California - Oh My Gosh!!

[Mike]

I'm not on Facebook, and I have to spew this somewhere! My family and I just visited family in southern California for a week, and I've never felt more like a Michigan hillbilly in all my life! I'm 48, and I felt like I was 90 flying along 7 (SEVEN!) lane highways with motorcycles splitting lanes LEGALLY on the dotted lines in between lanes! It felt like I was in a screen from Mad Maxx, running the gauntlet!

Housing everywhere half-million dollars for small 2 bedroom homes. How you you people do it who live in Cal? Full out traffic either flying or in gridlock at 11:00 at night. That is insane! Beautiful place, but I could never survive there. Kudos to those of you who do! Kudos with a huge side of crazy!

 

[Knotical]

Yup, crazy is the word for it. I lived in Southern California for close to 10 years (Orange County, to be precise) and never really much cared for how the municipalities tried to keep up with the vehicle population on the freeways.

Now I live in the San Joaquin Valley, and things are much simpler, though much hotter, up here.

 

[Mike]

Yup, crazy is the word for it. I lived in Southern California for close to 10 years (Orange County, to be precise) and never really much cared for how the municipalities tried to keep up with the vehicle population on the freeways.

Now I live in the San Joaquin Valley, and things are much simpler, though much hotter, up here.

Great to hear from you, buddy! We flew into Orange County airport and stayed at a hotel in a town called Garden Grove. Do you know that town? We went for my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary which was held in Corona. High rent area there! We went to Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, and Laguna Beach, and I felt like I was hanging on for my life every time! Took surfing lessons, which turned out to be utterly a waste of time for me. Mike don't do surf boards.

For the ladies, we visited Rodeo Drive. That ain't real life there. Those people are living in a different world. Porsches and Beemers, one after another. They had to see the Hollywood Walk of fame, too. I could have skipped both of those and been perfectly fine.

You, Knots, are a survivor!

 

[Knotical]

Great to hear from you, buddy! We flew into Orange County airport and stayed at a hotel in a town called Garden Grove. Do you know that town? We went for my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary which was held in Corona. High rent area there! We went to Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, and Laguna Beach, and I felt like I was hanging on for my life every time! Took surfing lessons, which turned out to be utterly a waste of time for me. Mike don't do surf boards.

For the ladies, we visited Rodeo Drive. That ain't real life there. Those people are living in a different world. Porsches and Beemers, one after another. They had to see the Hollywood Walk of fame, too. I could have skipped both of those and been perfectly fine.

You, Knots, are a survivor!

Wow, it looks like you were all over the place.

I lived in Costa Mesa, Santa Ana, and Long Beach for different periods of time. Most of the time I pretty much avoided going into LA, especially staying away from the 405 parking lot.

There is a running joke about living in Orange County, that you are generally about a half hour from everything.

There is not too much going on in Garden Grove, but it is close to everything else.

I am surprised you didn't make to either Disney or Knott's Berry Farm while you were there.

 

[Mike]

I didn't mention that we went to Universal Studios, too. Our teens are in the "too cool for Disney" age, so that wouldn't fly. Your running joke about Orange County being 30 minutes from anywhere was lost on me, because it took a lot longer than that to go wherever we went. Maybe 30 minutes as the crow flies. Ha ha.

 

[Sparkey]

Greetings, Mike

You may already know but I've ridden since I was 12 (pretty sure, my youngest, older sister is still 4 years older than me, and I think she bought me my first Honda 90 when she was working for A&W Restaurant as a "Car Hop" while she was still sweet 16) So that would make my first ride back at ½ Century ago almost exactly because I'm 62 now. That first ride wasn't on the road it was on the trails but luckily I had acre and acre and that turned into square mile into square mile of dirt and trails to ride on but back then it was only .24.99¢ per gallon of gas (less than a quarter) when they weren't in a gas war... but I did ride down to LA later (not when I was 12, silly, later) to visit (live with) my sister so I do have motorcycle experience in California where one may legally ride, as you say, like MADD MAX! in between the car lanes. Right on the little bumps. The key to that is to watch the front tire for a hint of movement. That's where you see it first. The tire moves a fraction of a second faster than the car swerves. Then you have a quick flash moment... nothing more.

