Update 29 July 2008

I know that there's been a report of a 5.4 earthquake in southern California. Don't worry, we are NOT affected. It's mainly in the Los Angeles south to San Diego and some parts of Las Vegas.

The map below shows you where the epicenter of the quake is located. We are about 6 hours from LA. So, don't worry, we are very fine over here.

Life's much better now that we have broadband but still no TV. But that's not as important coz even back in Pg, I hardly watch TV. Today, the weather was as fine as previous days. Temperature is around the high 78's F (25 deg C) with wind blowing so, it's really nice and we're just walking around in our tee shirts. Gorgeous weather. We don't even have to turn on our heater or air-cond coz it's just perfect weather for now. Here's a slideshow (just a short 4 slides for now, more will follow when I have time to download) of what I've been telling you all about. Notice all the choices you have on olives (that really blew me away). Enjoy...

In case you're curious about what California's all about, here's some mind blowing facts about it. Happy Reading...

GENERAL FACTS
Capital: Sacramento
Entered Union: Sept. 9, 1850 (31st state)
Motto: Eureka (I have found it)
State Colors: blue and gold
State Song: I Love You, California
Nickname: Golden State

GOVERNMENT
Governor: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Senators: Barbara Boxer, D , Dianne Feinstein, D
State Symbols Flower: Golden poppy
Tree: California redwood
Bird: California valley quail
Animal: California grizzly bear (1953)
Fish: California golden trout (1947)

GEOGRAPHY
Land area: 155,973 sq mi. (403,970 sq km)
Water area: 7,734 sq mi.
Coastline: 840 mi.
Shoreline: 3,427 mi.
Highest point: Mt. Whitney - 14,494 ft
Lowest point: Death Valley - 282 ft below sea level
Geographic center of state: In Madera Co., 35 mi. NE of Madera
Number of counties: 58
Largest county by population: Los Angeles, 9,519,338 (2000)
Largest county by area: San Bernardino, 20,062 sq mi.
National forests: 18
State parks and beaches: 264

POPULATION
2000 state resident census population: 33,871,648

10 largest cities (2000):

Los Angeles, 3,694,820
San Diego, 1,223,400
San Jose, 894,943
San Francisco, 776,733
Long Beach, 461,522
Fresno, 427,652
Sacramento, 407,018
Oakland, 399,484
Santa Ana, 337,977
Anaheim, 328,014

By Gender:
Male: 16,874,892 (49.8%)
Female: 16,996,756 (50.2%)

By Age:
18 and over: 72.7%
65 and over: 10.6%
Median age: 33.3

By Origin:
White: 20,170,059 (59.5%)
Black: 2,263,882 (6.7%)
American Indian: 333,346 (1.0%)
Asian: 3,697,513 (10.9%)
Other race: 5,682,241 (16.8%)
Two or more races: 1,607,646 (4.7%)
Hispanic/Latino: 10,966,556 (32.4%)