Okay, so I'm exaggerating a bit. I'm not quite ready to leave beautiful Portland and the myriad of great things here. But, it's not all roses here in the city of roses.
For starters, u-turns are not permitted anywhere here. (To be fair and to prove that I really did get a 97% on my license exam, I will note that u-turns are permitted in about three intersections where it's legally posted and on rural roads without traffic for 1,000 feet in either direction. So, basically, that's nowhere.) The other day, I tried to get to a gas station on my left from a red light, and had to literally drive through the intersection three times to access the gas station. I was missing my California u-turning days like crazy!
Second, I cannot pump my own gas. Now, growing up, I saw this as a great advantage. And I'm sure on cold rainy mornings, it will seem like a plus, as well. But with two kids (one who inevitably is hungry or tired) and a million things to do, it's really no fun waiting for the attendant to meander over to my vehicle and slowly ask me what kind of gas I want. It's even less fun when you hear the click of a full tank and have to wait until that attendant notices it and saunters back over to replace your gas cap for you. (Because no, you can't even do that part of the transaction by yourself! I asked last week and was given a very polite response.)
Third, people here are green. Really green. So green that they have a bit of a "greener than thou" attitude. We got scowls from the neighbors for using our gas-powered lawn mower. (Truth be told, we were going to trade it in for an old-fashioned push mower anyhow...but, really, did we need to be scolded for it?)
Okay, I'll stop there. Before my neighbors find out we haven't gotten around to starting our compost bin yet...
2 comments:
Okay, thank goodness.... Even if this post was simply gratuitous for your fans in CA, we are happy to hear it.
It is hard to even read it with any sympathy when you see the pictures of Mary and Curtis riding their bikes down the sidewalk. Too cute!
Hang in there!And think this did not even include the weather!
Miss you!
ah, yes. I too wish we could pump our own gas. That's always bugged me. If I find myself waiting too long after my tank's already full, I usually open my car door and make like I'm going to take the nozzle out and put the cap back on myself. That usually gets the attendant to come running over to (finally) finish the transaction.
As for #1 and #3, having lived in SE for over a decade, I can say that's mostly dependent upon where you live. Here in the burbs? U-turn signs abound and people are as eco-conscious as they can be but not snobby about it (i.e. no greener-than-thou attitudes). Of course, with E we used disposables in SE and were made to feel like awful parents for it; with C we used cloth diapers for the first 10 months but where we live now nobody cares! They just care about their own parenting style & way of life. Go figure. If the neighbors scowl at you, you can always ask them if they'd be so kind as to come over and use a push mower on your lawn :) (we had one before - brutal!)
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