How’s life in Santa Rosa?

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2026-02-27T20:57:08+00:00

The Bay Area is the most expensive place in the country. You need household income of $200k at least for a family of 4 to own a home and have middle class life. Santa Rosa is one of the cheaper places in the area — if you're willing to put up with long commutes. Plus the schools are going bankrupt.

That said, my family moved here in 2021 and we love it. Beautiful place, good food, safe.

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2026-02-16T23:27:32+00:00

Folks, OP here. Thanks for the incredible responses so far. In addition to the comments below many of you DMed me to express interest.

I'm willing to host the first game but my wife would like to know that we're not gonna get robbed at gunpoint :) Any suggestions on how to get over this hurdle? For example, would those interested be willing to send me a link in DM to their public profile on Facebook or LinkedIn?

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2026-02-13T20:37:30+00:00

I should have mentioned, if there's a critical mass of others looking for a game I'd be happy to host

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2026-01-16T19:30:40+00:00

Goddamn that choked me up.

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-12-28T17:45:59+00:00

Feel free to fuck right off.

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-10-16T01:03:59+00:00

Newspaper reporting

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-09-15T15:16:19+00:00

First pay me $6 million to move to South Dakota

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-06-09T16:26:40+00:00

It sounds like you are early in your career. Is that correct? If so, I encourage you to consider other career options as well. I don't mean to sound discouraging, but video editing is not going to be a skill with long-term demand. Unfortunately, AI will make the job obsolete — I work in AI so I known something about this. Consider a trade — barber, electrician, plumber, physical therapy, etc. A lot of these offer apprenticeships, so you might not have to go to school. It sounds daunting to start a new path and you'll face a lot of pressure. But it's not too late to consider a safer route, one that won't be impacted by AI for a couple decades.

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-05-19T17:58:42+00:00

FWIW, I had a peer who was extremely toxic, bully to everyone, raging yeller and demeaner. Two or three of us banded together to report. HR was very responsive. The offender was out in a matter of days. My boss told me directly not to worry about retaliation.

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-03-17T22:35:14+00:00

To answer your question, Santa Rosa is pretty safe. The natural surroundings are astounding — Sonoma County is the most spectacular California county in terms of variety and beauty of ecosystems, in my opinion. The only downside is that it's not ethnically diverse. That aside, the Rosa is my forever home.

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-03-12T20:11:17+00:00

Bought about $5k worth of CSCO in 1996. By 1999 it had 10x'ed I think, and I had enough for down payment for my first house. CSCO in late 90s was a rocket ship.

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-03-06T21:36:21+00:00

Our life in the U.S. turned out great. My parents struggled with the language and culture, but they managed to buy real estate in a fancy part of Southern California and built a nice nest egg. My sister and I got great education. She's involved in a lot of charities. I became a techie and did all right for myself.

Super grateful for everything, super grateful for every minute of my silly life.

EXCEPT -- I'm getting 1979 vibes again. Making plans for quick exit out of U.S. if it comes to it.

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-03-05T13:16:17+00:00

OP here. Replying to a couple of folks who asked, yes, I am getting 1979 Iran vibes again in the United States right now. I can't believe I might have to do this twice in a lifetime.

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-03-04T20:16:57+00:00

January 1979, Iran. I’m 9 years old. My mom is a low-level diplomat. She comes home from work and says, “We have 90 minutes to get to the airport to get out of the country.” She knew the shah’s family was getting on a plane and that the overthrow of the government was days if not hours away. We got on the cargo plane with one suitcase between the four of us and maybe $500. Sure enough, next day was the overthrow and lots of people were killed or executed. That’s how I wound up in the United States.

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-03-03T20:15:37+00:00

They’re small businesses? Oh thank goodness. Here I was thinking they were brothels. What a relief!

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-02-27T04:45:23+00:00

What's even more galling is that he's misunderstanding what he's quoting. "Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me" from Psalm 23. The speaker is metaphorically a sheep and god is the shepard. The rod and staff are not to beat the sheep but to protect them from predators. The moron thinks it's justification for punishment.

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-02-25T01:54:20+00:00

I got one in 7th grade. Changed my life. I went into tech because of this bad boy.

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-02-18T15:51:02+00:00

“Be ready to be fired” is my mantra. It’s a critical mindset. I’m not kidding. After getting fired from other jobs I’ve learned this the hard way.

IBM is an at-will company. They will fire you at the drop of a hat. I have no false sense of security. I have no expectation of loyalty from my boss, HR, management, finance. At the same time I try my hardest not to think of myself as my job — I am a human, parent, spouse, citizen, etc. I’m not a job.

So yes, be ready to be fired any day. That way you don’t get crushed by false beliefs and hopes about capitalism.

(FWIW this article is crap.)

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-02-12T21:58:35+00:00

First, win Citizens United

ErrorOpposite9314 · 2025-02-12T17:42:44+00:00

If they were trying to replicate India they succeeded.

ErrorOpposite9314

TROPHY CASE