Finally Sold our House in CA

[mjncad]

In 2003 we were fixing up a rental and she noticed that all of the people who came to look at it drove better cars than either one of us had. And, a lot of them were section 8 tenants (government subsidizes their rent).

This reminds of when I was in college in the late 70's. A buddy of mine was a brittle diabetic barely surviving on SS disability and cash from his parents back east. He was on food stamps and was truly deserving of them. I was driving my parent's car at the time; my buddy's car was a broken down '68 Dodge Charger.

Rick lived in a dumpy apartment under the north-south flight patterns at the old Stapleton airport in Denver. You could count the rivets on the planes landing as they were that low.

One day I was wheeling Rick in his wheelchair to the food stamp office to get his monthly allotment since he could no longer drive; when we saw a black broad wearing her finest fur with her food stamps in her freshly manicured hands get into a new purple Lincoln pimpmobile with all the latest Superfly accessories that were popular at the time.

I don't mind helping someone truly down and out get back on their feet; but I have problems with the Sections 8'rs Dave mentions, and Superfly Mama gaming the system to live the entitlement lifestyle provided to them by Uncle Sugar.

 

[flusher]

I moved to CA from MO 22 years ago. Worked for first 7 years in Orange County, retired, moved North to Sacramento area in 2004. Loved every minute of it and expect the same in the future. MO is an armpit compared to CA.

 

[rsewill]

DW and I don't consider ourselves "rich" but we know that we are comfortable.
>>>
Now just where the he11 along the line do you thing I lost the incentive to work?

Uh, that would be in your second post in this thread.

 

[aczlan]

Uh, that would be in your second post in this thread.

Reads more like a loss of incentive to work in CA (as someone living on food stamps and welfare got a comfortable living without having to lift a finger for it) rather than a loss of incentive to work.
You know, that whole idea that by working hard you can make money to repay your hard work and sacrifice.

Aaron Z

 

[CurlyDave]

Uh, that would be in your second post in this thread.

Even in that post it is clear that the incentive to work, for me and a lot of others, was destroyed by the state. No one lost it. It didn't get dropped by the wayside never to be found again. It was deliberately taken away by the state policy of over-taxing those who are successful at working and redistributing their money to those who are successful at being lazy.

And, don't forget the over-regulation and roadblocks for any small business.

If I combine sales tax, property tax, state income tax, and gasoline taxes, DW and I paid enough tax to support at least two full-time bureaucrats. From the number of regulations I had to follow, it sure seemed like those two guys were specifically assigned to watch and torment me with a lot of petty BS.

Well, they can find another sugar daddy now. I voted with my feet. As liberal as OR might be at the state level, the total tax load is significantly lower, and local government officials actually want to help me bring work into our small town instead of regulating me to death. Or course, three years of watching their neighbors and relatives starve, lose jobs and houses under current administration policies will do that to a guy. In CA they just don't care. When I wanted to bring 4 jobs to the local economy through rebuilding my house, their only concern was that all taxes and fees were paid and that all regulations were met and exceeded.

 

[rsewill]

Even in that post it is clear that the incentive to work, for me and a lot of others, was destroyed by the state. No one lost it. It didn't get dropped by the wayside never to be found again. It was deliberately taken away by the state policy of over-taxing those who are successful at working and redistributing their money to those who are successful at being lazy.

And, don't forget the over-regulation and roadblocks for any small business.

If I combine sales tax, property tax, state income tax, and gasoline taxes, DW and I paid enough tax to support at least two full-time bureaucrats. From the number of regulations I had to follow, it sure seemed like those two guys were specifically assigned to watch and torment me with a lot of petty BS.

Well, they can find another sugar daddy now. I voted with my feet. As liberal as OR might be at the state level, the total tax load is significantly lower, and local government officials actually want to help me bring work into our small town instead of regulating me to death. Or course, three years of watching their neighbors and relatives starve, lose jobs and houses under current administration policies will do that to a guy. In CA they just don't care. When I wanted to bring 4 jobs to the local economy through rebuilding my house, their only concern was that all taxes and fees were paid and that all regulations were met and exceeded.

Lost, destroyed, semantics. Just using your term.

