mobb_deep reporting in from Texas.

[mobb_deep 917]

Hey geeks. Long time no talk! As a couple of you know, I moved to the suburbs of north Houston about 18 months back. My wife spent most of her adolescent life here. Moving to Southern California for a career opportunity in the early 2000’s; where we met, settled down, and started a small family.

Fast forward to 2021, her parents are in their late 70’s, and starting to have a pretty hard time living independently. Like many others at the time, we were both working remotely (wife was way before Covid), and had the opportunity to more or less move anywhere in the country. So, after discussing with one another, her siblings in Dallas and the SF bay, we decided to be the ones to move back to Houston, buying a home a few miles from her parents house.

As there has historically been a bit of bad blood between two states, I thought it would be fun to share my experience, as an implant from CA.

The good:

1) The dollar goes WAY further. From the price of gas, no state income tax, and much more affordable housing, I’m much less financially stressed. I was able to take the equity from my tiny 1000 sq ft 2 bed/bath beater condo in OC and put 20% down on a completely remodeled 3200 sq foot 4 bed/3 bath home on almost an acre of land. It has a pool/spa, large yard, etc. etc. Not to mention I’m paying 1000 less monthly on the mortgage, even with the higher rate on this loan, vs the last.

2) The people are generally much friendlier and hospitable. A lot more smiles and salutations from people we encounter daily, All of our neighbors are super friendly, welcomed us to the neighborhood and frequently invite us over to BBQ or watch some sports. I suspect some of that warm welcome has to do with my wife’s roots here, and they definitely throw in a dig now and then about CA and “not to bring our politics here”, but it seems pretty light hearted. I more or less tell them I don’t really follow politics or watch the news, and think both sides have good/bad ideas and leave it at that.

3) The quality of life. Moving from an overpopulated urban area to a large planned suburb definitely improved my quality of life. There are great fishing holes all over, green belt trails my daughter can ride her bike to school or friends house on, no helicopters, airplanes or loud cars driving around at all hours of the day. It’s just silent after 9-10 PM, sans a few frogs and crickets looking to hook up. 

4) The BBQ. No explanation needed on this one. 

The bad:

1) The weather. It can be absolutely brutal and is so random. Cold and rainy one hour, hot a rainy another, then hot and humid the next. Moving from somewhere that was basically 75 and sunny year round, the weather has definitely taken some time to adjust too. There’s also so many skeeters! It’s pretty much impossible to go outside around dusk in this part of Texas. You’ll get annihilated  in no time.

2) The what I like to call “Freedom to be a Christian” phenomena. When most people from Texas talk about freedom, they really compartmentalize it. You’re free to walk into a grocery store open carrying, but not free to buy a bottle of liquor. You need to go special stores for that, and of course… those aren’t allowed to even be open on the sabbath. You’re free to use public education to indoctrinate children into Christianity, and even forced to display a copy of the 10 commandments in all classrooms. But anything to do with other religions, or secularism is of course not protected by those same “freedoms”. Personally, I just want school to teach my kid to read, write, math and basic economics and civics. Leave the social justice, religious, sex, tranny crap from both sides for the parents to deal with.

3) The drivers. There seems to be no understanding of passing lanes and the proper way to use a highway. You got people and big rigs going 60 in the passing lane, other people going 80 in the merge lane, and a mixture of people going 60-90 in the middle lanes, all swerving in and out of traffic. Like seriously, is driving progressively slower from the left (passing) down to the right (merging) not a thing here? It’s complete chaos!

4) The Mexican food. I’ve found a few decent taquerias and had some pretty good food from taco trucks, but none of it comes close to SoCal. And that’s not even getting into the whole Tex Mex garbage; which shouldn’t even be allowed to call itself Mexican food.

So yah. That’s been my experience so far. I miss some things from home, but glad to no longer deal with others. Texas has been mostly great and has alot or charm and things to offer, but has it’s own challenges. At the end of the day, I think what I learned most is I want to live all over the US and experience all the great places this country has to offer. Life’s too short to spend in a single bubble! 
 

 

 

 

[Voltaire 4,559]

Nice write up, good to see you again.

[weepaws 2,460]

Explains why you’re an a hole.   

Teaching kids in school about Jesus , and making it monitory to show the Ten Commandments is the best reason to move to Texas.  

Thanks.  

[MTSkiBum 1,594]

We are on the other side of Houston from you, down in sugar land. 

There is good Mexican food, but you have to search for it. Tex Mex is pretty overrated. 

https://www.xochihouston.com/menus/

 

Another restaurant if you ever make it to the south side is tan tan. I would recommend snow pea leaves and house special rice cake as must order.

https://tantanrestaurant.com/

[jerryskids 5,205]

Mobb sighting!  thanks for checking in, glad all is well.

