Okay - I just had an odd moment......
There are people crawling all over Hollywood in the University of Texas colors, burnt orange and white, with "hook 'em horns" scribbled all over their cars.
I thought all of Austin had moved to LA for a few moments until I saw a car with Rose Bowl and Texas on their shirt. ^_^;
I seriously was weirded out...... the In & Out Burger was a sea of orange and white.
doo doo doo doo We are now entering the Twilight Zone....
Friday, December 31, 2004
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Well, Thanksgiving was weird this year......
The SO and I were invited to have Turkey Day with our neighbors. I've mentioned them before....They are a bunch of 20 somethings with no family here either and some similiar interests.
It all started out pretty great until we found out that 2 of the 6 attending people had to work. So we post-poned the dinner until the next day. No big deal. We went grocery shopping with the guy across the hall on Thursday in prep for the meal. It took a couple of hours to shop and get everything we needed. Discovered the Food 4 Less near us has a FREE shuttle to take you home after you shop. The SO and I bought a pie to contribute to the dinner, since I cannot cook. I also got suckered into making garlic mashed potatoes for the event.
So we get to Friday...... We get up around lunch time to get ready to cook. The neighbors are just now starting to cook the bird and the ham, because low and behold the 2 who had to work the day before were called in again. So we decide to have dinner anyway at 10 PM. Damn.
So, the SO and I go see The Incredibles, which was great.....and I need to take a break from my Thanksgiving bitching to bitching about a theater......The El Capitan theater has a great screen, we watched what appeared to direct from the render digital projection of the movie. It was gorgeous. Story was very James Bond, but fun. My gripe about the theater is that it is owned by Disney and they make you sit through this horrific live musical act that is THIRTY MINUTES LONG! before you get to see the movie. I wanted to hurl over the balcony it was so sugary sweet. Ick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it's $15 bucks to boot! The highest priced theater in very pricey Hollywood neighborhood.
Anyway! I start to cook the pie around 8:30. I, of course, mess it up because only I can scew up cooking frozen food. I sloshed the filling out trying to check on the pie. It looked fine until we went to cut it for dessert. The filling had bubbled up from the crust and the bottom was just wrong. My mash potatoes were not so hot either, even though I usually make pretty good taters.
We actually started eating before all the guests arrived because at that point those of us who had slogged it out were too hungry to wait any longer. We watched Punch Drunk Love, why? I have no idea. The rest of the crew got stoned. The SO and I got out of there as soon as was polite.
I really wanted corn bread stuffing and should have made it myself. Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving without corn bread stuffing. We were also lacking in cranberry sauce. I took both of these Turkey Day "requirements" for granted. You know everyone has cornbread stuffing and cranberry sauce for the turkey! Well, apparrently in missouri and virginia they have white bread stuffing for the turkey which is sort of icky and gross.
Oh well at least I didn't have a Marie Calendar's micro meal for Turkey day.
The SO and I were invited to have Turkey Day with our neighbors. I've mentioned them before....They are a bunch of 20 somethings with no family here either and some similiar interests.
It all started out pretty great until we found out that 2 of the 6 attending people had to work. So we post-poned the dinner until the next day. No big deal. We went grocery shopping with the guy across the hall on Thursday in prep for the meal. It took a couple of hours to shop and get everything we needed. Discovered the Food 4 Less near us has a FREE shuttle to take you home after you shop. The SO and I bought a pie to contribute to the dinner, since I cannot cook. I also got suckered into making garlic mashed potatoes for the event.
So we get to Friday...... We get up around lunch time to get ready to cook. The neighbors are just now starting to cook the bird and the ham, because low and behold the 2 who had to work the day before were called in again. So we decide to have dinner anyway at 10 PM. Damn.
So, the SO and I go see The Incredibles, which was great.....and I need to take a break from my Thanksgiving bitching to bitching about a theater......The El Capitan theater has a great screen, we watched what appeared to direct from the render digital projection of the movie. It was gorgeous. Story was very James Bond, but fun. My gripe about the theater is that it is owned by Disney and they make you sit through this horrific live musical act that is THIRTY MINUTES LONG! before you get to see the movie. I wanted to hurl over the balcony it was so sugary sweet. Ick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it's $15 bucks to boot! The highest priced theater in very pricey Hollywood neighborhood.
Anyway! I start to cook the pie around 8:30. I, of course, mess it up because only I can scew up cooking frozen food. I sloshed the filling out trying to check on the pie. It looked fine until we went to cut it for dessert. The filling had bubbled up from the crust and the bottom was just wrong. My mash potatoes were not so hot either, even though I usually make pretty good taters.
We actually started eating before all the guests arrived because at that point those of us who had slogged it out were too hungry to wait any longer. We watched Punch Drunk Love, why? I have no idea. The rest of the crew got stoned. The SO and I got out of there as soon as was polite.
I really wanted corn bread stuffing and should have made it myself. Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving without corn bread stuffing. We were also lacking in cranberry sauce. I took both of these Turkey Day "requirements" for granted. You know everyone has cornbread stuffing and cranberry sauce for the turkey! Well, apparrently in missouri and virginia they have white bread stuffing for the turkey which is sort of icky and gross.
Oh well at least I didn't have a Marie Calendar's micro meal for Turkey day.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Saturday, October 30, 2004
I experienced my first earthquake today! I sort of disappointed....I know I shouldn't be but it wasn't very exciting.
On the weekends I work for a property management company, showing their new apartment building to prospective tenants. (It's an easy job and I spend most of the time reading.) Well, I was standing outside smoking a cigarette leaning up against a scaffolding that has yet to be taken down. All of the sudden, the scaffolding shakes and makes this "BRUMGH" noise. I thought maybe a couple of the doors inside slammed shut. I went and checked, but nothing....They were all still open.
I didn't think about it again until I got home. The first thing the SO asks is, "Did you feel the earthquake this morning."
And here's the rest of the conversation:
me: Uh, NO.....What earthquake?
roomie: it around 9 o'clock
me: uh no....
SO: I slept through it
me: wow
roomie: yeah, I was laying in bed and the whole building started shaking. Are you sure you didn't feel it?
me: well (insert story form above) that was around 9 AM
SO: that's when it happened
me: oh....damn, my first earthquake and I didn't even notice.
SO: believe me that's a good thing. Would you rather have that new apartment building falling around your ears?
me: no, I was just expecting something a little more dramatic than a scaffolding swaying and making noise. I wanted a big rumbles and to be tossed on my ass, you know shaky vision like in the movies.
SO: no it's better this way. Now you know you can handle it.
everyone kinda expected me to wig out on the first go round with Mother Earth's carnival ride. But I didn't.....Life is good! God I love LA!
On the weekends I work for a property management company, showing their new apartment building to prospective tenants. (It's an easy job and I spend most of the time reading.) Well, I was standing outside smoking a cigarette leaning up against a scaffolding that has yet to be taken down. All of the sudden, the scaffolding shakes and makes this "BRUMGH" noise. I thought maybe a couple of the doors inside slammed shut. I went and checked, but nothing....They were all still open.
