Tag Archives: california

32 of 365: Woman’s Guide to Real Estate

8 Sep

32 of 365: Woman's Guide to Real Estate

Sans the title… this seems like a great read…
I grabbed it at Marshall’s today for under $5.00…
I noticed it about 10 minutes after we had a conversation concerning the very subject…

RealtyTrac.com is your friend…And from what I can see, there’s LOTS of foreclosures. I remember a few months ago, Incog sent over an article on CNN about those people who were in foreclosure damaging the homes that they were leaving because they were so upset at the situation. Granted there were people who were nice enough to do any damage to the home when they left, but there were quite a few who weren’t that nice.

Watching House Hunters and My First Home makes me want to move down south or north…..or north east. Nothing is as bad as California is right now, other than NY.

I wonder how Barak is gonna affect the economy…
And how long it’s going to take…lol

Eh well…Happy Monday

HorseBack Riding – 2 More Days

25 Jan

Desktop Screenshot per Jorge

Desktop

It seems as we get closer and closer to moving (the job), the more traffic there is every morning and every night. Somehow, my 1.5 hour drive to work has turned into 1.75 hours. Something must have happened after the new year. God, we have to get out of California.

I didnt go to cycling this morning. I ended up going to sleep around 12am and when the alarm went off at 7am, I wasnt even thinking about a bike, or about gym shoes. :thumbsdown: All I could think was, “Please God…just 20 more minutes”.

Brokeback Mountain

I’ve heard SO many things about this movie, so much so that I JUST had to edit this post to change the name that I wrote at the top. Somehow, I wrote BAREback Mountain. I blame Incog. I’ve heard so many BAD things about this movie, that I actually want to go see it, just to see the BAD things for myself. When browsing Yahoo Movies, Incog noticed that people either gave it an F or they gave it an A/B. There wasnt really an inbetween. I did however notice that there were a lot of registrations to the yahoo site and a lot of “A” ratings given in order to boost the ratings…:thumbsdown:

Here are some of the reviews from Yahoo Movies:
Typical reality tv movie for shock value (F)
by love_movies_34 (movies profile) Dec 11, 2005
192 of 832 people found this review helpful
The scenary is beautiful, but the movie moves along like your typicaly reality tv shock and awe. This is a movie about infidelity, lies, and shock value. The shock value is that it’s about gay people which really isn’t that shocking now a days. Hollywood should give us a break already and make a compelling story instead of trying to put shock value on everything. If you love reality tv, then this movie is for you. If you’re looking for a heartfelt movie then rent Terms of Endearment.

Bad movie (F)
by christiejhunter (movies profile) Dec 20, 2005
124 of 395 people found this review helpful

Not the kind of movie to promote by any means.
I did not enjoy it, and found it to be sad that the concept of leaving behind your family and abandoning your children and promises in order to have, what is nothing more than an affair with a former flame, is somehow “good” simply because its a gay lover! this is a very bad message.

im gay (F)
by gayisfungay (movies profile) Dec 14, 2005
151 of 648 people found this review helpful
but i think this movie is horrible!!!! ARghh! It reinforces the idea that gays have no morals. These characters lie and cheat. It makes it look like that is the way all gays are! And it makes me sick!!

In any case, maybe I’ll be able to talk Incog into going. *We’re currently discussing how much I hate BEETS.* Things are good Business Wise, Thank God. If it wasnt for the Business, I dont think I’d have extra “play around” money for the weekends. Website

A video for laughs:
:camera:Trunk Monkey
Welp…Have a good Thursday! Stay Blessed! :wave:

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Cars and Snowboards

14 Jan

Friday, January 13th, 2005

I ordered my first grad school book. :pissed: *falls over backwards* I might have to go to the library from now on and copy some pages. I keep telling myself that it will be good to have the book for when I start writing my thesis, whenever that will be.

