Southern Exposure

San Jose - March 27, 2001
By: Kevin McIntyre

new
wife
We're now almost a full week into Spring but there is one transplanted small town prairie boy who hasn't noticed winter let alone the new Solstice. Last fall I pulled up roots and moved with all my closest held earthly possessions, my computer and clothes, to California to wear take up residence with his new wife.

four
million
The Bay Area is certainly not as life was in Aylsham! On the drive down once one got an hour north of Sacramento the landscape became urban sprawl. In the 120 odd miles between San Jose and Sacramento there were the occasional open area but the Bay Area is solid people. The region may be seventy-five miles across with plenty of inland bays and waterways yet is home to four million people, roughly the population of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba combined. Some of them even speak English!

ethnic
diversity
One trip to the mall and one learns about ethnic diversity, you can see representatives from every section of the planet and hear more languages in five minutes than one knew existed. If one lives their life in small town Saskatchewan the only person of colour you may ever see is the Locum doctor from South Africa or a few shoppers from the local First Nations community. We live in a near exclusive Asian community and I've literally gone for a couple months at a time and the only Caucasian I've spoke to is my wife.

pure
illusion
This was my first full winter out of Canada and wasn't quite sure what to expect. I found that yet again, most of what we have learned of and heard of California is pure illusion - it does not hold an even 72 degrees all year. September and part of October was a solid 100 plus degrees which the radiator on my diesel engine isn't happy with. As we moved into winter and the rainy season it cooled off: for the most part daytime highs in December and January ran an average of 54 to 56 degrees, nights got down to 40. It may have frozen once and for about a week it got as low as 34 degrees. That was cold!

single
pane
Double and triple pane windows are not found here, single pane aluminum famed windows are the norm and they are as useless here as there.

April
I was expecting a rainy season such as Vancouver has where it starts the first week of November and is wet and gloomy until April: not so. The summers here, I'm told, it flat out does not rain, in the winters it *can* rain. By and large it was no different than late April in Saskatchewan all winter, the thing one must watch is the traffic.

ice
With nothing to wash the residue off the streets all year when they do get wet they can be just like ice, and another stereotype which I shall not name, is true. Trust me! Snow was seen once but only on the ridges of the mountains ringing the valley and during that time on the news they reported at Truckee and Tahoe you weren't let onto the highways unless you had chains, Donner Pass was closed, period. [Even if you brought your own lunch] The higher elevations will get socked in same as Northern B.C.

Rolling
blackouts
Last week when I logged into Ensign and read of snow beginning to melt in Tisdale temperatures here rose to 78 degrees, administrators cranked up the air conditioners to cool the banks and banks of server farms in the Valley, and *immediately* threw the state into another Stage Three power emergency. Rolling blackouts were ordered and at 10:37 sharp, we had an hour of Quiet Time....

But that's another story.

Kevin

!--- the enclosed picture was taken February 10th after a shower went through the area: this is Sandra's town house, we're the end unit of three [two shown] in this building, California bargain priced at only $300,000! Second picture is from the living room window taken 1/28. VW Beetles are as common here as mid 70's Chev trucks are back there.


San Jose - March 27, 2001 By: Kevin McIntyre
new wife	We're now almost a full week into Spring but there is one transplanted small town prairie boy who hasn't noticed winter let alone the new Solstice. Last fall I pulled up roots and moved with all my closest held earthly possessions, my computer and clothes, to California to wear take up residence with his new wife.

four million	The Bay Area is certainly not as life was in Aylsham! On the drive down once one got an hour north of Sacramento the landscape became urban sprawl. In the 120 odd miles between San Jose and Sacramento there were the occasional open area but the Bay Area is solid people. The region may be seventy-five miles across with plenty of inland bays and waterways yet is home to four million people, roughly the population of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba combined. Some of them even speak English!

ethnic diversity	One trip to the mall and one learns about ethnic diversity, you can see representatives from every section of the planet and hear more languages in five minutes than one knew existed. If one lives their life in small town Saskatchewan the only person of colour you may ever see is the Locum doctor from South Africa or a few shoppers from the local First Nations community. We live in a near exclusive Asian community and I've literally gone for a couple months at a time and the only Caucasian I've spoke to is my wife.

pure illusion	This was my first full winter out of Canada and wasn't quite sure what to expect. I found that yet again, most of what we have learned of and heard of California is pure illusion - it does not hold an even 72 degrees all year. September and part of October was a solid 100 plus degrees which the radiator on my diesel engine isn't happy with. As we moved into winter and the rainy season it cooled off: for the most part daytime highs in December and January ran an average of 54 to 56 degrees, nights got down to 40. It may have frozen once and for about a week it got as low as 34 degrees. That was cold!

single pane	Double and triple pane windows are not found here, single pane aluminum famed windows are the norm and they are as useless here as there.

April	I was expecting a rainy season such as Vancouver has where it starts the first week of November and is wet and gloomy until April: not so. The summers here, I'm told, it flat out does not rain, in the winters it can rain. By and large it was no different than late April in Saskatchewan all winter, the thing one must watch is the traffic.

ice	With nothing to wash the residue off the streets all year when they do get wet they can be just like ice, and another stereotype which I shall not name, is true. Trust me! Snow was seen once but only on the ridges of the mountains ringing the valley and during that time on the news they reported at Truckee and Tahoe you weren't let onto the highways unless you had chains, Donner Pass was closed, period. [Even if you brought your own lunch] The higher elevations will get socked in same as Northern B.C.

Rolling blackouts	Last week when I logged into Ensign and read of snow beginning to melt in Tisdale temperatures here rose to 78 degrees, administrators cranked up the air conditioners to cool the banks and banks of server farms in the Valley, and immediately threw the state into another *Stage Three* power emergency. Rolling blackouts were ordered and at 10:37 sharp, we had an hour of Quiet Time....

	But that's another story.

	Kevin



!--- the enclosed picture was taken February 10th after a shower went through the area: this is Sandra's town house, we're the end unit of three [two shown] in this building, California bargain priced at only $300,000! Second picture is from the living room window taken 1/28. VW Beetles are as common here as mid 70's Chev trucks are back there.