How backwoods do you think I am?

I'm working on a project about a "redneck Christmas" which reminded me of a conversation I had with the lady I live with, Delia.

Within the first few weeks of living in San Diego I mentioned to Delia that I'd like to go to the store and get some things for my bedroom. I suggested Target since I had a gift card for the store. Delia looked at me and with the most serious look on her face asked me if we had Targets in Kansas. I was completely shocked. Is there any state without a Target? I'd be very, very surprised if there was.

Long Boards

I have never seen the draw to skateboards so there is a good possibility I understand nothing about long boards. An extra long skateboard does what exactly? Some one tell me, I really have no clue.

Safety Patrol

I was shocked the first day I went to help at a local elementary school that there were a troop of kids in white and red standing on the side of the road as school started and got out. As a kid even when I was in the city all we had was an adult crossing guard but I had only seen a Safety Patrol in movies. The one time I had to stop for these kids I was on my bike and they stared at me first like I didn't see them (yeah, cause they're so hard to see) and second like they were better than me. I was annoyed because as soon as I actually stopped, which required me getting off my bike, they pulled up their signs and blew their whistles. I can't help the feeling that the little buggers just wanted to see me stop, since their intersection was quite clear before I got anywhere near them.

Driving in the rain

It's been raining. A lot. Yesterday we got an inch and it even snowed in the mountains.

Rain in SoCal tends to mean accidents. Why's this? It isn't just because it rains so infrequently here that people don't understand hydroplaning. It's also because the lack of rain keeps streets from being cleared of oil. It is actually more slippery here when it rains than back in the Midwest because of the combo water & oil.

So if you're driving in SoCal in the rain take extra precaution by watching out for your own driving and for other people's driving who don't know what they are doing.

Figuring out the weather

I had no idea what I was in store for when I went to check the weather on a local news channel last August. I didn't know that just because the temperature is warm in North County that it wouldn't be the same in La Jolla. I remember watching the news and seeing one weather forecast with 4 different "climates."
These climates are Desert, Coastal, Inland and Mountain. You can get any of those in San Diego county. So remember to wear a tank top and shorts but bring your pants and jacket no matter what the weather is like at your house!

Eating Fast Food- Part 4

If you, a Midwesterner, see a burger joint that looks familiar but you can't quite place it you're probably staring at a Carl's Jr. We in the Midwest still know it as Hardee's. The give away (besides the $6 burger) their creepy little star mascot.

My whole family was more than a little sad when Carl's Jr. took over Hardee's. The menu changed so completely it became a whole other restaurant. Hardee's used to serve endless biscuits and gravy and plenty of different types of chicken sandwiches. Then after the take over, beef, beef and more beef! All I could think was ick!

More wind

My internet has been in and out the past few days, thus why I've missed a few posts. Turns out Santa Ana winds aren't always hot or just in the autumn. Earlier this week on Wednesday we had serious winds, with gusts up to 30 mph in the desert and even higher in the mountains. But these Santa Ana's were cold, not warm like before.
Let me tell you how strong these winds are. The warm winds earlier in the year would blow around the plastic barricades the YMCA has at the satellite campus. When I went to teach my class there on Thursday the wind had blown the barricades around like normal. But they were so powerful that the wind was pushing the barricades and the metal picnic tables around too! I was shocked, I thought that stuff like that only happened when there was a tornado around. :D

High Speed Car Chases

I was talking to two friends of mine from Cali who are currently residing in Florida. One asked me if I watched the high speed car chase today through LA. I, of course, had not since I wasn't watching TV at all today. So she told me about the Chase Parties. Apparently it is an impromptu party unless you are privy to the criminal mind behind the wheel. As soon as the chase is featured live on the news, you set up, call all your friends and take bets on when it will end and how.

Oh the Joy of the big city.

Drugs

Hard drugs. Cali's got them. Yeah we have Meth and Pot in Kansas. We really have all the drugs but those seem to be the big two. I don't know how many of my friends have told me about their hard drug phases. Phases, like everyone goes through them. I had a roommate who was a meth addict, a close friend who was on pretty much everything, another friend who sold pretty much everything.

