[shaysteam05]

Dwight-
It's been bothering me ever since I first saw the name- is it "Mil-pie-tas, or Mik-pee-tas"?
Alex

 

[Dwight Ennis]

It's "Mil-PEE-tas" - spanish for "little cornfields" which it once was many moons ago.

 

[shaysteam05]

Thanks, Dwight, I will now sleep better!
Alex- SA#999

 

[Shay Gear Head]

Dwight,

So what is Milpitas' claim to fame today - other than you live there? I'm sure the corn fields are all gone.

 

[Dwight Ennis]

So far as I know, it doesn't have any "claim to fame" Bruce, and the cornfields are long gone for sure. It's at the NE tip of Silicone Valley... merely a small section of suburban sprawl packed tightly between the suburban sprawl of north San Jose and the suburban sprawl of Fremont. If you blinked your eyes, you'd probably miss it. Once upon a time, Dixon Landing was a semi-important landing on the south San Francisco Bay. Today if survives only in the name of one of the town's major streets - Dixon Landing Road. Milpitas was mostly ranch and farm land when I moved here. Now there are no farms left, and whatever open ranch land that remains is back up in the hills east of town.

I moved here as a kid in 1963 and stayed until '69. Bounced around the greater San Jose area once I graduated high school and got on my own, including living here in several apartments over several years. Started working for QT&E in San Jose in 1970, and they bought land in Milpitas and built their facility here in '76. I moved back again around '79 for the sake of a short commute, and ended up buying a house here in '84. I'm still living in that house (Feb 1st made 25 years) and I'm still working for QT&E (tomorrow makes 39 years).

I retire (hopefully) in 3 years, 7 months, 25 days (but who's counting). Then we'll be looking to sell and move to a different state - some state with low or no personal income tax and a far more conservative approach to spending taxpayers' money - possibly NV. CA is no longer the "Golden" State imho - unless one is in the State Legislature.

 

[Dave Sykes]

Never Dwight,
As long as you are there, there will plenty of corn if not corn fields.

 

[Dwight Ennis]

I wasn't counting my brain - hehehe

 

[HMeinhold]

A better description of the location of Milpitas is: Between Accucraft and The Train Shop.
Regards

 

[Eric M.]

Henner is right but also Dwight is being too humble.  Because as you traverse the distance between Accucraft HQ and our beloved Train Shop you are greeted by the unsettling sight of a 30' tall bronze statue of Dwight looming over Milpitas! 

 it seems Dwight really is Milpitas's only claim to fame. 

 

[Shay Gear Head]

Dwight,

It sounds as if you are ready for one of these -

[url]http://cgi.ebay.com/Retirement-Time-Countdown-Clock_W0QQitemZ120384684616QQcmdZViewItem[/url]

My brother-in-law had one on his desk for several years as a reminder - for when the boss has you doing something stupid!

 

[Dwight Ennis]

I agree with Henner completely!

I fart in Eric's general direction and do hereby adviseth him that jealousy doth not becometh him.

Bruce, I've seen those, thanks. However, until the day count drops below 365, I'd find it too darned depressing to look at. hehehe

 

[GrizzlyFlatsFan]

I am surprised that Dwight didn't mention that there used to be an automotive factory in Milpitas that closed many years ago. It is now a shopping center, The Great Mall (sic.).

However, the greatest claim to fame for Milpitas (other than Dwight) is a 'famous' motion picture about the "Milpitas Monster" was entirely filmed there. The Great Mall used to have a history window set up about it.

 

[Dwight Ennis]

Twice nothing is still nothing.

 

[GrizzlyFlatsFan]

Posted By Dwight Ennis on 07/02/2009 10:43 PM
Twice nothing is still nothing. " border="0" />



Actually, I mentioned three items, including you!  

So, would that make it  2 x 0 + 1  = 1    ? 

 

[Dwight Ennis]

I was referring to the town with all its "features" (= 0) and myself (also = 0).

The Ford plant in its latter years used to make the Ford Pinto. How's THAT for a claim to fame? hehehe The Great Mall, which the Ford plant became, is okay I guess if one likes malls (which I don't), but it has no hobby shop. When it first opened up, it had a small trains only hobby shop, but they went out of business PDQ. There was also an empty store space filled with a large Lionel layout, but it was staffed by volunteers, was hardly ever open, and also went away pretty fast.

Se la vie.

 

[Chris Scott]

Posted By Dwight Ennis on 03/19/2009 8:41 PM

I retire (hopefully) in 3 years, 7 months, 25 days (but who's counting). Then we'll be looking to sell and move to a different state - some state with low or no personal income tax and a far more conservative approach to spending taxpayers' money - possibly NV. CA is no longer the "Golden" State imho - unless one is in the State Legislature.

" src="http://www.mylargescale.com/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wink.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" />



Alaska

September 3, 2008

"Welcome to the People's Republic of Alaska, where every resident this year will get a $3,200 payout... That's $22,400 for a family of seven...

Alaska is the only state that does not collect state sales tax or levy an individual income tax. To finance state operations, Alaska depends primarily on petroleum revenues. The state of Alaska owns most of the oil-producing land... ...getting upward of 85 percent of its budget from the oil companies that lease the (oil) fields." Alaska Permanent Fund, which invests oil revenues from state lands, has paid out a dividend (annually) on invested oil loot to everyone who has been in the state for a year

 

[weaverc]

Dwight,
Seven states have no state income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Two others, New Hampshire and Tennessee, tax only dividend and interest income. Alaska seems a little far from everything for me and goods and services are expensive.

 

[Totalwrecker]

Alaska...living off the consumers of the other 49 states... oh boy!

Does that loot offset the cost of living there?

Dwight, which do you tolerate better; heat or cold? Without that Pacific puddle close by, you'll get more weather where ever you move....

John

 

[Richard Smith]

Now Dwight, for many a year many Bay Area residents aspired to an all expense paid vacation at a fancy hotel in beautiful downtown Milpitas!

BTW, Oregon does have an income tax but no sales tax. On a $30,000 new car you'd save almost $2500 over what you'd pay in the Bay Area. That buys a lot of corn. Of course our legislature is hard at work trying to reduce the standard of living here as they are in most states.

 

[Dwight Ennis]

I don't think Alaska is for me, and I know it isn't for my wife! Cathy is from NJ and lived most of her life close to NYC. She's a Foodie and gourmet cook, and likes shows and the arts (unfortunately, not the "art of model railroading" though she does support my interest). I don't think "moose" is on her list of gourmet delicacies. hehehe


NV, and especially the Las Vegas area, has the fine restaurants and shows that will keep her happy, and the dark skies and nearby open spaces that will keep me happy, as well as no income tax and a lower cost of living which will keep us both happy. I can deal with heat better than I can deal with lots of rain, so WA and OR are out. I don't like humidity, so FL and TX are out. And I don't like snow, so SD and WY are out (picky ain't I?). Besides, there seems to be a good amount of live steam in Vegas, both #1 gauge and ride-on, and my boilermaker is moving there today or tomorrow to set up shop with another guy, so that takes care of my other love. Finally, houses are dirt cheap there right now.


California, and especially the Bay Area, have unsurpassed weather to be sure, but I've long ago become disillusioned with, and lost my love for, this state, mostly for political and tax reasons which I won't go into on MLS, and also for the overcrowding here and the high cost of living. There are a few things I will miss (like the Train Shop), but overall, I think Cathy and I could be very happy in the Vegas burbs. We already have friends living there. Buy a house and invest in solar power to run the air conditioner and keep the energy bill down - fat city!