfast at the mill and you can make your own delicious homemade pancakes.. .. St. Augustine… take Amtrak to Yabor City ..enjoy lunch and enjoy a hand rolled cigar or two… spend the night and return the next day… St. Pete Beach… and go paddling on the water with your own glass paddle boards.. Palatka .. Crescent City .. check out the camps and restaurants and bars on the St. John’s River…
Take the Brightline train to the ferry station in Ft. Lauderdale and hop on a ferry to Bimini for the weekend.
Take the ferry to Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach.. there are some neat local art shops and restaurants.
I love Darien Georgia ..the B& B ..and the local seafood restaurants… I love The Local Exchange and the wine bar… you can hire an early evening cocktail cruise… and Hird Island is special and so is .. Sapelo Island .. St. Mary’s .. Cumberland Island… a weekend in Savannah .. is amazing… the art school is there.. oh and John C. Campbell folk art school in the WNC mountains…
The list is long.. to explore here and elsewhere… you’ll find your niche and a lot of good old fashioned southern hospitality…
and if you have any questions ..please feel free to ask. Oh and one more thing… There’s a fun Rum Runners runners cabin to stay in in Darien Georgia…
You don’t have to wait .. because they play pickle ball down at the tennis courts on S. Flagler Avenue…
actually.. my husband and I.. we laugh and say that we live in the best 15 minute city ever!!!
and it’s a tropical paradise…
And we have everything that one might be looking for.. like pickle ball.. tennis court.. and a basketball court.. picnic tables and a playground for your children and grandchildren… like I mentioned before Flagler Beach is the best kept secret in Florida.
Lots of folks from the Palisades they are moving to Coral Gables Florida because the school ratings are 10/10… actually.. the public and private schools in FB are great.. they offer a variety of curriculums and NASA is teaming up with the schools here and across Florida because they are looking for students who want to work in the space program.. and to be their next astronauts engineers.. the same thing is happening with Space X.
And we have a Governor who cares about his constituents.
Obviously a ‘Red’ state. After doing some 4 day weekend recons, We came down to four target states (Northern Idaho, Montana, Wyoming & South Dakota) and researched the hell out of them, from all state & county taxes, employment / unemployment, housing, crime, schools, hospitals, utilities, airports, weather, prices (like food, fuel, medical), etc. Finally selected Montana. No regrets whatsoever.
They can be harsh, but also beautiful. The northeast part of the state is the heavy snowfall area. I lived a few years in Alaska and Montana winters aren’t even close in comparison.
Having visited California many times since I was very young, I always considered it to be the best place in the US to live. In one state, it has literally everything that I've ever considered cool: Mountains, deserts, seasides, moderate weather, incredible forests, snow...awesome contrast! As many times as I've visited, vacation or business, I've envied those who can call Cali home. But in the last 20-30 years it seems that everyone in charge has lost their minds. I know there's many great folks still there, but what puzzles me is how do these good folk empower such complete idiots to govern them?
What scares me the most is that I consider California's fate to be a peek into the future at the brain devouring virus, zombie apocalypse, affecting the future of the rest of our country. I'm encouraged that Trump was able to beat the cheat, but how long will this country be able to fend off the zombies that threaten all of us?
I was born and raised in california. I left 30 years ago. Don't miss it, but made a mistake and moved to Taxington, I mean Washington. Thinking about moving the 20 miles east to Idaho, as while the Washington Legislature isn't a whore house in a mental institute, it's a darned close second.
We are huge fans of N. Idaho. Summers are spectacular and if you like skiing or related activities, winter is just as fun. We do the 6-7 hr drive at least a couple times a yr. to be there.
It’s always intrigued me why the Golden State has so many shitheads living in it (our dear author excluded), particularly when it comes to politics. I might add that my adopted state of Colorado appears to be quite envious of the shithead-count in CA, but I digress.
So I asked Grok just now to run some complex statistics for me, thinking CA's millionaires per capita, compared to other states with fewer shitheads, might explain the shitheadedness, but the numbers are inconclusive.
Then it occurred to me that many that move (or moved) to CA were probably seeking Pleasure; pleasure of nature, climate, movie stars, etc.,. And when one seeks pleasure for pleasure’s SAKE (I.e., a hedonist), and the original pleasure is satisfied, I would think it would be natural to seek MORE pleasure. (You can connect the dots…)
As example, one does not generally move to Texas (my state of origin) purely for pleasure. West Texas is hotter and drier than the hubs of hell. East Texas is wetter and more humid than the Marianas Trench. North Texas? Can you say "Holy SHIT, it's WINDY!"? South Texas is flatter than a billiard table. [Ok, the Hill Country isn’t bad, I’ll give you that.] But generally, Texas is not The Pleasure State. You gotta really WANT to live in Texas, for some reason other than seeking Pleasure. Me, I love Texas, but not cause it's "pleasurable".
