Some Myths and Maybe Some Truths about Californians

I have become incredibly tired of reading comments stating "Californians move to other states and ruin everything".  I am not the first person, and certainly not the last who hopes to dispel some of these myths about those awful Californians.  As with any group, nobody is all the same.  I think it is popular to hate us, but it seems rather silly to me.

Myth 1:  Californians make real estate prices go up.  Real estate prices are going up everywhere.  Also, I have noticed that some large tech companies have moved to Seattle.  That increases the amount of people who move to Seattle to work there. Yes some are from California but not all. Then the housing prices go up.  So people move farther away and commute.  Then the housing goes up there, and so on and so forth.  I agree that housing prices are too high pretty much everywhere in the U.S.  So blame the tech companies.  Blame the government or the banks, but blaming the Californians is giving us way more power than we have.  Don't make our heads swell up now.

Myth 2:  Californians pay cash for their houses.  Surprise!  We didn't make huge money selling our last house  In fact, we were underwater for years.  We did make a down payment with the proceeds, but we have an oppressive mortgage just like the rest of you.  My medical bills actually throw us in the hole every month.

Myth 3:  Californians are rich.  See the paragraph above.

Myth 4:  Californians drive fancy cars.  My husband drives a Jeep that is older than two of our kids.  I drive a 2005 Scion with over 100,000 miles on it.  They are paid off and that is how I like it.  We drive our cars until the wheels fall off.  We always have.

Myth 5:  All Californians drive fast.  I can't speak for all Californians.  I remember getting stuck behind some pretty slow ones when I lived there.  However, the area we have chosen in Washington does seem to be notorious for people who drive 10 miles an hour below the speed limit.  I do LIKE to drive the speed limit, and sometimes a bit over in uncrowded highway conditions.  I hate when a 20 minute drive takes me 30 minutes because somebody drives below the speed limit.  I don't tailgate, but I am grumbling at you behind the wheel.  So I guess I am a fast driver.  But for the love of all that is holy, what is wrong with driving the speed limit, assuming weather conditions are safe?  Or what is the matter with using turn-outs?  I have used them when somebody wants to go faster than me. It takes about three seconds.

Myth 6:  Californians want to change wherever they live into California.  I would have stayed in California if I liked California.  I moved to a rural area with less people.  That is exactly how I like it.  I don't need a closer grocery store, gas station, or bank.  Keep it rural please.

Myth 7:  Californians vote for laws that raise taxes.  If there is anything I have learned, it is that voting for higher taxes never works.  We pay plenty in taxes and it will always be mismanaged by our government.  Next!

Myth 8:  Californians move here and complain about the weather.  Doesn't everyone complain about the weather no matter where they live?  I complained in California because it was too hot.  I complain here because spring takes too long to arrive. I still love it here.  Winter is the price we pay for an amazing summer, but the winters do stretch on. So maybe we do complain about the weather, but so do the natives.  I forgot to sign the "no complaining about the weather" clause when I moved here.

Myth 9:  Californians are food snobs.  I do like to eat.  Does that make me a food snob?  It is really expensive to eat out, prohibitively expensive actually.  If I have to pay a hundred dollars for a family of four to have BREAKFAST, (I'm talking to you, Port Townsend) damn right I am going to complain if it tastes crappy.  Seriously, how can they mess up breakfast?  Yes, we were incredibly spoiled as far as eating out goes in California.  However, Washington has a lot of gluten-free and vegan options.  I think that is great.  Washington is way ahead of California on that. I can't help it if I pine for wonderful ethnic cuisine.  I LOVE all the (well prepared) foods.


I am sure there are a few more things about Californians I could choose to touch on.  However, these are some of the most prevalent comments I have seen about people from California.  If you choose to hate me, do it because there is something you don't like about me as a person.  Don't choose to hate me because I come from a different region in the country I am a citizen of.

Painted Walls

I finished the walls.  Hooray!

The paint is more blue than I thought it would be, but I really love it.  It was purchased at Miller Paints in Bremerton, WA, and I "think" it is from the Joanna Gaines line.  The customer service at Miller Paints was excellent, and they also have a recycled paint line that is extremely reasonable in price.  Did I mention the AMAZING customer service?  But hey, here is the paint color.  Check it out!

Yes I dripped paint on the toilet.  So, if there are spots on my toilet, it is paint.  The wall above the toilet looks very empty at the moment. The eventual plan is to put some white shelves above the toilet.   Goodwill and garage sales will be my haunt until I find just the right one.  Shelves are crazy expensive, in my opinion.

We have recessed lights in our bathroom. I didn't like the way they looked against the paint, and I painted them.  I don't recommend painting recessed lights.  There is probably a fire danger, and it looks kind of odd.  Home Depot has silver replacements for the rings, so I will be purchasing a few of those eventually.  They are about seven dollars each.

