They don’t go/travel outside California because they can’t spell name of the places outside California correctly. If they try to go/travel outside California, you would read lot of similar stories like this German guy who wanted to go Sydney, Australia but ended up at Sidney, Montana.

Australia-bound tourist ends up in Montana

On the flip side, how many Bay Area people have friends who are NOT somehow involved in tech?

FWIW, I find that many people in the Bay Area do not have a good sense on how much they are spending to live here (housing, transport, tax, groceries).

Actually, many are immigrants who move straight here, so they assume that all of America is like this – expensive, crowded, wide school quality variability. Or they’re native Californians who have never left this fine state.

I am told that you can also replace the green onions with lard.

I can already feel my arteries hardening.

Bell Buckle Country Store: Captain Rodney’s Cheese Bake

Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
8 ounce package of cream cheese
1 cup Grated Sharp Cheddar cheese
2 Green onions (Chopped)
6 Butter Crackers (Crushed)
8 Slices of bacon (Cooked and Crumbled)
1/2 cup of any Captain Rodney’s Glaze

Directions:
Mix mayonnaise, cream cheese, cheddar and onions in greased quiche pan. Top with crackers and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Top with bacon and any Captain Rodney’s Pepper Glaze. Serve with crackers.

In the Appalachia region that includes Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, 81 percent of counties have high rates of diabetes and obesity.

bob – got a source for that statistic? I’d be interested to see more on that.

Actually, the highest number of foreclosures of homeowners with conventional loans and good credit is in the Bay Area. The Bay Area has anywhere from a 11-18% unemployment rate. Sooner or later that catches up in the form of mounting foreclosures- especially in higher priced areas where buyers took on more risk.

I say $300,000 because my wife and I make a fairly decent income. Its less than $300,000, but still up there. All I can say is that despite living frugal, financially careful lives, what we’re leftover with after taxes and living expenses is indeed enough to buy the sample $800,000 home. But if either one of us lost our jobs, those payments would very rapidly outpace our savings. Like I said- we do fairly well financially. But when you look at how much you would need to buy a house in much of the area, the reality is shocking: We’d be doing like many people we know who bought and instantly turned into debt slaves, with the bulk of their incomes being poured into their houses.

I think its been pounded into the average Bay Area resident’s head that its perfectly OK to spend a high percentage of their incomes on their houses. The opposite should be true and no amount of sunshine, “foreigners”, or whatever makes it ok. Money is money. I for one do not believe in the Bay Area house as being anything other than a financial liability- which is what all houses in reality are.