Finding A New City - Rankings

Well, my travels are over and my wife's interviews complete.  Now it is time to look back and evaluate what is what.  First an overview of the cities, in no real order.

City	Jobs	CCW	BJJ	Cost of living	Direct to Japan	Winter	Other
Chapel Hill	lots	yes	some	+53%	no	ok	pretty city
New Haven	no	no	one	+39%	no	bad	high crime
Chicago	yes	no	lots	+50%	yes	bad	liberal hell hole, pro sports, lots of stuff to do
Pittsburgh	some	yes	yes	+3%	no	bad	pretty city, pro sports
Baltimore	lots	no	lots	+30%	yes	bad	high crime, crappy city, bad feel, pro sports
Dallas	lots	yes	lots	+12%	yes	no	hot, bad traffic, spread out city, not many brew pubs, pro sports, great sushi
Washington D.C.	lots	no	yes	+60%	yes	bad	bad traffic, liberal hell hole, high crime, very pretty city, pro sports, not many breweries
Portland	some	yes	yes	+24%	yes	always cold and rainy	pretty city, lots of brewpubs, lots of outdoor stuff, LOVED pearl district
Birmingham	some	yes	some	-2%	no	chilly	pretty city, nice downtown, lots of people dumber than me...
Ann Arbor	no	yes	yes	+20%	no (but there is from Detroit)	bad	one industry, Huskers come to town, pretty city
San Diego	yes	no	lots	+65%	yes	no	great down town, pro sports, lots of brewpubs, lots of outdoor stuff, BEACH!!
Albuquerque	some	yes	yes	+10%	no	no	hot!!, no green, many brewpubs, small city, close to skiing
Rochester	no	yes	some	+19%	no (but there is from MIN)	super bad	small city, far away from everything, single industry, some brewpubs

Seeing all of that, there are a couple of cities that check all of the boxes, but most of what this is all about comes down to feel and where I think I can a least maintain my current standard of living.

My choice would be to go somewhere fun, but the fun places don't really match up with my political views or my life outlook.  How fun will the beach be if I don't have any friends?  Is it fun to get a beer at the brewpub if no one wants to share it with me?  Sure, I can learn to fly sea planes, but who will fly with me?

Anyway, here are my rankings for cities:

City	Reasoning
Dallas	Dallas checks all of the boxes.  It has everything I want in a city, except for a beach
San Diego	SD was a tough choice for number two, it is expensive and no CCW, BUT it is so much FUN!!  I could live there for three years I think.
Portland	Portland is a lot of fun as well, and I loved the pearl district with all of the beer and shops and what not.  Skiing is not far away as well as other fun hiking activities.
Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh was a great city, very pretty, and has a good economy.  Pro sports gives lots to do.
Chapel Hill	The lack of aviation is disturbing, but there is lots of work and the weather is nice.  Combine that with the beauty of the area and you have a city that makes the top 5.
Birmingham	Very nice city, not a lot of work, but I could find something.  Good laws, the people there are easy to find similarities with (hunting and shooting are very big in AL).
Albuquerque	ABQ is hot.  But is has a good craft beer industry to cool you down.  Living here would be a lot like living in OKC, with out the extra green.  I could do it, but I would want many vacations to get me out of town.
Chicago	Chicago would be near the top if they didn't have such crappy laws.  No guns in the city?  Nope, I am going to have mine in the apartment, and just not tell anyone about them. Stupidly high taxes, corruption through the roof, and very expensive to boot.  Just not a good combo.
Ann Arbor	A pretty city, but that does not make up for bad winters and a non existent job market.  Flint and Detroit lead the top of the worst places in the country to live, and there is Ann Arbor right next to them.  Bad bad bad.
Washington D.C.	No no no no
Rochester	No jobs, winters that last 10 months.  Nuff said.
Baltimore	It's a rundown shithole.  No.  No No NO!!!!
New Haven	no.  just no.