I didn't think about it again until I got home. The first thing the SO asks is, "Did you feel the earthquake this morning."
And here's the rest of the conversation:
me: Uh, NO.....What earthquake?
roomie: it around 9 o'clock
me: uh no....
SO: I slept through it
me: wow
roomie: yeah, I was laying in bed and the whole building started shaking. Are you sure you didn't feel it?
me: well (insert story form above) that was around 9 AM
SO: that's when it happened
me: oh....damn, my first earthquake and I didn't even notice.
SO: believe me that's a good thing. Would you rather have that new apartment building falling around your ears?
me: no, I was just expecting something a little more dramatic than a scaffolding swaying and making noise. I wanted a big rumbles and to be tossed on my ass, you know shaky vision like in the movies.
SO: no it's better this way. Now you know you can handle it.
everyone kinda expected me to wig out on the first go round with Mother Earth's carnival ride. But I didn't.....Life is good! God I love LA!
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Well, this is just dandy.
They just reorganized the department I work in and hired a couple of the other temps full time. One of them has been here for 2 months the other has been here for 2 years. I'm in the middle with 9 months.
My boss and I have a new boss. Now she has to convince the new boss to keep me after my contract expires in December. I hope it works out that they hire me full time, which is what my boss is really pushing for, because she can't do both of our jobs. There is too much to do. We're both busy 40 hours.
They just reorganized the department I work in and hired a couple of the other temps full time. One of them has been here for 2 months the other has been here for 2 years. I'm in the middle with 9 months.
My boss and I have a new boss. Now she has to convince the new boss to keep me after my contract expires in December. I hope it works out that they hire me full time, which is what my boss is really pushing for, because she can't do both of our jobs. There is too much to do. We're both busy 40 hours.
Monday, October 04, 2004
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Yikes!
One of my friend's from work had major surgery a few weeks ago on her sinuses, and something went wrong.
They cracked her skull.
She has brain juice coming out her nose!
I spent 45 mintes on the phone with her last night talking about it. She can't get up and move around, because her skull has not healed up enough to fully prevent leakage (leakage!). She has to stay prone @ a 45 degree angle. She has to take so many meds, that if you had only been talking to her on the phone, you would think she's an old lady. Can't sneeze, can't cough, can't even strain going poo - or she might leak more brain juice!
The fluid from her brain is leaking out of her skull!
L - if you read this, I love you sweetheart, but you need to sue your doctor.
They cracked her skull.
She has brain juice coming out her nose!
I spent 45 mintes on the phone with her last night talking about it. She can't get up and move around, because her skull has not healed up enough to fully prevent leakage (leakage!). She has to stay prone @ a 45 degree angle. She has to take so many meds, that if you had only been talking to her on the phone, you would think she's an old lady. Can't sneeze, can't cough, can't even strain going poo - or she might leak more brain juice!
The fluid from her brain is leaking out of her skull!
L - if you read this, I love you sweetheart, but you need to sue your doctor.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Having a shitty month.....
Well, the roomie got canned about a month ago and the SO and I have been struggling ever since. I can't cover quite all the rent and bills by myself, even though I make $600 a week after taxes. At $2400 a month it's hard to pay everything, and LA is cheaper than Austin.
Right now I'm having a shitty time because my boss is really pissed off at me. I'm in charge of an account's packaging redesign, and it's not going well. Mainly because I am dealing with an outside vendor, of the account's choosing, for the art. My boss is pissed because I was not
communicative enough with the entire team, including production, operations and sales. It's my job, but I didn't realize every delay had to be communicated to everyone. The outside firm gave us deadlines they came up with and didn't meet them....then didn't return my calls. Magically, when my boss calls they pickup the phone. A meeting was called by the VP of Production at the plant this account's products are packaged, asking for status updates on the art. I didn't realize that his portion of the team and the rest of the people on the project were freaking out because they felt like they hadn't been updated. When my boss, who hadn't been invited to said meeting, found out - she flipped. I got my ass chewed the day before the meeting and the day of right
before. I thought this was just a, "hey, here's were we stand meeting" but according to the boss, they were going to eat me alive. She went, explained status, allayed everyone's nervousness and kept me from getting torn apart.
She later told me, people at our comapny only ever really remember the bad things you do, that you can do good work for a long time, but if you make one mistake - that's all they remember. I'm sure that's true of a lot of places.
My boss and I are alot alike, we get along really well but lately I feel like I can't get anything right. She yelled at me today because I misspelled a word in an email to someone inside the company! And....the outside design firm used too many colors in one of the pieces of art they sent to us, but I hadn't noticed. So I got yelled at for that. That one I understand, every color you add over 6 to a package design, forces the printing cost to skyrocket. I have a very complicated project going on for all accounts that involves 2 pieces of verbage for each label, not all labels get both. I confused the two labeling issues two time in the past two days, so I got fussed at twice for that.
When I rush, I make mistakes. It's as simple as that. Lately, everything has been a rush. Maybe I wasn't ready to head up a redesign project by myself yet. Well, okay...definitely not ready if my boss had to step in. I can handle all the day to day projects with no problem, but the redesigns have put me over the top.
She's stressed because she has significantly larger redesigns in progress and is having problems with both of them. I don't know if it's just me or I'm just aggrevating the situation and that's pissing her off.
I'm just scared I'm going to get fired. I'm always scared of that, just because I'm afraid that I'm not good enough. But this time, I can't afford to get fired. I need every penny I'm making. We are 2 weeks late with rent, but our land lord is cool. If I lost my job, I couldn't pay rent next month. What the hell!
I'm probably just being a drama queen anyway. When I talked to my boss a few months ago about the possibility of being fired, she said I would be warned if it was going to happen. I know she wouldn't lie. But I have totally lost my confidence in what I'm doing. Now I feel like I have to check everything with her, no matter how minor.
This sucks.
On the upside, the SO's working on his demo reel. He talked to a software dealer this week who said he could probably pick up work going to user's groups meetings and getting to know people. Showing he could at least talk intelligently about the subject would help a lot. He's
been working with 3D art for over 10 years now. He knows what he's doing, that shouldn't be hard.
Right now I'm having a shitty time because my boss is really pissed off at me. I'm in charge of an account's packaging redesign, and it's not going well. Mainly because I am dealing with an outside vendor, of the account's choosing, for the art. My boss is pissed because I was not
communicative enough with the entire team, including production, operations and sales. It's my job, but I didn't realize every delay had to be communicated to everyone. The outside firm gave us deadlines they came up with and didn't meet them....then didn't return my calls. Magically, when my boss calls they pickup the phone. A meeting was called by the VP of Production at the plant this account's products are packaged, asking for status updates on the art. I didn't realize that his portion of the team and the rest of the people on the project were freaking out because they felt like they hadn't been updated. When my boss, who hadn't been invited to said meeting, found out - she flipped. I got my ass chewed the day before the meeting and the day of right
before. I thought this was just a, "hey, here's were we stand meeting" but according to the boss, they were going to eat me alive. She went, explained status, allayed everyone's nervousness and kept me from getting torn apart.
