Testimonial of a Californian

Yes...it is official. After my uneventful visit to the DMV (shouldn't there have been some sort of ceremony as I changed ranks), I am now a bona fide, legally bound Californian. Though I'm not yet sure exactly what that means, I do know it comes with certain, eh hem, entitlements:

1. Our housing prices make two-income households struggle.
2. The state government is entitled to 10% of my income.
3. What the government does with that money is beyond me.
4. Among other educational cutbacks, highschool extracurricular sporting activities are down by half from last year (I wonder what students do in their spare time now).
5. Our governor (or should I say governator) is a former actor.
6. Our future governor could quite possible be a dot-commer-turned-millionaire (or is it billionaire now; how well is eBay doing these days?).
7. Gas prices make me think twice about driving down the street, much less driving across town. We have one of the highest averages in the nation!
8. I am now a drop in the population bucket, joining the 10% of the country's total who live here.

But despite all the drawbacks that come with residing in the Golden State, there is one good thing I still can say (and I say it with my utmost humbleness): I now live where others vacation!