Random Rants ΟΔ: broken record

[Commodore]

Starter homes in Irvine are $600,000 and up.

That's why I like Ohio. Your dollar goes a lot further here than a lot of other places. From what I remember, I'm sure hobbs has a job that pays him a lot more than what I make which means he'd likely be able to live in the "rich people" neighborhood here and have himself a pretty sizeable house on a pretty sizeable plot of land. Of course the trouble is his job likely doesn't exist here in Ohio.

Kinda crazy how much cost of living varies from state to state in the US. Here in Ohio, my income gives me a solid middle-class life while that same income in California would probably have me living in poverty.

Even if he could afford a house, there's a chance that the neighbours still will have loud cars.

True. But houses tend to be made of better materials than apartments when it comes to soundproofing so that would mitigate a lot of the outside noise. And as a home owner, you are free to make further modifications if you so choose to improve soundproofing without having to go to a landlord for approval.

Not abrasive, just...kinda callous and dismissive.

Well that was not my intention either. And the moving to a neighborhood with older people in it was a serious suggestion. I considered it myself back when I lived in an apartment with noisy fratboys for neighbors that kept waking up my kids.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

You have a nice job right? Buy a house. Failing that, find an apartment complex that's mostly old people since they tend to be pretty quiet.

He lives in the LA area.

Well aren't you a charmer.....

Anyhow hobbs, I can sort of sympathize but from the other way around! May car came with the TRD handling package which included exhaust tips to make the car louder. (Why, I have no idea. You are never going to get a good sound out of a four cylinder boxer engine.) I always have to try and avoid hitting the gas late at night in residential areas.

Did my post come off as abrasive? I really didn't mean it to.

Not abrasive, just...kinda callous and dismissive.

As I said, he lives in LA. It’s like asking someone on welfare if they‘ve ever considered getting a job.

Starter homes in Irvine are $600,000 and up.

Thanks guys. No offense taken @Commodore - I didn't see any malice in your post.


I'm not struggling by any means but it's going to be a looong time before I have enough money for a down payment out here - and I'm not sure I'm ever going to own a home. There are a lot of aspects I like about renting and if it wasn't for the unfair tax breaks that homeowners get, I would never really consider home ownership. But the tax incentives are pretty big so maybe I will one day.

My apartment actually has great soundproofing. I never hear my neighbors at all which means neither does my dog so his barking has gone down 99% since I moved here. That's actually life changing for me because I am very sensitive to loud noises and my dog has a loud, shrill bark.

But that's how loud these cars are - they rattle the windows and you can feel them in the floor. Plus I like to keep the windows open when the weather is nice which these guys ruin.

I've thought about going full Becky and calling the cops to complain about this in hopes they will set up speed traps more regularly outside of the apartment. These guys all speed something fierce (and dear god they are going to kill a kid one day inside the parking garage - they treat it like an enclosed race track) and the police have in the past set up speed traps right outside the apartment to catch them but it's been a while.


There are some low cost of living areas I could theoretically get a job in but god help me if I ever have to move to Mississippi or Alabama. I'm also not allowed to move to Texas (the Mrs refuses to teach there) and I don't care much for Florida. That leaves populated areas of Washington and Colorado and the COL there isn't much better than here.

 

[Arakhor]

So why not choose somewhere like Arizona, Nevada or Oregon? Do they have high living costs or is it the lack of population that puts you off?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

So why not choose somewhere like Arizona, Nevada or Oregon? Do they have high living costs or is it the lack of population that puts you off?

They don't design and manufacture rockets or spacecraft there. There is a new company called Vector that set up shop in Arizona but that's it.

Also, I love California and don't want to move.

Car batteries don't last well in modern cars. And the battery is a place the manufacturer tends to go cheap to save a buck. If the car is still under warranty, then the battery should be too, and you could get a dealer replacement. If not, NAPA usually has about the best quality replacement battery for the price. For the rest, if it's available, make it a warranty issue. If not, you'll have to figure out how to do a reset to factory settings

It is definitely still under warranty. I can believe that they skimped on the lead acid battery but what I don't understand is why the sensors all started failing (before the battery gave out) and how the battery failing took down all of the electronics in the car. As I said before, this car is designed to be able to use the hybrid battery to jump the lead battery and it therefore can run the electronics when the lead battery is dead. But clearly there is some fault in the EPS (electrical and power system) that brings down the entire vehicle. I have an appointment on Monday, hopefully it can get fixed.