Anyway, this is already too long a post. Point is, maybe California attracts too many Hedonists. And as we all know, “hedonist” is a Greek word for “shithead”. (or could be…).
And, many of those hedonists have now grown older (if they haven't OD'd, or died of some disease of passion), and richer, and for many of them, their 'tastes' have evolved. (Again, you can connect the dots.) So to maintain an ample supply of Pleasure, they send discrete campaign contributions the their idiot-politician-shitheads in the legislature.
I'd say you're right when it comes to making pleasure-seeking the goal and crux of one's life; it becomes a treadmill where you seek ever-greater stimuli, because you grow increasingly numb and blasé.
And if you are rich, or rich enough, and live in a pleasant climate (no Winter*), and you don't have to work all that much, and live in a culture extoling leisure and being laid-back as the ideal state of being, where else can you go but deeper and deeper into debauchery?
(I'm not intending a religious perspective here. Simply that in the same way a dog given unlimited food will come to resemble a couch cushion in short order, so too will we follow our vices to their logical end unless some force - virtue or violence - checks it.)
About "hedonist": one meaning of the word is the one you intend; pleasure seeker. Its the more modern meaning known to most. The original meaning was someone adhering to Epicurean philosophy, where pleasure was derived from living and acting virtuously, towards others and oneself (quite the opposite from what it has come to mean today). The reason for this is because Epikuros was concerned with the mind/soul/spirit as separate from base bodily needs; hence finding pleasure in virtue. Whereas a hedonist seeks to satisfy base and bodily needs as far as they can be pushed, winding up on the metaphorical treadmill mentioned earlier.
*Winter is often held up by anthropologists and sociologists as one of the core fundamentals of Northern Protestant and European ethics; Winter means you have to co-operate, help each other, be gracious and dilligent and simply "do right" - or you'll die of cold and starvation. The hypothesis is, that Winter weeded out the undesirable traits of the Nordic and Western races, ever since the last Ice Age. Seeing as I'm Swedish, I'm of course as biased as can be on this topic, but it bears out: Texas, as you describe it, comes with lots of challenges that must handled continually. Ergo, Texas builds character. A place where you do not have to better yourself, even if only against the elements, cannot conceive or uphold virtue, integrity and character.
Very solid perspective on the value of winter (or any harsh environment) in building / sustaining positive character traits. I live at 8,400’ in the Colorado Rockies. Getting your game on here, ahead of winter, is a must. And when the inevitable storms come, my neighbors and I work together to keep our various private roads open. Winter definitely builds character and shared community here.
Think of the effect of thousands upon thousands since the 1920s who came here for the most vapid of pursuits: to become stars for fame, image, celebrity, to be in or adjacent to The Biz. And later, to Silicon Valley, for money and digital manipulation of the masses with no liberal arts background in art, history, architecture, or literature to inform their “moving fast and breaking things.” Decades of shiny dimbulbs and their spawn.
I’m a native in despair of what this state has become to represent.
We live in very rural NE California, it's beautiful with the forests and lakes. We do get snow, but it's mild to moderate. We hate our state leaders, they don't like our conservative mindset. It's horrible with the taxes, etc. We now have our grown kids with grandkids in the area and a couple of hours away. If we moved, we'd have to take 17 of us somewhere, cuz we don't want to leave them.
*If* un-pleasurable places are the way to morality then we've got to pave Central Park and put some dumpsters and junk food vendors on it. After that add constant noise, those lefty pleasure types sure do like them some quiet. Then do the same with national parks, after all they serve no purpose other than being gathering places for rich liberals. By the logic of RobMc's post, all such places were made for hedonic purposes and thus must be destroyed. I don't know if that's what he meant, but that's how it reads.
There is no inherent virtue in being miserable, or uncomfortable. There does seem to be value in periodic but limited privation, such as afforded by winter or occasional and brief penury.
Personally, I think that bleak, dirty, ugly places tend to grow people with the same qualities. Beautiful places don't fix human nature, but they can pull people towards being on the better side of their own nature.
Sadly they hide behind gay with all of their perverted/corrupt ctions. Weiner is the worst. I've long suspected him a pedophile and now I expect there may be more. The Trump administration should look for the thousands of missing unaccompanied minors in California.
Understood. Same scenario for me in Colorado, 3 grown children, 4 grandkids. We want to leave but will not leave our babies. So, we dig in, we establish a safe harbor for us and ours. We build a local community of like-minded. And we vote. And we contribute.
And we pray.
Take courage, Cindi. Truth is a most powerful force. It always prevails. Sooner or later it always surfaces. It only tolerates burial and obfuscation for so long, then it breaks the surface.
Truth is breaking the surface. That’s why the Progressives are howling so loud.
I'm also living in coastal So Cal, and I am equally disgusted. I wish I could do the same. The fires were insane. A shocker. I've seen them allow the foothills to burn freely but never the neighborhoods. The LA fires that burned around 13,500 homes is a clear demonstration that we are in dark times in California, and we have some really degraded politicians running the show. Due to this, will the voters change course? That remains to be seen. Still, good luck with the one-party regime we have going on here today. Mail in votes are counted for months on end after election day. Whatever it takes. I still vote though, and yeah, I pay taxes and live by the rules.