Saturday, January 14th, 2005

We woke up rather early today and drove out to Gardena to see Incog’s dad. Then we headed to the LA Auto Show. God, it was so packed. And I never realized how RUDE people can be. Not one were people bumping into eachother without saying excuse me, but people were rushing in front of people to see cars that werent going to be moving for another week and a half, and one guy had the NERVE to BURP in my EAR. :sick: I just dont understand it. :wtf: I dont remember people being that rude last year. Or there being that many people, for that matter. Maybe we DO need to get out of California…move to one of the northern states…cause southern california is getting too…uh, run down. And I’ll leave that at that. Too many people, too many cars…just…TOO MUCH. I’m considering a weekend trip to Portland to see what it’s like in that area. Anything will be better than THIS, at this point.

I got my parking pass today from CSUN. I opted to purchase a parking pass instead of trying to scramble for street parking in the evening, although I did hear that it wasnt so bad. When I was at USC, I had a parking pass, but I still managed to rack up about $2,000 in parking tickets my senior year. Sorry Mom. :uhh: It was to the point where I would go into the Transportation Department and they would know my name…AND my car, being that it had spoiledRHOtten written on the rear window and RHOTTEN on the license plate. It was too ridiculous to dispute, so they just GAVE me a parking pass for the last two months after we had spent so much. :surprised: I dont want to go down that road again.

It’s hard to believe that classes are starting in a week. I mean…I’m gonna be in Grad School. Something that I didnt think I would WANT to do after four difficult years at USC. But alas, I’ve set some rigorous goals and I intend to meet them, not just for me…but for me and incog and any offspring. *giggle* That sounded so weird.

Right now, we’re trying to decide whether or not we want to go snowboarding tonight from 5pm to 10pm. It’s 29°s and I have to get some gear…*sigh*. We need to go to REI. Alright…must go tinkle. There’s nothing like having to go when it’s 30 °s outside and your legs feel like they’re going to freeze off.

Be back with pictures later…..

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aaahhhh monday…

9 Jan

IMG 0848 400 aaahhhh monday...Thanks to a coworker and Lonny, I might have an OUT to this Bally’s situation. I’m so happy. I was also able to wake up at 5 this morning and hit LAFitness. *pat on back* I refuse to be grouped with folks. Im gonna lose weight FOR ME if it kills me.

As the month of January progresses I’m starting to realize what I KNEW all along. Some folks are just…instigators for real.

  • Just because someone peed in YOUR cheerios, does NOT mean that I’m going to let YOU pee in MINE.

The part that sucks most about it is that they try to act dumb when you mention the obvious. :pissed: I’m glad that I set my resolutions for 2006. Folks are making it real easy to follow them. But alas, I AM in the grown-up world… the world of money making… and responsibility. I promised myself that I would leave that other crap alone. And I will.
Some folks are just cut and dry. Get mad. Cut you off. You say your peace. You do your thing, I do mine. It’s whatever. It’s not like they pay YOUR bills.
Soooo, in this case…I’ll do my cordialities…and move along. Besides…things are GREAT in my world, aint no need to front for those watching, on this end. :thumbsup:

thumb nijrelljr aaahhhh monday...OMGeeze….isnt my nephew the cutest? I promise, I’m gonna plot to drive to Arizona to steal him. This is the latest picture I have, cause some folks are stingy…lol. You betta watch out Erika! Love you!

PS. I need to start planning that trip, don’t I? I’m slow…i know.

HOMES IN CALIFORNIA

It’s becoming increasingly clear that Incog and I might need to move out of California to get what we want. We subscribed to RealtyTrac this weekend to look at some houses. They list a lot of forclosures and new homes for sale. A lot of the listings didnt have pictures, but we did see ONE that we liked. I’m gonna be doing some more research as the months progress…

Arizona is hot…and that seems to be the only downfall. I’ll be closer to Erika which will be great…but then again, I’ll be farther from Christal. lol I already told her I’d fly her to come see me whereever we move. BFFL! *takin it back to high school for a minute…lol*

*sigh* Where ever it is, it wont be TOO far from California…family comes first…and I must say that I group my best friends in that family group. You’re right, April…TRUE friends are few. Speaking of which, I had a good convo with my spec today…we talk everyday throughout the day, but today was good…sometimes you need someone smart to explain the dumb people. Graduate for real, before you come at me! *inside joke* :rofl:

Welp…that’s been my Monday so far…hope you guys have a good Tuesday!

