I haven't posted in a while, even though I have a lot of other things I miss. In fact, I was saving the most important things for last, so I definitely have a few more posts to go.
At the moment, I miss the prices in Texas.
I am not exaggerating when I say, everything is cheaper in Texas. The gas, the food, the booze, public utilities, meals in restaurants, clothes, cars, insurance, cell phone plans, light bulbs, aspirin, and on and on. Literally, everything.
Obviously the taxes are cheaper. Texas has no state taxes and Massachusetts is not-so-popularly known as "Taxachusetts." I have yet to feel the burden of Massachusetts state taxes. And in all honestly, I don't mind paying taxes if I feel the benefits of them. I'm not sure yet if that will be the case here. Interestingly, the place where I felt the most burdened by state taxes was Indiana (a government-hating, corporation-loving, down-home-Murican Red State).
Most recently I am disgusted by the price of natural gas. My gas bill is out of control. Much of this has to do with the ABYSMAL insulation in my apartment and my useless slumlords landlords. I cannot get the ambient temperature above 50-55 degrees in one of the rooms. The heating vents work, but after only turning my thermostat up to 70 degrees for a few days, my heating bill increased by almost 100%. That's right, $80 to $150 over only few days of use. Appalled, I maintained my thermostat at 60 degrees for the majority of December and my bill increased another 50% from $150 to $225. For a one bedroom apartment!!! And it wasn't even that cold! Are you fucking kidding me? Sorry this has turned into a rant about my apartment. I am in battle with my landlord right now.
End of story, I miss the prices in Texas. Everything is 20-50% cheaper, on average. Money goes farther in Texas. Thank your lucky, big, bright stars in the heart of Texas.
It's no secret, I am a great big huge Liberal Democrat. And I am fucking proud of it. Do not criticize me or try to challenge me. I do not engage in arguments with people of different political viewpoints because I have no interest in changing their mind and I do not want to hear what they have to say.
Let's just say, being a Democrat in Texas is not the norm. The majority of people in the state, and especially in the Lubbock area, held a whole collection of nonsensical, conservative, anti-government attitudes. I am consistently amazed and annoyed by anti-government attitudes in the arid west - a place which would literally be uninhabitable and economically destitute if it were not for federally funded water distribution projects, massive subsidies and tax breaks for cattle ranchers and cotton farmers, and even more disgustingly massive and unnecessary subsidies for oil and gas industries. It is so hypocritical to be anti-government in a region that is completely dependent on the government for basic survival. That seems to be the norm in red states, though.
I saw so many bumper stickers for Romney/Ryan (get over it!) and even McCain/Palin (seriously get over it!) and other right-wing causes like deportation and birther claims and just plain offensive
anti-Obama crap. The most common were simply Confederate flags, Right for a Reason, and just simply one that said "Extremely Rightwing." And to be honest, I wanted to rear-end ever single one of those cars. I hate it. I fucking hate it! On more than one occasion, I was in a restaurant or other public place and I heard a nearby conversation that was based on pure lies (usually quoting Fox News). I was so tempted to set it straight, but I wouldn't change their ignorant minds, so I bit my tongue. I remember vividly on April 2, 2014, two days after the deadline to sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), an elderly gentlemen was "carrying out" my groceries from Market Street and out of nowhere he says, "Everybody's in a bad mood, signed up for Obamacare and didn't get what they expected. I kept my insurance, you ain't foolin' me." I almost blurted out, "What the fuck are you talking about old man?"
Obviously most of my colleagues shared my convictions, but outside of the small faculty community, there were limited options. This posed a major difficulty in terms of dating. I couldn't respect a potential partner that shared fundamentally different political beliefs. Sometimes guys suggested it would be "hot" to disagree. Um, no. I do not want to be James Carville and Mary Matalin. I want to be with someone that has the same convictions. I want to raise my potential children with the same important beliefs. I'm not religious, but I am political.
And now, I am positively giddy to live in a blue state again. Of course New York
is a blue state, but I am from the reddest part of that blue state.