John, thanks you for sharing your story. I am a 68 year-old woman who had the unmitigated gall 🙄 to be born a Caucasian and heterosexual. I grew up in Southern California in the 1950s/60s/70s. We called our region ‘the melting pot’ of the USA. We liked it. Whites, Mexicans, Asians, Native Americans, straight, gay…whatever. We didn’t care, as we believed in ‘live and let live’. Whatever happened to that concept? The recent hyper-focus on ‘groups’ was obviously intended to divide us (divide and conquer).
My business is CA-centered so I'm stuck here until/if I retire, but I keep hoping that the pendulum starts swinging back toward sanity. I'm still at the "why am I the one who is leaving?" stage, but if I was retired and didn't have a family whose wishes I had to consider, I'd be headed south (maybe just Mexico, but I might keep on going to Brazil or Argentina).
Because I wouldn't feel as though I had a dog in the fight.
There's also a laissez-faire element strongly tempering both the corruption and government overreach.
I could spend time in the cities and be anonymous or be on a coastal town where there's minimal government evident.
On a side note, I've been illegally in Mexico before but only because the Tijuana to Mexico City flight arrived in the domestic terminal and there were no customs nor immigration. When I flew back from Mexico City to SFO, no one cared that I hadn't gotten an entry visa.
Here's the other Democrat who voted against proceeding on the amended version of the bill, saying that "any sane person knows" the purchasing of sex with a child should be a felony:
Democrats will do almost anything to create more victimes. More cheap labor. More voters. More slaves. Demonic is the best word i can come up with for this deliberate insanity.
Maybe California is playing the long game here. After businesses have all been driven from the state by ruinous taxation, epidemic crime, regulation, corruption, leftist insanity, and green-grifting, California can re-brand itself as an underage sex-tourism destination.
Chris, after that I can sincerely say that our split one party and some democrats aren’t in the same league as the California Democrats. I thought I had seen bizarre behavior in my years in Hawaii but California has sunk into a low that begs description. The Earthquake can’t come soon enough. Get out of there before the Lord doth smite the lot of them.
I wish I could have lived in Southern California in the 60's. That would have been an incredible time period. I lived in California for 14 years, but would have loved to live there during the 60's.
The BattleSwarm blog (the blogger is in Austin) keeps up with Texas politics. Yeah, the Repubs in TX are a pretty sorry bunch. I recall years ago, during and shortly after the Tea Party movement, sitting in meetings with misc. Repub establishment types openly conspiring against the Tea Party representatives. Like the McCainites in AZ, the Bushites in TX have poisoned the party.
In my experience, single-party dominance is always bad, regardless of the party. It breeds corruption, as it allows the networks of corruption to deepen and spread, and complacency, as the safety of their seats leads elected officials to lose focus on their hometown constituents and focus instead on palace intrigue.
Here's an idea: any 16 or 17 year old who is molested, while they won't see their abuser brought to justice, they can ride the CA Bullet Train for free forever...once it's completed in 2841.
It's sooo much easier for one to blame Bad Orange Man for one's misfortunes and perversions than blame oneself for self inflicted problems. The Democrat Party is like a Loser's Anonymous Club where they can all throw themselves pity parties and select leaders that are more than happy to humor the members, providing they can enrich themselves by doing it, of course.
Chris, This may be the line of the decade: "The California legislature: It’s like somebody put a whorehouse in a mental hospital." It will be a long time before someone tops that.
I agree. That one line tells the whole story.
It really does boil down the state of california very well, doesn't it?
Soon the CA legislature will appoint a horse to their senate just like Caligula did before Rome fell.
they wouldn't use as noble an animal...maybe a naked mole rat or something similar
As long as Kommiefornia falls I don't care what kind of animal it is. Although, being Killifornia, i think the Piss Ant would be fitting.
Well, some might consider that an insult to whorehouses and mental hospitals. And it's not like a pig pen as they are relatively clean and intelligent.
How about a collection of Retards in a cesspool with fidget spinners.
In fairness to Gonzalez, homosexuality does depend on grooming. One can understand why they feel threatened.
^^This!^^
Yep. Gay man here. And after 40 years of living a very good life in coastal Southern California, I am leaving. Sad to say, but the clown car show of California politics is disgusting. At first, I asked myself “why am I the one who is leaving?” I pay my taxes and live by the rules. But after watching the aftermath of the LA area fires and the response (??) of our elected leaders ( Fire the Lesbian- she is disposable) and let the fucking voters eat shit. I am done. My house will be sold in the next 2 months and I will be gone by the end of the year.
Not a bad decision at all. Wish I could leave.
We escaped 12 years ago. Absolutely no regrets whatsoever.