If I am painting, I guarantee there will be paint spilled.  It will be on me, the walls, the floor, the surrounding area.  I used to try to be neater, but I gave up.  My daughter asks how I do it.  It is a talent I possess.  That's all.  Due to this mad skill, some paint made its way to  the ceiling. I will be painting the ceiling later because we are in need of a tall stool.  I using an old chair as a stool, and it cracked.  Fortunately, it didn't send me tumbling.   The last time I purchased the kind of stool I need for this project, it was 25.00.  That means it will be marked at least 75.00 by now.  I hope not, but sticker shock is alive and real here in the good old U.S. of A.  Here is a view of the ceiling and my over painting.

In addition to my imperfect ceiling,  I also managed to get paint on the rug, my butt, my arm, my leg, my foot, and in my hair.  Mad skills!  Since the rug is getting ripped out, and I am washable, none of it was a big deal.

This is the view out the window with the drapes gone. I have NO clue why the former homeowner put in clear windows.  "Hi neighbor!  Would you like to watch me pee?"  Home Depot has a window film I might try.  Even when the curtains are hanging up, having a window like that in the bathroom feels creepy.

These are the towel cupboards that had the gold hardware.  These porcelain ones are temporary.  The cupboard needs painted, and I also want different knobs.  I am thinking about hand painting some knobs.  Unfortunately, I am not as talented as I would like to be.

This is Minwax Gel Stain in Coffee.  This will be going on the vanity.  I really wanted the General Finishes Gel in Java.  However, it was 35.00 for a quart, and this is 16.00 for a quart.  As much as I love General Finishes, I can't imagine it is worth two times as much.  Both can be ordered at Amazon.  We live in the country so Amazon Prime is a must for us.

That is it for now.  Hopefully those bathroom cupboards will be stained soon.  Then I can get to the business of pulling up that nasty carpet and painting, yes painting, the floor.

Indoor Work on a Snowy Day

Today is one of my not favorite kind of days.  We have snow.  I am happy to sit inside and peek at it outside.  When I was a kid, I loved snow.  Now, not so much.

We have lived here just over two years, and I have done a few projects but not nearly enough.  Both kid's rooms are painted. My daughter's room came out great.  My son was in a tearing hurry to get his room back, so it needs a lot of touch up.  That said, the most important thing was to make the kids feel ownership of where we lived.  The rooms were important to do first.

One thing I absolutely hate in this house is the flooring in the master bathroom. It is carpet!  Yuck, gag, gross. I am not a carpet fan and especially not when it is in the bathroom.  There is no telling what kind of things are lurking down there in the yarn loops. Let's try not to think about it.

So here are the pictures of the bathroom at the moment.  There has to be a before.  The after will take a while. I am trying to do it on a budget.  My parents gave me money for Christmas, so I have already purchased many of the supplies.  Some supplies are new and full price.  Some are discounted.  Some were from the thrift store.  Some have yet to be purchased. I will watch for sales, garage sales and thrift shop bargains.

Here goes with the pictures of what my bathroom looks like today, and let's hope for updates as it goes along.

 

This is looking in the door.  Note the carpet, boring brown cabinets, and brown floor boards.

This is the window.  The 80's called.  They want their valances back.  The reason I have not taken down these lovely dust collectors is because the valance is on a rod that is screwed to the wall.  This is a heavy duty, most likely expensive rod.  That said, I personally hate valances, as I consider them dust collectors.  More power to those of you who decorate with them and take them down to wash.  In my opinion, they are another chore and not worth it for me.

 

 

We have a double sink and a standard (boring) mirror above it.  I believe the countertop is formica.  I feel meh about the pattern.  The sink is okay, but the faucet is quite outdated.  That is where one gets into spending a lot of money so I will most likely take my time on having those changed out.  My husband gets to do that, plus the price of faucets gives me sticker shock.

 







Here is the space over the toilet.  Beside the toilet is a towel rod that fell off the wall.  I doubt I will rehang it.  It did me a favor removing itself.  My husband had to order new innards for the toilet. It is a commercial toilet.  Odd, but whatever.  I would have to flush a dog down it to clog it, not that I would.

 

This exciting beast is our shower with doors.  There is one thing I love about this shower.  The tub is super deep.  I didn't even realize until I took my first bath that we finally had a tub deep enough for adults.  The tub is metal, but it is also one big insert, so it is white all the way up.  There is no sense in hiring out tile work. It would be impossible to separate it out, as far as I know, and I am not giving up my tub.  That said, even though doors are in style right now, I want a shower curtain.  Have you ever not lifted your foot high enough to get in a tub with doors and smacked your toes into the track?  It hurts!  Plus shower curtains can be changed out when your style changes.  Shout out for a rod and shower curtain.

 

 

These are the cupboards across from the toilet.  They are handy for storage, but they look boring.  I despise the gold handles.  Even if I made them another color, the style doesn't do it for me.

 

I am glad I waited two years so I could get an idea of what I wanted.  However, it is past time to update the bathroom. The first step today is painting the walls.