(Literally, Essex County was bright red.) But in Massachusetts, I will
be in the motherfucking majority of political opinion for the first time
in my life!!! Even though Westfield is near the most rural/redneck portion of the state, and even in this mixed purple map, central/western Mass is still blue. So just to be clear, the most red part of the state is still blue! Haha!
I am so happy driving around seeing "Ready for Hillary" stickers on so many cars. I surrounded by academics, union members, social workers, lesbians, organic farmers, local business owners, and just every imaginable type of Democrat. I just want to spin in circles. Ahhhh, sigh.
There is absolutely no need for me to explain this one. I miss fresh tortillas.
I knew they were delicious, but I had no idea how much I would miss the bounty and variety of tortillas available everywhere in Texas. Every grocery store has 30 different types, some stores make them on site, and of course, every single Mexican restaurant makes fresh tortillas, some including an adorable little old lady pressing them by hand and yelling at anyone that does it wrong.
A moment of silence for the lack of tortillas here.
(Prepare for the rant of an environmental historian. I don't care if you don't like it.)
When Betty Boop last visited Lubbock, all she wanted to do is go to the Leisure Pool. But of course, it was the one week that Lubbock gets four sequential days of rain! Unprecedented! And every time I complained, everyone kept saying, "We need the rain!" Ya know what? Fuck off.
Who needs the rains? Who? Your lawn?
FUCK. OFF. Holy shit fuck off. I hope your lawn dies. I hope your lawn withers and dies. Your lawn is an
unnatural waste of water and time. Lawns are a cultural custom rooted in the climate of the East. Lawns grow naturally in the East and Midwest
because there is enough rain. My dad has been actively trying to kill our lawn for 20 years but it just keeps growing! Lawns are not meant to grow in the West. So if your lawn needs rain, I don't care.
Ogallala Aquifer size and scope
Who really needs the rain? Not humans in Lubbock, that's for damn sure. Humans in Lubbock are doing just fine by sucking the Ogallala Aquifer dry. FYI, the Ogallala Aquifer is an underground aquifer spanning from South
Dakota to Texas. It was likely created approximately 10-12 million years ago when Rocky Mountains were moving and shaping and the glaciers were receding. This left behind a moist layer of sediment and billions of gallons of glacial water. The Ogallala hydrates the majority of
semi-arid western states because those areas do not receive enough
natural moisture to support human life.
West Texas naturally receives
around 15-20 inches of rain, 25 inches in a good year, in comparison to 50-60 inches of rain in New York or Indiana. So Lubbock is a
semi-arid/arid climate, depending on the total rainfall in a particular
year. Semi-arid climates were considered sub-marginal and unsuitable for
human habitation until the early twentieth century. This was when a few brilliant land developers and boosters began spreading the myth that "rain follows the plow." Literally....
As Charles Dana Wilber wrote in The Great Valleys
and Prairies of Nebraska and the Northwest in 1881:
...a new army
of frontier farmers...turn over the prairie sod,
and after deep plowing and receiving the rain and moisture, present a new
surface of green, growing crops instead of the dry, hardbaked earth covered with sparse
buffalo grass. No one can question or doubt the inevitable effect of this cool
condensing surface upon the moisture in the atmosphere as it moves over by the
Western winds. A reduction of temperature must at once occur, accompanied by
the usual phenomena of showers. The chief agency in this transformation is
agriculture. To be more concise. Rain follows the plow.
...it would appear that
deserts and arid lands are not only temporary conditions of the earth's
surface, but that, on the other hand, such unpromising areas can, by the
industry and skill of man, be' changed into fertile and productive fields...by the plow, can transform it, in any country, into farm areas. With the
power in our own hands to make the wilderness and waste places glad, and to
make even a desert blossom as a garden with roses.
Ok so just to review, the theory goes that when homesteaders in the arid west turned over the grass, the sod released "vapors" and "condensation" which traveled up into the atmosphere and fed the clouds, thereby producing rain. So in order to increase the annual precipitation in an area, people simply needed to start farming and it would change the region's climate, permanently. Seriously? Fucking seriously?
Average Annual Precipitation
Nevertheless, this bullshit helped settlement in the entire West. And this tangent is just to say, the lack of water in West Texas is not new information. The notion that we have been having a "drought" for the past few years is highly suspect to me. I think we are just experiencing the natural rain fluctuations of an arid region. West Texas simply does not receive a lot of precipitation.