Clothing Color

With my recent trip up to LA and interview for a job with the Center for Student Missions I was give a list of clothing that I was not allowed to wear. To my dismay as I was looking through all my t-shirts I realized that I only had 3 or four that met the requirements to it's fullest. At CSM you can't wear red, blue or bright purple because of the gang presence. And it just happens that I went to school at the University of Kansas, where the school colors are Crimson (red) and blue! One friend told me that I should just give away my clothes or dye them. I hope it doesn't come to that but I'll have to do something soon because I start at CSM in February!

Slang- Part 6

I didn't get this one until some one "cut the cheese."

California barking spider: Noun- a fart. "Oh man, did you hear that California Barking Spider?"

*Shakes head in defeat*

Healthy food

Health nuts, yay! Or not.

I have one mom in a class of mine who won't let her kid drink Juice. Juice! Can you believe it? Organic is SOOO big here and of course expensive. Von's has a lot of organic produce but I just can't get enough food to make it worth it. And really non-organic foods don't bother me very much.

One of my darling (he is literally the most adorable kid I know) brought me Horizon organic vanilla milk while I was working today. And while I was very touched, I am just a little scared to drink it. Maybe I'll use it to cook with since I don't drink straight milk any more.

Missing the rain

It has rained an awful lot the last few weeks which is unusual here. San Diego is pretty much a desert and the only way things stay green is by watering them a lot. Last year it really only rained 4 or 5 times. Twice it rained so much that my bedroom in my apartment flooded while my roommate and I were out of the country. That was fun to come home to! The few times it's rained since I came back to San Diego in August I have been almost ecstatic to open the windows and listen to the sounds.

I miss the rain so much! I love the way it cleans everything and you can smell all the plants around you. Maybe I should move to San Fran for a bit?

Christmas

My "family" just put up all their Christmas decorations and it got me thinking about last December and how different my Christmas was from the ones I've had in the Midwest.


First, I wasn't with family but I was with people who cared for me.
Second, our group was very small, there were 7 of us.
Third, we had beef stroganoff and croissants for Christmas dinner.
Fourth, it was at least 60 degrees outside.
Fifth, we ate outside on the porch.
The sixth and the final straw in my outlandish California Christmas- an ice cream truck playing it's little ditty drove by while we ate.

I laughed for quite a while.

Slang- Part 5

This one had me dumbfounded. Usually I can figure out the gest of what a person was saying but I had absolutely no clue what my friends were saying.

A grip: adjective- a large amount. Most commonly used when referring to a large amount of individual objects. For example: We had a grip of papers due. Less often referring to a large amount of a collective object. For example: There was a grip of rain last night.

I even challenged a friend about his usage of this slang word. Duh, that was dumb to say the least. Who's the native speaker? Not me, that's for sure.

Beach Abbrev.

I hung out with my most recent Ex last night. We went out along PB into Mission Beach and then Mission Bay and ended up a little south of La Jolla Cove at a dead end street watching the waves come in. My Ex stole my keys so that we'd have to stay longer so I didn't get back until late last night (this is my excuse for not blogging yesterday).

But to relate to last night I was remembering when I first moved to San Diego and my landlords' daughter was asking if she could go to PB or OB. I had no clue what she was talking about and didn't figure it out for at least another month. So I've made a list of this funny little abbreviations.

Going from south to north:

IB- Imperial Beach
OB- Ocean Beach
MB- Mission Beach (I don't think any one says this but I may be mistaken. Also why wouldn't they? Doesn't it follow all the others?)
PB- Pacific Beach

Bugs

I'm staying with a friend tonight "in the boonies." While we were talking, this small white moth flew past her. I thought little about it until another friend captured the said moth and let it go outside. I laughed and joked that another 10 bugs would fly in as we let the one go. And while this is funny to me because it really could happen in my mind, it was funnier to my friends because they know it won't. At least not here.

