Community Chat

[raven-blackbird]

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@Puzzle Piece wrote:

@raven-blackbird You overlooked mentioning that it takes courage to live and to live here in California with our quakes. 

I dearly love my California - born and raised here as well - father's family as well. 

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@Puzzle Piece   YES you are right, it does take courage just to live and that is a world wide thing.

I'm real proud of being seventh generation Californian........which also speaks to the fact of the longevity of Californians, after seven generations, we're still here LOL....... and moved on to generation eight and nine.......all tried and true Californians..................................raven

[Plaid Pants2]

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@raven-blackbird wrote:

@Imadickens

I am a native Californian, my father was a native Californian, I have lived here all my life..........to be honest, I'm seventh generation Californian.

The last "bad" quake we had here was in 1952........it was a 7.3 magnitude followed by a multitude of 5.0 magnitude after quakes, 14 people lost their lives and the city was pretty much devastated..........all of that occurred OVER 64 YEARS AGO........for some people, a lifetime ago......most deaths were caused by houses collapsing on the occupants..........in the decades since that quake, and the following quakes in other areas, California has taken major steps in public safety......changing building codes, setting up earth quake preparedness programs/reminders as well as monitoring these plate shifts, in an effort to understand the science as well as an attempt to predict their activity and the outcome of that activity.......but it is a science that is still in it's infancy...........there is no other place I would choose to live but here.

The reality is..........there isn't a place on this planet that is exempt from natural disasters of one type or another.......rather it's tornadoes, flooding, hurricanes, fire, avalanches, land slides, sink holes, blizzards, tide surges......it's called living on planet earth..........life is a chance......with birth came no guarantee that you would always be safe, free of risk......... you take a chance on life, every moment you take a breath............you can either exhaust yourself trying to insulated yourself, paralyze yourself in worry and contemplation of the "what if'' or you can just get about living your life...........we Californians choose the later.............................raven

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@raven-blackbird

I could not agree with you more!

I LOVE California, warts and all, and the truth of the matter is, I cannot imagine myself ever living anyplace else.

The thing is, for as much as people love to put down our great state, the truth of the matter is, NO state is perfect, even the state that the Cali-haters come from, isn't perfect, though, they like to talk a good game, and make it seem like it is, or at the very least, "better" than California.

[raven-blackbird]

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@Plaid Pants2 wrote:

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@raven-blackbird wrote:

@Imadickens

I am a native Californian, my father was a native Californian, I have lived here all my life..........to be honest, I'm seventh generation Californian.

The last "bad" quake we had here was in 1952........it was a 7.3 magnitude followed by a multitude of 5.0 magnitude after quakes, 14 people lost their lives and the city was pretty much devastated..........all of that occurred OVER 64 YEARS AGO........for some people, a lifetime ago......most deaths were caused by houses collapsing on the occupants..........in the decades since that quake, and the following quakes in other areas, California has taken major steps in public safety......changing building codes, setting up earth quake preparedness programs/reminders as well as monitoring these plate shifts, in an effort to understand the science as well as an attempt to predict their activity and the outcome of that activity.......but it is a science that is still in it's infancy...........there is no other place I would choose to live but here.

The reality is..........there isn't a place on this planet that is exempt from natural disasters of one type or another.......rather it's tornadoes, flooding, hurricanes, fire, avalanches, land slides, sink holes, blizzards, tide surges......it's called living on planet earth..........life is a chance......with birth came no guarantee that you would always be safe, free of risk......... you take a chance on life, every moment you take a breath............you can either exhaust yourself trying to insulated yourself, paralyze yourself in worry and contemplation of the "what if'' or you can just get about living your life...........we Californians choose the later.............................raven

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@raven-blackbird

I could not agree with you more!

I LOVE California, warts and all, and the truth of the matter is, I cannot imagine myself ever living anyplace else.

The thing is, for as much as people love to put down our great state, the truth of the matter is, NO state is perfect, even the state that the Cali-haters come from, isn't perfect, though, they like to talk a good game, and make it seem like it is, or at the very least, "better" than California.

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@Plaid Pants2  no............no.............California IS perfect : ) ask any native Californian LOL............................................raven

[Moonchilde]

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@Sooner wrote:

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@Imadickens wrote:

I hope I don't offend anyone, but why would anyone choose to live in a place that is so dangerous! Don't quakes happen unannounced? In which case, turning off the gas won't be in time, right? Not just Calif, but tornado alley would worry me, too! Yes, we get blizzards and hurricanes but rarely do either of those kill massive amounts of people in our area! I understand living where you work, your family is, or even a place you love, but I don't think I could live in a place that could experience a quake! I pray that it won't happen and that you are all safe for a very, very long time! Good luck and God bless!

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Well, not everybody gets to choose where they live.  They have to live in certain places for a job, for the cost of living, because of family they have to take care of, because they can't afford to move, because their life is there and maybe has been for generations. . . 

We don't have the option to move.  I wish we did, but we don't.  And maybe the best answer is because it is "home" to them.

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And what if you were born and raised in a state that has "so dangerous" tornadoes, floods or hurricanes? Why wouldn't you move out of state as soon as you turned 18?

Because...the entire nation, even the state of CA, is not a country of constant migrators. Most people live in the state where they were born.  It's not like you decide after college "must move to Idaho. Noooo earthquakes!"

Wait...could it be - native Californians are NOT freaked out by earthquakes, have lived through many, and are amused at the freak outs?