This is however, making me question the need for a second car. Before when both the Mrs and I had a long commute it was unavoidable but we haven't actually had to use the hybrid in weeks. I am not sure if it makes financial sense to break lease but I don't think we'll get two cars when our lease runs out next year.

Even if he could afford a house, there's a chance that the neighbours still will have loud cars.

True but given the size of the building I live in, I would have far less neighbors in a detached house and would therefore be a lot less likely to have this issue.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

True but given the size of the building I live in, I would have far less neighbors in a detached house and would therefore be a lot less likely to have this issue.

That math doesn't work in reality. If you define "neighbor" as "person likely to drive by close enough that their car noise is a problem" then in a neighborhood of detached houses you wind up with "neighbors" who might actually live several blocks away, so you don't really have any less neighbors.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

That math doesn't work in reality. If you define "neighbor" as "person likely to drive by close enough that their car noise is a problem" then in a neighborhood of detached houses you wind up with "neighbors" who might actually live several blocks away, so you don't really have any less neighbors.

My building has a capacity north of 2,000 and is surrounded by even bigger complexes. Yes, I would have less neighbors in a suburban neighborhood. I live in one of the few truly urban parts of Irvine.

My parking garage is so big I got lost not once but twice in it for almost an hour each time during my first week here.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

My building has a capacity north of 2,000 and is surrounded by even bigger complexes. Yes, I would have less neighbors in a suburban neighborhood. I live in one of the few truly urban parts of Irvine.

My parking garage is so big I got lost not once but twice in it for almost an hour each time during my first week here.

Two thousand is a lot.

My gf's house is on a cul-de-sac, two doors down from the also residential street it connects to. That street serves as "the connector most likely chosen" for about 300 parcels developed as single family homes to get out of the neighborhood to a major arterial street. Most of those homes have three or more cars, and in a lot of them at least one of those cars is routinely driven by a teen aged driver, half of which are male. Your odds might improve moving to a house, but it isn't going to be an "orders of magnitude" improvement.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Two thousand is a lot.

My gf's house is on a cul-de-sac, two doors down from the also residential street it connects to. That street serves as "the connector most likely chosen" for about 300 parcels developed as single family homes to get out of the neighborhood to a major arterial street. Most of those homes have three or more cars, and in a lot of them at least one of those cars is routinely driven by a teen aged driver, half of which are male. Your odds might improve moving to a house, but it isn't going to be an "orders of magnitude" improvement.

That's true but it depends on how far out in the boonties I want to live. Not all neighborhoods are of equal density and Orange County isn't yet entirely covered in asphalt unlike much of the area directly between you and I.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Reminds me of a certain Malcolm in the Middle episode....Just don't try making any homemade speed bumps.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

That's true but it depends on how far out in the boonties I want to live. Not all neighborhoods are of equal density and Orange County isn't yet entirely covered in asphalt unlike much of the area directly between you and I.

I imagine in those areas between us it's even less of a difference than it is from your place to mine. As the LA area goes you don't get much closer to the boonies than I am. Northern LA county is decades behind Orange county in the approach to being built out. Truth be told I'm surprised you haven't looked at jobs up here. We have the maximum aerospace jobs to population ratio in southern California, bar none. If you want more rural quality of life while still having access to aerospace jobs we are usually the top choice.

It isn't rockets, but the current cutting edge military aircraft are being built in a hanger by people who could live two miles away on land that is zoned light agricultural so they can go home to their horses and chickens, if that's what floats their boat. Rocket stuff is happening a little further in from the edge of town, but not that far.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I just got a promotion to do exactly the thing I spent a decade in school learning how to do. I am not looking for any other jobs right now and won't be so long as they keep paying me to me nerd out on rocket engines. Company loyalty I think is mostly a dead concept but I don't have to be loyal to love what I'm doing for a living and want to keep doing it. If I get bored sure I'll look around but I'm content for now.

I'm also enjoying being able to walk to all the stores and entertainment and restaurants right now. I have had enough of rural life for a while.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I have had enough of rural life for a while.

Except for that traffic noise thing, anyway.

No picking and choosing my man. It's a package deal.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

haha true story

 

[Broken_Erika]

My dad's cleaning the fish tank, one of the cats got spooked and managed to get outside only to realize that he didn't like it outside. All those wet leaves.

