North vs South: It's almost December

And the weather down here is unreal. I don't know if I can ever life up North again.

Frequently asked questions

As you know, Zina Carolina is one of the most popular blogs on the interwebs. I get a LOT of fan mail but due to the sheer volume, I'm not able to respond to it all. Instead, I've decided to answer the questions that I receive most frequently.

FAQs

Does Chris have a job? Yes. He recently obtained his South Carolina real estate license and works for  for a brokerage firm. Basically, he helps people buy and sell restaurants. He also waits tables at a local brewery for extra cash.

How do you get by without a job? For the last eight months that I lived in New York, I put 700 dollars a month towards saving while paying 800 towards my credit card balance. By the time I moved here I had no debt and enough money to pay my rent for a year plus my other savings. Life down here is also a lot cheaper than up north. My half of the rent for our 3 bed  room house is 350 dollars and we cook most of our meals. Of course, I don't want to live solely off my savings and I am actively job hunting. But I'm also actively working on figuring out what I want to do for my next career. That's a full-time job in itself.

Does your house smell like cats? No. I clean the litter box obsessively and it's in a closet in the guest room.

Could those kittens be any cuter? No, they couldn't.

Does Brutus like the kittens? He was initially scared of them and still sometimes is. He lets them play with his tail and sleep on top of him which is adorable. He has come a long way. The fact that he was terrified of 2 week old kittens (and fly swatters, brooms, and nail clippers) makes me fear for my future sons.


Is Brutus gay? That's his business.

Are you engaged? No.

Are you pregnant? No, just eat too much pizza.

What are you doing with your life? Currently, I'm planning to go back to school to get my Masters in Social Work and eventually become a relationship counselor, specializing in LGBT couples. I haven't worked in a human services since 2005 so I'm going to be volunteering to get more experience to put on my application. I also need to figure out what schools to apply to, write essays, request transcripts and references and take the GRE. This is all subject to change, of course, as most of my life plans do

Is South Carolina just a buncha' crazy rednecks? No. There are a ton of people from all around the country, and even the world living her. People move down here because the economy is good and the weather is mild. Of course there are rednecks. But there are also plenty of rednecks up North. I haven't had any issues. It's a very surprising town. You expect it to be one way, and when you arrive it's completely different.

Do you miss New York City? No. It was time for me to move on. I was exhausted from the stresses of living and working in Manhattan.  I loved the experience and I have no regrets but it was time to move on. Some people just aren't meant to live in New York and I am one of them.  I had a LOT of fun but a year and a half was enough for me. Actually, I do miss one thing about NYC: Gay men EVERYWHERE. And of course my lovely friends.

What do you do all day? I wake up whenever I want, let the dog out, feed the animals, do research online (schools, jobs, volunteer ops. facebook etc.), play with the kittens, watch tv, clean the house, play with the cats, have a beer. I basically just do whatever I feel like. I never know what day of the week or month it is. Everyday is like a Saturday.

Do you miss working in pharmaceutical advertising? There is nothing I miss less. Nothing.

All About Greenville

In this blog I've talked a lot about my life in Greenville but I haven't described the actual city. So here goes...everything you did or didn't want to know about Greenville.

Location

With a population of almost 62,000, Greenville is the largest city in northwestern South Carolina, known as the Upstate. The city is located at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, about 1.5 hours from Charlotte, North Carolina and 2.5 hours from Atlanta, Georgia. It is is four hours from the coast of South Carolina.

Climate

Greenville's moderate climate offers a full change of seasons with generally mild, short winters, hot, humid summers, warm springs, and crisp autumns. The average January temperature is  40 degrees with highs in the 50’s.  The average May temperature is in the 60’s with highs in the low 70’s.  August is normally the hottest month with averages in the 80’s and high in the 90’s.  

People

Southern hospitality is not a myth. The people of Greenville are a warm, polite, and friendly bunch who wave to strangers when they drive by. They are an eclectic mix of locals and northern transplants, conservatives and liberals and everything in between.

Transportation

There are several airports servicing the Greenville area. The Greenville Downtown Airport is the busiest general aviation airport in South Carolina. The largest in the region, Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP), is the second busiest in the state and is served by most major airlines.  Unfortunately, flights to and from Greenville tend to be pricey. But there is good news for those who want to visit  Zina Carolina. In March 2011, discount airline, Southwest Airlines will launch a hub at GSP which will potentially make air travel more affordable.