Because of the SoCal desert there are very few bugs, which is wonderful. But I find it highly amusing when people here freak out over one or two bugs in their home when they've left their doors wide open all day for five days straight! My response is always "Duh!" when they're shocked that an insect would dare to come into their home when it had a whole lot more room out of it. Anyway, if you're that worried about a few bugs- get a screen door. That's what they're for!

Slang- part 4

Dank- adjective. Meaning something is cool (not in the temperature sense). "That was some dank food, yo!" Yes, I've actually heard this sentence come from one of my 24 year old friends.

I can't get over this one. At all. Every time I hear it I think of the basement I used to live in with moldy carpet. That's what dank means to me. I really will never use this slang. It just doesn't mean "cool" in my mind and it never will.

Eating Fast Food- Part 3

Local hamburger obsession:
In N Out.
Whoopdeedoo. They make hamburgers and you can get them regular or hard attacked (Animal style). Same thing with the french fries. The menu is simple and the fries aren't that great.

Cool trivia: Founded by Christians. You can find Bible verse references on most of their packaging.

Can you tell I am really not impressed?

Fires

As I've mentioned the Santa Ana winds leave all of California's vegetation dried out and that leads to FIRE!!! I got a rude awakening last year when the Witch fire closed down Scripps Ranch, the neighborhood my school was in. I never realized that fires were so common in California. I knew that I heard about fires pretty often but I just had no clue that Californians went through this every year!

How's this happen? The thing is it doesn't rain that much in SoCal so when the Santa Ana's dry everything out it doesn't get green again. Anything from a camp fire ember, a spark from a car accident, to a lightening strike can start a fire. The amazing thing is lightening strike sites can smolder for days before they break out into fire and that fire spreads quickly. Thus the origin of the phrase "spreading like wildfire." :) I've seen a fire go from hot spot with a trail of smoke to a full fledged fire in five minutes.

I remember talking to my father the day they closed down Scripps Ranch and his closing words to me were "Welcome to California!" I love my father.

Transportation

I just got back this afternoon from a weekend excursion to South-Central LA. And let me tell you I learned some very important lessons!

First, the "Coaster" and "Amtrak" may work together but you can't use the same ticket for them even if they're going to the same place.

Second, just because Amtrak titles a station "LAX" does not mean it is LAX. In fact the "LAX" Amtrak station is actually Union station which is at least 10 miles from the LAX airport. Thus when you get directions from LAX they are not the same as directions from Union station.

Third, Amtrak is really nice. The LA Metro subway/tram is not.

Fourth, I'm not scared of riding public transportation but I am a little wary of waiting for it.

And last I probably had very few fears in LA because I'm just too naive about what I was getting myself into. Also because once I was there I had the mindset that I had to follow through.

Eating Fast Food- Part 2

Locally based restaurant:
Jack In the Box
I'm wary of this establishment ever since the JitB near my family's former home in Colorado was shut down for not passing the food inspections after a rash of food poisonings.

Cool thing: they've added ordering Kiosks inside the store so now you can limit your time face to face with the pimply high school student to when you pick up your order. They also have recently redesigned their logo.

Slang- Part 3

I've heard so many people use this word, even one of my middle-aged teachers!

Thrash: Verb meaning to ruin; to tear to shreds; to take a beating. Usually referring to clothing but also to getting torn/beat up especially when surfing. "I totally thrashed my new jeans this weekend."

I just asked some friends to use it in a sentence. They're from Florida, Massachusetts and Nebraska. I got thrashed used as "tossed and turned," "drunk" and something about a farm machine. :D

Weather

There's this weird phenomenon here in California known as the Santa Ana winds. Every fall the winds shift randomly and instead of blowing off of the ocean from the West the wind blows in off of the rest of the US from the East. This Santa Ana wind is warmer than the ocean breeze and dries out everything! Thus we get the glorious fire season, wheee!!!

Slang- Part 2

I heard my co-worker use this beauty while talking about her brother's football team just the other day.

Juiced- adjective. Synonyms: pumped, pumped up, excited. Example: My little brother's team was so juiced that they won the game!

I personally would stay away from using this one especially when talking about sports teams. This slang leaves one with the connotation of steroid use if you've never heard it used before.

