We put the girl we adopted in a small private school associated with a church. It has about 15 kids per grade level. She benefits from the additional attention and reduced distractions/exposure to trouble. She also actually gets to participate in team sports where she would normally not make the team. It really helped her. It isn't expensive at all and is near where my wife works. We don't attend that church, either.

The current spike in housing costs is generally blamed on californians. (I have no data to back this up, and most people dont have any either, just my observation)

There is a general (usually jokingly) hatred towards californians.

You're ok in my book tho ;)

Don't be an ignit morAn

It just makes people SAD

Indeed, there is a bit of hostility towards transplants, though sometimes not as open as what you experienced. Sheesh.

G, I know you're concerned about your experience, but it seems to me like even if your EXACT expertise isn't EXACTLY the same at another company, you really seem to know what you're talking about in the IT realm and I'm sure could easily adapt to a new system, quickly becoming very valuable to your new employer. You might consider just setting up some interviews in other states. Go visit with companies, check out the areas. And if you get a job offer, you'll have an option, and you'll have had an experience to gauge your desire to move. If nothing else, maybe you'll find that you DO want to stay put after all.

Something else to keep in mind: even if you live far away, if a greater portion of your income becomes available for things OTHER THAN subsisting, you can afford to travel to Cali and see family and such. I feel like California is best experienced while visiting.

No question the bay area is crowded and expensive, and CA laws regarding fun things are stupid.

OTOH, for me the bay area is the place to be. Weather-wise I really don't want to live in any other state, and there is nowhere else in the world that offers the professional opportunities to me as a software guy that the bay area does. It's also very nice to have 3 (or 4 if you count Thunderhill West separately) top quality race tracks within 200 miles.

(Obviously this is G's thread and those are personal-to-me reasons which presumably don't apply much to him :) )

--Ian

...I did just have another rec pass through my email recently. Any interest in working at tektronix :)

^This. Now that we sold the second home up at the lake we will be traveling more. I got to take my daughter to Austria and Hungary this summer.
Do stuff.

Yep.
I take a vacation somewhere awesome every year. Most of the places that are really fun to visit are really difficult to actually live in.
Another list of pros for Indiana:
Monk
Joe Perez (close enough)
Concealer 404 (yes he is alive...In my basement)
Anymore pics of your car from when that tranny was driving?

Lol, just the one you sent :)

In other news, Operation: Pump & Dump - Phase 1 is complete.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...48ed058a49.jpg

Phase 2 is delivery tomorrow.

I only managed to spill fuel on one of my shoes and one side of the engine compartment, so I'll check it for leaks tomorrow when the light is better. Gauge reads under 1/4 tank so I'm happy :)

Dont worry about moving somewhere cold. You'll get used to it by the 2nd year.

LOL that is so true!!! I got a bunch of thermal underwear and heavy jackets etc the first winter i came to Indiana, ended up not using afterthat first winter

Plus, there are actually a lot of really fun things to do in the winter.
You'll probably die the first time you drive in the snow though.
I've seen how your kind handles the rain, and it ain't pretty.

Cxracer and gesso are instigators ;) They found a guy selling a set of nearly new v2 RS3 for $300 with 2 track days on them. I'm trying to decide if it's worth picking them up to replace my ancient v1 set. Is a newish set of 225/9 RS3v2 going to be subjectivly better than a 4 year old set of 8 or 9 track day 205/8 NT-01s? Does it even matter?

Bleh. I drive the car so little it almost feels like a waste to buy more tires that I'm not going to use.

Ye olde Optima Red Top is showing 11.9VDC at rest. Methinks it would be prudent to have it spend some time on the charger today.

Well, that was fun :) I managed to keep it shiny side up and didn't blow anything up so really, I have nothing to complain about. The TSE radiator is a champ and I had zero issues with coolant temp. Oil temp on the other hand... that needs to be addressed. I did notice that my main harness had detached from the PPF and was dangerously close to dragging, so I sat a session out while I got under the car and zip tied it back up in place. I did find some oil under the car while I was down there, and I suspect I may be loosing a tiny bit of oil through what I assume is the rear main. I've got oil on the transmission but nothing in front of the bellhousing to block interface. That's annoying but not life threatening. With the current state of my valve stem seals I would not be surprised if I was getting a wee bit of pressure in the crankcase.

Once again, the car is much faster than the driver. It pulls like a god damn freight train when I put my foot in it, so much so that I really need to be careful that I don't overshoot other drivers when accelerating. I haven't pulled the video off the gopro yet but racechrono tells the story. I had a lot of fun just playing follow along shooting video of @gesso and @Cxracer but when I went out to do my own business I found it difficult to get point-bys. Unlike some other people I'm not willing to push by a (possible) novice driver and put them out of their comfort zone just to get a pass, but when the overtake speed going up hill is 30+mph you just need to give the point. The C group on Sunday was a lot more fun than D on Saturday, and I dropped 40 seconds a lap just by changing to a group with faster cars who are more willing to give the point-bys when needed. I never really got what I could consider a "clean" lap, but then this is not a competition. HPDE is NOT srs business. I'm consistently holding juuuuust a shade over 100mph through start/finish where I loose my cool and start to back off, so that's much better than last year, and I'm holding 1.3 lateral G through turn 5, where last year it was like 0.9. I'm definitely getting more comfortable with the car, I just need to get out and DRIVE THE FUCKING THING MORE!

I've got bruises on my back on the right side about 5" below my armpit where I push into the seat in corners, and my hands are also a mess from the deathgrip on the steering wheel. No gloves and the stock polished leather NB steering wheel makes for a less than optimal combination.

I feel like there are a lot of little things that need to be addressed, but nothing catastrophic. I took no pictures of my car at the event so you'll just have to go visit the The Officially Unofficial MT.net Miatas @ MRLS Meetup Thread and see if you can find any ;)

Sweet G. I have already told Ms Mobius that next year I am finally making this event. Can't wait to see your mochine and go for a ride.

You dropped 40 seconds? That's a parade lap train. Ouch.

Oh yah, I forgot you have video of me hooning around the track in front of you. I didn't bother to bring the GoPro and if I had made a honest video highlight reel of the weekend half of it would be pictures of my car on jack stands or me crawling in the engine bay while cursing.

I do appreciate the help of my friends to get me on the track for at least 2/3rds of my session time!

I haz corkscrew pics of all of you.

Next time I'll bring inconel tape.

Next time I'll bring spare couplers and a lovered hood! I owe you a replacement roll of silicon tape.

G - I expect to see professionally edited video posted from you shortly:party: