Yeah, I loved the U.P. and MTU, unfortunately I wanted to get a job after I
graduated, so I moved back down state. One of the most telling differences
between when I lived in SOUTHERN California and in the U.P. is that in the
U.P. I *never* locked the door to the house I was living in. I didn't even
have a key because we had one key and there will 3 people living there. When
we would leave for breaks the last person would lock the door and leave the
key on the porch so the first person back could get in. I *never* worried
about anything getting stolen either. Hell, when I lived in SOUTHERN
California you couldn't go into a gas station for 30 seconds and leave your
bike unlocked without the possibility of it getting ripped off.

Yes, I lived in SOUTHERN California but we had plenty vacations to Northern
California when I was growing up. I never stayed long enough to get attached
to any of the northern areas but I can say that Northern and Southern
California are almost like completely different states. So, whenever I think
of California, I think of SOUTHERN California because that is where I lived.
Even so, I still prefer the Midwest, people just seem to be more laid back.
When I moved to Michigan I was amazed by how blue the skies were all the
time, how clean the bathrooms were at my High School, and that my High
School was surrounded by an orchard and cows even though downtown Grand
Rapids was only about 10 miles away. That's what I mean about wall-to-wall
cities. In SOUTHERN California you drive from city to city to city with no
space in between. On the other hand, in Michigan once you get out of Grand
Rapids you have to drive 30 or more miles to get to Cadillac, Holland, or
Kalamazoo and those cities aren't even that big.

Greg M


"George" george@least wrote in message
...
MTU, eh? Why did you leave da UP?

I spent time in Marysville, and it got so bad that you had to have a group
to camp out or risk the freaks even in the mountains. For my money, it's
still granola land.

Oh yeah, born a troll - Joy and Telegraph....

"Greg M" wrote in message
m...
I've been
living in the Detroit Metro area for the past year and before that I was
going to school for five years in Houghton, MI (in the U.P.). The
Detroit
suburbs remind me a lot of California, except for the significantly
lower
amount of import automobiles :-)