She later told me, people at our comapny only ever really remember the bad things you do, that you can do good work for a long time, but if you make one mistake - that's all they remember. I'm sure that's true of a lot of places.
My boss and I are alot alike, we get along really well but lately I feel like I can't get anything right. She yelled at me today because I misspelled a word in an email to someone inside the company! And....the outside design firm used too many colors in one of the pieces of art they sent to us, but I hadn't noticed. So I got yelled at for that. That one I understand, every color you add over 6 to a package design, forces the printing cost to skyrocket. I have a very complicated project going on for all accounts that involves 2 pieces of verbage for each label, not all labels get both. I confused the two labeling issues two time in the past two days, so I got fussed at twice for that.
When I rush, I make mistakes. It's as simple as that. Lately, everything has been a rush. Maybe I wasn't ready to head up a redesign project by myself yet. Well, okay...definitely not ready if my boss had to step in. I can handle all the day to day projects with no problem, but the redesigns have put me over the top.
She's stressed because she has significantly larger redesigns in progress and is having problems with both of them. I don't know if it's just me or I'm just aggrevating the situation and that's pissing her off.
I'm just scared I'm going to get fired. I'm always scared of that, just because I'm afraid that I'm not good enough. But this time, I can't afford to get fired. I need every penny I'm making. We are 2 weeks late with rent, but our land lord is cool. If I lost my job, I couldn't pay rent next month. What the hell!
I'm probably just being a drama queen anyway. When I talked to my boss a few months ago about the possibility of being fired, she said I would be warned if it was going to happen. I know she wouldn't lie. But I have totally lost my confidence in what I'm doing. Now I feel like I have to check everything with her, no matter how minor.
This sucks.
On the upside, the SO's working on his demo reel. He talked to a software dealer this week who said he could probably pick up work going to user's groups meetings and getting to know people. Showing he could at least talk intelligently about the subject would help a lot. He's
been working with 3D art for over 10 years now. He knows what he's doing, that shouldn't be hard.
Monday, September 13, 2004
Shoes.....
Living in Hollywood is bad for my shoe collecting fetish. I love shoes, I wear weird size so I'm sort of obsessed with them.
I can never have too many shoes. No matter if they are well made designer shoes, or Payless crap. I love them all.
There are no less than 20 stores that sell shoes within walking distance of my apartment. The mostly have hooker/stripper heels, but a couple have some really nice, work appropriate shoes. This makes it VERY painful to be broke at the moment. I have found, in my window shopping, oodles of shoes I desparately want.
All the shoes I wear on a regular basis are about to fall apart. The S.O. Does not understand why I need more than 2 pairs, he only has 2 pairs that he wears with any regularity and that suits him just fine. He does not get that having only 2 pairs of shoes will leave me seriously lacking for shoes to go with all my clothes. I mean - I have 1 pair of jeans I can't wear without heels, I need sneakers to wear to gym, dress shoes for work, slip ons to wear walking the dog, flip flops for the beach, and damn....the list won't quit.
Anyone want to donate to the "buy me shoes" fund? Gack!
See you
I can never have too many shoes. No matter if they are well made designer shoes, or Payless crap. I love them all.
There are no less than 20 stores that sell shoes within walking distance of my apartment. The mostly have hooker/stripper heels, but a couple have some really nice, work appropriate shoes. This makes it VERY painful to be broke at the moment. I have found, in my window shopping, oodles of shoes I desparately want.
All the shoes I wear on a regular basis are about to fall apart. The S.O. Does not understand why I need more than 2 pairs, he only has 2 pairs that he wears with any regularity and that suits him just fine. He does not get that having only 2 pairs of shoes will leave me seriously lacking for shoes to go with all my clothes. I mean - I have 1 pair of jeans I can't wear without heels, I need sneakers to wear to gym, dress shoes for work, slip ons to wear walking the dog, flip flops for the beach, and damn....the list won't quit.
Anyone want to donate to the "buy me shoes" fund? Gack!
See you
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
The subway adventure.......
Since the vehicular disaster back in July, I've been taking the train
and the metro buses to work and everywhere out of walking range.
Metro is good.....
It usually runs on time except when things go really wrong....Like the
day someone/thing got squished by a Blue Line train and it took me 3
hours to get home.
People on the train are very nice and friendly - everyone is trying to
get somewhere and it's never a short trip for anyone. My commute to work
is almost exactly 2 hours, doorstep to doorstep. I leave my house @ 5:40
AM and walk into my office at 7:30 or 7:40 depending on how fast my long
legs feel like carrying me.
Metro has done an amazing job zigzagging bus and train routes all across
this huge city so that a person can get practically anywhere anytime. I
take the subway three quarters of the way to my office and take a bus the
last few miles. I can get to just about any beach within reason, in Los
Angeles county on a BUS! How rockin is that?
I'm even writing this entry from the bus!
Okay, here are the down sides:
1. I can't get near my office without going though Compton.
2. They give prisoners, newly released - former menaces to society, bus
tokens to get home with.
3. If an accident happens, like the squishing incident previously
mentioned, you can be guaranteed an extra hour or 2 of standing and
waiting. Those are the times when people are rude and you wonder if you
were transplanted to new York somehow.
4. I spend 4 hours a day with Metro. Can we make a commute longer
please?
5. Men who take to train and bus assume you must be desperate for male
company if you ride the bus so I get hit on constantly. I've found that
wearing reading glasses and giving the "pissed off librarian over the
bifocals" look along with the shortest answer possible shuts them up
quick.
See you!
and the metro buses to work and everywhere out of walking range.
Metro is good.....
It usually runs on time except when things go really wrong....Like the
day someone/thing got squished by a Blue Line train and it took me 3
hours to get home.
People on the train are very nice and friendly - everyone is trying to
get somewhere and it's never a short trip for anyone. My commute to work
is almost exactly 2 hours, doorstep to doorstep. I leave my house @ 5:40
AM and walk into my office at 7:30 or 7:40 depending on how fast my long
legs feel like carrying me.
Metro has done an amazing job zigzagging bus and train routes all across
this huge city so that a person can get practically anywhere anytime. I
take the subway three quarters of the way to my office and take a bus the
last few miles. I can get to just about any beach within reason, in Los
Angeles county on a BUS! How rockin is that?
I'm even writing this entry from the bus!
Okay, here are the down sides:
1. I can't get near my office without going though Compton.
2. They give prisoners, newly released - former menaces to society, bus
tokens to get home with.
3. If an accident happens, like the squishing incident previously
mentioned, you can be guaranteed an extra hour or 2 of standing and
waiting. Those are the times when people are rude and you wonder if you
were transplanted to new York somehow.
4. I spend 4 hours a day with Metro. Can we make a commute longer
please?