All of this, of course, is simply an intellectual exercise.  My choices and the ultimate decider's, my wife, choices are likely to be vastly different.  Her criteria depend not at all on the city that we move to, rather they depend on where she can get the best training for her career.  Ultimately, her career is why we are moving to this new city for three years.  I can gut out three years in New Haven, if I need to, however I am likely to be depressed and have difficulty functioning, counting down the days until we leave.  But I could do it, and I could hide how deep my feelings go from my wife.  I am a tough guy, and living somewhere I don't like will only make me tougher.  I need to find the silver lining in the city, just as I have found some very bright spots here in OKC.  

After talking with my wife as we left San Diego, I believe her choices will run:

Ann Arbor

Birmingham 
San Diego
Dallas
Albuquerque


With her likability and undeniable skill, she will match to her first or second choice, so I am moving forward with my current client to see if they would mind a remote employee.  After my initial 6 month contract is up, we will see if they want more of me, if they do, remote work is a definite possibility.  That is a good thing, because there isn't a lot of opportunity in Ann Arbor.

Finding a New City - San Diego, CA

San Diego...  Wow.  San Diego was a TON of fun.  Lots to do with the many beaches, pro sports, and more craft breweries than you can shake a stick at.

Just as an example of the kind of fun you can get in to in San Diego, the wife and I spent a Saturday lounging on the beach, then heading out to get a beer in a well known brew pub, heard that the Padres were playing the Mariners, walked 3 blocks and BAM we were watching a MLB game.  It was awesome!  

The weather is actually cooler than I thought it would be.  San Diego's water is actually cold.  I tried to go swimming in the ocean, but I got out after just a little while.  It was too chilly.  

The ambient temperature was only in the low 70s as well.  Looking at the almanac, the average high in San Diego never strays above 77 degrees, but the average low never gets below 49 either.  Nice nice nice!!

There is work in the San Diego area, finding a job shouldn't be an issue, BUT the cost of living is 65% more expensive in SD than it is in OKC.  Ouch!

Taxes in CA are not as bad as I initially thought.  The Tax Foundation says that tax rates average at about 8.13%, with OK being 8.66%.  We would actually come out paying less in taxes.  BUT housing costs are about 245% more expensive in San Diego.  

Gasoline in CA is consistently about a dollar more expensive than in OK, really taking a bite out of the discretionary spending account.

There are lots of places that rent aircraft in the San Diego area, BUT the area is VERY busy with two major Navy airports and one very busy commercial airport.  Not really the wide open non controlled airports that I am used to.  Costs are high too, about $135 an hour for a Cessna 172.

Tons of places to train in San Diego.  Dean Lister has a school there, the Ribero brothers have their main school there, you can't throw a dead cat and not hit a BJJ black belt.  It would be awesome to train and learn around this area.

CCW...  An impossibility in San Diego.  California is a "may-issue" state, and the ultimate decider is your local county Sheriff.  The Sheriffs in San Diego are vocal opponents to ANY citizen even owning a firearm, let alone carrying one.  CCW is something I would have to give up if I wanted to live in San Diego.  Uber sucks.  I very much dislike the thought of being unarmed for three years.

All in all San Diego would be a great place to live for three years.  Then it would be time to get the hell out of there.  The people are just this side of crazy, and, after three years, we would want to own property.  Property is VERY expensive there, and it just isn't worth it.

Finding a New City - Ann Arbor, MI

Nestled in between Flint and Detroit is Ann Arbor.  I very nice little city to look at...  in the summer.  In the winter ice and snow are the order of the day.  More so than what I am used to in OKC.  Not attractive.

The University of Michigan is the major employer in town, with the rest of the city, basically supporting the University.  The town is notoriously liberal, with one of the nicknames being  The People's Republic of Ann Arbor.  Not good...

Work is difficult to come by in Ann Arbor.  It is unlikely that I would be able to find a job in the city that would pay me the same as I make now.  Which is bad news, because the cost of living is about 20% more expensive than in OKC.  Simply finding a job will be difficult, and I believe that I would either have to focus on systems administration, or go straight developer if I wanted work in the city at all.  Or, I could travel...
Taxes are actually attractive in MI, with a flat tax of about 4%.  State sales tax does add 6% to each purchase.

