Hello, my name is Jesse. I heard about the Free State Project a couple of years ago and thought one of the most exciting things I could do in my life would be to get involved, where participation could actually make a real difference. Well, I'm now at the end of my college education in the California State University system, graduating with a BA in Psychology in just two months. This seems like a perfect opportunity to move to Keene (which I've heard wonderful things about), and my plans for the near future are to do exactly that! In summary, hello everybody and I hope to see you all soon!
Welcome. ;D
Welcome 
That does sound like a good opportunity to move. See you soon!
Hello and Welcome.
Welcome, Jesse. Which CSU do you attend?
Jesse was asking me about jobs on Facebook and I mentioned that some perv just outside of Keene was looking for a houseboy. He took me too seriously. I don't think he grasped the ramifications.
This is the same Jesse, right?
Out of curiousity, where abouts do you live? I was thinking of dropping through south California again to check out Niland (an old hitchhiker site I wanted to check out). You know any other cool sites in the area?
Thank you for the warm welcome, everyone! Dale, yes this is the same Jesse. Haha, I assumed the most innocuous definition of the term possible. Cooking and cleaning right?
Ethan, I live in Hemet which is in Riverside County and go to school in San Marcos which is in San Diego county. If you're into hiking, there are a lot of neat places around Idyllwild. If you want to see something wholly bizzare, there is an industrial town called Trona in the desert somewhere (can't remember the county). In Trona, all of the ground is made of a mineral called halite which is kind of like a salt crystal, so everything looks like it's covered in snow but it's all halite. Ever October they have a three day thing where people go to Searle Dry Lake and dig up hexite crystals and at night they go to an old quarry with black lights and all the rocks there are covered in various colors of phosphorescence. There is also an abandoned labor camp called Berdoo around Joshua Tree. I tried to go there one time but the road is so deteriorated that you need a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get through. Although you could probably get there on foot, it would be a long hike though.
Cool, Trona sounded interesting and I checked it out. A bit out of my way (coming from San Francisco to Salton Sea), but the Trona Pinnacles seem like something worth checking out (kinda similar to Moab, Utah, but different rocks?) so I might swing through. I could take a long route to Vegas and Winslow through it and hit the Area 51 area. Not a fan of hot deserts, but I do like a slow backroad journey sometimes; this one would just be my longest one since Idaho. This'll probably be my last hitchhiking trip before I end up in NH (which will be great and I can't wait for, but I'm going to miss traveling like I do), so I want to hit a bit more of the country.
Last time I was in southern California, I was coming down 99 and was going to take I-5 and then 91 west to Riverside, where I was crashing with a friend.
But I got a ride to Barstow from a bit south of Fresno, so I took 15 instead. I remember riding into that city (a marine drill sergeant of all people, but he and his woman were really relaxed) and seeing the smog for the first time. I thought people had exaggerated like they do about Seattle and Tacoma stinking. They weren't. A literal blanket. And then the couple informed me it was a nice day and that normally you couldn't see a certain building they pointed out.
[quote author=Jesse isnt dead link=topic=2743.msg30699#msg30699 date=1268168266]
I live in Hemet which is in Riverside County …[/quote]
I'm sorry. I'm very, very sorry. Mainly about the Rivercide County part, but still. My apologies.
oh yeah and welcome!
[quote author=Jesse isnt dead link=topic=2743.msg30698#msg30698 date=1268167597]
Cooking and cleaning right?
[/quote]
Hehe.
Cooking some "buns" and cleaning some "pipes"?
Welcome to the forum Jesse I wish you the best of luck in migrating to NH
and oh oh oh! If you've worked any fast food or customer service type job out in RC, and get a similar job here in NH at least to start with, you'll notice and love the difference in people's demeanor. I worked at a place close to Disneyland and near colleges/universities in the IE and Rivercide.
They're like, nicer, and less prone to freak out, what's the other word…human. yeah. it's awesome. And the bosses/managers do not take insane amounts of crap from people and don't expect you to be practically a footstool for psycho customers like in Southern California. Least the bosses I've had out here. And not in a "we hate customers back" sorta way, either, but … but it works. People in general are less…worked up, it seems.
[quote author=EthanLeeVita link=topic=2743.msg30708#msg30708 date=1268185376]
Cooking some "buns" and cleaning some "pipes"?
[/quote]
LOL. About Barstow, I've never been there actually, but I hear it's terrible. Then again everywhere within a hundred mile radius of Los Angeles is terrible. Have you ever stopped in San Luis Obispo? It's a pretty nice city in Central California.
[quote author=Olozzalap link=topic=2743.msg30711#msg30711 date=1268186994]
Welcome to the forum Jesse I wish you the best of luck in migrating to NH
[/quote]
Thank you! I'm going to need all the luck I can get!
[quote author=PraeterIdiot link=topic=2743.msg30721#msg30721 date=1268222031]
and oh oh oh! If you've worked any fast food or customer service type job out in RC, and get a similar job here in NH at least to start with, you'll notice and love the difference in people's demeanor. I worked at a place close to Disneyland and near colleges/universities in the IE and Rivercide.
They're like, nicer, and less prone to freak out, what's the other word…human. yeah. it's awesome. And the bosses/managers do not take insane amounts of crap from people and don't expect you to be practically a footstool for psycho customers like in Southern California. Least the bosses I've had out here. And not in a "we hate customers back" sorta way, either, but … but it works. People in general are less…worked up, it seems.
[/quote]
That's really good to know actually. In fact that's exactly the kind of culture I want to be a part of. Having working in customer service here for several years I can attest that it's exactly as you describe it: the bottom-level employees have to take all the crap from irate customers and the managers just throw them under the bus. Definitely a very dehumanizing arrangement. Good to know I'll get to interact with people in a real fashion.
My general experience in NH and particularly in Keene has been really polite and friendly people. Unpleasant experiences aren't unheard of but much fewer and farther between than I've experienced anywhere else.