5. Men who take to train and bus assume you must be desperate for male
company if you ride the bus so I get hit on constantly. I've found that
wearing reading glasses and giving the "pissed off librarian over the
bifocals" look along with the shortest answer possible shuts them up
quick.
See you!
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Seems like.......
It seems to me that lately when I write here, all I write about is how
things suck. At least my last post was about things suck....
They don't really, but I'm a drama queen.
I haven't written since before my birthday.
I've been to the beach 3 times since then. I love going to the beach. It
makes me feel at peace with the world. The sound of the waves just melts
away all the bad juujuu I've been feeling I have and realize that I
really am in a better place emotionally and physically.
Had we stayed in Austin, I'd be up to my eyeballs in all sorts of shit.
No power, no phone, no place to live and definitely no fun. There were
no jobs in Austin and if I did land one, it probably wouldn't have paid
as well as the one I have now.
I have some how lost my allergy to eggs too. Weirdness. Ordered
eggbeaters instead of scrambled eggs on a dinner at IHoP one morning
when the S.O. & I were splurging - they tasted kinda funny but, not bad
so I said something to the SO about it.....his eggs tasted funny too.
Well we switched the eggs, because, of course - the kitchen or waitress
made a mistake. But I've been able to eat eggs ever since. I assume that
this particular allergy was just a mental thing. I'd been told by my mom
that I was allergic to eggs, so I never ate them and when I did, they
made me nauseous (sp?). It's like my roomie's allergy to cheese. If he
is in a relationship with a woman, he magically becomes lactose
intolerant. He can't eat cheese or drink milk without doubling over in
pain from stomach cramps. It's completely mental, when he's not seeing
anyone - you should see this man's cheese consumption.....it's
stunning.
My birthday was actually pretty goood. People remembered to call me, my
parents, a buddy from Australia. Thank you guys again, by the way.
I ended up having a sort of birthday weekend, it was very very nice.
The Friday before, the S.O. and I went to my new favorite Chinese
restaurant in Chinatown. It's called Big China Tong Sing. They have the
best eggrolls ever.
Saturday, I got a gift certificate in the mail from my parents for
Target. Went and bought a new microwave, a new hair dryer, and the
latest extended version of Underworld, that cool vampire movie. The S.O.
went to help this guy he met do a wireless network install and got paid
a little bit of money, so he bought the 1st DVD of Ghost in the Shell,
Stand Alone Complex - which is really good IMHO.
Sunday we just hung out at the apartment.
Monday, I my boss came back from vacation, frankly the best present I
got. I scheduled a thank you luncheon for our graphics department, so
they all sang happy birthday to me at the end. The rest of the day was
pretty normal.
see you
things suck. At least my last post was about things suck....
They don't really, but I'm a drama queen.
I haven't written since before my birthday.
I've been to the beach 3 times since then. I love going to the beach. It
makes me feel at peace with the world. The sound of the waves just melts
away all the bad juujuu I've been feeling I have and realize that I
really am in a better place emotionally and physically.
Had we stayed in Austin, I'd be up to my eyeballs in all sorts of shit.
No power, no phone, no place to live and definitely no fun. There were
no jobs in Austin and if I did land one, it probably wouldn't have paid
as well as the one I have now.
I have some how lost my allergy to eggs too. Weirdness. Ordered
eggbeaters instead of scrambled eggs on a dinner at IHoP one morning
when the S.O. & I were splurging - they tasted kinda funny but, not bad
so I said something to the SO about it.....his eggs tasted funny too.
Well we switched the eggs, because, of course - the kitchen or waitress
made a mistake. But I've been able to eat eggs ever since. I assume that
this particular allergy was just a mental thing. I'd been told by my mom
that I was allergic to eggs, so I never ate them and when I did, they
made me nauseous (sp?). It's like my roomie's allergy to cheese. If he
is in a relationship with a woman, he magically becomes lactose
intolerant. He can't eat cheese or drink milk without doubling over in
pain from stomach cramps. It's completely mental, when he's not seeing
anyone - you should see this man's cheese consumption.....it's
stunning.
My birthday was actually pretty goood. People remembered to call me, my
parents, a buddy from Australia. Thank you guys again, by the way.
I ended up having a sort of birthday weekend, it was very very nice.
The Friday before, the S.O. and I went to my new favorite Chinese
restaurant in Chinatown. It's called Big China Tong Sing. They have the
best eggrolls ever.
Saturday, I got a gift certificate in the mail from my parents for
Target. Went and bought a new microwave, a new hair dryer, and the
latest extended version of Underworld, that cool vampire movie. The S.O.
went to help this guy he met do a wireless network install and got paid
a little bit of money, so he bought the 1st DVD of Ghost in the Shell,
Stand Alone Complex - which is really good IMHO.
Sunday we just hung out at the apartment.
Monday, I my boss came back from vacation, frankly the best present I
got. I scheduled a thank you luncheon for our graphics department, so
they all sang happy birthday to me at the end. The rest of the day was
pretty normal.
see you
Friday, July 16, 2004
I just had my first really crap day in Los Angeles. And when I say crap, what I really mean is HELL!
My room mate who I car pool to work with decided to stay home today. (Not normally a problem but you will see why later). So, I drove to work this morning. The car was acting up a tiny bit, but that's pretty normal for his car. It's always cranky in some way. I left for work 20 minutes early and got there 20 minutes early. I had a pretty no brainer day, busy but not bad. I finished everything I had to do so I left work at 4:30 instead of 5.
This is where the SUCK begins.
I pull out of the drive way and the car's oil light comes on. This is what proceeded the car leaking oil the last time. I pull over and check the trunk for oil....None to be had. I pull over at the next gas station, they don't take checks - which is all I have.
(Have I told you how hard it is to use a check book for anything but rent here? another story)
I spend 20 minutes on the phone, and on the web browser on my phone, trying to figure out where the closest Wells Fargo is to my current location. The bank is just a few miles away. I follow the directions given by the poor teller I end up talking to at that branch. I make it to the appropriate exit, I turn the wrong way and the car dies. I get directions from the people at the business I end up stalling out in front of and go back to trying to find my bank. I get 2 blocks before the engine clacking makes me nervous and I stop at another gas station. I play distressed maiden, which is not hard to do at this point - I'm worried that my room mate will hate me forever because I killed his car. I beg the guy to take a check and he reluctantly does. I apparently lucked into to talking to the owner of the Phillips76 franchise pit stop.
I start the car after dumping THREE, count them, THREE quarts of oil into it. The oil light goes off and immediately comes back on. I think "well maybe it will just take a minute for it get back to normal." I take off again in search of the bank. No luck after looking for 10 minutes. The car is not sounding any better.
I call the SO. He says either put one more quart of oil in the car or suck it up and come home. Not wanting to spend another hour on the side of the road trying to get a check cashed - I sucked it up and started to head home. I get on the 405 freeway headed toward downtown. I don't get more than a mile because the car won't go over 55 no matter how hard I punch it. I get desperate and roll over to the shoulder just before the Normandie/Gardena exit.
