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Drop your drawers!

 
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Jim Cooley



Joined: 09 Oct 2008
Posts: 377
Location: Seattle

PostPosted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:01 pm    Post subject: Drop your drawers! Reply with quote

I'm moving to India from US. Problem is that kitchens down in Kerala traditionally don't have a lot of drawers -- while I have drawers and drawers full of kitchen gadgets, silverware, knives, etc. & etc.

I'll be renting, so having some made and adding cabinets isn't an option.

Can anyone think of a creative solution to this problem?
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 5:52 pm    Post subject: Re: Drop your drawers! Reply with quote

Jim Cooley wrote:
I'm moving to India from US. Problem is that kitchens down in Kerala traditionally don't have a lot of drawers -- while I have drawers and drawers full of kitchen gadgets, silverware, knives, etc. & etc.

I'll be renting, so having some made and adding cabinets isn't an option.

Can anyone think of a creative solution to this problem?

This is pretty sad, but during the last six months I've been living out of boxes (moved to Texas knowing that I'd move again soon - so we tried not to unpack... didn't know it would be over six months...). Most of my kitchen tools are in a couple of cardboard boxes which I dig through when I need them. Since I've been doing that, I would suggest getting a couple of stands (so you don't have to stoop over) and keep them in shallow boxes (it works fairly well, but doesn't look good and also doesn't feel quite like home).
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Jim Cooley



Joined: 09 Oct 2008
Posts: 377
Location: Seattle

PostPosted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Someone suggested Ikea and much as I loathe them, I'll bet they have islands on wheels with lots of drawers. I'll have to check a catalog or (gasp!) go to their store. I think there's one up here in Seattle.

So you gave up on San Francisco, too? Wink
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Guest






PostPosted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 1:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

some wire shelves with boxes or baskets... a dresser with drawers... you can put it in the dining room if there's not enough room in the kitchen...
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jim Cooley wrote:
So you gave up on San Francisco, too? Wink

The Bay Area is just so expensive - and (as we contemplate starting a family) we weren't sure it was the environment we wanted to raise kids in.
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Jim Cooley



Joined: 09 Oct 2008
Posts: 377
Location: Seattle

PostPosted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 3:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks guest -- I suspect something like that will be the ultimate solution.

Alas poor Michael -- even that close to the border I bet the burritoes aren't as good as in the Mission!
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 5:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jim Cooley wrote:
Alas poor Michael -- even that close to the border I bet the burritoes aren't as good as in the Mission!

The burritos? No - but the tacos, chile rellenos, (cheap) steaks and barbecue beat what the Bay Area have to offer.
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DrBiggles



Joined: 12 May 2005
Posts: 356
Location: Richmond, CA

PostPosted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Michael Chu wrote:
Jim Cooley wrote:
So you gave up on San Francisco, too? Wink

The Bay Area is just so expensive - and (as we contemplate starting a family) we weren't sure it was the environment we wanted to raise kids in.


Understand and have had friends move to other parts of the country and globe for such reasons. That being said, for raising children to appreciate both a diverse community and so many wonderful resources, the bay area is a great choice. My boys are 9 and 14, we live in Richmond and I don't regret a day of it. I have to admit though, the 14 year old is in the Lafayette school system, the Richmond Unified is not a choice for us or them. Raising a family is expensive no matter how you slice it. Buying an xbox 360 costs the same no matter where you are (just had to buy one recently). I bought my home 10 years ago and it was as much as I could possibly afford at the time. But now, paying 1300 dollars a month for rent/mortgage is cheap. And, it'll be that for another 20 years. Think about the long haul, not just a few months or years from now.

My friends chose Seattle and Portland as their destinations, just in case you were wondering.

Biggles
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 1:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

DrBiggles wrote:
Buying an xbox 360 costs the same no matter where you are (just had to buy one recently). I bought my home 10 years ago and it was as much as I could possibly afford at the time. But now, paying 1300 dollars a month for rent/mortgage is cheap. And, it'll be that for another 20 years. Think about the long haul, not just a few months or years from now.

And that's why we moved - for the price of our 900 sq. ft. condo in Santa Clara, we built a 3400 sq ft home in Austin. A similar house in the Bay Area in a nice neighborhood would be much more than a million even in this depressed market.
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DrBiggles



Joined: 12 May 2005
Posts: 356
Location: Richmond, CA

PostPosted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 4:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Michael Chu wrote:
DrBiggles wrote:
Buying an xbox 360 costs the same no matter where you are (just had to buy one recently). I bought my home 10 years ago and it was as much as I could possibly afford at the time. But now, paying 1300 dollars a month for rent/mortgage is cheap. And, it'll be that for another 20 years. Think about the long haul, not just a few months or years from now.

And that's why we moved - for the price of our 900 sq. ft. condo in Santa Clara, we built a 3400 sq ft home in Austin. A similar house in the Bay Area in a nice neighborhood would be much more than a million even in this depressed market.


Understood, I looked at the same option years ago. It sure was enticing, the difference in what your money buys elsewhere is staggering to say the least. I chose to stay here because I realized when I woke up every day I'd be there. I need my food! The thought of not being able to walk a few blocks and get the best pupusas in the area scared me to death. The other reason I chose to stay was that I rented a 2400 sq ft home on a 1/4 acre years ago and vowed never to do that again. It took me the entire weekend to clean the house and keep up the yard! With this little home it takes me less than 15 minutes to vacuum, or just sweep the floors. I can spend my time napping, grilling or whatever else it is that I do. Then, walk over to Pup Hut and get a mesquite grilled burger and fries. I'm also not a huge fan of weather or seasons. Ick.