As for "needing the rain," our long term supply of water is certainly in jeopardy, given that the Ogallala water table dropped over a foot and a half in 2013 alone. But the unsustainable rate of depletion of the Ogallala is due to excessive human consumption that the natural climate cannot manage. The area is known for having a HUGE cotton
industry that is completely dependent on irrigation. The irrigation
fluids are coming directly out of the Ogallala. Who had the bright idea to grow thirsty-ass cotton in the desert? What the fuck! The rate of extraction
from irrigation vastly exceeds the rate of recharge. This
is not simply due to lack of rain. It
would take about 100,000 years for the Ogallala to fully replenish with drastically reduced consumption and average rainfall levels.
Regardless, our reliable supply of water on a daily basis in Lubbock has nothing to do with precipitation. An estimated 2.3 million people rely on the Ogallala for their daily water throughout the West. They can keep using it unabated, regardless of rainfall. So every single time I turned on the water, I felt guilty. Granted, I have always been sensitive about my water use, no matter where I lived. Part of this is because of my environmental consciousness and part of this is because my dad screamed at me, "TURN THE WATER OFF! I'M NOT MADE OF MONEY!" anytime the water ran for more than three seconds while I was growing up. But when I turn on the water in Lubbock, I literally imagined the water being pumped from some prehistoric source with underground caverns and stalactites. Obviously that was wrong, but still, I felt so much water guilt.
The public relationship to water in the East is totally different. Property owners generally pay a flat tax/fee for water based on occupants, but the actual consumption level is irrelevant. Water is not metered in the East. I have a problem with this system as well. Studies consistently show that water meter, or monitoring gallon use, helps reduce consumption. So maybe people would use less here if they charged by the gallon. Everyone in Lubbock bitched about water cost and I was just like, "Um yeah! You should pay for it! Water isn't meant to be here!" At least the system was metered because water is a scarce commodity in the West.
So while water use is undoubtedly wasteful in the humid East due to lack of metering, at least I know that water is plentiful here. I walk outside and the ground squishes. It rains every fricking day. Rivers overflow regularly. We got water here. So I feel less guilty every time I turn on the faucet.
Welp, sorry for the long break in my posts. Packing, moving, unreliable Internet, yadda yadda yadda. Most of you know I am already in Massachusetts, but I still have quite a few things left that I will miss about Lubbock. And in fact, now that I'm here, I can actually reflect on my lack-of-Lubbock even more.
Today I want to talk about Texas-specific businesses that I will miss, in addition to ranting about Massachusetts businesses that I do not like, i.e. Comcast. I'll try to keep the ranting to a minimum.
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On my very first day in Lubbock back in July 2012 when I came to find a house/apartment, I had the privilege to meet Nina, Mayela, Jackie, Susie, and Brittany, along with Randy, Julie, and Chloe, because Randy happen to be having a staff lunch and he invited me to join them. I was so happy to meet the staff and they started giving me the low down on Lubbock right away. I learned that there was a nice Walmart (82nd and Milwaukee) and a ghetto Walmart (Quaker and the Loop), with two in between, there was a new Target and an old Target, there was a new gastropub that used to be Home Cafe, so many businesses were closed on Sunday and Monday, and perhaps most importantly, in the words of Chloe, "Market Street is amazing!" I did not fully understand the gravity and truth of these words until a month later when I moved to Lubbock permanently. I love Market Street.
For those of you that don't know, Market Street is simply the local grocery store. It is a slightly upscale version of the United Supermarkets chain with a great built-in restaurant and cafe for dine-in or take out. But the appeal of Market Street is so much more. The produce, the salad bar, the variety of products, the prices, and of course, the free samples. Walking around Market Street on a Saturday afternoon is a smorgasbord of delights. Not to mention, the staff. I love the people who work at Market Street. I know they are instructed to be friendly, but like, they really sell it. I used to love this one guy at the fish counter. Not that I ever bought fish, but he always said, "Hello, how are you doing today?" in the most genuine way. (Plus it helps that he was so cute!) Beyond that, I just loved the cashiers and baggers and pharmacists and shelf stockers. It is just a fantastic store.