The car is smoking. It will not start.
I call the boy again, wailing at the top of my lungs. I killed the car what do I do? Crying and crying and crying. I am a car weenie. I need help.
Luckily, LA has these handy highway patrol TOW TRUCKS. The tow truck driver was the only bright spot in a totally suckie day. He was courteous and explained to me the ins and outs of abandoning a car in LA, ie: the best place to leave it with the least possible repercussions for my room mate. We ended up leaving it at an Office Depot in Torrance. (Yes, the Normandie/Gardena exit was for the roads not the slums.) This guy was super cool, half Hawaiian, half German - he had a German face and fat guy physique, but was tan and dark haired like a Hawaiian. He had a German accent, he had just moved here 5 years ago to work at Boeing as an aerospace engineer. He got laid off 2 years ago and has been driving a tow truck ever since.
I took a cab home from the Office Depot and my day of suck continued. The cab ride was 60 dollars, not too bad considering I was driven ACROSS the ENTIRE city.
I get home, and bawl some more and eventually laugh as my room mate shrugs off the whole car issue.
I try to go to the bathroom before I walk the dogs and suck episode number 2 rears it's ugly head.
The dog has taken a dump all over my bedroom.
The SO says he'll clean it up, just go ahead and take them for a walk. I take my dog first, since he's gone poo and a very naughty boy who obviously still needs to go. When I get back, The SO annouces that the dog has soiled his old camera bag that I use for carrying stuff when we go exploring in LA. I ask him to rinse it off, so I can at least salvage the REALLY cool Max Headroom patch he attached to it. He throws it in the tub and I go to walk the room mate's dog.
And we pitch head long into suck episode #3 for the day.
I am done walking the second dog, I take this one to the dog park because he gets along well with other dogs and my dog does not. I am gone for about 20 minutes. My dog is barking his head off, I mean barking like he's insane. I let him out of my bedroom to give him dinner (we keep the dogs separated). I go back into my room to go to the bathroom, finally. The bedroom is warm and humid. I'm thinking, "damn, it got hot today this is funky." And I step right into a flooded bathroom. The water flows right up over the top edge of my flip flops and I scream at The SO. At the same time, there is a knock on the front door. It's our downstairs neighbor. Their bathroom is flooded too, and she's spoiling for a fight expecting us to have an S.O.L. attitude about the water pouring from her ceiling. She starts giving The SO hard time and doesn't even notice that he says it's "okay, we'll help clean up - be down in a minute. Let us get some of it mopped up up here so it ill at least slow down in your bathroom." The neighbor has to back up in her little speech and gets a puzzled doggie look on her face.
It took us 2 hours to clean up the mess.
At least it's only one suckie day... and the first one in a long time. The SO says that we used up all our good karma points getting to LA with so little trouble. Anything that was going to wrong was going to be really wrong. Have to build up our good karma again. ^_^
My room mate who I car pool to work with decided to stay home today. (Not normally a problem but you will see why later). So, I drove to work this morning. The car was acting up a tiny bit, but that's pretty normal for his car. It's always cranky in some way. I left for work 20 minutes early and got there 20 minutes early. I had a pretty no brainer day, busy but not bad. I finished everything I had to do so I left work at 4:30 instead of 5.
This is where the SUCK begins.
I pull out of the drive way and the car's oil light comes on. This is what proceeded the car leaking oil the last time. I pull over and check the trunk for oil....None to be had. I pull over at the next gas station, they don't take checks - which is all I have.
(Have I told you how hard it is to use a check book for anything but rent here? another story)
I spend 20 minutes on the phone, and on the web browser on my phone, trying to figure out where the closest Wells Fargo is to my current location. The bank is just a few miles away. I follow the directions given by the poor teller I end up talking to at that branch. I make it to the appropriate exit, I turn the wrong way and the car dies. I get directions from the people at the business I end up stalling out in front of and go back to trying to find my bank. I get 2 blocks before the engine clacking makes me nervous and I stop at another gas station. I play distressed maiden, which is not hard to do at this point - I'm worried that my room mate will hate me forever because I killed his car. I beg the guy to take a check and he reluctantly does. I apparently lucked into to talking to the owner of the Phillips76 franchise pit stop.
I start the car after dumping THREE, count them, THREE quarts of oil into it. The oil light goes off and immediately comes back on. I think "well maybe it will just take a minute for it get back to normal." I take off again in search of the bank. No luck after looking for 10 minutes. The car is not sounding any better.
I call the SO. He says either put one more quart of oil in the car or suck it up and come home. Not wanting to spend another hour on the side of the road trying to get a check cashed - I sucked it up and started to head home. I get on the 405 freeway headed toward downtown. I don't get more than a mile because the car won't go over 55 no matter how hard I punch it. I get desperate and roll over to the shoulder just before the Normandie/Gardena exit.
The car is smoking. It will not start.
I call the boy again, wailing at the top of my lungs. I killed the car what do I do? Crying and crying and crying. I am a car weenie. I need help.
Luckily, LA has these handy highway patrol TOW TRUCKS. The tow truck driver was the only bright spot in a totally suckie day. He was courteous and explained to me the ins and outs of abandoning a car in LA, ie: the best place to leave it with the least possible repercussions for my room mate. We ended up leaving it at an Office Depot in Torrance. (Yes, the Normandie/Gardena exit was for the roads not the slums.) This guy was super cool, half Hawaiian, half German - he had a German face and fat guy physique, but was tan and dark haired like a Hawaiian. He had a German accent, he had just moved here 5 years ago to work at Boeing as an aerospace engineer. He got laid off 2 years ago and has been driving a tow truck ever since.
I took a cab home from the Office Depot and my day of suck continued. The cab ride was 60 dollars, not too bad considering I was driven ACROSS the ENTIRE city.
I get home, and bawl some more and eventually laugh as my room mate shrugs off the whole car issue.
I try to go to the bathroom before I walk the dogs and suck episode number 2 rears it's ugly head.
The dog has taken a dump all over my bedroom.
The SO says he'll clean it up, just go ahead and take them for a walk. I take my dog first, since he's gone poo and a very naughty boy who obviously still needs to go. When I get back, The SO annouces that the dog has soiled his old camera bag that I use for carrying stuff when we go exploring in LA. I ask him to rinse it off, so I can at least salvage the REALLY cool Max Headroom patch he attached to it. He throws it in the tub and I go to walk the room mate's dog.
And we pitch head long into suck episode #3 for the day.