 

[westbrooklawn]

DW and I don't consider ourselves "rich" but we know that we are comfortable. This didn't happen by accident, and it didn't happen by laziness.

I went to college and graduate school, my parents paid for undergraduate work, but I financed graduate school on my own, ending with a Ph.D. in engineering. DW wasn't as lucky in the parent department, and she financed her undergraduate and graduate work totally on her own. She has a Ph.D. in psychology.

The first 20 years of my career, I worked for companies, and lived through being fired once, and almost fired again due to not being politically connected inside the company. I came to realize that working for someone else was precarious, and I deliberately decided to develop a sideline which could bring in some income if times became bad. So I started buying and fixing a rental houses working evenings and weekends.

When we married in the late 90s, DW was a college professor, and had started an educational consulting company. I encouraged her to continue in this field.

We bought more rental houses, and she was right there working beside me doing repairs and improvements. Plus she increased her consulting.

In 2003 we were fixing up a rental and she noticed that all of the people who came to look at it drove better cars than either one of us had. And, a lot of them were section 8 tenants (government subsidizes their rent).

In 2007 I realized that I was selling my days to the company for less than they were worth to me, and retired. DW retired last year. When the house burned down I went back to CA and rebuilt it, acting as owner-builder.

Now that it has sold, we are back in our house in OR. DW still has her educational consulting business, I manage our real estate, and just yesterday went down to get the course materials to become a licensed contractor in Oregon. This will both help with the real estate business, and will let me keep some of the guys who worked on the CA house employed in Oregon.

Now just where the he11 along the line do you thing I lost the incentive to work?

* * * * *

And, we contribute more to charities than either Barack Obama or Joe Biden.

DW supports 6 children in various countries. I work with troubled youth and young adults. A lot of times a few hundred $, or rarely a couple thousand $ will make a lot of difference. I reach into my pocket and take care of things when necessary -- more than a few times a year. There is no tax deduction for this.

* * * * *

I know that we are neither the hardest workers, nor the biggest charitable contributors on TBN -- there are many others like us.

But I also know that guys who think like you aren't qualified to carry my jockstrap across the locker room, much less hurl insults.

Very well said Dave. I've come to the conclusion that rsewill is one of those fanatic liberals that believes it must be his way or no way. Be it Religion, 2nd Amendment Rights, or Capitalism, his comments are always one sided, sarcastic, and inflammatory. Since he is never open to rational discussion, I've decided to simply ignore his comments and not waste time replying... would like to see others do the same.

 

[dfkrug]

Over time, it became infested with liberals who like to spend my money attracting illegals into the state so they can live on welfare. Between that and income redistribution, they have destroyed all incentive to work.

Sometime in the next few years they will completely eradicate all new small business startups and then tax and regulate the survivors into oblivion.

Maybe so, but you can't beat the weather!

Yeah, our state has lots of problems, and I will be first in line to criticize
it. But I have lived in 5 other states, and visited 46 of them. I can tell
you this: here I can live in the beautiful redwood forest, near enough to
"civilization", but not too near. And never have to shovel snow again, or
watch my vehicles rust out, or deal with sub-zero temps or oppressive
heat/humidity. Nowhere is it perfect.

Congrats on finishing the house, Dave. I hope to never go thru the
multi-year CA site-approval/building permit process again!

 

[EddieWalker]

Very well said Dave. I've come to the conclusion that rsewill is one of those fanatic liberals that believes it must be his way or no way. Be it Religion, 2nd Amendment Rights, or Capitalism, his comments are always one sided, sarcastic, and inflammatory. Since he is never open to rational discussion, I've decided to simply ignore his comments and not waste time replying... would like to see others do the same.

I agree with this 100%, except I couldn't have put it so nicely. Some people are just plane angry at the world. To insult a person who had to rebuild his house after it burned down really is about as low as it gets.

Eddie

 

[rsewill]

I agree with this 100%, except I couldn't have put it so nicely. Some people are just plane angry at the world. To insult a person who had to rebuild his house after it burned down really is about as low as it gets.

Eddie

I'm not the one who is angry at the world. Read Curly Dave's screed about California and who he was angrily insulting. I'm sorry his house burned down a few years ago, nobody should have that happen.