My jet-setting travel week
The flight to L.A., while not my first time in First Class, definitely hit the spot (particularly in comparison to my flight back). Extra wide seats, nice meal, and only one person to bother me. :) I got pretty far in Dave’s book The Remembrance (I KNOW! I should have finished it long ago).
They gave me a Mazda 6 at the car rental place, which I was excited about until I discovered it corners like a school bus. Hey – it was free.
The hotel recommended to me turned out to be the Portofino Hotel and Yacht club – directly on the ocean. I had a great view out on the marina, and nothing to do that day but relax and enjoy myself.
The guy up front looked like a very young Cillian Murphy, and had an extremely expensive watch on. It amused me to think of what his family history must be like, to find himself somewhat-incompetently working the front desk of this swank hotel.
Everything seemed fascinating to me, under the sea wall, so I took too many photos. I went to Joe’s Crab shack afterward (also on the Sea Wall), and had some fun conversation with the waitress (I love cool waitresses) before heading back to jump in the pool.
The pool was heated, which was good before sunset, and became AWESOME afterward, as this very cold, strong breeze came in off the water. I made friends with Peter and his (busty) wife – he was a medic in the film industry for 18 years, and regaled me with stories while we floated about.
The Difficulty in Waking Up In Another Timecode is that I have multiple time-pieces, and some of them automatically adjust (say, my phone) and some do not (my laptop). I was a bit groggy, and every ten minutes or so I’d see the time on my laptop and go “Shit! I’m late!” and stumble for a second before going “oh yeah – it’s not 10 am, it’s 7 am.” *headdesk*
I tend to take the small free bottles of hygiene supplies in the bathroom, both for travel and so I have shampoo at home for those who have, y’know… hair on their heads. Anyway, I had a bottle of mouthwash in my bag, and at first I thought it had leaked, because it was only 2/3 full. Then I saw that the adhesive tape (I’d never used it) was clearly sliced. So apparently the TSA had nothing better to do than drink my mouthwash. I hope they’re satisfied!
It was a super-awesome-cool shower; seriously. Between the rounded shower curtain rod and the watering-can head on flexible metal rods and the ceiling height, I wish I could just take it with me.
Okay, back to my trip. :D Still with me?
Thursday evening, I didn’t end up going to the Jazz Kitchen like I’d thought, but Woody took off after work and met me in Redondo! I hadn’t seen Woody in years, so it was pretty exciting to catch up – we went to Fatburger and he did a truly excellent drawing in my Big Black Book. We ended up chatting about technology, politics, and the future until two in the morning.
… which meant that my breakfast with HHM at 6:30 am came awfully early. No matter, it was a delicious omelette on the pier, her treat, so I can’t complain :) I hadn’t met Michelle before, just chatted online with the rest of our beekeeper posse, so it was great to put a face with a name. :)
The rest of my trip involved racing to the car rental and airport (I arrived just as they were boarding), being taken straight to the Rehearsal in Cleveland by Lucy’s parents, a weird mixed-up rehearsal dinner, and finding myself videotaping the wedding rather spontaneously.
I loved walking out onto the golf course at sunset with my sweetheart, and we danced awhile before spending the evening with her parents. We woke up at 6:30 so she could get me home on time to make it to the camp so she could greet the first batch of girl scouts at 1pm.
I’ve done more traveling in a week before, but I felt pretty disoriented by the time I got home. And yet, I entertained my mom and visiting aunt immediatly after, and found myself at Tammy’s anniversary picnic with Anne (at least she drove!)
*shakes head* I feel my icon quite strongly on days like these.
Tomorrow I’ll be working from home, and I’m so happy about that. I need a chilling day, here at the house.
I always reset the time on my wristwatch when I travel. I’m extremely dependant on trusting it to tell me exactly what time it is.
Sounds like an adventure, alright!