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Chatsworth Ablaze…

30 Sep

I’m not sure if any of you who are in California are following, or anywhere else for that matter, but the nearby hills of Chatsworth has been on fire for about 3 days now.

I got a voicemail from a friend on Wednesday saying that the 118 Freeway was closed. That’s pretty close to where I live. I figured eh…118 or 405..doesnt really matter. Those two freeways have been the death of me for the past year. There’s always something going on.

Later that night, I got a call from Incog saying that the hills by his job were on fire..and that they’d been watching the fires since about 2pm that day. He asked me if I wanted to come out and see. It was about 9pm, so I figured, why not? I’ve never seen a fire before.

19720745 Chatsworth Ablaze...

19720746 Chatsworth Ablaze...

19723791 Chatsworth Ablaze...

19727727 Chatsworth Ablaze...

Chatsworth is a REALLY nice area. If you continue up into the hills, there are some REALLY beautiful/massive homes. Homes in the area start at about $500,000 and work their way up to the high Millions of dollars. I feel blessed to be able to live even 10 minutes away.

As we drove through the streets towards Chatsworth, we realized that there were a lot of people who had the same thoughts we did. They were driving around the hills watching the hills. It was quite spectacular, and yet…a reality check all the same. Outside, you could see people standing in front of their homes praying that the fire would not reach them. You could see the look of horror on their faces. It was a flashback of the 2003 Chatsworth Fires. Only this one seemed much larger and much faster. There were those who were watching about 2 miles away, using binoculars. When the night sky is lit up like that, everyone wants to have a front row seat. Policeman were blocking off streets to keep people from driving up too far and too close to the front lines.

Do you think it’s a coincidence that there are now Hurricanes and Fires? I don’t….I think God’s trying to make a statement. But I think his statement will reach different people in different ways.

I question the REAL value of homes in California. Property values have been skyrocketing since 2003. There was the great “I want to be a real estate agent” boom. I remember a lot of acquaintances saying that they were going to be getting their licenses. It’s never been my thing…sales. I guess I’m wondering if it’s really worth it to stay in California with property values rising all over the place.

The “American Dream” of having a home with a picket fence and sending your children to private school is looking bleak. Or is that just MY “American Dream”. Maybe I’ll have a really nice home and just send my children to public school since it’ll be cheaper. Or maybe I’ll rent a home, and send my children to private school and splurge once they get to college.

It seems like thoughts like this should wait…but…there’s hurricanes and fires happening here folks. Excuse me for being a little concerned about my future and the future of my offspring.

As we headed towards the roof of the mall parking lot, with every turn, i started to think more and more. By the time we had reached the top, thoughts were flying through my mind as if racing the fires that were speeding 5 miles away.

I have to PASS this GRE with flying colors.

Because if I dont, I wont be able to get into the grad school, i wont be able to earn my masters, and I wont be able to get a good job. If I dont get a good job, then I wont be able to put my kids through private school, and if I cant put my kids through private school…I DAMN sure wont be able to pay for that home on the hill…you know, the one that will be engulfed with all of the flames?

I woke up this morning to tons of ASH and debris on my car. It’s hard to breathe, and they’ve issued a health warning for chatsworth and the surrounding cities. The freeway smells like….Fire, and Fumes, and the color of the smog happens to be DARKER than normal.

I hope and pray that many of the people in Chatsworth who are living THEIR American Dream wont be affected by the spreading fires. I hope that my friend who is a firefighter, will be safe and remember to call on the Lord for guidance and awareness.

Have a Blessed Weekend you guys…

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They Got What they Asked For?

8 Sep

I guess I was just sitting here thinking…WHO voted for this asshole….And then I did some research and I found a few sites stating that people in Louisiana “got what they asked for”….meaning: they voted for Bush and so now they have to WAIT for him to respond.

