Reasons I hate living in Lubbock (by Ryan)

• The people here are small minded (see: liquor laws and arrests of the Chippendales)
• The roads SUCK (ask Robert, he got to experience fine Lubbock construction this past weekend)
• horrible drivers (the kind that use the TURN lane as a "merging" lane, I was almost run into last week because of it)
• did I mention the town is small minded?
• it's illegal to buy liquor within city limits, but for some reason it's ok to buy from stores that are literally 100 yards outside city limits (I guess this goes back to the town being small minded)
• the roads are horrible (I think I said that before, but they're really that horrible)
• there's NO drainage, so every time it rains more than 5 minutes, University Avenue literally turns into University River (at University and the Loop, the water stands about 6 inches deep during most rain storms, we had to use my old roommate's truck just to go grocery shopping when it rained)
• I guess you can't really blame this on Lubbock, but the air is really dry so I literally get shocked every time I turn on a light switch or get out of my car
• on top of everything, the management at our townhomes is terrible... I'm starting my first day of work this afternoon, I have to be there at 4:00. so we get a note THIS MORNING (even though it's dated YESTERDAY) that says "We're sorry but due to repairs, we will be shutting off the water from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm". so I have to shower at 9:00 this morning and hope I don't get sweaty or smelly before I have to go to work. and on top of that, the note says "thank you for being so understanding through all of this", like we have a freakin choice. they've seriously been doing regular water "repairs" like this since the day we moved in. once every two weeks or so, and sometimes every day for an entire week, we won't have water during the day. it would have been fine if they'd passed the notes out yesterday, I could have come up with some sort of contingency plan to show up for work NOT smelling, but when we get the note 8:00 am the morning OF, there's not a whole lot I can do.

In other related news, Lubbock ranks among the top 3 worst places to live in the state of Texas (my judgment), being beat out only by the 5th ward in Houston (I think it's the 5th ward, whichever one is the most ghetto) and West End in El Campo (the area in town where you can buy any drug you can think of). Maybe it's just me, but the mixture of aweful roads (they're so damn bumpy, I have more rattles in my car than I can count), the small minded people, and the fact that it's so far away from family just really makes me want to move back home as soon as possible (and by "home" I mean the Houston area). I guess I just needed to vent some frustration. I feel better already. I'll let everyone know how my first day of work goes. Wish me luck!