There are places to train in Ann Arbor, with a Ribero affiliate in town as well as a Royler Gracie black belt.

There isn't a lot of aviation around, but there seems to be a good place to rent at the local airport.  Good rates on Cessna 172s.  They have a Diamond DA20 to rent as well...  That should be fun.

There are some craft brewery places around town, so I think I will be able to find a beer.

Michigan is a shall issue state, so CCW shouldn't be an issue.

All in all...  The work thing really worries me.  It is more expensive to live around Ann Arbor, and I need a job.  They just aren't there.  I will have to keep working from home, or try something else.  Booooo...  A big plus is that the Huskers will be coming up to play Michigan at least once while we are there, AND Lansing with Michigan State is only a hour away.  I could see my Huskers play a couple of times while I am living there.  Something I have missed living in OKC.  I only saw the Huskers play once at OSU.

Finding a New City - Birmingham, AL

Birmingham is a little city.  It has good weather, not really getting any colder than freezing during the winter, and never getting any colder than -6 degrees.  Summers are sweltering, hot and humid.  The city has about 212K people, and about 1.1 million in the metro.  About the same size as OKC, maybe just a bit smaller.

Not a lot of aviation around, with rentals costing about $130 or so an hour for a Cessna 172.  That sucks.  At least here I can get a Cessna 172 with G1000 for about $150 a hour.

There is at least one place to train, but I don't know anything about the guy.  Apparently he is a BB from Sau Paulo, but my current instructor doesn't know who he is.  Not good

There is some work around town, but not as much as I would like.  Finding a job that pays the same would be very very tough.
Taxes in AL are low, not more than 5% at the most.  State sales tax tacks on another 5% to each purchase. Property taxes are low as well.
Birmingham, AL is one of the very few places that is actually cheaper to live in than OKC.  Birmingham is about 2% less expensive to live in than OKC.  That is a good thing.
 
Alabama is a shall issue state so CCW is no issue.

All in all, I would be treading water for another 3 years in Birmingham.  I wouldn't be moving my career, training, or hobbies forward, but I likely wouldn't be going backward either.  Birmingham, however, is a bit more of a jerkwater hell hole than is OKC, if that is possible.

Finding a New City - Portland, OR

Portland...  It's a beautiful city.  Views of Mt. Saint Helens to the north, Mt. Hood to the east, and the Willamette river and its many bridges running through the center of town, there is always a great view.  BUT it rains...  a lot.  And its climate is cooler than anywhere I have ever lived before.  June is supposed to be warm and nice...  not cold and rainy.

There are more breweries in Portland than in any other city in the nation.  That is a very good thing.  So much competition makes for some very very good beers. And I like beers...  a lot.

There is work in Portland, but not as much as you would think.  The economy took a real hit in 2008, and that sunk much of the tech opportunites.  Could I find one that pays me the same?  If I looked hard enough and made some sacrifices, yes.

Cost of living in Portland is about 24% higher than in OKC.  Housing cost is the biggest difference, which makes sense as the Portlandians are obsessed with "green" stuff.  This dries the cost for anything up.
Oregon uses a standard progressive income tax system with 5% being the lowest and 10% being the highest.  They have NO sales tax, witch is good.  Their property taxes are high, but, as we plan on renting, that won't be an issue.

Their cars have strict pollution standards, so I very much doubt that getting our old cars up to standard will be worth it.  Leasing new ones is very attractive, but that is a big extra cost.

There is aviation in the area, and some really good opportunities for learning how to fly sea planes.  That really interests me, and with all of OR's lakes it might be worth it to do.

OR is a shall issue state so getting a CCW won't be an issue.

Portland has a good Japanese community, and has a direct flight to Tokyo.  That checks a very important box for the wife.

