My first impressions of San Diego.... (Weed: houses, buy, gated)

[eastsandiegobornandraised]

hahahaha so you got sucked into the hype?

hahaha, funny thing is the areas you visited have actually cleaned up lol

[carlos123]

Originally Posted by bunky3301

Thats funny...the whole time I lived in the San Diego area I never once had a problem with someone not speaking English and I lived in Chula Vista.

I think that is mostly due to the way in which I constantly interact with the public bunky. I talk to everyone and anyone whenever I have any kind of question or just to pass the time. I have talked to probably over a hundred people in the week I have been here.

Asking them where is the best place to eat cheap, where one can find cheap housing, how to get here or there, where the nearest bathroom is, why their are body bags on the sidewalk at night (homeless rolled up in a tarp), why no one seems to wear sun glasses, where the sea lions are, how come the free wireless internet is not working, on and on it goes.

I talk to everyone and anyone.

I've even approached window cleaners and asked about window cleaning, homeless people asking them where one can make some money, I've talked to panhandlers, and many others.

I think that is the reason I have found a number of people already who don't speak English. But of course...I speak Spanish.

It's been great fun! And all my talking has kept me from feeling completely alone and isolated from humanity.

I almost consider myself a San Diegan LOL. Not quite mind you but give me another month of this and I just might.

Carlos

[carlos123]

Originally Posted by happ

You're a great writer, Carlos

Thanks very much Happ. Funny how that is, since to me I sorta write normal. Though once in a while...when I step back and look at what I have written...I start to think...."Yeah...I am a good writer...I think" LOL.

I do love to write. Especially things I am passionate about.

Now if I can only figure out a way to make a living from my skill LOL.

Maybe I will write a small book on how to live cheaper in San Diego and sell it.

Carlos

[carlos123]

Originally Posted by eastsandiegobornandraised

hahahaha so you got sucked into the hype?

hahaha, funny thing is the areas you visited have actually cleaned up lol

Nah...I came here for one reason and one reason only. The weather! The rest? That's gravy in so far as anything is better than I expected. If anything is worse that I expected? Well...there's always the weather. Which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!

Sometimes, like today, I will be sitting at my favorite buffet restaurant and while sipping some drink will just stare, and stare, and stare, at the sun hitting some building. Thinking to myself how blessed I am to be in this great weather!

The Lord rescued me from the weather I was in up north and I am so very thankful for His help in being able to come down here. So very, very thankful. Homeboys with tatoes and their girlfriends, mexicans, and other assorted and colorful characters notwithstanding .

Heck...I am even thankful that there is such a variety of people down here. That they are not just all passive and respectful and ho hum as people seemed to me up north where I was.

San Diego is full of life and interesting things to see and do!

Carlos

[carlos123]

Originally Posted by ubringliten

Hi Carlos,

Glad you made it to San Diego! Welcome.

I noticed you write very well which means you are pretty educated and you morally grounded. Why don't you pursue a good job? Work your way up.

Ahem...cough...cough...I didn't know my intelligence, aristocratic background, and good breeding showed through so well

Just kidding folks! Just kidding!

First and foremost my goal in life is not to live the good life for myself. Rather it is to do the will of God in so far as I understand it from the Bible and from time spent before God in prayer. I could honestly and truthfully care less about having a nice home and other things that are sought after by most people. Such things won't last. I really feel sorry for some who spend most of their lives seeking such things, investing themselves in them, and working hard to achieve them only to die early such that they can't enjoy them. Not to mention that such things will not last and one cannot take them into the afterlife.

I would rather focus on learning to love others as myself, learning to hear God, sharing the Good News of the gospel with others, helping the truly poor in whatever way I can, and other such things rather than seeking nice things for myself. In short...I would rather focus on things that have eternal value.

Secondly...I don't want to be a wage slave. What I mean by that is that I don't want to work like a dog and maybe even at two jobs only to spend half my life or more giving away most of my hard earned money to someone else to pay for a mortgage, rent, utilities, and otherwise.

I would rather live humbly and enjoy more of life as it goes by. While I have the health to enjoy it. That means living in a truck if I can and doing other things to live unconventionally such that I don't spend a great deal of money for a roof over my head. Such that I don't have to deal with the usual headaches people accumulate to themselves in seeking the good life.

Now...don't get me wrong. That doesn't mean that the Lord would have me foolishly not make the most of my life to go sit on some beach and drink a cola type of thing.

I always aim to make the most I can per hour in whatever work I do so that I can have more free time to do other things that I prefer to do with my time. That means doing the best job I can in whatever I do and being very good at it. I believe in working hard. If need be very hard to meet my needs and have some left over.

You won't find me loafing around or goofing off very often if at all.

Lastly I have had so many bad experiences working for others that these days I would rather work for myself. Many a time I have been pressured to do dishonest things. To operate with less than complete integrity. To copy software illegally, to sell used items as new, to continue selling some poor customer advertising that was not helping them at all, to say things dishonestly, and so forth. I have quit quite a number of jobs over such things.

Working for myself I can treat others as I would like to be treated. With honesty and integrity in my work. I like that.