I am done walking the second dog, I take this one to the dog park because he gets along well with other dogs and my dog does not. I am gone for about 20 minutes. My dog is barking his head off, I mean barking like he's insane. I let him out of my bedroom to give him dinner (we keep the dogs separated). I go back into my room to go to the bathroom, finally. The bedroom is warm and humid. I'm thinking, "damn, it got hot today this is funky." And I step right into a flooded bathroom. The water flows right up over the top edge of my flip flops and I scream at The SO. At the same time, there is a knock on the front door. It's our downstairs neighbor. Their bathroom is flooded too, and she's spoiling for a fight expecting us to have an S.O.L. attitude about the water pouring from her ceiling. She starts giving The SO hard time and doesn't even notice that he says it's "okay, we'll help clean up - be down in a minute. Let us get some of it mopped up up here so it ill at least slow down in your bathroom." The neighbor has to back up in her little speech and gets a puzzled doggie look on her face.
It took us 2 hours to clean up the mess.
At least it's only one suckie day... and the first one in a long time. The SO says that we used up all our good karma points getting to LA with so little trouble. Anything that was going to wrong was going to be really wrong. Have to build up our good karma again. ^_^
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Los Angeles is so lush. That's the only way to describe it. Austin is beautiful, but in a the way a tree covered plain is pretty. Austin isn't really a forest covered, it's overgrown scrub. The trees are pleasant to look at but, they don't contribute much but pecans and allergies.
LA is lush in the tropical sense of the word. There are flowers and fruit everywhere. Flowers bloom on every corner and trees pop out of the most bizarre places. The little gravel covered lot a block away from my apartment at Yucca and Las Palmas has passion fruit vines growing on the fence. Passion fruit on a fence, an you believe it? The little hotel right next to the lot has a rose garden and vegetable garden. Our building is surrounded by flowering bushes and orange trees. Everyone I know who owns a house has some sort of fruit tree in their yard, lemons, avacados, oranges. It amazes me.
And the palm trees.....every street has them it seems. LA is an oasis, an oasis created by man rather than by nature. This area was desert waste until us humans decided it would be cool place to live. The weather gods still think it's a desert. It almost never rains any substantial amount. The first week I was here, it rained the most it had rained all year. It rained two times in one week, like a monsoon on both occasions. Remember the national gegraphic specials about the desert in Africa (not the Sahara) that floods into a huge lake every year during the rainy season - which is like a whole day? That's how the weather is here.
LA is lush in the tropical sense of the word. There are flowers and fruit everywhere. Flowers bloom on every corner and trees pop out of the most bizarre places. The little gravel covered lot a block away from my apartment at Yucca and Las Palmas has passion fruit vines growing on the fence. Passion fruit on a fence, an you believe it? The little hotel right next to the lot has a rose garden and vegetable garden. Our building is surrounded by flowering bushes and orange trees. Everyone I know who owns a house has some sort of fruit tree in their yard, lemons, avacados, oranges. It amazes me.
And the palm trees.....every street has them it seems. LA is an oasis, an oasis created by man rather than by nature. This area was desert waste until us humans decided it would be cool place to live. The weather gods still think it's a desert. It almost never rains any substantial amount. The first week I was here, it rained the most it had rained all year. It rained two times in one week, like a monsoon on both occasions. Remember the national gegraphic specials about the desert in Africa (not the Sahara) that floods into a huge lake every year during the rainy season - which is like a whole day? That's how the weather is here.
Monday, July 05, 2004
I live in an apartment building at the bottom of the Hollywood Hills, a few blocks from the Hollywood Bowl. Our neighbor across the hall, who we're sort becoming friends with, threw a party that lasted all day. When the sun went down, we all headed up to the roof of the building to check out the displays. We could see the fireworks from all the surrounding little cities on the way down to the coast. It was amazing! It was like a show across southern Cali just for us. The Hollywood bowl had a fireworks display, and it was neat to get to watch it closely, but it didn't last for very long.
I ca't tell you how special I thought it was to see s many people celebrating our country at the same time. There were literally millions of people staring at the sky at the same, and I was able to see most of what everyone else saw. It was beauiful!!!!!!!!
I ca't tell you how special I thought it was to see s many people celebrating our country at the same time. There were literally millions of people staring at the sky at the same, and I was able to see most of what everyone else saw. It was beauiful!!!!!!!!
Friday, June 04, 2004
Oh, and my job is awesome. I work at a vitamin company in Carson s a marketing assistant in Packaging development.
My boss loves me. We get along so well, that it's kinda weird. She had 3 assistant before me, two of which couldn't handle her "take no shit" attitude. The guy before me just flat out quit because he "couldn't take it anymore." I find that funny, because she's actually one of the best bosses I've ever had. She has more confidence in me than I do myself.
My boss is going on vacation at the end of the month and won't be back until almost the end of July. I'm so glad she trusts me with all the responsibility. We have 12 accounts redesigning their packaging. I'm nervous, but I know I can handle it. I moved all the way across country with nothing but hope, I'm sure this won't be as hard as the move.
I just got a raise too!!!!!!!! That's how good a job she thinks I'm doing. I was going to ask for a raise after she came back from vacation, but now I don't have to. She really wants to make sure that I stay with the company and don't run off for a better paying job. She had such a hard time finding me she doesn't want to look again!
I hate to admit it, but I'm fucking off this afternoon. She left to get her son ready for his prom.
My boss loves me. We get along so well, that it's kinda weird. She had 3 assistant before me, two of which couldn't handle her "take no shit" attitude. The guy before me just flat out quit because he "couldn't take it anymore." I find that funny, because she's actually one of the best bosses I've ever had. She has more confidence in me than I do myself.
My boss is going on vacation at the end of the month and won't be back until almost the end of July. I'm so glad she trusts me with all the responsibility. We have 12 accounts redesigning their packaging. I'm nervous, but I know I can handle it. I moved all the way across country with nothing but hope, I'm sure this won't be as hard as the move.
I just got a raise too!!!!!!!! That's how good a job she thinks I'm doing. I was going to ask for a raise after she came back from vacation, but now I don't have to. She really wants to make sure that I stay with the company and don't run off for a better paying job. She had such a hard time finding me she doesn't want to look again!
I hate to admit it, but I'm fucking off this afternoon. She left to get her son ready for his prom.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Well, it's been along time since I wrote anything, so here goes.
Californian girls just have a totally different way of looking at style than I'm used to. Girls here don't show their ears and it seems to be a requirement that at least a portion of your forehead be covered. If the clothes cover more than a bikini than they are okay to wear anywhere. I have to admit that miniskirts are giving me kind of a fright. I have a couple but they seem SOOOO short compared to what I've been wearing. I guess I'm just acting like an old lady.
The only place, it seems, that ponytails are okay is at the gym. My scrunchies have been seized by the SO except for use at the gym. Going to the gym is hard to get used to, as well. People there are not interested in looking at other people - they are staring at themselves to make sure that they do their exercises correctly. I never knew that until I had my free session with a personal trainer at the gym. I just assumed they were all asking for other people to pay attention and were narcissistic freaks. I'm trying to be serious about getting in shape. I have to admit that it feels good to see muscles popping up where there were none before, but DAMN I'm sore all the time.
I have a great job right now, but I just had 2, count 'em - 2, different companies soliciting my resume. One for a job at DISNEY!!!! yippee - praying I get an interview and the job.