So I did some research into it..because i was curious to know WHAT states voted for WHO? Because I never really looked into it. I found a website that did an IQ/Politics analysis….I’m posting it below. Please feel free to comment.

HOWEVER: DO NOT THINK THAT I agree THAT THE TITLE IS TRUE. I DO NOT CARE WHO VOTED FOR BUSH. THESE PEOPLE NEED HELP. DO NOT GET ME TWISTED. This is merely a “what do you think?”….”what are your thoughts on what other folks are saying”?

IQs and Politics

FROM: http://chrisevans3d.com/files/iq.htm

Wow, what can I say, in the first 24 hours over 540,000+ people viewed this page! I originally posted this to a few friends on a forum, using information from a list just like this created after the 2000 election. The list was carried by the St. Petersburg Times and the Economist, amongst others. The IQ data was originally attributed to the book “IQ and the Wealth of Nations”, though I checked and couldn’t find them in the current edition, I had posted saying such at the bottom of the table. The tests and data were said to have been administered via the Raven’s APT, and The Test Agency, one of the UK’s leading publishers and distributors of psychometric tests.

I have recently been emailed by someone claiming to have seen a retraction many issues later on the behalf of the Economist Magazine. The Economist could not independently verify the IQ data and the retraction can be found here. I have yet to find any retractions from the St. Petersburg Times or other publications. Here you can find a report correlating IQ and income, and their relation to how people voted in the 2004 election. This IQ data is based on SAT/ACT test scores.
Here you can see the correlation between percentage of college graduates in a state and whom they voted for in the 2000 election.

I think matching census data to the results of the election reveals some very interesting things. For instance, there is a direct correlation that has been pointed out by the Boston Globe between the divorce rate per state, and who they voted for, as it turns out, the higher the percentage of people voting for Bush, the higher the divorce rate. That is very interesting considering many people voted based on ‘values’ and ‘morality’. I am still scratching my head about that one, I was a ‘values voter’ as well, though I value honesty, compassion, and human life.

I am glad that so many people are so interested in IQ, statistical correlations, and their relation to politics. I believe such correlations are increasingly interesting as some candidates this year funneled more money into biased advertising and partisan propaganda than has ever been attempted in the history of the world.

  State Avg. IQ 2004
1 Connecticut 113 Kerry
2 Massachusetts 111 Kerry
3 New Jersey 111 Kerry
4 New York 109 Kerry
5 Rhode Island 107 Kerry
6 Hawaii 106 Kerry
7 Maryland 105 Kerry
8 New Hampshire 105 Kerry
9 Illinois 104 Kerry
10 Delaware 103 Kerry
11 Minnesota 102 Kerry
12 Vermont 102 Kerry
13 Washington 102 Kerry
14 California 101 Kerry
15 Pennsylvania 101 Kerry
16 Maine 100 Kerry
17 Virginia 100 Bush
18 Wisconsin 100 Kerry
19 Colorado 99 Bush
20 Iowa 99 Bush
21 Michigan 99 Kerry
22 Nevada 99 Bush
23 Ohio 99 Bush
24 Oregon 99 Kerry
25 Alaska 98 Bush
26 Florida 98 Bush
27 Missouri 98 Bush
28 Kansas 96 Bush
29 Nebraska 95 Bush
30 Arizona 94 Bush
31 Indiana 94 Bush
32 Tennessee 94 Bush
33 North Carolina 93 Bush
34 West Virginia 93 Bush
35 Arkansas 92 Bush
36 Georgia 92 Bush
37 Kentucky 92 Bush
38 New Mexico 92 Bush
39 North Dakota 92 Bush
40 Texas 92 Bush
41 Alabama 90 Bush
42 Louisiana 90 Bush
43 Montana 90 Bush
44 Oklahoma 90 Bush
45 South Dakota 90 Bush
46 South Carolina 89 Bush
47 Wyoming 89 Bush
48 Idaho 87 Bush
49 Utah 87 Bush
50 Mississippi 85 Bush

 

FRIDAY!

