Moving To Arizona, maybe.... - by mxleader
Yakoob on 1/4/2015 at 01:42
Quote Posted by mxleader
My biggest worry is the school system and the piss-poor ratings Arizona has.
Well, if it makes you feel any better, I finished HighSchool in Arizona and was a straght-A student, did well on AP and got some good college scholarships :p
mxleader on 1/4/2015 at 15:24
Yakoob: I'm not saying that it's impossible to do well in school and go off to college and be successful in Arizona. My daughter is pretty smart for her age and is attending a Montessori school so unless we can afford a similar school while living in AZ I think she may suffer academically. I guess if my wife and I can push her along and help her out, unlike my parents, she will do well and maybe go off to college. I suffered through public schools here in Washington and after serving in the Navy I eventually earned a BA from the UW so maybe she'll do well and maybe she won't. I suppose it's really up to parenting though. My wife thinks private schools are the only way to go but I have to remind her that a friend of mine went to public schools in Tacoma WA and he attended Stanford and is now an engineer for Tesla Motors. I guess I'm being overprotective of my daughter and I don't really want to move to Arizona quite yet, but my wife really wants to for her job and the heat. I'm actually looking forward to the historical aspect of Arizona, the new photographic opportunities and the outdoors.
Tony_Tarantula on 1/4/2015 at 16:38
That's one good thing I can say about that region: if you love outdoors photography you're going to find a lot to do. There's also some interesting road trips available if you head up to Colorado or over to California.
If you weren't both working I'd actually suggest homeschooling. Sure it get's a rap of being for "religious nutjobs" but simply using their methods doesn't mean you have to be one yourself. The most academically successful kids in my class were all homeschooled and a few were extremely sharp socially, credit going to their parents for keeping them very involved in community activities throughout their childhood.
Your concerns may be justified about the schools. This is coming from someone who got a perfect 800 on his math SAT, and I spent a year at a top 5 engineering school with "Tech" in the name. The academic demands from a top engineering school are nothing to sneeze at and it is unlikely that a public education will prepare her well enough. Here's the caveat: my high school time was split between a prestigious private, Catholic high school and public school. The difference in the academics is a lot narrower than you would expect, and the differences came down mostly to the socioeconomic bracket that the students find themselves in. In practice the only real benefit is network...super elite, Northeastern prep schools excepted.
My experience was that social sciences are impaired by the contemporary preference for soft, SJW-friendly literature over classical literature whereas math is impaired by the fact that most high schools(both public and private) adhere pretty strictly to standardized testing schedules.
I don't think it matters in either case as much as you think. What's going to help much more is to send her to any local college classes that she can take for advanced credit. In most regions high schools have programs that allow their best students to do that.
edit: full disclosure, I've been all over the education system. I've done private school and public high school. For university it was both the aformentione top 5 engineering school and a state school that is unranked but has an excellent reputation in the profession it prepares people for. I'm about to go back to school and am currently deciding between two full time MBA programs, one is a regionally strong top 20 program and the other is an Ivy League school (outside top 10 ranking wise).
Fafhrd on 2/4/2015 at 00:05
Quote Posted by mxleader
I do love Mexican food
Ironically, there is no good Mexican food to be had in Phoenix.
I moved out there about a week before my Mexican co-worker did, and warned him that there was no good Mexican food to be found, and he said that he'd heard that, but was going to try and find some. A year later when we all got laid off the subject came up again (because most of us who transplanted from California were happy to be able go back, in large part because food in general in Phoenix is pretty shitty) and he said "you know, I'd heard that there wasn't any good Mexican food in Phoenix, and I didn't believe it. But I've gone to a bunch of different places, and everybody was right:
there is no good Mexican food in Phoenix"
Slasher on 2/4/2015 at 04:24
While I wouldn't be caught dead moving to Phoenix, I know if I had to move there I sure wouldn't find many of these posts encouraging. We're supposed to be finding reasons in support of moving to Phoenix, even if they're 150% bullshit. Things like "the food there sucks" and "homeschooling is better than homeopathy" don't count.
Still waiting for one of you to say "APRIL FOOOOOLZ...." :(
Tony_Tarantula on 2/4/2015 at 19:56
I'd just say look forward to weekends. You're two hours away from some good ski locations and great camping. Given the population it's also probably not as bad as people make it out to be. There's still going to be any kind of shopping you need in the town, good places to get drinks, etc.
