I'm in Southern California. Sheesh. Land of the fruits, nuts and flakes.
Last night at Denny's, I almost got sick to my stomach because of the two biker dudes at the booth in front of mine, one with a mustache, the other with a beard, in their sleeveless leather vests, kissing each other on the lips and tickling each other's hairy armpits. But hey, this is Los Angeles. They're home. I'm the visitor here.
On the way out here, I learned that, much to my surprise, there is something worse than a screaming baby being in the seat in front of me on the airplane for a three hour flight: a screaming baby with a stinky, smelly diaper being in the seat in front of me on the airplane for a three hour flight.
Several of us mentioned to the mom that the baby really needed changing (one lady also mentioned that the diaper could use changing, too), but the mom was totally impervious, and simply replied, "Yeah, I guess so," but did nothing about it. Three hours. Three full hours. As unhappy as that baby was, there wasn't a passenger within smelling distance that wasn't unhappier. Guess who was the unhappiest of all? ... Riiiiight.
I also learned that the noise-cancelling headphones Dubby got me actually do reduce about 20% of the plane's noise, but do nothing to reduce the screaming of a baby. And I can actually eat parmesan cheese spread on a cracker after having sat behind that baby for the first two hours.
I saw my first MacDonalds with burglar bars on it. In fact, I drove a nice 20 mile circuit through Garden Grove, Anaheim, Westminster, Little Saigon, Long Beach, and a couple of other suburbs of Los Angeles last night, and EVERYTHING had burglar bars on it: the Starbucks, the Payless Shoe store, the Wendys, the 7-11's, the Exxon, the Wal-Mart -- even the movie theatre! Get this: even the police precinct house had burglar bars on it!
I take it back. There was one thing that didn't have burglar bars on it: the bank. That's right, the Bank of America didn't have burglar bars on it: it had a set of solid steel doors that were closed and bolted.
The TownePlace suites is gated: you drive up and speak to the attendant through the speaker and give him your name, and if you have a reservation, the gate opens and you can drive in.
This morning, I got up and went to the LDS chapel, (yes, burglar bars on it!) but when I got there, there was a sign on the door that said all services were cancelled due to Stake Conference. No indication of where the stake center is, so I just came on over to the accounting conference.
On the way, I drove by Rev. Schuller's Crystal Cathdral. It's impressive, especially the stainless steel spire which is at least 200 feet tall I'd guess. I could hear the organ playing inside. They have continuous services all day Sunday, but each service is directed towards one "ministry". At the time I was there, it was the "Arabic ministry". The parking lot was full, I had to park four blocks away and walk back to get the picture.
The Crystal Cathedral doesn't have burglar bars, but it and its parking lot and grounds are surrounded by a 10-foot high fence bordered on both sides by sticky cactus-type bushes, steel gates (open in the picture above) and a batalion of armed security guards all packing heat.
I saw my first MacDonalds with burglar bars on it. In fact, I drove a nice 20 mile circuit through Garden Grove, Anaheim, Westminster, Little Saigon, Long Beach, and a couple of other suburbs of Los Angeles last night, and EVERYTHING had burglar bars on it: the Starbucks, the Payless Shoe store, the Wendys, the 7-11's, the Exxon, the Wal-Mart -- even the movie theatre! Get this: even the police precinct house had burglar bars on it!
I take it back. There was one thing that didn't have burglar bars on it: the bank. That's right, the Bank of America didn't have burglar bars on it: it had a set of solid steel doors that were closed and bolted.
The TownePlace suites is gated: you drive up and speak to the attendant through the speaker and give him your name, and if you have a reservation, the gate opens and you can drive in.
This morning, I got up and went to the LDS chapel, (yes, burglar bars on it!) but when I got there, there was a sign on the door that said all services were cancelled due to Stake Conference. No indication of where the stake center is, so I just came on over to the accounting conference.
On the way, I drove by Rev. Schuller's Crystal Cathdral. It's impressive, especially the stainless steel spire which is at least 200 feet tall I'd guess. I could hear the organ playing inside. They have continuous services all day Sunday, but each service is directed towards one "ministry". At the time I was there, it was the "Arabic ministry". The parking lot was full, I had to park four blocks away and walk back to get the picture.
The Crystal Cathedral doesn't have burglar bars, but it and its parking lot and grounds are surrounded by a 10-foot high fence bordered on both sides by sticky cactus-type bushes, steel gates (open in the picture above) and a batalion of armed security guards all packing heat.
4 comments:
Sounds like you are having a blast!
Is that a Shuttle America Embraer 170? Probably United express out of Dulles
Sgaterboy earns a star. Yes, to both assumptions. Dulles to Austin, United Express, Embraer 170. As a Premier Mileage Plus member, I was upgraded to first class, seat 2F. That's why I was so far forward. Unfortunately, the enjoyment of the upgrade was somewhat attenuated by the baby in seat 1F. But based on the sound, there were more babies back in the economy cabin. But their mommies may have had extra diapers, who knows...
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