Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope everyone had a great long weekend.

So how did I spend my time off?

Well, I went to a land that is very similar to Seattle, but so entirely different in some other ways….it is like a bizzaro Seattle.

That place is Portland.

A land with as many trees, as many craft beers, as many Subarus, as many hipsters, as many homeless who are fully capable of working, and as much of a confusing road layout as Seattle.

But there is one huge distinction between Seattle and Seattle’s little brother: no sales tax.

So on Friday when wandering the downtown area of Portland there were scores of people meandering all around. At first I had no idea that so many people would be polluting downtown Portland with their presence the day after a holiday. But then I realized……Black Friday.

And even worse……Black Friday in a place with on sales tax.

All around the streets were Washington license plates, Seahawks window stickers, and people in The North Face gear. Yes, my friend, this is the time of year when Seattle invades Portland to avoid that pesky 11% sales tax.

Now we all have our opinions on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and all other shopping bonanzas. Some say it is gluttonous and makes us look greedy. Others say it is all in good fun and look at those deals!! Either way, there is one thing that makes no sense to me; why one state pays no sales tax at all and the adjacent state pays one as high as 11%.

Now there is another important difference between Seattle and Portland; Washington has no income tax.

What a stupid thing, to have two states with almost the same characteristics having completely different tax systems. And people are just so fooled by the perceived gain of their tax plan it is insane. Here is Washington people profess their love for no income tax, yet the two richest people in the world, yes the WORLD, live next door to each other in Seattle and pay nothing in income tax, yet we all have to pony up 11% on everything we buy here. Oh yeah, the property tax is insane here as well. And why? To cover up the lack of income tax. Now Oregon, well they don’t have sales tax but once again this is reaped with huge income taxes as well as property taxes. This really hurts both states and should be fixed ASAP.

Anyway, I have decided the greatest place to live in the world is…………………..Vancouver, WASHINGTON!!!

There is a city on the border of Washington called Vancouver (no, not the Canadian city, apparently Captain Vancouver slapped his name on a lot of things as he was poking around the PNW) that is literally 10 miles away from Portland. So if you lived there, you would be reaping the benefit of both state’s deeply flawed tax system; no income AND no sales. You can simultaneously damage both states without a blink of an eye!

Now how to find a job in Vancouver……………