Any recommendations for future settling? Will NOT bring any kind of lunatic "California" politics in tow!
Upstate South Carolina. I love it here. Try to avoid HOAs though. They suck everywhere. I'm blessed to live in a field with no "next door" neighbors :)
Land. Is. Treasure.
Same here. I'm in a lake community in northern SC. Paradise. I don't even want to visit San Diego again. Just hope all the NY transplants stop voting blue!
I have not lived in SC but I’ve heard the taxes are obscenely low. I’ve talked to more than one person from New Jersey who escaped to SC for the tax benefits. Cali transplants would probably fall over looking at SC tax rates.
I thought Oregon was the answer 25 yrs ago. And for a while, it was.
Not so much, now. CA politics (low-budget version), and with uglier people in charge.
The difference between the Californian legislature and the Oregon legislature is the one has beaming facial tans and the other has a grey-green death face palour
All that hair
Facial, legs, armpits
The guys are worse
We need that written in blood to let you in.
Florida. Moved from San Diego at the beginning of the scamdemic.
Best decision of my wife and me lives.
Check out our funky little barrier island in Florida… Flagler Beach.. it’s the best kept secret in Florida… we’re surrounded by nature and state parks and the intracoastal waterway and the ocean… and down by the intracoastal waterway you can launch your boat or kayaks into the intracoastal waterway…. and here on the island….we’re not car dependent and we can walk …ride our bikes or drive our golf cart to anywhere on the island. And we have a farmers market on Saturday.. a post office.. library.. a park for the children and there’s picnic tables for the family picnics.... and a tennis court.. walking and biking trails… and we’re less than 30 minutes up A1A to St. Augustine and Washington State Park and Marineland .. and Ormond by the Sea is only 14 miles south down A1A.. and of course one mustn’t forget the old scenic highway… Highbridge Road …lush old tropical Florida.. there’s a bait shop.. fishing spots .. a boat and kayak launch site.. picnic tables, etc.. the state parks here are clean and there are bath facilities in the parks. Anyway… you can find a variety of YouTube videos about Flagler Beach and the areas that I mentioned.. oh and one more thing about FB … the motto is please don’t make me cross the bridge… because the best thing is that everyone delivers!!! Groceries.. Publix and Kroger’s …Amazon and Chewy’s … there’s even a small grocery store on the island… hair salons.. spas and restaurants.. and a fish market and local shops… a dentist.. doctors office and a veterinary clinic… we live on a beautiful tree lined hammock…and we’re only 3 blocks to the ocean and we grow all of our vegetables and herbs. What more could one ask for? Good luck with your search and I hope you find a better life outside of California. PS as my step son likes to say… you all live in paradise .. sadly he’s in California… and I agree that we do .. and we’re blessed. Again.. good luck 👍 to you and your family.
We’ve visited that area twice. Once a bit north of you in Cinnamon Beach and once right in Flagler on A1A. Beautiful place. We enjoyed it both times. I’m a northerner so the heat can be a bit oppressive for me in the summer but memories of that fade fast, so I will return. You forgot to mention the ice cream!
Sorry I hit send by mistake.. I think you might be thinking of Sally’s ice cream shop across from the beach.. on A1A in Flagler Beach.. it’s still there… but under a different owner… actually ..some folks live here in the winter months and go north for the summer months..
Flagler Beach has grown a little bit.. I hope you get to return soon.. and I’m happy to hear you enjoyed your visit to paradise.
Yes!! The ice cream shops .. which one? And yes!!!
Florida is full. No offense,would love to have you, but in the last 15 years my sleepy little town ten miles down the road from Flagler has become a metropolis. I wondered why they made dunlawton eight lanes. They were thinking ahead for once.
Florida will be the best state to live in according to the Mega Regions map.. America 2050 Mega Regions.. and please note and ask yourself why do we have Brightline.. SunRail and Amtrak trains.. and buses and shuttles .. trolleys and golf carts… actually.. people come and go ..they buy and sell ..and then stay or leave… I’d rather spend my golden years here in Flagler Beach than anywhere else..because we have everything that one needs and we have a hospital that is only 10 minutes away if necessary. And one doesn’t necessarily need a car.. because at least here we’re not car dependent and that’s a good thing if one finds that they can’t drive anymore… one must think of these things as we age and we choose Flagler Beach because we can age in place.
And another thing is.. why be car dependent or living out somewhere in the bush or the woods.. living remotely in remote areas of rural America… there’s No hospitals.. grocery stores .. doctors are limited and besides that we’re allergic to the SNOW and Cold.
We were blessed to have lived and worked in the bush of Alaska and we lived in the jungle of Costa Rica 🇨🇷 where we owned a sport fishing lodge and in our golden years we would much rather enjoy the sunshine than freeze in the cold winter months of the year and haul wood for the wood stove.. wood cook stove.. and chopping wood is not fun anymore… things to really ponder 🤔
PS I grew up in the mountains of WNC Asheville and my farmer he grew up on a big Hop ranch in Washington state. And ask yourself this what kind of transportation does NC offer besides owning a car ? And the same goes for Washington state…
At least we can hop on Brightline train to the ferry terminal and then hop on a ferry to Bimini for a little R& R .. and fish for the weekend.