There are some places to train in Portland, but not as many as I thought their would be.  To find a good place, I will likely have some driving to do.

All in all, I really liked Portland.  The weather kind of sucks, but the winters are rainy and chilly, not snowy and cold.  That is very good!

Finding a New City - Washington D.C.

Washington...  yup Washington...  I hate just about everything there is about Washington the city.  No federal representation, excessive taxation, impossibly high living expenses, god awful traffic, made worse by the various motorcades that go running around the city, horrific gun laws, rampant crime, and people that have a stick so far up their ass their breath smells like Pine Fresh.

What boxes does it check?  Dogfishhead has a brew pub in the city, and you can get lots of fresh beer...  There is a TON of work.  I would have to go back to working for the Government, but there is so much work there I could name my salary.  Two airports within an hour from each other can fly you to anywhere in the country, or the world.

Overall yuck yuck yuck.  I could live anywhere for three years, but I think that living in Washington might cause me to go insane.

First Rule of a Street Altercation... Keep Your Distance!!!

Ignore the ignorant banter in the following video, and watch the fights closely.



In both situations, the non-aggressors made the same error.  The allowed the aggressor to get too close to them.
The first man didn't even see the headbutt coming, but come it did.  Headbutts are devastating strikes, using one of the the hardest parts of the body.  Sure, they are uncomfortable to throw, but a properly placed headbutt, like we saw in the video are good for a very quick brutal KO.

The second fight was started when a Good Samaritan attempted to help the fallen man up.  He lost awareness of his surroundings, and allowed the aggressive man to get too close.  When engaged, the man did a good job of spinning to face his aggressor, but did a very poor job of escaping the front head lock.
The only reason he got out of the front headlock was because the aggressor let him out.  If the aggressor wanted to throw some knees, take the man down, or try to work a neck crank, he was free to do so.  Not a good situation to be in.

So...
How do you avoid headbutts?  Keep your aggressor at least at arm's length at all times.  Be aware of your surroundings and do not get in to a face to face screaming match.
At arm's length, you have time to react to the aggressor.  You can sprawl to avoid a take down, you can bring your hands up to block shots and you are in a good position to throw jabs to keep the aggressor away and set up bigger shots.  Space is essential!

When helping out a downed person, you must be aware of what is going on around you.  You can't just assume that no one will bother you simply because you are rendering aid.  In fact, as in this situation, rendering aid makes you an automatic target for the aggressor, or a friend of the aggressor who sees an easy target of a "friend" of the fallen.
You are vulnerable, and carry no badge of athority, therefore you are free game.  Be very careful.

How do you escape a front headlock?  Easy.  Watch:


Johnny Hendricks show this from the mat, but the moves are exactly the same from the standing position: Take control of the arm, non trapped arm goes out to the side, pull, and, shuck the rest of the body.
I like this movement much better than some of the other movements because I am moving toward my opponent's back, not giving my back up to my opponent.
You can see here:

Pablo Popovitch shows the extra detail of moving backwards to never allow your opponent to get set. The same thing when dealing with the standing front headlock.
Now, I feel VERY comfortable on the ground. If I am put in this same situation, I will most likely go to this ground position by simply moving backward and down until my knees touch the ground. My opponent will feel more and more in control as he puts more and more of his weight on top of my back. This is a good thing.
I is good for me, because by moving backward, I take away his ability to throw knees at the delicate areas of my face, the eye and nose bones. If he decides to throw knees he will only hit the very hard top of my skull. It won't feel good, but it won't break anything. Also, stretched out, if he throws knees it disrupts his base, making this arm drag escape that much more effective.

What about the back headlock?  Even easier!!

Headlock Escape - Watch today’s top amazing videos here

The back headlock is one of the simplest moves to defeat. You are overbalanced to the front, and you are giving up your back. A simple change of balance and you are in a horrible position.
If you stay calm, and think, you will be able to easily escape these two situations. The front headlock is harder to escape from, but, with a little practice, you should be able to quickly master the technique.