I'm getting my hair cut on Saturday. Some salon needed hair models for training and I volunteered. I've been growing my hair out for almost a year - I was not looking forward to the salon bill to get it done. Who can turn down a free hair cut? Not Me!! Now I just need to get it highlighted after that. I am a complete hair 'tard so the stylist is going to love me!
God I love this state!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There are purple trees blooming along all the street. And when I day purple, I mean purple. They have all these flowers all over them so they look like giant purple flowers instead of like a tree. The ground underneath them is covered in flowers as well, so you feel like you walked into some girlie anime scene. I love it !! They make me smile everytime I see one.
I need to find a cheap place to shop. I need new clothes. I need new make up and I need t figure out what to do with my eyebrows - they are way too big for LA. Anyone know a personal style consultant who needs practice and wants to try me?
smooches
Californian girls just have a totally different way of looking at style than I'm used to. Girls here don't show their ears and it seems to be a requirement that at least a portion of your forehead be covered. If the clothes cover more than a bikini than they are okay to wear anywhere. I have to admit that miniskirts are giving me kind of a fright. I have a couple but they seem SOOOO short compared to what I've been wearing. I guess I'm just acting like an old lady.
The only place, it seems, that ponytails are okay is at the gym. My scrunchies have been seized by the SO except for use at the gym. Going to the gym is hard to get used to, as well. People there are not interested in looking at other people - they are staring at themselves to make sure that they do their exercises correctly. I never knew that until I had my free session with a personal trainer at the gym. I just assumed they were all asking for other people to pay attention and were narcissistic freaks. I'm trying to be serious about getting in shape. I have to admit that it feels good to see muscles popping up where there were none before, but DAMN I'm sore all the time.
I have a great job right now, but I just had 2, count 'em - 2, different companies soliciting my resume. One for a job at DISNEY!!!! yippee - praying I get an interview and the job.
I'm getting my hair cut on Saturday. Some salon needed hair models for training and I volunteered. I've been growing my hair out for almost a year - I was not looking forward to the salon bill to get it done. Who can turn down a free hair cut? Not Me!! Now I just need to get it highlighted after that. I am a complete hair 'tard so the stylist is going to love me!
God I love this state!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There are purple trees blooming along all the street. And when I day purple, I mean purple. They have all these flowers all over them so they look like giant purple flowers instead of like a tree. The ground underneath them is covered in flowers as well, so you feel like you walked into some girlie anime scene. I love it !! They make me smile everytime I see one.
I need to find a cheap place to shop. I need new clothes. I need new make up and I need t figure out what to do with my eyebrows - they are way too big for LA. Anyone know a personal style consultant who needs practice and wants to try me?
smooches
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
I have always been one of those people who is always cold. Don't know why...
In Texas Air Conditioning was practically the bane of my existence. It didn't seem to matter what the temperature outside was, the air conditioning was always too cold. Here in California, it's exact the opposite. I would swear that people here don't believe in using the AC at all. I understand that it's not as hot, but it still gets over 80 - which is my high temp tolerance.
Still no AC.
I started working this last week at a company in Carson. They have AC, but it doesn't really get cooler inside than it does outside. In Texas, people would keep their air conditioning running at 75 degrees, which in the summer could be as much as 35 degrees below what the outside temperature was. That's what I'm accustom to. Here, some buildings seem to be lucky to have AC.
I feel like my internal thermostat is broken.
In Texas Air Conditioning was practically the bane of my existence. It didn't seem to matter what the temperature outside was, the air conditioning was always too cold. Here in California, it's exact the opposite. I would swear that people here don't believe in using the AC at all. I understand that it's not as hot, but it still gets over 80 - which is my high temp tolerance.
Still no AC.
I started working this last week at a company in Carson. They have AC, but it doesn't really get cooler inside than it does outside. In Texas, people would keep their air conditioning running at 75 degrees, which in the summer could be as much as 35 degrees below what the outside temperature was. That's what I'm accustom to. Here, some buildings seem to be lucky to have AC.
I feel like my internal thermostat is broken.
Monday, March 29, 2004
Some people are really shitty. I just have to say that, sorry.
When we got into LA, our room mate called some people who lived here that we all knew from Austin. All of whom said that they would help us out when we got here. No one did. We spent our first week in that hotel in Torrance, running to interviews, looking for an apartment, and chilling out as much as we could while we watched our money dribble away on the room.
I think that 3 people and 2 huge dogs were too much for people to handle. Still, they should not have offered if they didn't intend to help. One couple did offer us a couch for a night, BUT that night they were having a party for a bunch of swingers. (If you are not familiar with this, it's exchanging sex partners temporarily) . My SO and I are not into that so we were left to sleep in the car for a night before we got our apartment. Our roomie had a place to sleep, since the couple are really his friends and didn't mind getting groped by strangers.
The apartment locater we found was the most helpful person in finding a place to live. I know, "duh." However, the way apartment locators work in California is totally different than in Texas. In Texas, the locater gets a kick back from the apartment complex, so it's all free. The locater drives you around, asks all the hard questions you forget to ask, tells you which apartments are most likely to rent to you. Here in California, however, the apartment locators charge you for providing access to their database, then you do all the driving and calling. I LOVE the locater we found. Imagine Harvey Firestone as your locater - it was worth the $150 just to be entertained by him. He asked us what we were looking for, what we had that might disqualify us for any apartments, and what the price range was. He told us EXACTLY what to say to the apartment managers that would make us sound like more desirable tenants, how to talk about our dogs in a way that would make the apartment managers more comfortable, and told us what neighborhoods were safe for us to live in. He literally told us he was searching for apartments in areas "where a pretty girl could walk around buck naked at 2 AM and not have to worry."
We went to one service that we paid them their money and they sat us in front of a computer and said "there you go." Crappy service, if I ever saw it. The only listing they had were in not so nice neighborhoods. The listings weren't in Compton or Watts, but still not safe at all.
When we got into LA, our room mate called some people who lived here that we all knew from Austin. All of whom said that they would help us out when we got here. No one did. We spent our first week in that hotel in Torrance, running to interviews, looking for an apartment, and chilling out as much as we could while we watched our money dribble away on the room.
I think that 3 people and 2 huge dogs were too much for people to handle. Still, they should not have offered if they didn't intend to help. One couple did offer us a couch for a night, BUT that night they were having a party for a bunch of swingers. (If you are not familiar with this, it's exchanging sex partners temporarily) . My SO and I are not into that so we were left to sleep in the car for a night before we got our apartment. Our roomie had a place to sleep, since the couple are really his friends and didn't mind getting groped by strangers.