For downtown drivers, finding a parking spot is usually not a challenge as the parking system provides over 7,000 parking spots. As an added benefit, the city offers a trolley service that traverses downtown free of charge. In addition, the Greenlink bus system offers 11 (ha) routes all across Greenville County.

Downtown 
In the last 40 years, downtown Greenville has been transformed from a mostly vacant ghost town to a bustling mini metropolis. The downtown area is clean and safe with a variety of bars, restaurants, boutiques, specialty shops, museums, hotels, corporations and galleries

Greenville loves hosting festivals. There are nearly 200 festivals and events per year. From April through September, weekly concerts ranging from folk to jazz entertain visitors three nights a week while larger downtown celebrations mark the coming of each new season.

City Hall

Downtown: The Arts 

Greenville has a thriving arts community, with a number of venues to support it. The Bi-Lo Center, a state of the art entertainment venue, brings national tours of many popular artists to downtown, including Justin Bieber, Janet Jackson, Eric Clapton and Kiss along with sports programs and special events. Another downtown staple, the Peace Center, is a performing arts center that hosts touring Broadway shows, symphonies, civic events and concerts. I'm still pissed I missed seeing Clay Aiken perform.

Bi-Lo Center

Peace Center

Downtown: Falls park 
One of the most beautiful parts of downtown is Falls Park on the Reedy, a 32-acre park in the historic West End district. The park's most striking feature is a unique 355 foot long pedestrian suspension bridge that curves around a waterfall on the Reedy River. 

A river runs through it

Curvacious

Great Outdoors 

Greenville County has three state parks, comprising over 12,000 acres, offering traditional outdoor adventure ranging from hiking to camping and mountain biking. Several nationally recognized mountain lakes are less than an hour away and offer various recreational possibilities. 

One of many lakes

Paris Mountain

Overall, Greenville is a friendly, laid-back town with tons of southern charms (and quirks) and I'm happy to call it home.

Keep on truckin

South Carolina is an interesting place. They just do things differently down here. One thing I've noticed is that it seems like everyone drives a pickup truck. Even my mom has one now. And apparently the bigger the better. The one below said "Daddy's little redneck girl" on the windshield. 

Despite having driveways, they often park their trucks on their lawns, no matter how nice the neighborhood. My mom's truck is the red one. When in Rome I guess?

But really, I shouldn't be surprised. Before moving down, out of curiosity I checked out the Google street view of my house.

Note the empty driveway

Lizardgate 2010 in pictures

The first pounce

It is NOT a toy

KILL IT

Still alive

The end is near

Off you go, Lizard

Too little too late

The hero dozes after slaying the dragon

Lizardgate 2010 pt 2

So the cat must have read my blog trash talking her hunting skills, because about 30 seconds after I posted it, she returned from the den with the lizard IN HER MOUTH.

She carried the lizard through the kitchen and INTO THE FAMILY ROOM where she proceeded to drop it. It was, of course, very much alive.

I panicked, to put it mildly.

"HERE KITTY, COME HERE KITTY, NOT IN THE FAMILY ROOM KITTY, HEEEEEEEERE KITTY" To no avail.

She pawed at it some more, then picked it up again and casually walked into the kitchen where I sat frozen in terror on the counter. Then she of course let it go, free to romp around my kitchen, until she pounced on it again.

Finally, Chris came home to me shrieking on the counter and I calmly (ha) explained the situation. He coolly placed a box on top of it and escorted it outside like it was no big thang.

Please. He came in at the tail end of the situation. There were no lizards FLYING THROUGH THE AIR by the time he arrived. I think my panic attacks/screaming were quite warranted.

So finally, the lizard is gone. The kitten is a hero. Chris will take the credit. I need PTSD counseling.

There is a video of some of the fiasco. If I can swallow my shame enough, I will post it.

Lizardgate 2010

I was walking into the laundry room to take clothes out of the dryer when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.

A LIZARD.

So, like any reasonable person, I screamed like I was on fire and ran into the safety of the living room. 5 minutes later, once I'd calmed down slightly I began to google "ways to get rid of a lizard." The first suggestion was to have a cat take care of it.

Aha! I have one of those! So I carried her into the laundry room and gently tossed her in. Unfortunately, the lizard had already disapeared.

Resume freaking out.