Cheers!
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 10:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DrBiggles wrote:
I chose to stay here because I realized when I woke up every day I'd be there. I need my food! The thought of not being able to walk a few blocks and get the best pupusas in the area scared me to death.

Food is a big issue - I spent ten years in South Bay figuring out which restaurants I liked and disliked, and now I'm in a completely new city. The restaurant scene isn't as diverse or as high quality out here in Austin, but it is exciting - there's a real foodie trend that's mobilizing and becoming vocal and influential on how Austin treats food. We've visited a couple farms and ranches, broken bread with farmers, and dined on just killed deer - something we would have been hard pressed to do in the heart of Santa Clara.

The other big reason why we moved that I didn't have time to elaborate on is the raising children aspect. In South Bay, there is a lot of diversity (which I think is really important) but I my children will be ethnically Chinese - and there is a tendency for Chinese people to form cliques (they just seem to gravitate toward each other). In Santa Clara, the population is 50% White and 25% Asian (in Cupertino - the next closest town to where I lived, it's about 40%). Although more diverse than one ethnicity, I felt the Bay Area wasn't as diverse as Austin which has an 8% black population (almost nonexistent in South Bay - Cupertino has less than 1% which does not reflect the national norm), 22% Hispanic, and 13% who identify with multiple ethnic groups ("mixed" children) or a non-major ethnic classification. That last number (to me) shows real diversity (Santa Clara was less than 1% while Cupertino was 2%).

Schools in South Bay, from what I gathered from other parents, were extremely competitive with Asians dominating in academic studies at schools like Lynbrook and Monta Vista High. Don't get me wrong, these are high ranking schools but I don't think I want my children to get to a school where everyone is working so hard to excel academically. That doesn't sound right (sounds like I want my kid to go to a slacker school), but that's not what I mean. There's more to what you learn in school that just study hard and ace tests, but the schools in the Bay Area have a tendency to have students (or parents) who focus on that aspect more than any other. That's a personal choice, but if my child doesn't choose to focus all his or her energies in the focus of academic excellence but decides to broaden his or her school experience (and still performs adequately at academics, of course), I don't what their chances to be diminished because they weren't one of the straight A students. I was a B student throughout all my schooling - to me getting the A wasn't as important as learning the material well enough and then exploring some other interesting subject or untested aspect. (If they tested me on the programming language C or networking technologies in my high school freshman year, I would have gotten an A... but that's not on the curriculum. Nor was thermite on the Chemistry test or fiberoptic communications on the physics tests.) I graduated 165th in a class of 650 in Los Angeles. If I had been in Silicon Valley, I think my class ranking would have been even lower and I don't know if that would have affected my ability to get into a college with so many others from my school being ranked above me.

The last aspect that I considered and felt was a big deal was the perception of money. Maybe it was just my friends or the people that I was acquainted, but everyone earned at least 100K (usually around 200K for a couple) per year and considered themselves middle class. It's not hard to in Silicon Valley - upper class people are the successful entrepreneurs who made a website that shares something (photos, bookmarks, deals, tips, etc.) and sold it for millions. They drive cars that cost $50-100K and live in 4 bedroom houses and have money to renovate the house. There's a great discrepancy in the Bay Area from the rest of the United States when it comes to the worth of money. My friend's children comes back with stories about how their parents (a doctor and a web designer) are "poor" - no wonder compared to their friends who live in two story houses in San Francisco and routinely get multi-hundred dollar toys. (Not talking about an XBOX, those last a while - I'm talking about branded electric vehicles.) I can't help but feel that a child growing up in an environment like that would have a higher chance on getting fixated with "catching up" or earning more and more money. I'm fine if that's what they want in life, but I don't think I necessarily need to promote that aspect of life. If they can grow up happy with what they have, with enjoying the simpler aspects of life, I'm all for that.

Of course, moving is a big gamble. I may be moving to remove only perceived risks (perhaps I'm wrong and these potential problems don't exist at all or are not reduced by moving out of the area). I may be moving to an area with other problems that are even less palatable to me. Or I may not end up having children. If these are the cases, then I can always just remind myself that cost of housing is (currently) lower here and I could afford the house I wanted, and we're part of a food community that is just waking up and getting excited over good food.


Last edited by Michael Chu on Wed Jan 06, 2016 7:40 am; edited 1 time in total
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Jim Cooley



Joined: 09 Oct 2008
Posts: 377
Location: Seattle

PostPosted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 4:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Michael, there's also the unintended consequence of raising your children in an area which isn't so flush with money, and that is that they'll not grow up thinking that that's how everyone (or they themselves) should live.

I realized a while back that I got terribly spoiled while living in San Francisco: the easy accessibility to diverse restaurants, food supplies (good mozzarella or parmesan), cultural activities, etc & etc. I moved to Ohio for a couple years and looked down my nose at the hicks because one couldn't even get a decent espresso in the entire county. They were nice people, in fact in some ways far more friendly and courteous than in the Bay Area, but I'd become a snob and it showed.

Well, not everyone has the luck to live in one of the most cosmpololitan, metropolitan cities on the planet! My attitude changed a bit upon that realization, so I hope I'm not as insufferably superior as I once was.
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