And have you heard about the new community called AGRI-Hood .. that they are developing in Green Cove Springs Florida?
All of the houses will have gardens and not lawns and there will be a farm on the property and a school that will teach children how to grow their vegetables and herbs and they will learn life skills and become self sufficient. Novel concept.
I love ❤️ Flagler Beach 🏖️
Some folks just don’t get it.
Shhhh! It's not a secret if you tell everyone!
Lol me thinks it's too late anyway. Been here since 2011. Moved from LA. Tried going back a couple of times. Big mistake. California is just a disaster, which is sad, because I really loved it there. It took me a while, but Florida has really grown on me, and FB really is special.
My biggest problem is that we've never made friends here. We were cynical gen x art school kids always hanging out with the weirdos, but most of them are infected with the mind virus.
We still have a few friends in NY and LA, and see them once in a while, and keep politics on the down-low. Even so, they think we're nuts. most of the time we're just hiding out.
Hi Zippity!!! Welcome to Florida. 🏖️
I understand the mind virus 🦠 ouch.
And I understand how you feel about making friends here… because it hasn’t been easy finding like minded people .. because me and my farmer … he grows all of our vegetables and herbs… and we have walked many different paths in life and we aren’t your typical gringos.
We use to live in the bush of Alaska and the jungle of Costa Rica 🇨🇷 but we didn’t know each other in Alaska ..we met …many years later ..in the jungle of 🇨🇷.
So it’s been quite hard for us to… getting to know the average gringos. But that’s okay ..because they don’t understand us and we don’t understand them.
Just recently .. we met two fantastic people and they are not your typical folks. They’re adventurous like us. And they live a very low key self sufficient lifestyle.
We have family in LA .. and they do often remind us that we live in paradise and we agree that we do..
we just wish that they would leave LA and settle in FB.. but that’s another story.
You know something …that I find funny.. about the people in California …who think they are so cool and hip …and actually they’re not… because I find them too be very closed minded … because they don’t want to travel to other states and see how real folks live.. …
and how we’re open and free in Sweet Florida… is a great music 🎶 video .. by the Van Zant Brothers… it’s a great tribute to our great Governor DeSantis who kept us open….
and please remind your friends that we have a train.. trains ..that run throughout the state of Florida … actually …they … the LA crowd.. they are the ones who are missing out on life…
because our family member saw Freedom.. when he was here during the Plandemic because we were open and California was locked down tighter than a fiddle…
Here’s some places to explore in Florida… The Old Sugar Mill Plantation in Deleon Springs.. make reservations to enjoy breakfast at the mill and you can make your own delicious homemade pancakes.. .. St. Augustine… take Amtrak to Yabor City ..enjoy lunch and enjoy a hand rolled cigar or two… spend the night and return the next day… St. Pete Beach… and go paddling on the water with your own glass paddle boards.. Palatka .. Crescent City .. check out the camps and restaurants and bars on the St. John’s River…
Take the Brightline train to the ferry station in Ft. Lauderdale and hop on a ferry to Bimini for the weekend.
Take the ferry to Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach.. there are some neat local art shops and restaurants.
I love Darien Georgia ..the B& B ..and the local seafood restaurants… I love The Local Exchange and the wine bar… you can hire an early evening cocktail cruise… and Hird Island is special and so is .. Sapelo Island .. St. Mary’s .. Cumberland Island… a weekend in Savannah .. is amazing… the art school is there.. oh and John C. Campbell folk art school in the WNC mountains…
The list is long.. to explore here and elsewhere… you’ll find your niche and a lot of good old fashioned southern hospitality…
and if you have any questions ..please feel free to ask. Oh and one more thing… There’s a fun Rum Runners runners cabin to stay in in Darien Georgia…
Pirates 🏴☠️ Rum and moonshine.
Again, welcome to Florida and FB ..
I'm going to wait until you have a pickle ball court!
/s
You don’t have to wait .. because they play pickle ball down at the tennis courts on S. Flagler Avenue…
actually.. my husband and I.. we laugh and say that we live in the best 15 minute city ever!!!
and it’s a tropical paradise…
And we have everything that one might be looking for.. like pickle ball.. tennis court.. and a basketball court.. picnic tables and a playground for your children and grandchildren… like I mentioned before Flagler Beach is the best kept secret in Florida.
Lots of folks from the Palisades they are moving to Coral Gables Florida because the school ratings are 10/10… actually.. the public and private schools in FB are great.. they offer a variety of curriculums and NASA is teaming up with the schools here and across Florida because they are looking for students who want to work in the space program.. and to be their next astronauts engineers.. the same thing is happening with Space X.
