teuast

that is also how it's always been explained to me

It could be better. I'm in the Bay Area, which has some areas that are cool and some areas that are not so cool. And my workplace is in one of the areas that is not cool, by which I mean rich, heavily suburbanized, relatively conservative, and like six miles from the nearest Bart station. And in order to make biking there remotely feasible, I have to live over the hill from Oakland, where nothing cool happens. If I had had the good sense to apply to one of my employer's locations in a place that wasn't a massive fucking pain in the ass to get to, I'd be having a much better time right now.

I ride my gravel bike anywhere from 5 to 25 miles before work, depending on how early I get out the door and whether or not my bike is broken. 1. I get around by bike, so the 5 is the bare minimum and 25 is for when I get out the door with two hours to spare and can really get down and dirty with some dirt, and 2. I literally broke my crankset on Thursday while trail riding before work.

Weirdly, off the bike, the latte describes me the best, right down to the unexpected tattoo, but I actually drink water most frequently.

since he was 14?

Also, the very next line in Hey There Delilah is "I'd walk to you if I had no other way."

In terms of pianos and keyboards, maybe, but those also aren't overlooked, they're broadly considered among the best you can get. They own Bosendorfer now too, btw. Drums are just fuckin expensive in general, and most drummers I think you'll talk to are generally aware of them along with the likes of Pearl and DW.

You might be talking about guitars and basses, which would be fair, most people don't associate Yamaha with guitars and basses. The thing is, the most expensive non-signature Pacifica currently in production is like $750 and comes with Duncan pickups and a Wilkinson trem. And even the Revstars, which are out of my price range, come in quite a ways under comparable Gibsons.

thanks, that's my band name now

i also have no kids or desire for kids, and not much of this, other than being able to sleep

Coal rolling was bad for the environment. So they outlawed a large amount of car tuning. This causes damage to the car culture and a good hobby for a large number of citizens.

the "downside" you state is actually a benefit to society

Water, being a limited resource in California, made it finable to water your lawn or wash your car in a drought, even though farming and business use 96% of total water usage. Normal people water usage isn’t going to solve the problem

i do agree that agricultural and business uses are a bigger deal than lawns or car washing in terms of water use, and the fact that almonds are farmed in california is a goddamn travesty, to name but one example. however, lawns cause or exacerbate way more problems to a much greater extent than you probably realize, and reducing how many of them we have, ideally in favor of local ecology if not just denser land use patterns, is a much greater benefit than you're giving it credit for. california's zoning codes have also been improving in this regard, though they're still... not great. point is that i do agree with you that that policy doesn't focus where it's really needed, but it's also not as useless as you think.

Gun policies that dont allow suppressors, short barrel rifles, etc, but in reality, the vast majority of gun crime and accidents are all based around handguns.

a fair critique, but also, far fewer californians per capita die to gun violence vs. the national average. i'm sure other factors play into that, but it certainly isn't evidence that the policy hasn't helped.

now, i'll give you two examples of my own. early in governor gavin's term, he was given a bill called "complete streets" that would have dramatically improved pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure throughout the whole state, and he vetoed it. and that sucked major ass. but then he went ahead and signed sb50, which forces all municipalities in the state to build some actual goddamn housing, and specifically dense housing near transit. and i'm a huge fan of that. san jose has really jumped on it with gusto and has actually had their average rent drop somewhat, although the bill is still relatively new and its benefits aren't likely to really be felt for a while yet. my main criticism here is how tons of the cities here are so nimbyed out the ass that it took the state government's intervention to do literally anything about the housing crisis.

there is much to critique about california, but not all california critiques are created equal.

Crazy expensive: yes.

Californians are annoying and elitist: well, a disproportionate number of annoying and elitist rich people live here, but I think they give the rest of us an undeserved bad name. That is my personal opinion and not a definitive, objective statement of fact, but I feel like I have a decent read on it as a lifelong Californian.

Has big social problems in cities: name me one state that doesn't.