10. Lack of diversity
And I don't mean racially although we have few minorities in this area, no, I talking simply about lifestyle diversity. Around here you are either a redneck, a hippy or a rippy (redneck hippy). We have a few stuck up city liberals too but that's about it. I'm lucky to have found the few friends I have. I myself am not a redneck or a rippy. I have hippy tendencies but the hippies here are snooty rich ones because they grow weed, hence I have nothing in common with them (generally speaking).
9. Inability to hike randomly
Because of the high rate of illegal marijuana cultivation on public lands it's super dangerous to hike about (you can get shot, seriously). Well known trails are dotted with homeless youth with large, often violent, dogs, hence the hiking opportunities suck.
8. Mold
Oh, I'll just set this car seat on the porch for a little while it will be OK. After three car seats you would think I would have learned, but no. I have never gotten use to the mold factor here caused by...
7. Months of unending rain
I don't like the mold true but usually I love the rain itself but being in a rain forest causes certain health issues like repeated strep throat and debilitating allergies.
6. Mariposa Market
I love the atmosphere, I love the friendly employees, the selection and the price. Why wont I miss it? The owner. After years of loyal shopping there, last year I sat down to enjoy a beverage in the cafe section. I was heavily pregnant with my third child. That's when, at the table next to me I hear the store's owner go on and on about "dirty hippies" having their babies at home and how stupid they are and how dangerous it was. This woman must have had no clue who was shopping at her store! She was loud, crude and rude. I haven't wanted to shop there since and have taken my business elsewhere when I can, even when it has cost more. The owner didn't care about the young families she was insulting because of a ...
5. Lack of a family friendly culture
Willits was founded by frontier rodeo folks but it's the aging first wave hippies and the seasonal young, childless hippies that fill out the population with few families like ours in between. Hence there isn't much to do here, a lot of older folks can be rude to my children and family services are always the first on the chopping block that's why the...
4. Libraries are always closed
The one low cost thing to do around here is our teeny library but budget cut after budget cut has it open about 3- 4 days per week when we are lucky. We need low cost family fun because of the...
3. High cost of living
It's crazy! The rent is so high, our water bill alone is $120 a month and that's AFTER we conserve and reuse as much as we can. It's $60 just to have sewer and that's before the water we flush. Plus it's illegal to build an outhouse so you have no option but to pay it. The food, the gas, the clothing, everything in California is expensive.
2. Arnold
As in Swartzenegger, the "Governator." What a jerk! He always balances his budgets on the backs of the working poor. He's really let the whole state down. I can't wait to be free of him (even if he's about to term out anyway).
1. Marijuana crazy culture
Unlike places that have recently legalized marijuana, Mendocino County was practically founded on it. Which would be fine accept I don't smoke it, I don't care about it, and I don't want to discuss it's virtues which means I have very little to do or say with most Mary Jane obsessed people here. It's also nearly impossible for one to afford the cost of living without growing it which is still somewhat illegal so it puts the working family in a terrible position of risky behavior just to survive. I'm sooooo over the whole thing!