It's also a great place if you're into golf as there's over 200 courses there. You've also got pro sports teams, etc.
Not my place because I'm more of a cold weather person (I was the nutjob skiing at 10,000 feet in the middle of the polar vortex), but if you don't mind heat it probably won't be that bag.
Heywood, you might get a kick out of this:
[video=youtube;pRrih7WoOYs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRrih7WoOYs[/video]
bjack on 3/4/2015 at 17:39
"Tony_T" (sorry I am lazy this morning…) Nice clip! I don't watch that show much, but have caught that one before. While there are some snobby attitudes in California (especially around San Francisco), we've got nothing on NYC.
As for Mexican food in Phoenix, well, I don't agree that all of it is bad. I cannot remember the name of the restaurant, but I was taken to a great place in Scottsdale. It was not a cheap place by any means (about $20 for an entree). The food was more like something from Mexico DF. I haven't been to AZ often, but I have had burritos and tacos at little food joints that were at least as good as the small places in Santa Ana, CA.
By what standard is all Phoenix Mexican food bad? What is good Mexican food then? Of course not Dell Taco, Taco Bell, Chipotle, Green Burrito, etc. - all of these are fast food and not Mexican. It's not most of the items at sit-down chains either, but at least they use real beef.
So what is an example of good Mexican food? That can be a challenge to answer because there is no one type of Mexican food. It is a whole lot of different dishes from each region of the country. Food from Merida is very different than La Paz. It's not all just about tortillas, beans, cheese, rice, chile, cumin, and meat. A lot of what is marketed as Mexican food in the USA is nothing of the sort. It is border food than evolved over the past 120 years or so. Much of it was developed by white people. So what? Some of it is really good. Taco Bell, on the other hand, looks and tastes like orange gloop with sawdust, soy, and meat juice.
Yakoob on 3/4/2015 at 17:59
I remember Tucson mexican food being pretty horrid too, basically normal Mexican dishes BATHED in butter and cheddar cheese. ugh.
Never been to mexico so I can't talk about "real" Mexican food, but I grew to love the Los Angeles taco trucks. Super cheap and super Mmmmm...
bjack on 3/4/2015 at 23:54
Yakoob, many LA and OC trucks serve a sort of Baja California style street food. Lots of grilled chicken, carne asada, carnitas, maybe some tongue (lengua), and other meats. Most of it can be a bit dry, but they then add other things to liven it up. Pinto or black beans, maybe rice, and some lettuce and cilantro. Add in some cheese (jack and cheddar and maybe some Mexican soft and hard white cheeses), sour cream, and some guacamole. Maybe a little pico-de-gallo and/or mild to hot verde or roja salsa. If fish, then a crema suace and cabbage with fried or grilled white fish. That is just a sample of the choices. You have been there and done that.
OK that stuff is all good, but it is not really Mexican food. It is partially Gringo inspired resort and street food with some Mexican flair.
Some Mexican food is similar to Mediterranean, A lot of it uses nearly the same spices. Some even is close to Indian food. A whole lot of cultures put their influence into Mexico's cuisine. You've got Spanish, local natives of all types, Portuguese, French, Germans, Americans, among many others. Pollo a la Diabla (super hot red sauce with chicken) is similar to chicken vindaloo, but has smoked paprika. Both were inspired from Iberian people. It shows in the food.
It sounds like you just do not like Sonoran style Mexican food. That would be the stuff swimming in sauce and covered with melted cheese. Lot's of fried stuff too. If you do not like that sort of casserole type dish, that is really OK. No worries. However, there is more than that available in AZ. Yes, Sonoran style is very common in the area. Look up the 10 worst Mexican joints in Phoenix and you will see plates of goo. Not all Sonoran is like that though, but a lot of the Gringo style of it is. It used to be about the only "Mexican" food available anywhere in the US for decades. There are better alternatives.
Oh, and that "bathed in butter" part? Most likely it is was lard - pig fat. Yum. :eek: :cheeky:
Yakoob on 4/4/2015 at 04:52
bjack - interesting, I guess I stand corrected. I always assumed those were more "legit" than the mexican restaurants. Still, I like these tacos much more than the alternatives, especially in Tucson. Except Chipotle. I fully acknowledge its fake Mexican food. but its such good fake Mexican food :D
(also now I wanna try more legit stuff - Indian is one of my favorites actually, so it sounds I might like it).