Do I brake or do I speed up?
My rule of thumb then was to only pass in between the lanes if traffic was going less than 20 miles per hour slower than the limit. So if the legal limit (back then) was 55 to stay alive... that meant I would "hazard" a legal pass maneuver in between IF and ONLY IF average traffic was 35MPH. AND IF that were the case and I was in the between the lanes and about to pass? AND IF I saw the front tire start to turn in my direction? Then, if I was at the rear quarter panel of the car? BRAKE -- BRAKE HARD but if I was ahead of the rear quarter panel of the car I was about to pass? GAS -- GAS FULL THROTTLE. And that saved me (saved my life) a couple times but no more than three (3) but that's more than enuf. Still not as many times as the good ol' 55 to Stay Alive rule and 20 MPH slower rule-of-thumb that I had made up for my own safety.

The other part, the other rule, that I had was, "When it first starts to rain? Pull over. Pull over now(!)." Because I was on a motorcycle and that's like having no protection. They have no clue how to drive in the rain, especially when the roads are first wet. I'll never forget the sound of the tires spinning in that first hint of rain and that little ol' lady from Pasadena driving with her tires spinning, and I glanced toward that sound just in time to see her stationary car barely begin to roll and there she was, turning her head this way and that, bombastically oblivious to what she was doing but her face was bewildered because she kept pressing the go pedal harder but her car would not go harder! First drops. That's when they are the slipperiest, trust me. I'm from the Great Pacific Northwest and riding in the rain is what I've done all my life.

But Mike? Don't let me go before I say, "Long time no see, my friend." I'm kinda the same as I was last time. Another surgery, another restriction about to end and that thing about financials that I shared and you said you would pray but you would not worry? This month marks the end of that particular drought. PRAISES are all due HIM Whom you love! Hallelujah!

 

[Obadiah]

Spent 40 years there (Lynwood and Downey) until I finally had to leave, do or die. Just couldn't take it anymore. But even after all that time, I've found going back can be a fun experience. A few months ago I flew down to San Diego, rented a car, and drove up to Anaheim for a school reunion (They don't have the reunions in Lynwood where I went to high school because it's simply too dangerous there.) So I'm driving north on the freeway just cruising along with the flow of traffic in my nice new, smooth and quiet rental car and thinking "gee, these curves feel funny, like the car wants to pull out of them for some reason. I glanced down at the speedometer and I (along with everyone else) was doing over 90 MPH without even realizing it. It was a lot of fun!

 

[Knotical]

I didn't mention that we went to Universal Studios, too. Our teens are in the "too cool for Disney" age, so that wouldn't fly. Your running joke about Orange County being 30 minutes from anywhere was lost on me, because it took a lot longer than that to go wherever we went. Maybe 30 minutes as the crow flies. Ha ha.

I guess it depends on the time of day, but it generally is the rule, unless you are going way into the inland empire (Corona, Riverside, etc...) or to the north side of LA.

I have always wanted to move back to where I grew up (Wisconsin). No matter where I go in southern California, or especially here in the valley, everything just looks dirty.

 

[Obadiah]

... No matter where I go in southern California, or especially here in the valley, everything just looks dirty.

That's because it IS dirty! Everything from the air you breath to the ground you walk on down there is filthy! I have an RV camper with a white roof. Because it's to high to see, it didn't get washed as much as the rest of the truck/camper. In So Cal it would take about 2 weeks to get covered with a gooey, gummy, oily sort of filth that took a lot of scrubbing with strong detergent to wash off. Where I live now in the Pacific Northwest after a year of not washing it only looks slightly grey and is more stuck on dust than anything else. That black filth in So Cal is in the air (I'm guessing from auto and industry air pollution), and that means it not only settles on everything but it also collects in your lungs as you breath! No, not for me. I'd rather die than have to go back to live there.