And we have a Governor who cares about his constituents.
Obviously a ‘Red’ state. After doing some 4 day weekend recons, We came down to four target states (Northern Idaho, Montana, Wyoming & South Dakota) and researched the hell out of them, from all state & county taxes, employment / unemployment, housing, crime, schools, hospitals, utilities, airports, weather, prices (like food, fuel, medical), etc. Finally selected Montana. No regrets whatsoever.
Montana winters? Asking for a friend.
They can be harsh, but also beautiful. The northeast part of the state is the heavy snowfall area. I lived a few years in Alaska and Montana winters aren’t even close in comparison.
Compared to an Alaskan winter, wouldn't ANY other winter be better?
The northern winters prevent overcrowding. Most folks hate these winters…but not everyone.
We escaped 26 years ago. Periodically have to return to see my daughter. I want to kiss the ground every time I in get back home.
I left 22 years ago. I loved San Diego, but I'd had enough.
Almost all of my relatives and friends have moved out of CA. To Florida, Texas, Midwest.
Having visited California many times since I was very young, I always considered it to be the best place in the US to live. In one state, it has literally everything that I've ever considered cool: Mountains, deserts, seasides, moderate weather, incredible forests, snow...awesome contrast! As many times as I've visited, vacation or business, I've envied those who can call Cali home. But in the last 20-30 years it seems that everyone in charge has lost their minds. I know there's many great folks still there, but what puzzles me is how do these good folk empower such complete idiots to govern them?
What scares me the most is that I consider California's fate to be a peek into the future at the brain devouring virus, zombie apocalypse, affecting the future of the rest of our country. I'm encouraged that Trump was able to beat the cheat, but how long will this country be able to fend off the zombies that threaten all of us?
California: All Our Children are Above Average.
Let God handle it - it's beyond us.
I was born and raised in california. I left 30 years ago. Don't miss it, but made a mistake and moved to Taxington, I mean Washington. Thinking about moving the 20 miles east to Idaho, as while the Washington Legislature isn't a whore house in a mental institute, it's a darned close second.
When I left Cali I landed in Liberty lake. That was 26 years ago and Washington was beautiful. Moved to CDA about 2 years. I'll never regret it
We are huge fans of N. Idaho. Summers are spectacular and if you like skiing or related activities, winter is just as fun. We do the 6-7 hr drive at least a couple times a yr. to be there.
Coer d'Alene (ID). Top pick for me as well, but I'm getting too old for these moves.
Liberty Lake (nice spot also) is eastern WA, rt on ID border.
What is CDA?
Highly recommend North Idaho.
California is an enigma, straight on.
It’s always intrigued me why the Golden State has so many shitheads living in it (our dear author excluded), particularly when it comes to politics. I might add that my adopted state of Colorado appears to be quite envious of the shithead-count in CA, but I digress.
So I asked Grok just now to run some complex statistics for me, thinking CA's millionaires per capita, compared to other states with fewer shitheads, might explain the shitheadedness, but the numbers are inconclusive.
Then it occurred to me that many that move (or moved) to CA were probably seeking Pleasure; pleasure of nature, climate, movie stars, etc.,. And when one seeks pleasure for pleasure’s SAKE (I.e., a hedonist), and the original pleasure is satisfied, I would think it would be natural to seek MORE pleasure. (You can connect the dots…)
As example, one does not generally move to Texas (my state of origin) purely for pleasure. West Texas is hotter and drier than the hubs of hell. East Texas is wetter and more humid than the Marianas Trench. North Texas? Can you say "Holy SHIT, it's WINDY!"? South Texas is flatter than a billiard table. [Ok, the Hill Country isn’t bad, I’ll give you that.] But generally, Texas is not The Pleasure State. You gotta really WANT to live in Texas, for some reason other than seeking Pleasure. Me, I love Texas, but not cause it's "pleasurable".
Anyway, this is already too long a post. Point is, maybe California attracts too many Hedonists. And as we all know, “hedonist” is a Greek word for “shithead”. (or could be…).
And, many of those hedonists have now grown older (if they haven't OD'd, or died of some disease of passion), and richer, and for many of them, their 'tastes' have evolved. (Again, you can connect the dots.) So to maintain an ample supply of Pleasure, they send discrete campaign contributions the their idiot-politician-shitheads in the legislature.
Maybe I'm oversimplifying.
I'd say you're right when it comes to making pleasure-seeking the goal and crux of one's life; it becomes a treadmill where you seek ever-greater stimuli, because you grow increasingly numb and blasé.
And if you are rich, or rich enough, and live in a pleasant climate (no Winter*), and you don't have to work all that much, and live in a culture extoling leisure and being laid-back as the ideal state of being, where else can you go but deeper and deeper into debauchery?
(I'm not intending a religious perspective here. Simply that in the same way a dog given unlimited food will come to resemble a couch cushion in short order, so too will we follow our vices to their logical end unless some force - virtue or violence - checks it.)