I have a Stop and Shop and two Big Y supermarkets very close to me. They are just meh. The produce sucks, the staff is not very polite, and the prices. Holy fuck, the prices! After living in Indiana for 7 years and Texas for 2 years, mama needs to readjust to East Coast prices, but that is the topic of another post.
I will say, though, I never liked the carry out tradition/policy. This is partly because I always felt like it was so servile and I should tip them, and there were two dudes at the Market Street on Indiana and 50th that I couldn't stand! (This one that claimed to be on the Tech tennis team even though he was like 35 and a old guy that always judged my products and bitched about Obama.) I loved the high school kids, though, and the whole mission for Market Street to be teaching kids better socialization skills.
Overall, I miss Market Street, a lot.
A few other Texas business that I grew to love include, Spec's. For non-Texans, Spec's is like Christmas for drinkers. I admit it, I like to imbibe a few beers, wines, cocktails, etc. I have gone to three liquor stores in Westfield so far (don't judge),
and they all just feel like dark and seedy, and smell faintly like frat
house. Spec's is totally different. Spec's is just the most bright, clean, beautiful liquor store that I have ever seen. The first time I walked in it was like I heard the angels singing, hand to God moment, all that jazz. I spent like $65 in my first Spec's visit. I swear they have like every type of booze you could reasonably want, including obscure/rare brands, and if they don't have it, they will gladly order it for you. And the prices are fucking phenomenal, i.e. $32 for a bottle of BH, you get rewards with your free Spec's card, and they even offer that 5% discount if you pay with cash or debit. Everyone knows the expression, "Everything is bigger in Texas." This is neither true, nor advantageous, in certain cases. But in the case of Spec's, Texas did the liquor store right.
Oddly enough, I also miss Raising Cane's. Now I know this is pretty random, but I fricking loved Raising Canes. FYI, this is just a chicken place. They only sell chicken tenders, crinkle fries, coleslaw, dipping sauce, and beverages. And to be honest, about 90% of my obsession is with the sauce. I looked up some recipes for Cane's copycat sauce and I just know they won't be the same. I will definitely be getting a big ol' Caniac the next time I'm in Texas. (Whataburger on the other hand, I can take it or leave it. Mostly I like the late hours and people watching. I have a few fond Whataburger memories. Mostly with Hannah and Val, less with Patrick and Jud. Still, I prefer Cane's any day or night.)
And finally, as of this week, I miss Sudden Link. I know Sudden Link is a big corporation and they have a monopoly just like every other cable company, but they were better than Comcast. Admittedly that bar is low. Like limbo low. But they are remarkably better. First of all, their installation and service was immediate. And in fact, I remember in my first conversation with the Sudden Link rep, I was so jaded. I had just gotten off the phone with Comcast a few days earlier and then had claimed I signed up for a 2-year contract, even though I would have never done that because I highly expected to be moving out of Indiana in the new year, and they were charging me a $200 cancellation/early termination fee. So I was seething with rage toward cable companies as a whole. I assumed Sudden Link was the same, but after all my snarky comments on the phone, the local Sudden Link director called me personally to ensure that Sudden Link was not Comcast. I had great service the entire time. And it cost less than half of what Comcast does now. LESS THAN HALF! The joke is that you need to take out an extra mortgage to have cable. And seriously, no one is happy with Comcast. Literally everyone you ask either says, "Comcast is the worst," or they can't afford them. Regardless, I want cable and Internet. I'm not fucking getting rid of cable, so can it. I like cable. I like the surprise and variety. And frankly, the choice should not be to (1.) Over pay for terrible service or (2.) Go without. I hate Comcast. I miss Sudden Link.
I am excited to have Cumby's and Friendly's and Dunkin back, but I will miss many Texas businesses. Did I forget any?
Immediately after I arrived at Texas Tech, my wonderful colleague Julie Willett offered to show me some things around campus. Julie and I drove around campus in the Saturn, as she pointed out certain buildings and useful places. In particular, she directed me out toward Flint and 18th to show me the Rec Center, because in her words, "you need to see the Leisure Pool." She had mentioned the Leisure Pool before, several times, so I was starting to wonder about this magical place. And she wasn't lying.
