My Daily Life and Thoughts while in San Diego | List of Best Posts

This blog is where I express myself to the world or at least to those who might stop by to read what I post

. Maybe God will use what I post (I am a Christian and this blog will have a most decidedly Christian bent to it) to good effect in the lives of my readers.

I may turn some of my posts into a book. I may cease blogging here altogether. Who knows. But for now..I am content to post away in this, my own little corner of the world.

Rather than reading through my now lengthy list of posts you may wish to read what I consider to be my very best posts or you can just read the posts that deal with a single subject category that might interest you.

Please know that I am open to any input on any topic I write about. If you have something to say about anything you see written here please....feel free to speak up in the form of leaving a comment or sending me a PM (private message).

And if you are in San Diego and wish to meet the one and only Carlos (that's me

)...drop me a private message. I always enjoy meeting one of my readers!

Thanks.

Carlos

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How fortunate I am to live in San Diego and to have the friends I do!

Posted 06-27-2009 at 11:39 PM by carlos123
Updated 06-28-2009 at 12:29 AM by carlos123

Tonight I hung out with a friend at the beach. We went there with a blanket and some food and sat there and watched the sun go down while talking about anything and everything.

Our days in high school, Christian things, our first dates and experiences with girls way back when, some funny life experiences...all kinds of things.

All around us were people who had small bonfires going.

As I sat there and watched the sun set, hanging out with a good friend, and otherwise relished the opportunity to drink in that good ol' California atmosphere...I was once again reminded of how very blessed I am to have made it down here from Canada.

I may be relatively poor financially and my health has not been so good in recent weeks but I live in a wonderful climate, among friendly people, have developed some good friendships both on and off the internet, and have the Lord ever present in my life.

Not to mention that I am starting to live a dream I have had for a long time to be able to make a living over the Internet. Right from home.

How very, very blessed I feel.

The world may be falling apart all around me but at that beach tonight, for that moment in time, all was well again.

It can't get much better than that!

Carlos

UPDATE

Of course...there is a downside to being in California. A downside that is quite alarming. Although I am content being here myself as a single man...I would never, ever advise a family to move here.

Pat Buchanan, who I don't always agree with, describes one aspect of the downside to California living, quite well.

California, Here We Come! - HUMAN EVENTS

Posted in Personal Life

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Comments

I both agree and disagree with you at the same time.
I lived in California for 40 years and there are certainly very good things and very bad things about the atmosphere of overindulgence and wealth compared to relative poverty.
However, where there is family, there is love and nothing can compare to that no matter where you are. That and your family faith are your true wealth and will make the life of your family a source of joy.
You and I have missed out on that so far, but even today, we should never say never and believe in the future we are intended to live.

Posted 06-28-2009 at 01:04 AM by yukiko11 yukiko11 is offline

You have a valid point yukiko. That family can be a wonderful thing no matter where you are. And you are right in saying that I have missed out on much of what family is all about.

I grew up without uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, grandfathers, and grandmothers. I came to the U.S. when I was 7 years old and lost all my relatives except for my immediate family. I did not truly realize what I had missed until i went back to the home country 40 years later to say goodbye to my dad who was dying.

In that you are absolutely correct yukiko. Family, assuming it is functionally healthy, can make or break a person in many instances. Can enrich our lives and make us feel that we are a part of others in a way that is very difficult to find otherwise (though not impossible).

And if such a family is in California...for sure that can enrich our lives no matter how ridiculous California itself becomes as a place to live.

When I said that I would never, ever recommend California as a place to live for families what I meant is that the environment here is not conducive to supporting families. The beach life for all it's glamour is a life centered on sensuality and the practice of immorality. It can destroy values in children and young people no matter how hard parents have worked to bring their children up right.

And financially...California puts a nearly overwhelming financial burden on families in that usually both parents must work and work long hours to pay their bills. This introduces a lot of stress into the family unit. It can lead to kids who end up unsupervised and who start running around depending on their peers for the kinds of relationships that may lead them into a self-destructive lifestyle.

It causes husbands and wives to get stressed out over trying to make ends meet where they have less quality time with each other and with their families.

And there is always the societal pressure here. To consider immorality in all it's forms, including homosexuality, okay.

I have lived all over the world and I don't think I have ever encountered the hardness toward the things of God that I see here. It's like the society here has hardened it's heart against God and has given themselves over to sensuality, self-indulgence, and everything contrary to good morality and righteous living.