About "hedonist": one meaning of the word is the one you intend; pleasure seeker. Its the more modern meaning known to most. The original meaning was someone adhering to Epicurean philosophy, where pleasure was derived from living and acting virtuously, towards others and oneself (quite the opposite from what it has come to mean today). The reason for this is because Epikuros was concerned with the mind/soul/spirit as separate from base bodily needs; hence finding pleasure in virtue. Whereas a hedonist seeks to satisfy base and bodily needs as far as they can be pushed, winding up on the metaphorical treadmill mentioned earlier.
*Winter is often held up by anthropologists and sociologists as one of the core fundamentals of Northern Protestant and European ethics; Winter means you have to co-operate, help each other, be gracious and dilligent and simply "do right" - or you'll die of cold and starvation. The hypothesis is, that Winter weeded out the undesirable traits of the Nordic and Western races, ever since the last Ice Age. Seeing as I'm Swedish, I'm of course as biased as can be on this topic, but it bears out: Texas, as you describe it, comes with lots of challenges that must handled continually. Ergo, Texas builds character. A place where you do not have to better yourself, even if only against the elements, cannot conceive or uphold virtue, integrity and character.
Very solid perspective on the value of winter (or any harsh environment) in building / sustaining positive character traits. I live at 8,400’ in the Colorado Rockies. Getting your game on here, ahead of winter, is a must. And when the inevitable storms come, my neighbors and I work together to keep our various private roads open. Winter definitely builds character and shared community here.
Think of the effect of thousands upon thousands since the 1920s who came here for the most vapid of pursuits: to become stars for fame, image, celebrity, to be in or adjacent to The Biz. And later, to Silicon Valley, for money and digital manipulation of the masses with no liberal arts background in art, history, architecture, or literature to inform their “moving fast and breaking things.” Decades of shiny dimbulbs and their spawn.
I’m a native in despair of what this state has become to represent.
We live in very rural NE California, it's beautiful with the forests and lakes. We do get snow, but it's mild to moderate. We hate our state leaders, they don't like our conservative mindset. It's horrible with the taxes, etc. We now have our grown kids with grandkids in the area and a couple of hours away. If we moved, we'd have to take 17 of us somewhere, cuz we don't want to leave them.
Very well done!
Hm.
*If* un-pleasurable places are the way to morality then we've got to pave Central Park and put some dumpsters and junk food vendors on it. After that add constant noise, those lefty pleasure types sure do like them some quiet. Then do the same with national parks, after all they serve no purpose other than being gathering places for rich liberals. By the logic of RobMc's post, all such places were made for hedonic purposes and thus must be destroyed. I don't know if that's what he meant, but that's how it reads.
There is no inherent virtue in being miserable, or uncomfortable. There does seem to be value in periodic but limited privation, such as afforded by winter or occasional and brief penury.
Personally, I think that bleak, dirty, ugly places tend to grow people with the same qualities. Beautiful places don't fix human nature, but they can pull people towards being on the better side of their own nature.
As you wish.
RobMc- I believe this is a factor in how CA got ruined.
Fascinating take! 👏🏾🙌🏾
Sadly they hide behind gay with all of their perverted/corrupt ctions. Weiner is the worst. I've long suspected him a pedophile and now I expect there may be more. The Trump administration should look for the thousands of missing unaccompanied minors in California.
Something Evil Lurkes in This State.
Understood. Same scenario for me in Colorado, 3 grown children, 4 grandkids. We want to leave but will not leave our babies. So, we dig in, we establish a safe harbor for us and ours. We build a local community of like-minded. And we vote. And we contribute.
And we pray.
Take courage, Cindi. Truth is a most powerful force. It always prevails. Sooner or later it always surfaces. It only tolerates burial and obfuscation for so long, then it breaks the surface.
Truth is breaking the surface. That’s why the Progressives are howling so loud.
Take courage.
I'm also living in coastal So Cal, and I am equally disgusted. I wish I could do the same. The fires were insane. A shocker. I've seen them allow the foothills to burn freely but never the neighborhoods. The LA fires that burned around 13,500 homes is a clear demonstration that we are in dark times in California, and we have some really degraded politicians running the show. Due to this, will the voters change course? That remains to be seen. Still, good luck with the one-party regime we have going on here today. Mail in votes are counted for months on end after election day. Whatever it takes. I still vote though, and yeah, I pay taxes and live by the rules.
Good luck to you, in your new home.
I didn't even hear that mail-ins were going out to everybody whether or not they asked for them until I received mine.
John, thanks you for sharing your story. I am a 68 year-old woman who had the unmitigated gall 🙄 to be born a Caucasian and heterosexual. I grew up in Southern California in the 1950s/60s/70s. We called our region ‘the melting pot’ of the USA. We liked it. Whites, Mexicans, Asians, Native Americans, straight, gay…whatever. We didn’t care, as we believed in ‘live and let live’. Whatever happened to that concept? The recent hyper-focus on ‘groups’ was obviously intended to divide us (divide and conquer).
