Why can't I live in California?

Sometimes, I wish I lived in California.

Mostly, I wish I lived in California when it's snowing. I'm not exactly a fan of cold weather. I hate being cold. I hate it. I hate snow. I don't like playing in the snow (I used to, but then I kinda... changed my mind). Sitting inside and looking at the snow is okay, until people walk on it and it gets all messed up. And driving when it's snowing is horrible. It's kind of like driving in the rain, except it's white (not see-through), and salt trucks on the road cause salt (which looks almost exactly like snow when you're driving) to hit your car and sound like hail. I also hate when the roads get icy. Because honestly, that's just no fun.

I much prefer warm weather. Warm weather is much, much more pleasant (to me) than cold weather. I think there's some correlation between the weather and my mood. I tend to be in a much better mood, just in general, in the summer (when it's warm and sunny all or most of the time) than in the winter (when it's cold and snowy). California- specifically southern California- is warm and nice. Just over 10 years ago, in January 1999, my mom and I visited my cousins (her brother and his wife and children) in Los Angeles. And I went swimming- outside- in January! You can't do that in New Jersey, or anywhere in the northeast. Or anywhere in the north, for that matter.

So when it came time to make my initial list of colleges that I was interested in, one of my stipulations was that it should be in a warm area. Of course, most of the colleges I applied to aren't in places that are warm. Cambridge isn't exactly known for mild winters. And Pittsburgh and Troy, New York aren't known for their great weather, either. But some of the colleges I applied to are in southern California (I'd say southern California is known for a nice climate). Like that one awesome liberal arts college that I'm a legacy at. Like that really big university that has good sports teams, but is really good academically, too. Like that small tech school that's kind of like that other tech school in Cambridge, except smaller, and in an ideal climate.

"That small tech school" brings me to the other time I wish I lived in California. I wish I lived in California RIGHT NOW, because Caltech is emailing decisions at 4pm PST tomorrow. That means that I won't see my decision until 7pm local time. I know it's waiting the same amount of hours, total, either way, but 7pm just feels like a lot later than 4pm. I mean, assuming I wake up at 10am, then 4pm is 6 hours after I've woken up, but 7pm is 9 hours after I've woken up. 9 hours is 3 hours longer than 6 hours.

Also, if I lived in California, I probably would've gotten my actual decision letter by now, being that Caltech is in California (it is the California Institute of Technology, after all).