Jon in Pasadena

I pay off all my credit card bills monthly no matter how much it hurts (and sometimes it hurts a lot!). It's kept me out of the trick bag so far. Also - there's something to be said for pulling a bunch of equity out of your home *before* the market crashes and your paper equity vanishes. Provided, that is, that you subsequently invest it in something safe with a decent return, rather than blow it on beemers, or whatever it is that these people are doing.

Um, I dunno. Maybe because they think that a tax-deductible 7% rate sounds better than a non-deductible 22%? Of course that would only apply if you actually intended to make good on your debt.

Is there a local university library to which you could wangle access? I get to use the Caltech library for free! (I suppose technically it's not "free", since I paid some nominal amount years ago to join the Alumni Association. But I consider that to have been amortized to a few bucks a year at this point)

Oh, all righty then. He just used his bikini-clad daughter as the base, and then painted in bush & boobies over her voluptuous body. That's normal. Yeah, I work with a guy who went to Art school. He has lots of good stories.

Not sure which is more disturbing: that he'd want to see his adult daughter nude, or that she'd let him.

They shot him while he was helpless, confined inside a car. Like shooting fish in a barrel. My Glock holds 14 rounds of .40 cal, and I doubt I'd have any misses at point-blank range like that. Only 26 years old. Poor kid.

WTF is "Christian attire" ? Are we now supposed to base our vote on the candidates' fashion sense? If so, I gotta go with a write-in for Brad Pitt in Ocean's 11 -- that dude had style! (To be sure, it was a totally insane, freaky style. Much like....your post.)

Looks like they're not so great as a main course either.

Sympathies to the Bryants. I will hug both my little guys even tighter tonight.

Yeah, that sounds like typical government accounting... (We'll just steal some hours from our grand-kids' days -- no problemo! )

I agree with your observations, and I would add that, IMHO, it looked like once TE spotted his open man, that he was probably going for a longish-intermediate throw, which he is just a tad slower at getting the ball out. (It comes out really quick on the shorter-intermediate routes). Anybody know for sure who/where his intended target was?

Jaws is considered among the best at breaking down formations and offensive strategy, especially what the QB saw on a given play.

The set-up to pay-off ratio of that joke is around... infinity.

Word. The other day I'm driving behind some ritzy BMW with a large X-ian "fish" emblem blazoned on the trunk, and the !@#$tard tosses his lit ciggy out the window. And people wonder why Griffith park seems to burn down every two days this summer. But at least he didn't get his ashtray full of ashes or anything, God forbid.

Do tell...

No doubt about it. For a while when I lived in Nevada County I had to commute 100 miles to work, over Donner Pass. In winter. On a motorcycle. That was nutz. Once my throttle cable froze in the full ON position, and I rocketted over the icy pass right in front of a CHP. He went-on the bull-horn but was literally tongue-tied. What came out was something like "Hey! YOU, arggh,no,you--uh, snow,hey, what the !@#$?" Another time, I was driving somewhere on Hwy49 I think, and a freak storm hit. It was bone dry when I started and 30 minutes later I had to pull off in some tiny hamlet because the snow was over my front fender. I spent a wide-eyed night in some dingy motel right out of "Hostel" and didn't get a wink of sleep, clutching my screwdriver & listening for the buzzing of saws....

LA traffic is notorious, but for day-to-day life it depends almost entirely on where you live relative to where you work. I have an easy 30-40 minute commute which I think isn't so bad. Agree that there are too many people, but again, to what extent that affects you depends almost entirely on where exactly you are in the LA Metro area. I'm sure Chester County is quite nice. I'm glad you are happy living there.Where I live (in the foothills of the mountains north of LA) I too have black skies with stars at night. Also, ski resorts 90 minutes in one direction, beaches 60 minutes in the other direction, about 2,800 restaurants within 5 miles of my house, great schools, great neighbors, a zillion museums and such within easy driving distance. I suppose you might say I live on the fringe...but so what? It takes me less time to go completely across the LA area than you posted it would take you to get to DC....and I seldom need or want to go there anyway. Not too sure why I should feel deprived living far from Amish country...I guess they're really nice people. I actually don't mind shoveling snow (Chef!) I wouldn't really care if we started to get some (have seen hail a few times.) I took my kids sledding last winter and will probably start them on skis next winter. I'm far enough away that they're NEVER a concern. Never much bothered by any of the above. Except for losing a few non-precious non-heirlooms in one EQ. The smog in my city is usually not bad; work is not great but I'm indoors with A/C Can't recall the last time I was affected by a SIGalert. Maybe not (yet) in Chester County, but have you checked Philly lately? Never run into either of them, but I do see porn stars quite often at one of the places I go to for lunch.

And...LA County itself is a pretty big place. Pasadena wasn't horrible by any means, but we moved (guess I should change my handle) last year to a *very* nice little city up in the foothills of the San Gabriel range. I too hear coyotes, see all kinds of wildlife, and can hike up a trail from my property to as deep into the mountains as I want to go...

Just making the point that perfection is in the eye of the beholder -- and includes more factors than the weather. Why do people get so uptight about others' opinions on their chosen dwelling places? Who knows? My money is on those folks being pretty insecure individuals.

Agreed. NO biters here. The last time I went to Florida I was eaten alive by the bastages. Over 72 bites in *one* evening. That was 30 years ago and I've never seen any good reason to return.

(Bad form, I know, replying to my own post....)Hmm, I seem to remember that you're actually in the Seattle area, not Oregon, though your TSW profile still says NW Oregon I've hung out in Seattle and also in some towns further west like port angeles & sequim. Great natural beauty up there. Froze my kiester off on Whidbey Island though, when the wind comes whipping off the sound...

I've only made it out to Hawaii once, and it is indeed close. Perfect for some people...I'm just not one of them. No hard feelings, eh?

I've spent some time in Oregon (mostly in Portland & around Reed College) and it's a very nice place. Went skiing at Mt Hood with a friend from College and his brother and had a great time. My "no place is perfect" comment was referring to more than just weather, by the way.

Not really. I like to travel light. Hate accumulating stuff, *especially* breakable stuff. That's how I roll. The same thought has occurred to me occasionally, when I'm stuck in traffic and it's like 105 degrees out. No place is perfect.