I almost feel sorry for the Cali-baggers. Almost, but not quite. The Cali-baggers are the ones tail-gating me in their huge SUV's while conducting business on their cell-phones. (what's so important you can't wait -- why are YOU so important you can't wait?) The Cali-baggers with their McMansions on the hill, or their 1000 or less sq.ft. Westside cottages that they paid 395.000. Who sit outside downtown restaurants on sidewalks that are only 6 feet wide. (enjoying the wind, sun, dust and gas fumes?) You can go in and seat yourself, now, cause there aren't any lines....

The Cali-baggers who have opened their dream stores downtown and have driven rents higher than the Pearl District in Portland. (Umm, nice pants. Do you have any jeans or t-shirts? WOW, I love that 1000.00 lamp, will you take 500.00 at 50.00 a month, and can I take it now? No....? I think I saw a cheap knockoff at Linens and Things for 100 bucks. Bye, bye!)

Thank you, Cali-baggers, for leaving beautiful shops downtown for the next generation of antique stores (junk shops) and Spaghetti mills, and crafter's malls. Thank you for leaving your wonderful Cali-equity, now go get yourself a minimum wage job, drive that SUV for a few more years, and forget about adding that deck to your McMansion.

A few harsh winters, to expose the shoddy construction work, a few natural disasters, (a burning subdivision or two, overrun by deer, rock chuck, and rabid squirrels.) Settle in, lose your Cali-bagger status and become locals, struggling to get by.

Oh, there will still be the Rich, the ultra Rich, out there where the riff-raff can't be seen. They'll wander into your booth at the crafter's mall and complain about the prices. (You know, the stuff you're selling at a loss because your SUV is eating up gas at 3.00 a gallon.)

You can always get cheap entertainment by driving around and looking at all the subdivisions that were halted half done, one third done, one quarter done. All the maze of road leading nowhere. All the utilitie boxes surrounded by pine cones and lava rock. All the tree stumps on lots that are empty. What fun!

Yeah, I almost feel sorry for the Cali-baggers. They are about to become Bendites....