trinacriabob

Yep, Oregon = granola, in every way. If you like "walking on eggshells" in every which way, it's a great place to live. If you don't, not so much.

Happy birthday, guys. (Feb 9, for me, will always be the day of the first major earthquake I experienced - this was the big Sylmar quake in LA prior to the even more severe Northridge quake). Never mind, enjoy your day!

anticipation (can't wait for summer)

combination

expensive camera

Correct, Sacramento suffers from a huge inferiority complex, as do a lot of inland towns. It's mostly those in the coastal metros that do the "highbrow" thing - "oh, so you live in (insert name of inland Ca city)....hmmmm" One way to split either a Bay Area or Sacto commute is to live toward Napa/Fairfield. It's under 60 miles to either. Still, that's far. Disagree on the OC comment...most all of CA is kind of brownish, except when the hills are "John Steinbeck" green during the well-defined rainy season, at which point they are stunning. Even the Sierras are brown/gray looking at aerial maps of the US. If BV were to move in CA, he would probably be unhappy in one of the less expensive inland towns such as a Sacto, Fresno or the Inland Empire (San Bernardino/Riverside). It's very tough right now to "have your cake and eat it, too" in California, even with the declining home prices.

Moltie, see my post immediately above. Though not particularly horsepowerish, I am an ardent fan of the Olds 260 because it shared Rocket V8 hardware yet was very, very quiet. I loved that engine.

Ponch, did Chevy make this engine for Chevrolet use and at a time when BOP was converting large cars over to front wheel drive? It seems I recall a 4.3 V8 by Chevy in the early 80s (Monte Carlo RWD, etc) that displaced 267 cubic inches. Is that the one? The only reason I say this is because the Olds 4.3 V8 numbered 260 cubic inches and the Pontiac 4.3 V8 numbered 265 cubic inches. About the engine you refer to above (L99), is it one that had longevity? Any weird stuff like camshaft lobes prematurely wearing (thinking Chevy 305s of the late 70s/early 80s)?

Where? Just curious. There are 2 million people and it covers 4 counties. It goes from Davis (puke) in the West to the Sierra foothill towns in the East.

Montreal (one of the coolest cities in the world)

Aretha Franklin

consensus

claustrophobia

many (so many cheap broads out there...I speak the truth)

Family friends who lived in Rancho Mirage and Palm Springs said the enormous inland Coachella Valley (desert) essentially sits on top of a big aquifer. Never checked out any geo maps, but I've heard this other times.

tramp stamp

C'mon, Croc, you live here now. Glance at the "pie chart" of the budget spent on social services, corrections and (not necessarily) productive education and you will see that (1) it's no value added, and (2) it's financed on a "credit card." She is a small part, but definitely a part, of California's ugly woes. California's economic and attitudinal health had generally been fueled by a great distribution of wealth and quality of life, across almost all sectors of society. The middle class has been proportionately more squeezed here and the rich/poor canyon has widened. The curtain on the California Dream seems to be coming down slowly. My 2 cents.

frightening

Where is that, PCS? It's prettier than you are!

cheap

One of the few times we agree. Is Armageddon near?

Oh my God...we are the most obnoxious people on the planet, aren't we? (Before I turned on the sound, I thought it was a Frenchy joke).

It's ok to "cheat" and do the trash thing every now and then - a pig trough dessert, a highly caloric pasta dish, and stuff like that. It makes it easier to keep the healthy regimen in check. I'm now within 10 lbs. of my chart height/weight and I look forward to "cheat day" or a Lake Tahoe buffet every couple of months.

No, they think they're superior...but, I agree, I think they're jealous. Plus, they can be too PC and tightly wound compared to the SoCal mindset...I don't resonate with the "gotta love everybody" Berkeley mentality. So you must have been making some change to be living in Danville...

nose