That summary is pretty much what I'd expect.  I had a similar driving experience moving from the Boston area to Phoenix.  In Boston like in SoCal people drive terribly, but it is a consistent terrible.  Everyone is inconsiderate, tailgates, speeds to the limit that traffic allows.  In that way there is a certain consistency to it.  You just put on your Mad Max persona and drove.  I described Phoenix back in the day as being like the video game Frogger, if you recall it.  The roads had some people driving SoCal, but also Winnebagos from Minnesota driving 10 under the limit, in whatever lane they wanted.  

Anyway, welcome back and don't be a stranger, y'all.    

[League Champion 1,593]

5 hours ago, mobb_deep said:

The what I like to call “Freedom to be a Christian” phenomena. When most people from Texas talk about freedom, they really compartmentalize it. You’re free to walk into a grocery store open carrying, but not free to buy a bottle of liquor. You need to go special stores for that, and of course… those aren’t allowed to even be open on the sabbath. You’re free to use public education to indoctrinate children into Christianity, and even forced to display a copy of the 10 commandments in all classrooms. But anything to do with other religions, or secularism is of course not protected by those same “freedoms”. Personally, I just want school to teach my kid to read, write, math and basic economics and civics. Leave the social justice, religious, sex, tranny crap from both sides for the parents to deal with.

That's South Carolina exactly! Great write up, thank you. 

[Herbivore 905]

good to hear from you mobb

[Bier Meister 1,513]

[posty 2,296]

Oh

[Bert 1,091]

11 hours ago, mobb_deep said:

Hey geeks. Long time no talk! As a couple of you know, I moved to the suburbs of north Houston about 18 months back. My wife spent most of her adolescent life here. Moving to Southern California for a career opportunity in the early 2000’s; where we met, settled down, and started a small family.

Fast forward to 2021, her parents are in their late 70’s, and starting to have a pretty hard time living independently. Like many others at the time, we were both working remotely (wife was way before Covid), and had the opportunity to more or less move anywhere in the country. So, after discussing with one another, her siblings in Dallas and the SF bay, we decided to be the ones to move back to Houston, buying a home a few miles from her parents house.

As there has historically been a bit of bad blood between two states, I thought it would be fun to share my experience, as an implant from CA.

The good:

1) The dollar goes WAY further. From the price of gas, no state income tax, and much more affordable housing, I’m much less financially stressed. I was able to take the equity from my tiny 1000 sq ft 2 bed/bath beater condo in OC and put 20% down on a completely remodeled 3200 sq foot 4 bed/3 bath home on almost an acre of land. It has a pool/spa, large yard, etc. etc. Not to mention I’m paying 1000 less monthly on the mortgage, even with the higher rate on this loan, vs the last.

2) The people are generally much friendlier and hospitable. A lot more smiles and salutations from people we encounter daily, All of our neighbors are super friendly, welcomed us to the neighborhood and frequently invite us over to BBQ or watch some sports. I suspect some of that warm welcome has to do with my wife’s roots here, and they definitely throw in a dig now and then about CA and “not to bring our politics here”, but it seems pretty light hearted. I more or less tell them I don’t really follow politics or watch the news, and think both sides have good/bad ideas and leave it at that.

3) The quality of life. Moving from an overpopulated urban area to a large planned suburb definitely improved my quality of life. There are great fishing holes all over, green belt trails my daughter can ride her bike to school or friends house on, no helicopters, airplanes or loud cars driving around at all hours of the day. It’s just silent after 9-10 PM, sans a few frogs and crickets looking to hook up. 

4) The BBQ. No explanation needed on this one. 

The bad:

1) The weather. It can be absolutely brutal and is so random. Cold and rainy one hour, hot a rainy another, then hot and humid the next. Moving from somewhere that was basically 75 and sunny year round, the weather has definitely taken some time to adjust too. There’s also so many skeeters! It’s pretty much impossible to go outside around dusk in this part of Texas. You’ll get annihilated  in no time.

2) The what I like to call “Freedom to be a Christian” phenomena. When most people from Texas talk about freedom, they really compartmentalize it. You’re free to walk into a grocery store open carrying, but not free to buy a bottle of liquor. You need to go special stores for that, and of course… those aren’t allowed to even be open on the sabbath. You’re free to use public education to indoctrinate children into Christianity, and even forced to display a copy of the 10 commandments in all classrooms. But anything to do with other religions, or secularism is of course not protected by those same “freedoms”. Personally, I just want school to teach my kid to read, write, math and basic economics and civics. Leave the social justice, religious, sex, tranny crap from both sides for the parents to deal with.

