wherin the distressed passengers finally get to me

[Kiwi]

And yes, I've been to SFO once... and I did think it looked like we were ditching in the bay

Auckland airport is the same way, you are over water until your about 20 metres above ground and then suddenly runway appears underneath you... very unsettling the first couple of times you land there.

[Pagan]

And yes, I've been to SFO once... and I did think it looked like we were ditching in the bay

It's kind of like that in Houston, too. Add a thunderstorm for maximum effect.

Heh, I thought we were going to land on the interstate that first time I flew into Love Field in Dallas.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

PCGameGuy, Salt Lake Internation is kind of like that too with one of the runways... it goes into the wetlands a little... so it looks like you are about to crash into a marsh

Guess who's flying into SLC for his vacation in July.

Milwaukee is also the same way if you're coming in from the east, since the airport is not too far away from Lake Michigan.

[dalesys]

I enjoyed flying into Baltimore International Airport from the south... shortly before touchdown there was a cemetary to the east...

Looked like good planning to me.

[Jester]

And yes, I've been to SFO once... and I did think it looked like we were ditching in the bay.

I've been to San Fran three times, flying into SFO twice, and the first time was freaky, even for a guy who is not even slightly scared by flying. The second time, this last September, I knew what was coming, and it was very, very cool. But yeah, it really seems like you are about to land on the water, you get so damn close!

It's kind of like that in Houston, too. Add a thunderstorm for maximum effect.

I've connected through Houston several times in my journeys, and I don't remember any water, or it being anything like flying into SFO! We are talking about IAH, right?

[Andara Bledin]

But yeah, it really seems like you are about to land on the water, you get so damn close!

The airport into Hawaii is like that. I had a window seat, and you do a bank just before hitting the runway, and I looked down the length of wing to see water, really really close.

I thought it was totally cool at the time and even took pictures.

^-.-^

[Pagan]

I've connected through Houston several times in my journeys, and I don't remember any water, or it being anything like flying into SFO! We are talking about IAH, right?

Nope, Hobby.

That still doesn't beat when we were coming into Love Field. There was some basketball game that night so the interstate was jammed. We were all wondering if they needed to clear the road for our landing!

[driftwolf]

...
And I'm sure mom would like to know the detail about the fact that part of the reason you were so tired was because you were watching a porno at 2:30 in the morning... oh yes... we can look up what movies it is you watched... so please, do have her call us

BWAHAHAHAHA!! I'd love to hear THAT conversation!

[smileyeagle1021]

since this thread has been bumped anyway

Word.

And I'm an ex-Californian. Here's what I don't miss:

--smog

--gangs

--crowded schools

--graffiti everywhere

--empty fields full of trash

--police helicopters over my neighborhood

--having to compete with illegals for a min. wage job

--$750 to $1000 for a 1-bed apt

--mountain lions, coyotes, rattlesnakes

Salt Lake has ungodly smog proof 1 proof 2 proof 3 ... I could go on... or you could just image search Salt Lake City smog and get pages of results (eta, also try Salt Lake City inversion... the locals don't call it smog... they call it inversions, so you'll get a lot more results that way)

we had our own episode of gangland once...

I never went through the k-12 in Utah, but I've heard it's quite crowded, I know it definitely was in Nevada (my elementary school had a capacity for roughly 500 students, there was roughly 900 attending)

Graffiti is quite common in South Salt Lake

ditto the fields of trash

don't have the police helicopters, but I am fairly close to one of the busier rail lines in the country

ditto illegal immigrants and competing for jobs

Rent is cheaper in nevada and utah, I will give you that much... our pay is also a lot less (minimum wage in california is about a dollar an hour more than I in Utah... hell within san francisco my starting wage at the call center would have been below minimum wage)

oh, and all those animals abound out here too...

Put in short, if I could move I would already be packing.

after my recent vacation, I must strongly emphasize how true that is... the only thing that is making utah a bit more bearable is having discovered The Escape (an alcohol free gay social group... yes, I was shocked to find out such a thing existed in Utah too)

Which happens to be the city with the screwiest weather EVER. Seriously, San Fran is so bizarre weatherwise, it defies description.

you know, I never really appreciated how true that was until I went there again... seriously, the weather seemed to vary by the block... in east bay it was hot and humid, get off the BART at Embarcadaro and it's cool and humid, take the muni to the Castro and it's hot and dry, then take the muni again to the pacific beach and it's warm and humid... and then between the next day it was all completely different again...

Heh. I'm willing to bet that the majority of SoCalers to hit Utah only show up to watch when the Lakers are up there.

(I don't actually know this, I'm just pokin' fun)

^-.-^

actually, since you mentioned that I did actually start paying a little bit more attention to when SoCalers were coming up... and over half the time it coincided with when a SoCal sports team (either professional or college) was up in Utah.

So you weren't far off there

BWAHAHAHAHA!! I'd love to hear THAT conversation!

yeah, I'd love to have heard it too... sadly the girl who handled that call ended up getting fired (for a completely unrelated issue) a few days later... and she never got a chance to tell us about it

[SorchaMochrie]

The ground moves way too much.

I haven't experienced a bad quake since 89. I was 8 and mom didn't get home from work till about 10 that night because of the traffic. The electricity was out so I used candles, thus causing the only damage to our house due to the quake. You shouldn't place a candle beneath a glass shelf. I lived in Monterey at the time.

As apposed to tornadoes and hurricanes that happen every damn year.

Of course now I live in so cal and have to worry about wild fires, but they've only threatened my area twice since I moved here 8 years ago. Still better than living on the gulf or in tornado ally.

I've also never lived more than an hours drive from the Pacific.


Places I've lived and their charms.


