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@Joe Fortino

My brutha, what give me great enjoyment is reading this forum and seeing what my knucklehead SOC buddies have going on in their neck of he woods. Plus the sage advise on here, I learn something new every time I visit. Certainly glad to be part of this community!

BTW, rain or shine, you certainly have a beautiful place and an awesome neighborhood!

Last edited by MusbJim

243D2D44-163B-49E3-AA85-AD903631524DYou’re my new weatherman, @Stan Galat.

@Cory McCloskey certainly didn’t warn me of the snow in his report.

(No salt yet. I figure the driveway is fair game until the other cars start tracking it in. Until then, I using it as a little race course to enjoy 1/4 mile at a time.)

Am I reading this correctly, Ryan? You have a place with a quarter-mile drive in Chicagoland? I'm assuming then, that you already have somebody to plow it lined up. Perhaps the man-servant or one of the footmen? I'm sure the butler won't do it - might mess up the white gloves.

I think I'm beginning to understand the move from Kalifornia to Hellinois a little better now.

One question: does this place have a moat? I feel like it probably has a moat.

Last edited by Stan Galat

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@Stan Galat posted:
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Oh, Mitchster, once he's gotten used to the steak burritos at El Burrito Loco, he'll never be back to fish tacos in the worker's paradise.



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Ryan, Great Mexican all over Chi-town and the burbs. Lets grab @Joe Fortino and the a few of the other yokals and hit this joint. .

@Jeff Hicks posted:
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That place is absofreakin' amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I hope you gentlemen realize the poignant irony of this — it is certainly not lost on me.

We lose one of Norcal's best and brightest to the bleak tundra of the heartland, on the eve of The Great Freeze, no less, and to what temptation?

To the lure of good Mexican food?

And just when I was beginning to think I had a grasp of what is important in life.

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Last edited by Sacto Mitch

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I guess because I grew up in a time when Mexican food for purchase was not a thing in the urban (or suburban) East, I still can't imagine Chicagoland as a mecca for the burrito hungry.

But, fifty years later, here we are a global village.

In a way, the burrito has become more of an international currency than the Bitcoin (and one that better holds its value).

I had my first Mexican food (at an eatery where farm workers dined)  when I visited California in the early '70s. With that perspective, I have a hard time digesting the concept of 'elite' Mexican food, but I guess it does exist if you insist on seeking it out (refry it and they shall come).

So, whether his place has a moat or not, Ryan will likely find reasonably priced ethnic succor out there on the tundra and, in that regard at least, not regret his decision.

Our loss is your gain.

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Last edited by Sacto Mitch
@Sacto Mitch posted:

.I guess because I grew up in a time when Mexican food for purchase was not a thing in the urban (or suburban) East, I still can't imagine Chicagoland as a mecca for the burrito hungry.

But, fifty years later, here we are a global village.

I definitely do not live in Chicago, and Peoria and surrounds can't hold a candle to anything they've got in the Second City. I've been in Paris and Rome. The food in Chicago is way better for way less money.

Down here in flyover, we have no Ethiopian, Brazilian, or Croatian restaurants (pity, all that). The Italian is so-so, and the Chinese is laughable.

But we've got Mexican. So. Much. Mexican. It's not upscale Mexican. It's, "hey, we came here to make a better life -and we're killing it " Mexican, because the Mexicans that land here are killing it and making a better life for themselves and their families.

Last edited by Stan Galat

243D2D44-163B-49E3-AA85-AD903631524DYou’re my new weatherman, @Stan Galat.

@Cory McCloskey certainly didn’t warn me of the snow in his report.

(No salt yet. I figure the driveway is fair game until the other cars start tracking it in. Until then, I using it as a little race course to enjoy 1/4 mile at a time.)

Hey, Ryan!

I'm sorry I haven't replied to your baseless accusation before now.  Going forward, if you'd like @Stan Galat to provide your forecast, I'll be sorry to lose you, but frankly, I could use the extra minutes, because I've been having quite a time out here trying to get some wayward sunscreen out of my eyes.

And I can't remember whether you asked me for a November shot of my car, but here's one from this week...

IMG_8098

Sorry for the boring composition -- I just snapped it any old way, because my hands were getting cold, as temps had plunged into the mid-60s that afternoon.

Enjoy Lake County, friend!  Only 193 days to Memorial Day!

Your sunshiney friend,

Cor

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  • Camelback Mountain

All of your comments are so perfect. Thank you for the teasing and for reminding me what we gave up to be here. It took two years to discern our future in the midwest. And we're all too aware of the people, the food, the landscape, twisty roads, and weather we're missing. We loved our time in CA and look forward to visiting often.

