Can I borrow at least $100,000 (but less than $200,000)?

My stay in Phoenix so far has been pretty good. I have to do chores, again, like when I was in high school. 4 AM. Feed the cattle. There aren't many--just ten. Ten small cows.

These are Siberian Minor Cows. My father purchased these things to graze the family compound more as a novelty. My parents don't need the milk. Both my mom and dad are lactose intolerant. The cows don't seem to know that, though. They sure do shit a lot. Each cow is only about two to three feet tall, and my dad put these stupid cowbells on each of them.

"Cows," my dad said, lovingly staring at each one. "They just make this place feel like home. Now go get a bucket and a shovel so you can scoop their shit."

"Dad, come on. Isn't it time to get rid of the cows?"

But he already walked away. At half past four, he goes and practices his hand-to-hand combat in the north wing of the house. At seven, he leaves for work. He's a pharmacist.

It's wierd being in Arizona after LA. LA is like no other place on earth. The streets are congested with too many people and too much traffic. The air has a slight brown tinge at best, and is opaque white at its worst. But the LA weather--nothing beats the LA weather.

Funny, though, that the home prices in Southern Cali are so expensive. Driving east on the 10 out of LA, there's more and more billboards advertising new housing developments with strange, generic names. "HOUSES FROM THE $600k's! Come see the CLEMSON RANCH LAKE HOUSING COMMUNITY!" and "LAKESIDE TOWNHOMES FROM THE LOW-400k's, ONLY AT TREBEDOUR MEADOWS HOUSING COMMUNITY!" and more. The billboards get closer and closer together, and more and more housing developments appear out in the middle of nowhere until you hit desert. Blythe. There's some housing developments, but not many. I mean, it's Blythe for Christ's sake. Then you get about 70 miles out of Phoenix, and there's the same types of billboards, but there's a huge pricing disparity. "NEW SUN LAKE HOMES FROM THE 100k's!" Housing for under $200,000? I thought it didn't exist anymore.

Granted, no matter where you are in Southern California, you're closer to a beach than in Arizona. But how much is the beach worth, even if you're on the edge (or in) the desert?

The pool on the south lawn is calling me. I may go riding on one of my dad's Clydesdales later, but he's grown really suspicious of these horses. He claims they're walking advertisements for a certain beer. Whatever.