 

[jasonc]

That's because it IS dirty! Everything from the air you breath to the ground you walk on down there is filthy! I have an RV camper with a white roof. Because it's to high to see, it didn't get washed as much as the rest of the truck/camper. In So Cal it would take about 2 weeks to get covered with a gooey, gummy, oily sort of filth that took a lot of scrubbing with strong detergent to wash off. Where I live now in the Pacific Northwest after a year of not washing it only looks slightly grey and is more stuck on dust than anything else. That black filth in So Cal is in the air (I'm guessing from auto and industry air pollution), and that means it not only settles on everything but it also collects in your lungs as you breath! No, not for me. I'd rather die than have to go back to live there.

Ban California problem solved

 

[Mike]

Sparrowhawke brother, that was a hard read. I can't believe you would do that on your bike! That's just insane! When I witnessed this bike behavior, I was thinking, "Thin the heard. If they're that reckless, just let them reduce the population on their own!". Of course I'm joking, but it's startling to think of you doing that. I mean, if you have to be that cautious in watching tires, why do it? Just wait it out like the rest of us. Seriously, brother. No more of that for you!

Regarding your personal matters, our God has pulled you through some challenging times, and I know you enough to know your patience with His hand. Lesser faith would have certainly drown you in worry, but you are a rock. I pray continued peace in your walk through whatever you face.

Hey, now. California might be smoggy, but I was just telling my son what a stark difference I noticed when we were driving home from the airport thru the freeways in Detroit. Bridges and rails crumbling, litter everywhere. California is pristine compared to the streets of the D, and I didn't really realize how bad it was until I was fresh from southern Cal. But it keeps us fierce!

jasonc fires, floods, earthquakes, etc. That state is living on an egg timer. LOL

 

[jasonc]

im glad I live in vero. more pristine pic of clean beach air to post in my route pic thread

 

[Mike]

im glad I live in vero. more pristine pic of clean beach air to post in my route pic thread

California had no humidity or bugs that I could tell. Maybe they left Dodge before it falls off into the ocean, or maybe they couldn't afford to live there. Florida in August? Bugs and humidity up the ying yang. I couldn't handle it where you are right now, to be honest. Kudos for surviving all that!

 

[jasonc]

California had no humidity or bugs that I could tell. Maybe they left Dodge before it falls off into the ocean, or maybe they couldn't afford to live there. Florida in August? Bugs and humidity up the ying yang. I couldn't handle it where you are right now, to be honest. Kudos for surviving all that!

suit your selfView attachment 7220 View attachment 7221

 

[jasonc]

a path to get to the home with the pool. the sea sometimes will mist me at that home.

 

[jasonc]

there is a beach home to the south of that is being left to the elements. I want to hit that one up. time wasn't on my side

 

[Obadiah]

Sparrowhawke brother, that was a hard read. I can't believe you would do that on your bike! That's just insane! When I witnessed this bike behavior, I was thinking, "Thin the heard. If they're that reckless, just let them reduce the population on their own!". Of course I'm joking, but it's startling to think of you doing that. I mean, if you have to be that cautious in watching tires, why do it? Just wait it out like the rest of us. Seriously, brother. No more of that for you!

What non-So-Cal riders and other drivers don't realize is that there is a good reason California is one of the only places where that kind of riding is legal. It's a combination of the worst and most common daily traffic jams in the country and the high heat in the summer. It's simply not feasible to expect a motorcycle rider to sit in that kind of traffic every single time they go out on the road. It's a rare day indeed that you can drive anywhere without getting in a traffic jam that makes other cities' traffic problems look like child's play. You can literally (and regularly) sit for hours without moving more than 10 or 15 feet at a time at only walking speed in temperatures over 100º right above the sun baked pavement. Most motorcycle engines are air cooled and require the motorcycle to be moving to get the air flow over the engine to cool it. The engines would simply burn up idling for that long, and constantly shutting them off and restarting every minute or so as the traffic inches forward would kill the starters in no time at all.