[Imadickens]

@raven-blackbird  Actually, funny you say that! Most of the problems in my life are a result of my obsession with the "what ifs", seriously! After undergoing therapy, meds, and reading a kazillion self help books, I have it under control, mostly! lol. Anyway, yes, we face severe weather threats here as well, it's just ours are mostly blizzards, then hurricanes, next. But, we are in land enough that we aren't in much severe danger from either as long as we use our heads and prepare, follow warnings, and stay put during storms! The biggest danger from both for us is falling limbs. We took down three trees and continually prune branches. We need to buy a generator for several reasons. Our nieghbor has a large one so we can go there to be warm and use electricity. But, the last time we got caught was a few Octobers ago. A blizzard hit around Halloween. Our house lost electric but my dd didn't. I stayed there and my dh came only to sleep after caring for our dogs. We were out for four days! If it didn't begin to warm up our pipes would have frozen! It came on rather suddenly or we'd have been better prepared! I try to keep emergency items in the winter, but "winter" hadn't begun yet! I bring in extra water, cans of soup with pop tabs and that don't have to be diluted. I figure we get protein, vegetables, etc. in a can of veggie soup! I keep powdered milk, crackers, cheese, and candy, chocolate, mostly! I keep enough for at least a week. Plus, I keep my meds in check, just in case! My dh keeps track of everything else, like gas in the cars! Anyway, I figure the biggest problem well have is frozen pipes or broken windows! I just don't think I am cut out for quake country! I hope the seismetologists (?) are wrong on this one! Good luck!

[Noel7]

Just a reminder, California is the 6th leading economy IN THE WORLD.

We're paying the bills for other states.

[Noel7]

California economy surges to No. 6 in global rankings

State overtakes France, Brazil in annual list

Bay Area tech boom fuels economic growth, but other areas add value, too

http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article83780667.html

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article83780667.html#storylink=cpy

[Imadickens]

@Sweet_Serenity  Thanks for the interesting graph! I thought I lived right on a fault in mid NYState. The fault I thought, was located straight down the eastern side of NY state!  I never knew that about forming the mountains, tho I guess it makes sense! I thought the shifting glaciers made them!  I didn't see the quake from about three years ago that ran straight from Vt. Down th D C! I know it wasn't bad, 2.9, maybe, and maybe centered in New Jersey somewhere. It hit at about 2 or 2:30 and it was the end of August so some schools were in session by then! We listened to the police checking all the schools in and around DC for structural damage. Fortunately, I think except for some cracks in plaster and a few gas leaks there was no major damage.

[raven-blackbird]

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@Imadickens wrote:

@raven-blackbird  Actually, funny you say that! Most of the problems in my life are a result of my obsession with the "what ifs", seriously! After undergoing therapy, meds, and reading a kazillion self help books, I have it under control, mostly! lol. Anyway, yes, we face severe weather threats here as well, it's just ours are mostly blizzards, then hurricanes, next. But, we are in land enough that we aren't in much severe danger from either as long as we use our heads and prepare, follow warnings, and stay put during storms! The biggest danger from both for us is falling limbs. We took down three trees and continually prune branches. We need to buy a generator for several reasons. Our nieghbor has a large one so we can go there to be warm and use electricity. But, the last time we got caught was a few Octobers ago. A blizzard hit around Halloween. Our house lost electric but my dd didn't. I stayed there and my dh came only to sleep after caring for our dogs. We were out for four days! If it didn't begin to warm up our pipes would have frozen! It came on rather suddenly or we'd have been better prepared! I try to keep emergency items in the winter, but "winter" hadn't begun yet! I bring in extra water, cans of soup with pop tabs and that don't have to be diluted. I figure we get protein, vegetables, etc. in a can of veggie soup! I keep powdered milk, crackers, cheese, and candy, chocolate, mostly! I keep enough for at least a week. Plus, I keep my meds in check, just in case! My dh keeps track of everything else, like gas in the cars! Anyway, I figure the biggest problem well have is frozen pipes or broken windows! I just don't think I am cut out for quake country! I hope the seismetologists (?) are wrong on this one! Good luck!

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@Imadickens  well..............when you get, if ever, all those "what ifs" under check, come visit our wonderful state...................................raven

[Imadickens]

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@Sooner wrote:

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@Imadickens wrote:

I hope I don't offend anyone, but why would anyone choose to live in a place that is so dangerous! Don't quakes happen unannounced? In which case, turning off the gas won't be in time, right? Not just Calif, but tornado alley would worry me, too! Yes, we get blizzards and hurricanes but rarely do either of those kill massive amounts of people in our area! I understand living where you work, your family is, or even a place you love, but I don't think I could live in a place that could experience a quake! I pray that it won't happen and that you are all safe for a very, very long time! Good luck and God bless!

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Well, not everybody gets to choose where they live.  They have to live in certain places for a job, for the cost of living, because of family they have to take care of, because they can't afford to move, because their life is there and maybe has been for generations. . . 

We don't have the option to move.  I wish we did, but we don't.  And maybe the best answer is because it is "home" to them.

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Yes, I do realize those things, as I said in my post. I was a victim of living where my dad could make a living! Not always (or even sometimes!) where my mom and I wanted, but we got used to eating regularly! I remember once we lived in Illinois across from a corn field. I had learned in my former school that tornadoes hit flat plains first. Well, in Ill. we were under tornado warnings every night around dinner time! I was scared senseless the whole time we lived there! It was just that I know several people who chose to move there and I wondered what, besides jobs and family, would draw someone to a dangerous place to live!