 

[Zkribbler]

I'm also enjoying being able to walk to all the stores and entertainment and restaurants right now. I have had enough of rural life for a while.

Being able to walk to all the stores and entertainment and restaurants IS rural life. City life is taking the freeway #@%$&*^! everywhere.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Being able to walk to all the stores and entertainment and restaurants IS rural life. City life is taking the freeway #@%$&*^! everywhere.

I think perhaps a coconut fell on your head in that last storm.

For people who live in Sun Village, my favorite local rural area, the nearest stores other than the minimarts at the two gas stations are between three and eight miles away, depending on where in Sun Village they are. That would be a minimum six mile hike, either on the pavement of a shoulderless rural road where getting hit by traffic is actually more likely than it is in an urban center, or cutting through on desert trails that technically involve multiple opportunities to get charged with trespassing. So much for stores.

When my church does a fish fry or barbecue for a fundraiser we get huge support because people are just grateful for the chance to "get dinner without cooking it" and without having to "drive way into town." I guess there's a limit to how often they want to patronize the California Cheeseburger, which maybe half the denizens of Sun Village could reach in less than a mile of walking. I happen to like the California Cheeseburger, but couldn't see eating there every time I went out either. So much for restaurants.

We have a community garden project. We have shaded tables where people are invited to sit out among the green patch, maybe play some cards or whatever. (They can also pick their own organically grown produce, should they be inclined, or have some picked for them if they aren't physically equipped.) In the desert this can I suppose be called "entertainment," and like the California Cheeseburger it is within a one mile walking distance for maybe half the population. Again, the amount of appreciation that a venue where people essentially have the opportunity to watch plants grow receives is an indication of the state of available entertainment in the rural area. It is, I suppose, a cut above watching paint dry.

Admittedly, people from Sun Village can drive into Palmdale for stores, restaurants, and entertainment without driving on a freeway. But seriously, none of them EVER walk anywhere. My friend lives "three doors down" from the church, which is in reality about a quarter mile. When he was briefly without a car he always caught a ride.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I think perhaps a coconut fell on your head in that last storm.

For people who live in Sun Village, my favorite local rural area, the nearest stores other than the minimarts at the two gas stations are between three and eight miles away, depending on where in Sun Village they are. That would be a minimum six mile hike, either on the pavement of a shoulderless rural road where getting hit by traffic is actually more likely than it is in an urban center, or cutting through on desert trails that technically involve multiple opportunities to get charged with trespassing. So much for stores.

When my church does a fish fry or barbecue for a fundraiser we get huge support because people are just grateful for the chance to "get dinner without cooking it" and without having to "drive way into town." I guess there's a limit to how often they want to patronize the California Cheeseburger, which maybe half the denizens of Sun Village could reach in less than a mile of walking. I happen to like the California Cheeseburger, but couldn't see eating there every time I went out either. So much for restaurants.

We have a community garden project. We have shaded tables where people are invited to sit out among the green patch, maybe play some cards or whatever. (They can also pick their own organically grown produce, should they be inclined, or have some picked for them if they aren't physically equipped.) In the desert this can I suppose be called "entertainment," and like the California Cheeseburger it is within a one mile walking distance for maybe half the population. Again, the amount of appreciation that a venue where people essentially have the opportunity to watch plants grow receives is an indication of the state of available entertainment in the rural area. It is, I suppose, a cut above watching paint dry.

Admittedly, people from Sun Village can drive into Palmdale for stores, restaurants, and entertainment without driving on a freeway. But seriously, none of them EVER walk anywhere. My friend lives "three doors down" from the church, which is in reality about a quarter mile. When he was briefly without a car he always caught a ride.

Replace desert with swampass forest and California Cheeseburger for Rite-Aid and you are describing rural Missouri too.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Replace desert with swampass forest and California Cheeseburger for Rite-Aid and you are describing rural Missouri too.

Rural is rural, and rural has never been notable for having anything within walking distance. I am reminded though that Sun Village did recently get a Dollar General store though, basically at the same corner as the California Cheeseburger.

Downtown!

One of their two traffic lights.

 

[cardgame]

If you live in a rural town, everything is within walking distance because the town is too small to be outside of walking distance.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I found a dead bug at the bottom of my cup. After I had drunk all its contents.