The overabundance of rules here is another thing...rules for this and rules for that put a damper on freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness according to the dictates of one's own conscience.

I could go on but suffice it to say that in my opinion California is just not a good place to raise families. Not when compared to some other States which are less stressful to live in not to mention less antogonistic toward family values and good morals.

I am sure there are exceptions here. Pockets of places where so-called old fashioned values are still respected.

But overall...California seems like a hedonistic and outright ungodly place to be.

Personally I value being here myself greatly because my compass if you will is not the society around me. I can enjoy the good here without allowing society to influence me away from God. I and my friends can chose to move toward God no matter what the society around us is doing.

And given that most of my friends are single...we can also be shielded somewhat from the financial enslavement here by pooling our resources and otherwise living a much simpler and less costly life than might otherwise be the case, if we were married.

So it's a great place for me to be at this time...but as I said I would definitely not recommend California as a place to raise a family.

Carlos

Posted 06-28-2009 at 10:58 AM by carlos123 carlos123 is offline

	Yukiko...I am curious...if you don't mind sharing, what made you move away from California after living here for 40 years? Carlos
	Posted 06-28-2009 at 11:05 AM by carlos123

I don't mind sharing in hope that my experience may help others make decisions in their own lives.
1. My husband died.
2. My abusive, psycho, mother was calling my workplace as a last resort to hurt me, threatening people I worked with to get to me. My boss was very understanding in giving me time to work out the problem. I finally had to abandon her and get a restraining order against her to get her to stop. The threat of going to jail finally registered and she stopped. Unfortunately, she died alone, but that was her choice and I have never had one moment's guilt. In fact, her death was my healing from a lifetime of physical and emotional abuse.
3. 3 years after my husband's death , I lived on Ontario, CA in a small home that I loved. One night, the neighbor across the street from the neighbor that backed up to my home got into a fight with his brother and took him hostage. The next thing I knew bullets were flying and the swat team were rushing though my yard with machine guns. I dragged my 3 dogs into the garage and spent the night hiding in my closet hoping not to get shot in the crossfire. The whole night was shooting and helicopters and TV trucks parked outside my house trying to show what was happening. I tried to go out in the AM to go to work and there was a swat team member pointing a gun at me telling me to stay inside. I told him I had to go to work!. A half hour later, two people showed up and escorted me to my car so I could leave.
This incident was all over the news. During the day, I found out that they had shot tear gas canisters into the house which started it on fire and both brothers perished. I decided that day I was done.
4. I had wanted to move to Oregon for many years but my husband didn't want to live in a rural area because he was originally from Tennessee and had been there and done that. After the Ontario incident, I took a two week trip (the only 2 week vacation I ever had in 41 years of working) and came back and gave notice on my job.
5. The Controller of 5 divisions of my company in WA and Canada had just given his 2 week notice that he was planning to retire and my boss offered me the job which would be basically to complete a computer conversion and consolidate the accounting functions back to CA. That eventually took 3 years.
I flew to WA and the minute I came around that bend in the freeway and saw the emerald city, I fell in love. Was that a coincidence? I knew I was in the right place because not only did I have a job, but the company paid for the move and the down payment on my house.
When God opens a door, and you have the guts to walk through it, he will make many things possible.

Posted 06-30-2009 at 01:24 AM by yukiko11 yukiko11 is offline

Updated 06-30-2009 at 05:07 AM by yukiko11

	Thanks for sharing yukiko. You are an inspiration to me. Truly. What I have gone through in life is nothing compared to what you have gone through. I am sorry to hear of all the bad things you went through but that sorrow is also tempered by gladness at hearing that you are in a place that you like being at, at this point in your life. Carlos
	Posted 06-30-2009 at 02:53 AM by carlos123

If you truly want to know what I have been through find a blog called "pain is good". It was posted by a very sick person who abuses his 4 children and thinks it is good parenting. I described what I went through in hope of making him see that he doesn't have to continue the abuse that he suffered as a child..
I am so grateful that I broke the cycle of abuse and grew up to be a good and kind person who only wishes that all people try to live up to their potential an use their God given gifts.
I know sometimes I seem to sound judgemental or arrogant, but in reality, I guess I just want everyone to have the guts to keep on their path no matter what because, in my heart, that is what God requires from us.

Posted 06-30-2009 at 05:15 AM by yukiko11 yukiko11 is offline

Updated 06-30-2009 at 05:42 AM by yukiko11

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