Best of luck to you, John. I know it will be a relief to not have to cope with insanity on a daily basis.
Have a better life!
Where will you go?
My business is CA-centered so I'm stuck here until/if I retire, but I keep hoping that the pendulum starts swinging back toward sanity. I'm still at the "why am I the one who is leaving?" stage, but if I was retired and didn't have a family whose wishes I had to consider, I'd be headed south (maybe just Mexico, but I might keep on going to Brazil or Argentina).
Happy trails!
How could Mexico possibly be better?
Because I wouldn't feel as though I had a dog in the fight.
There's also a laissez-faire element strongly tempering both the corruption and government overreach.
I could spend time in the cities and be anonymous or be on a coastal town where there's minimal government evident.
On a side note, I've been illegally in Mexico before but only because the Tijuana to Mexico City flight arrived in the domestic terminal and there were no customs nor immigration. When I flew back from Mexico City to SFO, no one cared that I hadn't gotten an entry visa.
Dislike. And I’m sorry.
The California GOP, showing very mild signs of having a pulse, has put the Gonzalez statement up on social media:
https://x.com/CAGOP/status/1918006004014621072
From the Sacramento journalist Ashley Zavala:
https://x.com/ZavalaA/status/1918024032613707808
Here's the other Democrat who voted against proceeding on the amended version of the bill, saying that "any sane person knows" the purchasing of sex with a child should be a felony:
https://x.com/DrJasmeetBains/status/1918055469542981849
She frames it in a full Orange Man Bad statement, but she got the big question right on a day when most of her colleagues didn't.
Democrats will do almost anything to create more victimes. More cheap labor. More voters. More slaves. Demonic is the best word i can come up with for this deliberate insanity.
Demoncrats
Maybe California is playing the long game here. After businesses have all been driven from the state by ruinous taxation, epidemic crime, regulation, corruption, leftist insanity, and green-grifting, California can re-brand itself as an underage sex-tourism destination.
"Scott Wiener, resort director."
Well they don’t have their island or ranch in NM anymore.
Or so the elite can buy up all the land they don't already own after prices crash.
Better get there before Larry Fink.
Chris, after that I can sincerely say that our split one party and some democrats aren’t in the same league as the California Democrats. I thought I had seen bizarre behavior in my years in Hawaii but California has sunk into a low that begs description. The Earthquake can’t come soon enough. Get out of there before the Lord doth smite the lot of them.
One great big festering neon distraction. I have a suggestion to keep you all occupied...
Learn to swim!
Yes?
Learn to swim
It's from a song about CA sinking into the ocean.
Got it. I left California in 64, only returned for sporadic work and play. I just was thinking of the Hotel that you could never leave.
62-64 were wonderful years in a beautiful place. Nothing lasts forever.
I wish I could have lived in Southern California in the 60's. That would have been an incredible time period. I lived in California for 14 years, but would have loved to live there during the 60's.
It was wonderful then.
'California Earthquake'
“Texans, weigh in”
The BattleSwarm blog (the blogger is in Austin) keeps up with Texas politics. Yeah, the Repubs in TX are a pretty sorry bunch. I recall years ago, during and shortly after the Tea Party movement, sitting in meetings with misc. Repub establishment types openly conspiring against the Tea Party representatives. Like the McCainites in AZ, the Bushites in TX have poisoned the party.
In my experience, single-party dominance is always bad, regardless of the party. It breeds corruption, as it allows the networks of corruption to deepen and spread, and complacency, as the safety of their seats leads elected officials to lose focus on their hometown constituents and focus instead on palace intrigue.
Did anyone ask the question: “Why are Democrats fighting so hard to keep solicitation of 16 and 17 year olds effectively legal?”
Everyone knows that answer
I think its safe to assume that nearly every California Democrat legislator is hiring a lot of interns in the 16-17 age range.
Because they're all pervs.
They are fighting for LGBT rights to….pay for sex with children? Mad Hatter level crazy.
Sexual deviance with mental illness stirred in.
Here's an idea: any 16 or 17 year old who is molested, while they won't see their abuser brought to justice, they can ride the CA Bullet Train for free forever...once it's completed in 2841.
What is this "completed" that you speak of?
"The California legislature: It’s like somebody put a whorehouse in a mental hospital." So true. But forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown.
Thank you for your writing, Chris. It helps ease the pain.
Wow.
Thanks for the warning about the video...
If I had clicked on it, I would have lasted 2 minutes, tops.
Reading your summary of events reminds me of...
Insanity.
It's sooo much easier for one to blame Bad Orange Man for one's misfortunes and perversions than blame oneself for self inflicted problems. The Democrat Party is like a Loser's Anonymous Club where they can all throw themselves pity parties and select leaders that are more than happy to humor the members, providing they can enrich themselves by doing it, of course.