The other reason for lane splitting being legal is that they have a helmet law in California and sitting that long above the heat coming off that engine below you and the hot summer sun beating down on you from above can literally give you a heat stroke. That's not hyperbole. It can and has happened! Under those conditions temperature inside a helmet can quickly rise to 180º and cook your brain! The only solution is to get moving to get that air flow over the engine as well as through your helmet. It's one thing to put up with this once in a long while, but quite another thing to ride in these conditions every time you go out to ride. Of course, there's the impractical option of simply choosing not to ride at all, which is an option I took for the last few years I lived down there. The combination of traffic, heat, and helmet law simply made it no longer something I wanted to do.

But splitting lanes (when done with reasonable caution) is actually better than the alternatives. It's not as unsafe as it sounds, and most of the criticism (claiming safety issues) comes from car drivers who are not honestly concerned with the riders' safety but are simply mad because they have to sit stopped in the traffic while the motorcycle rider goes on past them. Hey, I did it almost every time I rode for almost 30 years and didn't have one problem. Like most things to do with driving, staying reasonably safe is a matter of using the proper precautions and staying alert.

 

[Sparkey]

Seriously, brother. No more of that for you!

KIK *which is a right handed, left-shifted by one key space, "LOL"

I ride in the Great Pacific Northwest and not in California. That's illegal here. But if you were driving a car there and you were on a multi lane road (not freeway, of course) you could do something else that is very strange (to my way of driving, which is the right way, the polite way) and you could pull into the first lane and park it for the time it takes for the second lane to clear. Your left hand turning is very different there than here. And that means that when you're just driving straight ahead? And your in the rightmost "slow" lane? You have to watch way ahead for idiots parked with the front end of their cars occupying your lane. They are just making a legal left turn. It is your fault if you T-BONE them.
______________________
Jason, I like your blue pool pic. Thanks!
______________________

But the story that I'm reminded of now, as I think about California driving, is how I was there driving down Sepulveda Boulevard and singing, "Ventura Highway, in the sunshine where the days are longer..." to myself when I looked in my rearview.

UT-OH! Five-oh! There, behind me and riding close was a cop. And I know that traffic is bad, but does he have to follow so close? So I thought, okay, I'll get him off my tail and I signaled and took the next right turn. UT-OH! He stayed on my tail.

I wasn't doing 'nuthin so I thought, "Hmmm... I guess that didn't work," so I wanted to get back onto Sepulvada and I took the next right turn to get back on path. When I signaled my intent to get back onto Sepulvada (the third right) the cops put on their lights and pulled me over.

I've never been pulled over California style before. The cop that was in the drivers seat approached and as he approached the passenger cop got out and took an angled position with his shoulders squared toward me. His hand was on his weapon holster in the ready position. The other cop continued to approach as I rolled down my window to speak to him. He looked in my back seat and called, out, "WEAPON".

At that point I was in total confusion about what I had done and I wondered, "I wonder what I might have done?"

The other cop unholsered his weapon and drew down on me in a Star Position. I froze, hands at 10:00 and 2:00 on the wheel, in clear sight. The close cop told me to get out of the car. I got out of the car. He told me to put my hands on the hood of the car. I put my hands on the hood of the car. He approached, told me to spread my legs. I spread my legs and as I did, he assisted with a kick-drag maneuver to make me put all my weight onto my hands to support myself. I was frisked.

After I had been controlled to their satisfaction, and after they had examined my drivers license and registration and proof of insurance they asked about the weapon in my back seat. I still didn't understand until they grew tired of me and asked directly, "SIR! Why are you carrying a billy-club in your rear seat?!? I looked up rather sheepishly and explained that I was from The Great Pacific Northwest, then I explained that too and said with greater clarification, "I am from Washington State," as if that answered their question. But they already knew this. My out-of-state-plates did not escape their attention.

and they were like, "So...."

so I continued, "You officers might not have ever seen an umbrella before but that, my friend, is NOT a billy club." Only then did they stand down.