12 Aug

IMG 2355 210c FRIDAY!IMG 2369 210c FRIDAY!

It’s FRIDAY scoochies!! :razz:

OMG…you dont know how long i’ve been waiting..the week has been good, but it felt like it was going kinda slow….:surprised: Anyhow, yesterday was good. I went to my Dr’s appointment and everything was fine until..

*bitch moment*

ALRIGHT, so i got a letter in the mail last week saying my medical group will be “inactive” as of August 1st. I didnt think anything of it….until i remembered i had an appt. with a specialist and i had received the referall through this now inactive group. :duh: So i wrote a note to myself to remember to talk to the specialist about it. So when i got to my appointment yesterday, they were asking me if i was going to pay with cash. And of course i was like…UHH…NEGATIVE..that’s what my HMO is for. And they were like, we dont have any of that in our records.. I was like, well, I got a referall from *medical group name* and emailed it to you right after i set up the appointment. And they were like….”OH NO!”…..

*blank stare*

WHY is my specialist *and the other doctors who had filed into the room* saying “OH NO!”….

They proceed to go on and tell me that the group is inactive as of last week and that they just received a notice not to accept any more patients that had been referred through that group “PENDING”….

I’m like…PENDING WHAT? :wtf: *drove two hours to get here and you want me to just….WAIT NOW, the FUGG am i paying for an HMO??*

They FURTHER let me know that the DR. that i went to….well, his office was burned down TWO DAY AGO. ALL OF HIS RECORDS FOR ALL OF HIS PATIENTS ARE GONE.

*blank stare*

So they were like, you might have to pick up the fees and see if Blue Cross will reimburse you later through Claims. Or you can wait and reschedule.

*thinking* I just drove all the way out here on the 4-FUGGIN-0-5. And you want me to turn around and make another appointment. :loser: “I’ll Pay the Fees”

So eventually, the other Drs left and we continued with the appointment *which went well by the way*. A little later, one of the Drs that was in the office talking with us before, came in and said that she had found my referall letter and done some research and found out that It was okay and that BlueCross would still pay the fees. All i would have to do is call and make sure that they switch me over to *insert the group name they liked here* and everything would be fine.

Appointment continued, wrapped up…few reminders as i was walking out to “make sure i changed groups ASAP”…so i decided to do that as soon as i got in the car.

SO I GOT IN THE CAR. And called Blue Cross of California and explained what was going on. The :loser: on the other end tells me, that even though my primary care physician is no longer active and his office building *along with all the OTHER drs in that group* has burned down….I’m still stuck in the group until September 1st when i will be added to the group I requested.

*blank stare* *questions running through my mind*

1. So if i get sick between now and September1st, who do i go to?
2. If i need to talk to someone about something, who do i go to?
3. If i have to see a doctor and they have to perform some type of operation, WHO THE FUGG IS GONNA PAY?

So these questions start pouring out of my mouth…and the lady on the other end doesnt know how to answer them. She calls her supervisor to help her. *thinking – YEAH, you BETTER get some help…paying ya’ll TOO MUCH for you to tell me there’s nothing i can do*

So the supervisor looks up the group and does some research and tells me that even though the group and the DR are no longer active, i can go to the hospital out there if i need anything. *thinking – WHAT? so i can go through all of this look/see/find out with them too??* SMH

*toss my hands up*

I respond with “what are your names?”
They tell me.
I respond with “Is my new group setup?”
They say “Yes”.
I respond with “You better hope i un have to go through any type of drama, *name here* and *name here*. This setup is SHOTTY. I pay too much to have to worry about whether or not I’m going to be covered.”
*click*

Besides all that…my day went pretty good….incog cooked as you can see above. :couple: It was good to come home from the gym and not have to worry about what i was gonna fix. Especially because it probably wouldh ave been a bowl of cereal. :hug:

Anyhow, I see mom tomorrow *as you can see by the calendar on the right*.
Have a blessed weekend you guys! :pray: Happy Friday!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

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