My friend left Tucson for Northern California for the money --$$

After 30 or so years here, struggling to make a living, like me, holding some of the best jobs this dusty burg has to offer, just three years ago, my friend Mike takes off for Northern California for " better money."
     I know how he feels. I did it 20 years ago, and mentioned it before in this missive. I'm not that stubborn, and catch on quicker.My next door neighbor just learned it six months ago, trying to sell insurance. He bought the house, spent months refurbishing it, inside and out for his wife and two new children. The economy tanked here in Tucson, the 6th poorest town in America, and he had to RENT that home (couldn't sell it) and move to Albuquerque.)
      Mike discovered late, that trying to make a living in "the old Pueblo" is fruitless. Making a living=making a decent salary.
     The late lamented evening paper Tucson Citizen had been around since before the days of Wyatt Earp. One of the best writers was Larry Cheek, now gone. He once wrote that living here was to " work like a dog" for literally nothing and write great observations on this town's split cultural personality.
     He was write, my joke. He would have appreciated. Years ago, a black Reverend left in disgust and depleted energy headed for Riverside California commenting as he split,
"living here is to suck the life out of you." Right again. A book length blog to explain.
     Mike, ensconced in California, still glowing in the goey delight of Governor Deficit, like the Governor of Oregon to his north, hasn't seen a tax he couldn't pass up. Social Services for the poor and needy? Sure, apply surely there will be funds available somewhere.
     Roads, bridges, postal clerks, police - cut them. Teachers are bailing out windows, unions are getting so strident, their " time-out" rooms are getting as used as delinquent students.
     Mike, forever the bull-head, says, sure, it's expensive over here. Rent is twice Tucson's, but salaries are four times what I made there. (So are taxes, gas, aggravation, tempers, restrictive (stupid non-sensible gun laws) idiot state legislatures, environmentalists, etc. And, there is always, - " The San Andreas Fault."
     The attrition west bound, according to the statisticians is almost one way - out of California. Mike, unfortunately is swimming upstream. I collided with a lady FedEx driver in the lobby of an Ad agency two days ago and we had a pleasant but brief talk.
     Seems she had a masters degree in marketing from UCLA, and worked in Frisco for ten years. Ok, you know the questions I asked. She liked the easy going lifestyle in Tucson, done with the hustle and hassle of San Fran. She is 32. Go Figure
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