Eating Fast Food

Locally based restaurant:
Rubio's
A wonderful taco shop with a very fun decor. I enjoy the street tacos that do really remind me of the street tacos we got in Mexico when I was in high school. They also serve beer displayed in ice buckets in front of the registers. And their condiment bar is always stocked with fresh limes, lemons, cilantro & onions, pico de gallo and other salsas.

Cool facts: Most Rubio's serve Vanilla Coke. And a family friend of my told me he used to eat at the original Rubio's in Mission Beach when Ralph Rubio still cooked all the food.

Cooling off

It's been so hot these past few days thanks to those darn Santa Ana winds, that I was thinking about the first day I woke up in California. I thought it was pretty warm so I closed my window and asked my friend (whose house I was staying in) if the air conditioning was on. She laughed and said that they didn't have AC. Talk about a shock! You simply can't make it through the summer in Kansas unless you have AC. But in San Diego, especially near the coast, there are very few houses that have central air or a window air conditioner.

If you want electric cooling go shopping. Most stores have air conditioning so if you're too hot in SoCal go spend some money!

Food

Oh the delights of living near Mexico but still being in the US. Let me list them for you!

Carne Asada: Small chunks of beef usually marinated and seasoned.
Pollo Asado: Same as Carne Asada but chicken instead of beef.
Carne Asada Fries: Oh the yummy goodness! Fries piled with carne asada, sour cream, guacamole, cheese and pico de gallo! My favorite heart-attack for sale.
California Burrito: Basically the carne asada fries wrapped in a tortilla. The only difference, less fries.

Don't be fooled by the pictures if you decided to Google these fine foods. The book is so much better than the cover! If you're ever in the area try one of these out.

Slang- Part 1

I never thought I'd have to ask a friend what he was saying while speaking unaccented English. However I have indeed found myself saying "What?" many times since moving to SoCal.

My choice of slang today is the verb "to pound." When used in a sentence "Man, I'm going to go home and pound a burrito!" The verb "to pound" means to eat, often with connotations of eating quickly and without mercy; to eat in large bites; or to force one's face onto one's own food.

When this one came up in conversation and I asked "What?" I was given the exact same answer. I then had to explain that I understood that we were talking about eating but I wanted to know if there was a specific way "pounding" is done. I did not get an explanation but rather a demonstration!

Note to readers: Pounding is not particularly conducive to tasting and often can lead to choking. Do not try this at home!

Laziness

I had no idea how lazy Californians are until I borrowed a friend's car for a few weeks and went to clean it out. Did you know that there are virtually no do-it-yourself car washes? I found 3 in the phone book for San Diego Metro(population almost 3 million). As I wondered where I could go to vacuum out a vehicle I started to think about other things that Californians won't do themselves. One thing is they don't clean their own pools. They have pool guys to do it. How long does it take to clean a pool? Not that long, half an hour when it's really dirty. Another, gardening. Who hires someone else to cut and trim 10 yards of grass? Yes I understand that it might *seem* silly to buy a lawn mower for your itty bitty yard, but if you plan on having it for long I'm pretty sure it's worth the money you'd save.

Another thing with the greens subject: If you're in a desert and there's always a water restriction/warning why do you have plants that need loads of water? There's a better way. It's called xeriscaping and nature does it best. Use plants that don't need watered every day and that are more native to the area. Check it out here or here.

First Things First

The first thing I noticed when I landed in San Diego and got a ride to my new home was the landscape. For what ever reason in my mind coast=flat. However I found out seconds after landing that coast does not equal flat. As a matter of fact San Diego's coast has cliffs and hills and a little bit of flat for a few feet. Just look and see.

La Jolla

Black's Beach


Topography of Torrey Pines Beach

View Larger Map

I was wrong. So, so wrong.

Living in SoCal

So I moved from the good ol' Midwest (Kansas specifically) to San Diego over a year ago. I was surprised by a myriad of differences between the midwest and California but also between what I thought California was like and what it truly is like. Thus we have my contribution to society. I will expose the good and bad of the fabled SoCal! The Myth and Facts. And what you're missing out on if you never make it here.