In my 49 years of life I can only ever remember working for just one employer that I really respected and who operated with integrity. I worked for them for 8 years and quit only when moving out of state.

I'm not opposed to working for others though I prefer to work for myself.

Carlos

[carlos123]

Mugsy,

Thanks very much for your outstanding list of bathrooms! If I ever write a book in San Diego on the cheap I will most certainly look up all your bathroom recommendations and perhaps even include them in my book.

You know...you might be able to make a few bucks by printing up a small booklet and selling it. A booklet on things like where to find a bathroom and other such things.

Anyway...thanks Mugsy! Much appreciated.

Carlos

PS. If you ever see someone riding the trolley with short hair, a short haired beard, a Jansport backpack, and perhaps a black laptop briefcase...well that might be me. Say hi and find out .

[carlos123]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

u turned down an offer to play pool from a hot, drunk chick?

Yeah...I did. I did not want to be tempted to do something that I would have later regretted and that would have negatively affected my relationship with God. The best way to avoid such temptations is to not even open the door to them.

Although I am seperated from my wife at present, I am still legally and in the eyes of God, married. I don't believe in sex outside of marriage.

Carlos

[carlos123]

Originally Posted by maui08

I just popped in from Hawaii to check on some posts and noticed yours....I read it and have one question....it seems that since San Diego has black folks and mexican folks that seem to bother you in some way....how are you "white" with the name Carlos?

Why do people seem to read more into some of the things I say than I actually say?

What leads you to believe that being around Mexicans or blacks bothers me per se?

It is not that there are Mexicans or blacks around me that bothers me. It is the perception that among those I have seen there are some that under normal circumstances I would tend to associate with being a potential problem by their dress and mannerisms that has concerned me a bit.

But no one has bothered me. They have all treated me quite nicely.

What I stated about there being a lot of Mexicans and blacks on board the trolley and buses was....a fact. Nothing more and nothing less.

I said what I said because it struck me as very different than what I had expected to find. It would be like my going to Japan and finding a city there full of Saudia Arabians. I would say "Boy...there sure are a lot of Saudia Arabians around here!".

Likewise I did not expect to find so many Mexicans and blacks in San Diego.

Personally...I could care less if a person is black or Chinese, Mexican, or whatever. It's their character that matters to me. It's unfortunate that certain races have tended to be associated with poor character of some sort. To some extent there is some truth to such associations I think but there are always good and bad people among all races. I try to keep an open mind about each person as I would want to have others keep an open mind to me with a name like Carlos .

If someone wants to persist in seeing racism behind my words...what can I say...but that such persons are wrong. Dead wrong. Just know that as a Christian and being of Hispanic descent, I am probably the least racist person you will ever meet.

Carlos

[RD5050]

Originally Posted by carlos123

Asking them where is the best place to eat cheap, where one can find cheap housing, how to get here or there, where the nearest bathroom is, why their are body bags on the sidewalk at night (homeless rolled up in a tarp), why no one seems to wear sun glasses, where the sea lions are, how come the free wireless internet is not working, on and on it goes.
...
I almost consider myself a San Diegan LOL. Not quite mind you but give me another month of this and I just might.

Carlos

All SD library branches have free WiFi. You can either go inside, or access it from outside within a close proximity to the building. It's on 24/7, so you can use it even when the library is closed.

The seals are found in La Jolla a few blocks south of La Jolla Cove. It's a tiny beach known as the "children's pool", because it was originally meant for children since it is protected from large waves by a sea wall. The seals then decided they liked this beach to bask in the sun, so they more or less took it over. It's been an openly debated issue in San Diego for years. Some people want it for families, others want the seals to have it. Here's some more info on it:

Children's Pool

Based on what you've stated in your other posts, maybe you should volunteer at a San Diego church? You would probably meet a lot of like-minded people with similar religious convictions. Probably make a lot of new local friends as well.

[carlos123]

Originally Posted by maui08

-The original poster (Carlos) will surely miss out on what San Diego is all about if all he can see are the black and mexican people.

BTW, I don't know many cities of any size in our country where you will find only whites. Maybe some of the small southern towns are still living in the days of segragation but the modern places actually have bathrooms that are shared by all races and drinking fountains that anyone can drink out of.

Give me a break! Sigh....

I say that I have seen mostly homeboys from the hood, mexicans, and other assorted and colorful characters on the public bus system and you jump to the assumption that all I may see is the homeboys, and mexicans, and assorted and colorful characters??

As I said...give me a break! I just stated what first impressed me as being different than I had expected.

Who cares if I am in a city with all whites or not. I sure don't. If I cared about such a thing I would fly out of here on the first plane out to any city that would have a more white population. But I am content to be here. Blacks and Mexicans, Philipinos, Whites and whatever other races there are around here.

That's not to say that I would want to live as a white person in an all black neighborhood either. Just as I would imagine no black person would want to be the only black in whatever.

But I don't go around saying to myself...oh no...there's a black person coming down the same sidewalk as me. Or...oh no...a black person just drank from the same faucet.

If a person is a person of good character...I could care less what the color of their skin is. I would rather have a black person of good character as my best friend than any number of whites who are selfish, snobbish, and mean spirited.

Please do not take anything I have said to indicate otherwise.

Carlos