In the meantime, here are some fun things we found about life here so far:

  • All the roads aren't straight or flat (most are, but I can avoid them).
  • I play golf with my dad once a week (well, before this week anyway).
  • In the summer, I can get all four kids up on waterskis on a weekday afternoon.
  • Similar to CA, people here are ambitious with their use of land... chickens, rabbits, bees, etc. I've even met several people with  backyard vineyards. It's rubbing off. I'm tapping trees for syrup, planting a field of prairie wildflowers for spring, and buying some hives.
  • People here are overly hospitable. New friends are inviting our family to their homes several times a week now. I'm really having to up my backyard and BBQ game to fit in.

No, we don't care for the winter or lack of ocean & mountains, but waking up to snow covered trees is spectacular.

I'm also surprised by the number of cops here. I never got a speeding ticket in CA, but I fully expect that track record to change.

Daily driving my Speedster was the largest compromise for me. "Thankfully", I had a year of engine rebuilding to get me used to the idea.

As @Stan Galat said, we'll see how this changes come February. For now, there's no turning back.

Last edited by Ryan (formerly) in NorCal

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You know, I still wasn't very convinced about Ryan's explanation of why he moved 2000 miles away from this sunny, oceanside paradise to landlocked, frozen tundra, (with only a meager facsimile of good, Mexican food). And I think he picked up on some healthy skepticism in the rest of the membership.

But he is smarter than I gave him credit for. He has posted the real reason in a cleverly crafted response that takes a little deciphering to properly translate. Here, for anyone to read, is the real reason:





  • All the roads aren't straight or flat (most are, but I can avoid them).
  • I play golf with my dad once a week (well, before this week anyway).
  • In the summer, I can get all four kids up on waterskis on a weekday afternoon.
  • Similar to CA, people here are ambitious with their use of land... chickens, rabbits, bees, etc. I've even met several people with  backyard vineyards. It's rubbing off. I'm tapping trees for syrup, planting a field of prairie wildflowers for spring, and buying some hives.
  • People here are overly hospitable. New friends are inviting our family to their homes several times a week now. I'm really having to up my backyard and BBQ game to fit in.





Think about it. What is the one thing a Speedster owner with four young kids needs more than any other amenity on the planet? More than a pleasant climate. More than great roads and great beaches. More than spectacular mountains. More than real Mexican food.

That's right:

Free, round-the-clock, overnight and extended-period, no-questions-asked babysitting !

Well played, Ryan !

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Last edited by Sacto Mitch
@Sacto Mitch posted:

.Free, round-the-clock, overnight and extended-period, no-questions-asked babysitting !.

Welcome to my life. We are the cheapest childcare imaginable. 8 local grandkids (3 more are sadly a flight away). We're a regular daycare* here in the Glorious Republic.







*(he quietly sniggers, sitting in his home office, 2 y/o granddaughter napping peacefully upstairs)

Last edited by Stan Galat

Jeanie Galat is a saint.

I regret I can only "like" this one time. She's definitely my better half.

Jeanie says she doesn't watch the kids "all that much". She lies.

Our good friend says Jeanie only babysits 2 grandkids at a time (holds up 5 fingers), for 3 hours (holds up 9 fingers), twice a week (holds up 6 fingers).

When she's not watching the grandkids (and the occasional strays), taking them to the library, out for ice cream, or to the second-hand store to buy junk with the money she's given them for random small tasks - she's babysitting me, which is a full time job. I do not require being overpaid for picking up my own mess (as she does with the grandkids), although it might help me to be a better housemate.

This is all true. Every bit of it.





There are presently 4 of them up there, playing a new board game Jeanie got for them. It "doesn't count", because they're only here for a couple of hours.

5:05 CST edit: they're all staying for dinner, along with my son and his beautiful wife. This is most excellent, and why we still live here.

Last edited by Stan Galat

9:30 PM CST Update:

All of them went home at 7:30 or so. There was wailing and gnashing of teeth with the youngest two over leaving. They desperately wanted to stay - and who wouldn't? Jeanie is a rockstar.

She had the two year old all day, which means a complete day of fun. They went to Kohls this morning for some returns. JoJo (the two year old) was in the toy department gazing in wonderment, which had to be stupid-cute in and of itself.

I'm told that after a half hour or so, Jeanie says, "are you ready to go to Gigi's?"

"No". More gazing as only a toddler can. More wonderment.

"Are you ready to go to Gigi's, JoJo? We'll get snacks and watch a cartoon"

"No". Goes back to the toys.

"If we go home, we can see G-pa."

"Go see G-pa". Reaches up to hold Jeanie's hand and heads for the door.

Better than cartoons? Be assured, friends - I'm not all that special.

When one of the little ones is being watched by Jeanie - in the afternoon, they wait by the window on a stool until I come home. No matter how bad the day was, or how cold and miserable I am, I'm immediately happy and content when I see them jumping up and down in the window because, what? I'm here? I'm a grumpy old pipefitter. To them, I'm Santa Claus, come down to Morton. My 3 year old grandson in Denver actually calls me Santa. How awesome is that?

If you think you know what you're missing, and prefer a solitary life of "not being tied down", all I can say is that I really do pity you.

These little people are pure unalloyed joy.

Last edited by Stan Galat
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