The apartment locater we found was the most helpful person in finding a place to live. I know, "duh." However, the way apartment locators work in California is totally different than in Texas. In Texas, the locater gets a kick back from the apartment complex, so it's all free. The locater drives you around, asks all the hard questions you forget to ask, tells you which apartments are most likely to rent to you. Here in California, however, the apartment locators charge you for providing access to their database, then you do all the driving and calling. I LOVE the locater we found. Imagine Harvey Firestone as your locater - it was worth the $150 just to be entertained by him. He asked us what we were looking for, what we had that might disqualify us for any apartments, and what the price range was. He told us EXACTLY what to say to the apartment managers that would make us sound like more desirable tenants, how to talk about our dogs in a way that would make the apartment managers more comfortable, and told us what neighborhoods were safe for us to live in. He literally told us he was searching for apartments in areas "where a pretty girl could walk around buck naked at 2 AM and not have to worry."
We went to one service that we paid them their money and they sat us in front of a computer and said "there you go." Crappy service, if I ever saw it. The only listing they had were in not so nice neighborhoods. The listings weren't in Compton or Watts, but still not safe at all.
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Here is my first mind bender about California:
What is up with the "pay" toilets? Literally locked public restrooms that you have to pay to get into!!! This is such a bizarre concept to me. Why do businesses to this? I understand the "for customers only" idea, but PAY TOILETS????????? Hello! I'm leaving your store if I'm shopping and can't go if I need to.
What is up with the "pay" toilets? Literally locked public restrooms that you have to pay to get into!!! This is such a bizarre concept to me. Why do businesses to this? I understand the "for customers only" idea, but PAY TOILETS????????? Hello! I'm leaving your store if I'm shopping and can't go if I need to.
The journey across the country was amazing and mind bending. I drove part of the way to California. I had never been in a car for that long or driven that far before.
We left at 4 o'clock in the morning on a Saturday and drove until we thought we were going to pass out. We stopped at a trucker hotel on I-10, about 2 hours out on the big highway. I'm glad we did I wanted to be awake when left Texas. I stared out the window at the state I had always lived in and said goodbye to the scenery for hours as we drove. I fell in love with the windmill farms on the way out of the state. They were so strange, like giant alien plants taking root in my backyard. The sun was setting as we drove past them all and framed the windmills in a purple glow. How was I to know one the most beautiful and alien things I had seen would be on the way out? I need to find some here in my new state so I can go stare at them for hours and contemplate how very, very small I am and how magnificent us humans are for making something so grand.
I cried silently to myself when we finally arrived in el Paso. I knew it was the turning point. I knew that if I made it out of Texas and didn't turn back, that I could make the rest of the trip. I should have done this years ago. I feel so brave after just a 2 day car trip.
I'm sad I missed most of Arizona. I drove almost all the way through, but mostly at night. The SO couldn't drive through the state because he has a VERY old ticket there and a failure to appear warrant. He got the ticket on his last trip driving through almost 10 years ago and none of us wanted to take the chance of him being hauled off the jail.
The worst part of the entire trip was actually coming into California. We stopped in a tiny town in Arizona, right near the border, to let the dogs walk and switch drivers. The city was Quartzville and it was weird....An entire town of mobile homes. As we started climbing the hills and head into California, it started to rain. This was the worst rain shower so far this year. It poured on us all the way to Los Angeles. The SO always visits the ocean when coming to California, before doing anything else. So, we drove down Santa Monica to PHC (in a tiny Mazda and a 26 foot UHaul) and found all the beach entrances closed. All of us were disappointed, so we decided to go find a place to stop and sleep. We went all the way to Torrance before we found a hotel that had a parking lot we could park the truck in.
We left at 4 o'clock in the morning on a Saturday and drove until we thought we were going to pass out. We stopped at a trucker hotel on I-10, about 2 hours out on the big highway. I'm glad we did I wanted to be awake when left Texas. I stared out the window at the state I had always lived in and said goodbye to the scenery for hours as we drove. I fell in love with the windmill farms on the way out of the state. They were so strange, like giant alien plants taking root in my backyard. The sun was setting as we drove past them all and framed the windmills in a purple glow. How was I to know one the most beautiful and alien things I had seen would be on the way out? I need to find some here in my new state so I can go stare at them for hours and contemplate how very, very small I am and how magnificent us humans are for making something so grand.
I cried silently to myself when we finally arrived in el Paso. I knew it was the turning point. I knew that if I made it out of Texas and didn't turn back, that I could make the rest of the trip. I should have done this years ago. I feel so brave after just a 2 day car trip.
I'm sad I missed most of Arizona. I drove almost all the way through, but mostly at night. The SO couldn't drive through the state because he has a VERY old ticket there and a failure to appear warrant. He got the ticket on his last trip driving through almost 10 years ago and none of us wanted to take the chance of him being hauled off the jail.
The worst part of the entire trip was actually coming into California. We stopped in a tiny town in Arizona, right near the border, to let the dogs walk and switch drivers. The city was Quartzville and it was weird....An entire town of mobile homes. As we started climbing the hills and head into California, it started to rain. This was the worst rain shower so far this year. It poured on us all the way to Los Angeles. The SO always visits the ocean when coming to California, before doing anything else. So, we drove down Santa Monica to PHC (in a tiny Mazda and a 26 foot UHaul) and found all the beach entrances closed. All of us were disappointed, so we decided to go find a place to stop and sleep. We went all the way to Torrance before we found a hotel that had a parking lot we could park the truck in.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
I moved to Los Angeles not quite a month ago. This is how it happened.
As trite as it sounds......It all began when we went to look for a new place to live.
The apartment locator, who 5 years before was friendly and very helpful, was insulting today. We gave them the amount we wanted to spend and what we wanted in a place to live. They scoffed at what we wanted to spend, almost laughed when we told them we had, not only one dog but, two. The options they gave us were in a REALLY shitty and not so safe part of town.
That was the last straw....My Significant Other (SO for short) suggested to myself and our room-mate that we pack our crap, rent a U-Haul, and move to LA. The Roomie LITERALLY fliped a coin. Heads we moved, tails we stayed. It was heads.
It's something that the SO and I have wanted to do for years, but we never had the money before but managed to swing it. We borrowed, sold stuff, and what not to get the money to go. We're here - we have a beautiful apartment in Hollywood that doesn't care what kind of pet we have and our rent is cheaper.
smooches!
As trite as it sounds......It all began when we went to look for a new place to live.
The apartment locator, who 5 years before was friendly and very helpful, was insulting today. We gave them the amount we wanted to spend and what we wanted in a place to live. They scoffed at what we wanted to spend, almost laughed when we told them we had, not only one dog but, two. The options they gave us were in a REALLY shitty and not so safe part of town.
That was the last straw....My Significant Other (SO for short) suggested to myself and our room-mate that we pack our crap, rent a U-Haul, and move to LA. The Roomie LITERALLY fliped a coin. Heads we moved, tails we stayed. It was heads.
It's something that the SO and I have wanted to do for years, but we never had the money before but managed to swing it. We borrowed, sold stuff, and what not to get the money to go. We're here - we have a beautiful apartment in Hollywood that doesn't care what kind of pet we have and our rent is cheaper.
smooches!
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