 

[Obadiah]

KIK *which is a right handed, left-shifted by one key space, "LOL"

I ride in the Great Pacific Northwest and not in California. That's illegal here. But if you were driving a car there and you were on a multi lane road (not freeway, of course) you could do something else that is very strange (to my way of driving, which is the right way, the polite way) and you could pull into the first lane and park it for the time it takes for the second lane to clear. Your left hand turning is very different there than here. And that means that when you're just driving straight ahead? And your in the rightmost "slow" lane? You have to watch way ahead for idiots parked with the front end of their cars occupying your lane. They are just making a legal left turn. It is your fault if you T-BONE them.
______________________
Jason, I like your blue pool pic. Thanks!
______________________

But the story that I'm reminded of now, as I think about California driving, is how I was there driving down Sepulveda Boulevard and singing, "Ventura Highway, in the sunshine where the days are longer..." to myself when I looked in my rearview.

UT-OH! Five-oh! There, behind me and riding close was a cop. And I know that traffic is bad, but does he have to follow so close? So I thought, okay, I'll get him off my tail and I signaled and took the next right turn. UT-OH! He stayed on my tail.

I wasn't doing 'nuthin so I thought, "Hmmm... I guess that didn't work," so I wanted to get back onto Sepulvada and I took the next right turn to get back on path. When I signaled my intent to get back onto Sepulvada (the third right) the cops put on their lights and pulled me over.

I've never been pulled over California style before. The cop that was in the drivers seat approached and as he approached the passenger cop got out and took an angled position with his shoulders squared toward me. His hand was on his weapon holster in the ready position. The other cop continued to approach as I rolled down my window to speak to him. He looked in my back seat and called, out, "WEAPON".

At that point I was in total confusion about what I had done and I wondered, "I wonder what I might have done?"

The other cop unholsered his weapon and drew down on me in a Star Position. I froze, hands at 10:00 and 2:00 on the wheel, in clear sight. The close cop told me to get out of the car. I got out of the car. He told me to put my hands on the hood of the car. I put my hands on the hood of the car. He approached, told me to spread my legs. I spread my legs and as I did, he assisted with a kick-drag maneuver to make me put all my weight onto my hands to support myself. I was frisked.

After I had been controlled to their satisfaction, and after they had examined my drivers license and registration and proof of insurance they asked about the weapon in my back seat. I still didn't understand until they grew tired of me and asked directly, "SIR! Why are you carrying a billy-club in your rear seat?!? I looked up rather sheepishly and explained that I was from The Great Pacific Northwest, then I explained that too and said with greater clarification, "I am from Washington State," as if that answered their question. But they already knew this. My out-of-state-plates did not escape their attention.

and they were like, "So...."

so I continued, "You officers might not have ever seen an umbrella before but that, my friend, is NOT a billy club." Only then did they stand down.

LOL! Well that was pretty standard procedure for LAPD. Up until the guy yelled "weapon" because of an umbrella. What a moron. When they got back in the car I'll bet his partner tore him a new one for embarrassing him like that.

 

[Sparkey]

Well that was pretty standard procedure for LAPD.

But they didn't make me drop to my knees and clasp my hands behind my neck or on the top of my head so although I was being prepared for arrest, (they had cause because they saw the illegal (so called), collapsible, small umbrella which was black and could be readily mistaken for a club) but I just was not being prepared felony arrest even though one did draw down on me for maybe less than a minute but for long enough for my heart to race, but that wasn't the one that yelled, it was his partner from the passenger side that drew down for a moment or two (while I was in the car and before I put my hands on the hood and almost got my feet kicked out from under me, which was fine by me too; no harm, no foul or fowl even though I was known as Sparrow way back then too, just not by them). But I knew that they were not going into the, "drop to your knees," followed by the command, "Lie down onto the ground. Lie onto the ground FACE DOWN," procedure, only to then hear the instruction, "Put your hands behind your back," and so on...

But, had they ordered me to my knees and not to merely put my hands on the hood of the car? I would have complied without much hesitation -- because I would still be in my 'surrender to authority, all lawful authority mode(!),' which includes, "make no sudden movements" too. It's good to know the LAW. Arresting Christ [in me] is easy, or rather, it should be anyway.