Thoughts on California

[MrDan]

So I'm in LA for business and had a few thoughts.

1.  If you've ever played GTA:SA, you'll feel right at home driving in LA.  At least in the LAX/Marina Del Rey/Culver City area.  I kept feeling the temptation to run people over.  No stars for me though 

2.  There are a lot of bicycles around here.  I walked down to Venice Beach and they were everywhere.

3.  "Wish they all could be Californina girls" is a misleading song.  Everyone here looks like they've had too much bad plastic surgery or need some.

4.  Lane splitting - weird to actually see in practice.  I guess I always knew it happened but to see it in front of you and NOT have cars pissed off, honking, and yelling ... that was odd.

5.  Do they hand out Posches to the middle cage men?  Must be some state sponsored thing - why else would there be more Porshes than anything other than bicycles.

6.  Any place you walk on a pier, watch surfers, and see someone catch a little shark AND some weird bony scary looking fish ,.. is ... uhh california I guess.

7.  If you come to LA, remember to reserver your Shelby GT-H before you get here.  Else you get stuck with a normal Mustang Convertible ... (company's paying so why not avoid the Taurus).  The GT-H is rather nice in person ... not quite a true Shelby GT ... but the best you can rent I guess.

I'll report what I see when I get to San Diego tomorrow.  Should have brought my San Andreas map .. much better than the crap Hertz gave me.

[pandy]

  I grew up in Los Angeles. It doesn't sound as though things have changed much.

[MrDan]

So I just walked across the street to get lunch (for those who care, my company just bought Trizec - we own the Howard Hughes Complex among other things).

Guy I was with was commenting that the drivers here suck and don't pay attention.  As he was saying this, we watched a guy in a car reverse in to a pedestrian crossing the street behind his parked car.  Almost knocked him down .... wtf

[pantablo]

I'm just north of you in santa monica (the south end). porsche's are like civics on the west side of L.A. All of L.A. isnt like that. this is where the money is. Come to my neighborhood and you'll see Ford GT's and Porsche Carerra GT's...more than one in the same day. The Bentley coupe's seem to be a dime a dozen here too-they must be doing a special on lease terms...

[arcsecond]

I keep seeing Lotus Elises in Hollyweird. All the Bentleys I see are always somewhere in Beverly Hills. Having a fancy car is such a big thing in LA for some reason. And no one can actually afford the car they drive either. (Except for me, I've got the lowly Scion xA)

Scariest car I've seen though was the bright pink Hummer up on monster truck wheels.

-James

[Codger]

Prefer NoCal to SoCal

[94suzuki500]

I traveld through Brea this summer, the LA area.  Got to do some lane splitting there with an sv with pelican cases.  I hit the mirrors of two f350's that were next to each other.  I pretended I didnt notice...It was weird, they all made a path when they saw a bike behind them.  Awesome but scary, sure dont want to do it very much though.

[The Buddha]

Yea CA is like that, LA worse than NorCal, but the freaking .com crap left a wide swath of 1,000,000 bills there ...
In any case Porsche's are the best ... their balance of power and handling and weight distribution and brakes and driver focus in the design are just in comparable ... when you're sitting in traffic.
Lane splitting - Norcal-lers are much better, Traffic in norcal is bottle neck driven. As in your 30 mile commute will be usually be at 50-70 mph, except for 8-10 intersection based bottle necks. there you'd have back up's get through them and its full speed to the next. So cal is just volume based. Just way too many cars on the damn highway.
I hate the rain grooves though ...
Cool.
Srinath.

[CirclesCenter]

Livin it up at the Hotel California.

Such a lovely place...

[pantablo]

Livin it up at the Hotel California.

Such a lovely place...

http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qscr=dspv&flag=l&itid=&itdx=&itty=&from=f&foop=0&hwrq=&htid=150962&spsh=&spsi=&crti=4&nfla=1&mdpcid=21187-1.ExpediaHotelImagesUS|+Hotel_ReviewThumbnail|+freesearch|+US&&zz=1161144846571&

its halfway between my office and house....

[calamari]

At 10% of its original size (click on it to download the 6000x6000 pixel zipped image  )

[MrDan]

Prefer NoCal to SoCal

Was supposed to hit all the SF and San Mateo offices .. but that got cancelled .. maybe next time   I have college friends there too

Oh - tonight it was all Aston Martins and weirdos walking around slamming flag poles on the ground and screaming ... gotta love Venice Beach

[MrDan]

At 10% of its original size (click on it to download the 6000x6000 pixel zipped image  )

hahahahh awesome thanks

[pantablo]

At 10% of its original size (click on it to download the 6000x6000 pixel zipped image )

that downloading was fckd up. I dont know what the hell that is but its definitely not the west side...

[calamari]

that is GTA: SA map.

the download works (I uploaded it). Click link - select "free" - wait a few seconds for 'ticket' - type the captcha code - click 'download' button. (just tested the download and it works)

[Jake D]

Where in the f*ck do people get them money to afford real estate out there AND a nice car?

So you buy a house in LA that would cost you $230,000 in KC.  Except in LA it costs you $900,000.   Then you buy car that costs six figures? 

I bet people get interest only loans on their homes and lease the shaZam! out of those cars.  If I had a time machine, I'd go back about 40 years and buy a shaZam! load of two bedroom bungalows in LA then make about $870,000 profit on each of them today. 

[pantablo]

there's also a LOT of movie/entertainment money here.  Many of my clients have the big house and SEVERAL of those cars...

[MrDan]

Ok - drove to San Diego today.

1.  Grooved concrete highways suck in cars ... bikes must hate them.

2.  If you're gonna wreck here, it's BAAAAD.  Like total 3 cars it's a wonder noone died bad.  Saw a few of those on the way down.  No fender benders yet.

3.  San Diego is really hilly.  If you want to learn how to work a manual or a bike ... move to San Diego and drive for 20 minutes.

4.  I think I went for over an hour without seing a single sign in English ... on 405 and 5 (I think).  Everything is San or Las or Via or Vista.  Oh .. except where it actually says EXIT.

5.  Legoland is not too far north, there's the Zoo, and Mexico is about 30 min away.  Guess where I'm headed as soon as I hit Post.

6.  Venice Beach has roughly 75 head shops, 60 tattoo parlors, and 2 pubs that server imported beer that had to cross the Atlantic instead of the Rio Grande.  Oh, and guys wearing way too little clothing at muscle beach.

7.  It seems like California votes on 200 propositions each election.  Must be nice to actually have a say unlike anywhere else I've ever lived.

8.  When the parking spot says "Sports Cars Only" ... don't pull your Mustang convertible in before you put the top up.  I hope Hertz doesn't notice the scrapes

That's it for now.  Maybe I'll add my international thoughts later.

[pandy]

If you HAVE any international thoughts after your visit down south, then you've NOT had enough tequila! 

[pandy]

Hmmmm....we haven't heard from him in a while...think he's sittin' in a Mexican jail somewhere?