3) The drivers. There seems to be no understanding of passing lanes and the proper way to use a highway. You got people and big rigs going 60 in the passing lane, other people going 80 in the merge lane, and a mixture of people going 60-90 in the middle lanes, all swerving in and out of traffic. Like seriously, is driving progressively slower from the left (passing) down to the right (merging) not a thing here? It’s complete chaos!

4) The Mexican food. I’ve found a few decent taquerias and had some pretty good food from taco trucks, but none of it comes close to SoCal. And that’s not even getting into the whole Tex Mex garbage; which shouldn’t even be allowed to call itself Mexican food.

So yah. That’s been my experience so far. I miss some things from home, but glad to no longer deal with others. Texas has been mostly great and has alot or charm and things to offer, but has it’s own challenges. At the end of the day, I think what I learned most is I want to live all over the US and experience all the great places this country has to offer. Life’s too short to spend in a single bubble! 
 

 

 

 

Good write up.  Tex Mex is far from garbage but it is not Mexican food hence the name.  You need to get to the southeast side.   If you want good traditional Mexican food and not that San Diego burrito crap they call Mexican try Hugo's, Caracol or Xochi.  

[EternalShinyAndChrome 2,517]

It's pretty sad that Democrats, Liberals and Progressives have pretty much ruined the west coast with their policies.  What a waste of real estate. 

And it's only going to get worse as they are moving further and further left every election.  At some point, communism WILL take hold in those states.

[mobb_deep 917]

47 minutes ago, EternalShinyAndChrome said:

It's pretty sad that Democrats, Liberals and Progressives have pretty much ruined the west coast with their policies.  What a waste of real estate. 

And it's only going to get worse as they are moving further and further left every election.  At some point, communism WILL take hold in those states.

Meh. The entire country is headed towards 1984. Just with a little RuPaul’s Drag Show added from the left, and the Handmaid's Tale from the right. It’s all a bunch bullshit.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,644]

Glad to hear all is well Mob. Those skeeters would drive me crazy. Get a dynatrap.  Sounds like you need the big one. 

[mobb_deep 917]

9 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

Glad to hear all is well Mob. Those skeeters would drive me crazy. Get a dynatrap.  Sounds like you need the big one. 

Yo brother!

Got one!

https://imgur.com/a/CYUqcyD

Definitely helps a little. How much… I dunno.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,644]

Just now, mobb_deep said:

Yo brother!

Got one!

https://imgur.com/a/CYUqcyD

Definitely helps a little. How much… I dunno.

 Nice. I have two of the smaller ones on each side of the house. Works great. 

[mobb_deep 917]

2 hours ago, Bert said:

Good write up.  Tex Mex is far from garbage but it is not Mexican food hence the name.  You need to get to the southeast side.   If you want good traditional Mexican food and not that San Diego burrito crap they call Mexican try Hugo's, Caracol or Xochi.  

I’ve had Xochi on my yelp list for a bit. Definitely want to check that place out. There’s a place called La Calle Tacos that looks really good too. I’m sure there are tons of great places in Houston proper. I’m in the Spring/Woodlands area, so it’s a bit of a trek to get into the city. Did venture into to the city to see WEEN at the White Oak Music Hall last week, and that was a blast. 

[Big Guy 1,400]

Aloha stranger!

[listen2me 23 1,542]

1 hour ago, mobb_deep said:

Meh. The entire country is headed towards 1984. Just with a little RuPaul’s Drag Show added from the left, and the Handmaid's Tale from the right. It’s all a bunch bullshit.

I bet however, you will be happier in Texas.  The weather thing boggles my mind.  Seems so odd to people basically from anywhere else than SoCal.  Westher does change.  Lol.  If that is your biggest adjustment thats great.  You will adjust.  

Other than boring weather what else do you think you will miss from Cali?

[mobb_deep 917]

13 minutes ago, listen2me 23 said:

I bet however, you will be happier in Texas.  The weather thing boggles my mind.  Seems so odd to people basically from anywhere else than SoCal.  Westher does change.  Lol.  If that is your biggest adjustment thats great.  You will adjust.  

Other than boring weather what else do you think you will miss from Cali?

Driving 5 minutes and being at the beach. Driving an hour and skiing on the mountains. Mostly just my friends and my brother. We spent a lot of time together going to concerts, fishing and camping, riding dirt bikes, etc. I’m making some new friends here though, and have plenty of places to crash in OC, so I’m blessed either way! 

[patweisers44 697]

Yo yo yo...good to see you around Mobb!

[BeenHereBefore 1,332]

16 hours ago, mobb_deep said:

Hey geeks. Long time no talk! As a couple of you know, I moved to the suburbs of north Houston about 18 months back. My wife spent most of her adolescent life here. Moving to Southern California for a career opportunity in the early 2000’s; where we met, settled down, and started a small family.