The Leisure Pool deserves its own post. It is fucking amazing.
The Leisure Pool is, hands down, the best thing about Texas Tech. There is like a half-mile long lazy river (actually 645 feet) where you can just float and float and float. There is a huge "wet deck" which is basically a huge set of shallow steps with water flowing over them. There are play pools for basketball and volleyball, fountain spouts for the little kids, a diving pool with a huge slide, and hundreds of lounge chairs, not to mention, a huge lap pool and hot tub. I spent most of June at the Leisure Pool last year sprawled out like a beached whale beside the pool with my favorite people, Jackie, Nataleigh, Samantha, and Nolan, and floating in circles laughing with/at Patrick and Judd.
Texas Tech should arrange for all students to tour campus between May-August to see the Leisure Pool. They are always talking about student enrollment and retention. Those number would be through the roof if they just sold the Leisure Pool for it's full potential. My mom fell in love
with it the second we walked in. It was literally the only thing she
wanted to do in Lubbock. She is currently visiting for about 10 days. I
estimate that at least 5 of them will be spent at the pool.
This isn't just about ginger ale. Ginger ale is just a symptom of a bigger problem.
When I first moved to Indiana, I noticed that ginger ale was really hard to find. One day I felt sick while I was driving and I stopped at a convenient store to get a ginger ale to settle my stomach. I searched every inch of the store coolers (and it was a pretty big Marathon-Village Pantry) and there were no varieties of ginger ale to be found. I walked back and forth like 5 times in disbelief. I walked out with a 7-Up and heavy heart. This experience led to a revelation for me: ginger ale is not as readily available in the Midwest. This was a big deal for me. My people love ginger ale. My dad is French Canadian and Canada Dry is number one. As a child, my grandma and grandpa used to buy these adorable little 10-ounce glass bottles of Canada Dry. They were my favorite! In addition, the Adirondack Beverage Company made regular ginger ale, plus a wide selection of flavored ones, like raspberry, cranberry, and blueberry. I love them all. Even poor substitute Seagram's and nasty-ass Schwepp's had several different types of ginger ale, all readily available. And every grocery store has their own generic type, as well. We don't have Vernor's, though. Vernor's is gross and Midwest/West. Ok so clearly, I am a ginger connoisseur.
My people love ginger ale.
That is why I was so incredibly pissed the other day when I was in Lowe's Corner Market and I wanted a bottle of ginger ale and there was literally not one in the whole store, even in the fancy soda section. The next day in Market Street, I was only able to find Canada Dry (thank the lord) and one fancy type. I am sick of not being able to find a decent bottle of ginger ale at any old store, let alone multiple flavor. For that matter, I would never be able to find ginger on tap at a bar for cocktail like Pimms or Dark & Stormy or a nice Whiskey Highball. I once had a bartender in Lafayette say, "I can give you Sprite with a splash of Coke.....it's the same color." What? Wait, what?
Apparently, ginger ale is a Canadian/northeast thing. I never realized that dry ginger ale was invented and bottled by a Canadian pharmacist, so it makes sense that it is more common in the northeast. It is in every store, every bar, most restaurants, and even, sometimes, in fountains at average gas stations. So basically, ginger ale is one example of a product/store/service that is common in the northeast, that I have missed while I have been in Texas.
Another one is Dunkin Donuts. Oh sweet, sweet Dunkin. You cannot throw a stick in New England without hitting a DD. Then there is Cumberland Farms. Cumby's is basically just a shitty gas station, but it had these yummy Coach House candy bars that I love! I miss it. Also, Friendly's. Give me an order of frunions, a bowl of chicken noodle soup, a thanksgiving melt sandwich, and a sundae for dessert. "Friendly's! You bet we are!" I miss Cabot products. Cottage cheese, sour cream, whipped cream, and most of all, cheddar cheese. Hard, sharp, Vermont cheddar. And speaking of Vermont. Ben and Jerry's. Nuff said.
There are definitely a few Texas businesses and products that I will miss, which I will cover in another post, but I will not miss the lack of ginger ale, et al, in Texas.