Monterey: Frikken gorgeous, Trees, beaches, bikepaths, more theaters per capita than anywhere on earth except maybe London's west end. Tons of fog. Close to Santa Cruz for the boardwalk. Big Sur for the hiking. Carmel-by-the-sea for being Carmel-by-the-sea (also awesome sand castle contest) tho the Dream Theater and the Carousel are gone now, two icons from my youth.

San Jose: I could go see a movie starting at 3 am! Lots of trees. Excellent public transport. Jhonen Vasques is from here. Our high school computer club gave presentations to investors to donate money to the schools computer programs, and ran all the tech support for the teachers. Oh, and the Winchester mystery house.

Templeton/Pasorobles/San Luis Obispo: I was born here and my dad had a farm an hour out of town for a long time. This is total ag country. I had a pet cow forgoodnesssake. The lakes are the best part. Nacimiento and San Antonio, water skiing, swimming, cliff jumping, playing in the mud and counting eagles nests. Also a short drive to Morrow Bay, which has Hurtz Castle. Now my dad owns a winery, as Paso is becoming the next Napa.

San Diego:

Beaches, Mountains and Desert. All in the same county. The freeway and public transport here suck the most out of almost anywhere else I've lived. It was ove 100 today. But I walked on the beach with my girlfiends on friday night after eating at a bar and grill and enjoying the live entertainment. I drive up to visit my mother in law in the mountains to see snow in the winter. I spent memorial weekend out in the desert a few miles from the boarder camping at potrero (geek cred if you know why). And my husband can't live anywhere else until his kids are grown.

And Comic-Con. And dozens of Ren-faires. (ok maybe I'm counting the whole state for that one) Oh, and theirs indian casino's within a 30 min drive.


Oh, and Hillcrest for Smiley, who needs to meet my Aunt Mike. (so called because he was one of the older people in my Vamp Larp group.) He's a cute redhead into comics, tabletop rpgs, and other men.

Word.
And I'm an ex-Californian. Here's what I don't miss:
--smog
--gangs
--crowded schools
--graffiti everywhere
--empty fields full of trash
--police helicopters over my neighborhood
--having to compete with illegals for a min. wage job
--$750 to $1000 for a 1-bed apt
--mountain lions, coyotes, rattlesnakes

Not that I notice
only in escondido really
Check, even in the best school district in the county (and possible the lower half of the state) the budget issues have cost us some teachers.
occasional, but it depends on the community. more in Esco, less anywhere else.
Nope.
Not in my neighborhood, but once at a local ren faire, they were looking for a kidnap victim.
Only if you look for unskilled labor with small companies. The big ones can't risk the raids.
my last one was 925 because I opted for the better school district. I could have taken the 2 bedroom with a fireplace in escondildo for 675, but I didn't feel safe.
Coyotes and Rattlers in the open space a few blocks over, no mountain lions here, although when I lived in the Paso area I wasn't allowed to ride my bike because a neighbor had been going to free a wild turkey caught in a fence and a Cougar decided she was trying to steal his dinner. You just need to have a healthy respect for the animals in your area. I've known what to do when you spot a rattler since I was 6 and would walk the mile through the grass and barbed wire to my grandma's farm next door.

[Andara Bledin]

I haven't experienced a bad quake since 89. I was 8 and mom didn't get home from work till about 10 that night because of the traffic. The electricity was out so I used candles, thus causing the only damage to our house due to the quake. You shouldn't place a candle beneath a glass shelf. I lived in Monterey at the time.

As apposed to tornadoes and hurricanes that happen every damn year.

No kidding,

My mom was talking with a woman in tornado alley who'd lost her house to one, and she made a comment bout it "not being California with all those earthquakes." This sentiment has always baffled the hell out of me.

^-.-^

[BusBus]

His response, was priceless- "if I miss my flight because of this, you'll be hearing from my mother"

That had me laughing! (Probably because I deal with these types on a regular basis). Ooooh no!!! Not your *mother*!!!!!!OMGZ!!!!11!!!

Why to live in California? As someone coming off a 5 year stint in Idaho, I got one word for you:

SNOW! I hate, despise, revile it! #1 reason we came back to Cali was no snow. Really, though, you have to have good cash flow to enjoy living in California. Beach house next year, baybay!

I was in Coeur D'Alene last April and it was too damn cold for me. Blech.

Owner of one of them...

Rapscallion

ZING!

[Digitalpotato]

That guy...wow he must have been one exhausted person.

And I find it alright to live in Colorado. Boring as hell, and that's why all the gangsta wannabes come here.

[Kinoo]

[QUOTE=RootedPhoenix;573209]JACARANDA TREES. SO FULL OF WIN.

Someday I will own one. Maybe even fifty. ALL THE BLOOMS WILL BE MINE! BWAHAHA!!!

*hushes*

QUOTE]
My home town... http://www.jacarandafestival.org.au/

[smileyeagle1021]

No kidding,

My mom was talking with a woman in tornado alley who'd lost her house to one, and she made a comment bout it "not being California with all those earthquakes." This sentiment has always baffled the hell out of me.

^-.-^

oh, and another interesting thing with that sentiment... people say that as if California is the only place that gets earthquakes, forgetting about Nevada and Utah which also get them... I mean hell, Nevada even gets some big ones, the only reason you never hear about them is because so few people live in Nevada and Utah. About a year ago Wells NV was damned near destroyed by a quake and I'm willing to bet almost none of y'all heard about it, because lets be honest, who the hell cares about Wells NV.

Then again, Utah truly is the suck, we get both earthquakes and tornadoes

and a completely unrelated note, but something I thought was interesting that I just remembered from my freshman year geology class, the reason why earthquakes are so prevalent in the western United States and why Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Nevada have so much higher average elevations than the rest of the country is because there actually is a small tectonic plate under the North American plate in this area.