Fast forward to 2021, her parents are in their late 70’s, and starting to have a pretty hard time living independently. Like many others at the time, we were both working remotely (wife was way before Covid), and had the opportunity to more or less move anywhere in the country. So, after discussing with one another, her siblings in Dallas and the SF bay, we decided to be the ones to move back to Houston, buying a home a few miles from her parents house.

As there has historically been a bit of bad blood between two states, I thought it would be fun to share my experience, as an implant from CA.

The good:

1) The dollar goes WAY further. From the price of gas, no state income tax, and much more affordable housing, I’m much less financially stressed. I was able to take the equity from my tiny 1000 sq ft 2 bed/bath beater condo in OC and put 20% down on a completely remodeled 3200 sq foot 4 bed/3 bath home on almost an acre of land. It has a pool/spa, large yard, etc. etc. Not to mention I’m paying 1000 less monthly on the mortgage, even with the higher rate on this loan, vs the last.

2) The people are generally much friendlier and hospitable. A lot more smiles and salutations from people we encounter daily, All of our neighbors are super friendly, welcomed us to the neighborhood and frequently invite us over to BBQ or watch some sports. I suspect some of that warm welcome has to do with my wife’s roots here, and they definitely throw in a dig now and then about CA and “not to bring our politics here”, but it seems pretty light hearted. I more or less tell them I don’t really follow politics or watch the news, and think both sides have good/bad ideas and leave it at that.

3) The quality of life. Moving from an overpopulated urban area to a large planned suburb definitely improved my quality of life. There are great fishing holes all over, green belt trails my daughter can ride her bike to school or friends house on, no helicopters, airplanes or loud cars driving around at all hours of the day. It’s just silent after 9-10 PM, sans a few frogs and crickets looking to hook up. 

4) The BBQ. No explanation needed on this one. 

The bad:

1) The weather. It can be absolutely brutal and is so random. Cold and rainy one hour, hot a rainy another, then hot and humid the next. Moving from somewhere that was basically 75 and sunny year round, the weather has definitely taken some time to adjust too. There’s also so many skeeters! It’s pretty much impossible to go outside around dusk in this part of Texas. You’ll get annihilated  in no time.

2) The what I like to call “Freedom to be a Christian” phenomena. When most people from Texas talk about freedom, they really compartmentalize it. You’re free to walk into a grocery store open carrying, but not free to buy a bottle of liquor. You need to go special stores for that, and of course… those aren’t allowed to even be open on the sabbath. You’re free to use public education to indoctrinate children into Christianity, and even forced to display a copy of the 10 commandments in all classrooms. But anything to do with other religions, or secularism is of course not protected by those same “freedoms”. Personally, I just want school to teach my kid to read, write, math and basic economics and civics. Leave the social justice, religious, sex, tranny crap from both sides for the parents to deal with.

3) The drivers. There seems to be no understanding of passing lanes and the proper way to use a highway. You got people and big rigs going 60 in the passing lane, other people going 80 in the merge lane, and a mixture of people going 60-90 in the middle lanes, all swerving in and out of traffic. Like seriously, is driving progressively slower from the left (passing) down to the right (merging) not a thing here? It’s complete chaos!

4) The Mexican food. I’ve found a few decent taquerias and had some pretty good food from taco trucks, but none of it comes close to SoCal. And that’s not even getting into the whole Tex Mex garbage; which shouldn’t even be allowed to call itself Mexican food.

So yah. That’s been my experience so far. I miss some things from home, but glad to no longer deal with others. Texas has been mostly great and has alot or charm and things to offer, but has it’s own challenges. At the end of the day, I think what I learned most is I want to live all over the US and experience all the great places this country has to offer. Life’s too short to spend in a single bubble! 
 

 

 

 

Wasn't you Nostradumbass on the main board ? If so loved your post.

[Bert 1,091]

2 hours ago, mobb_deep said:

I’ve had Xochi on my yelp list for a bit. Definitely want to check that place out. There’s a place called La Calle Tacos that looks really good too. I’m sure there are tons of great places in Houston proper. I’m in the Spring/Woodlands area, so it’s a bit of a trek to get into the city. Did venture into to the city to see WEEN at the White Oak Music Hall last week, and that was a blast. 

. For what it's worth I think Hugo's and Caracol are better.  When my travel schedule isn't crazy I play a fair amount of golf in the Woodlands area.  We should grab a beer.

[BufordT 371]

Welcome back. Hope to see you on the mange board come fall. 

[easilyscan 559]

16 hours ago, mobb_deep said:

no helicopters, airplanes or loud cars driving around at all hours of the day. It’s just silent after 9-10 PM, sans a few frogs and crickets looking to hook up. 

Unless you're one of those that can sleep through an EF-5 tornado, you can't put a price on peace & quiet. That's the reason I'm leaving my neighborhood of 20+ years & moving to the country.