5 minutes later, after making 3 frantic phone calls to my mother with no answer and just barely resisting calling 9-1-1, I decided to try again. When I headed back to the laundry room, there it was! Sitting smugly on the carpet IN THE DEN. I screamed and threw the cat (again, gently) in it's direction.

Success! The lizard ran and the cat ran after it. A cat-and-lizard chase commenced wherein she would catch it, stare at it for a few seconds, let it go, chase it, catch it...you get the idea. The entire time I'm screaming "JUST KILL IT, IT IS NOT A TOY, KILL IT KILL IT PLEASE KILL IT." It was a trying time for both of us.

Eventually she caught it and picked it up in her mouth, then dropped it. I thought she'd finally go in for the kill. But, she clearly didn't know what to do with this new toy. At one point it looked like she was even befriending it. I could swear they kissed.

Then the lizard ran, and she chased it into the laundry room. A struggle commenced. I was too terrified to investigate from my perch in the kitchen. What seemed like hours later, the cat strutted back into the den, lizard in mouth. She dropped it and it didn't move. It was on it's back. It could be dead...

...

...

The cat and I waited with bated breath. Suddenly, the lizard FLEW (okay maybe jumped) out of the den. I screamed much louder than is normal for said scenario. The police have likely ben called. The cat gave chase.

And then.

Nothing.

She came back out of the den, sans lizard, and looked at me like "oh hey, what's up?"

"WHAT'S UP? WHERE IS THE LIZARD, CAT????" I may have said.

Gone.

GONE??

The (previously sweet, adorable) cat even had the NERVE to start casually looking around the house for it as if to say, "yeah, it could be anywhere dude."

"You go find that lizard, Cat!!!! RIGHT NOW!! And don't call me dude." I may or may not have said.

The cat scoffed at me and retreated to the family room to stare out the window (plot her escape).

And where was Brutus while all of this went on? Staring at me and shaking in a corner*. Sigh, worthless.

So now there is a lizard somewhere in my home, likely in the laundry room vicinity, laughing at me, my failure cat and scaredy-dog.

I am and will remain seated on the kitchen counter until Chris arrives home.

Lizard: 10

My sanity: -2

*granted, most mammals would have reacted similarly to my hysterics

EMERGENCY: SOS

THERE IS A LIZARD IN MY LAUNDRY ROOM.

PLEASE SEND HELP IMMEDIATELY.

Hot and cold

The number one reason I moved down south is the weather. After last winter I vowed to NEVER go through that again. I swear I must have seasonal affective disorder because I'm so, so, so much happier in warm weather.

The temperature down here is usually 10-20 degrees warmer during the day than up north. It will definitely get cold this winter but I'll take 32 degrees over 12 degrees any day. Typically, it only snows once down here and it's just light flurries. Compare that with last year's "snowmaggedon" nightmare up north. Seriously, WHAT was that?

Here is today's weather comparison:

2009 Snow comparison:

Up north

South Carolina

It's no California but I'll take it..

We Be Clubbin

Tuesday night, we went to our first "meetup". Meetup.com is a website where you can join (or create) groups for members of the local community. Each group has a different theme, such as dog owners, or 20 somethings, or 20 something dog owners.

Normally these kind of forced gatherings wouldn't be my thing. Well, they still aren't. But since we don't have jobs, it's an alternative way to meet people. It's especially important for Chris to meet new people. He gets his energy from interacting with others whereas I'm more self contained (and absorbed). Plus I have my mom, brother and stalker dog down here. But because I am a supportive (amazing, fantastic) girlfriend, I graciously joined the site.

One of the groups we both joined is the "Greenville Social Scene." The name alone makes me cringe. It sounds like a cheesy club you'd join in middle school.

But hey, new life, new outlook right? One of the scheduled meetups was Tennis in the Park on Tuesday night. I grew up playing tennis and Chris is newly obsessed with it so we both signed up. We also brought along our bestie, Loye, who has been playing for 30 years. Unfortunately we got a little lost on the way and by the time we arrived everyone in the group was already playing. The three of us decided to just play against each other. So much for "meeting up". We also lobed more than a few balls into the other courts during their games which didn't exactly endear us to anyone. But whatever, we had fun despite the lack of new BFFs. Personally I think they should be the ones trying to "meet up" with me but that's another story.

Tomorrow night there is a bowling meetup for the "20 something" group. I've decided I'll attend because it'll give me the chance to meet people the old fashioned way: copious amounts of alcohol. I wouldn't have any friends without it.