Monday? Then this must be San Diego
I made notes on my palm m100 while I was in the US last week, these are those notes.
Thursday 4 March
While waiting at the gate for my plane I had a girl from Surrey offer to buy my "WOOF!" cap. I would have given it to a cute guy.Less than an hour on the plane and it's shaking quite a bit. At least I'm not flying Air New Zealand via Fiji, that flight was delayed 7 hours when I departed.
The disadvantage in flying Qantas is they serve Aussie beer!
I'm surprised the airline would show Love Actually on a plane going to the US.
Later: the bumpiness is getting worse. It's difficult to write this. I'd rather the difficulty was caused by the hot Texan (hat, belt buckle) a few rows in front of me. Nice butt in those Wrangler's. Nice bespectacled face, nice body, what a waist! Gold ring on his wedding finger, what a waste.
Still later: the young couple next to me were away from their seats for a long time. There was no queues. Perhaps they were just stretching.
Nearly in LA: the bumpiness of the flight subsided until now.
Why do aircraft have ashtrays in the toilets, and illuminated no smoking signs? Are there any airlines that still permit smoking?
There was no male air stewards in my section :-( As I was debarking my cap generated a nice reaction by a stewardess.
The disadvantage of being seated at the back of the plane is having to wait after the other passengers at immigration and customs. This was followed by a mad dash to security then to the far end of the terminal to get on a bus crossing the runway to get to my gate. This was the first time I have been paged for a flight. All my fellow passengers were settled. LAX is not a fun airport. At least my bag was able to be checked in easily, just past immigration.
Mark picked me up from the commuter terminal. After a quick trip to his place I was enjoying a nice shower after too many hours of travelling.
Mark dropped me off at Latitude 32, a bar (no website Willy?) where I surprised Karen, my future sister-in-law. She saw me out the window and thought "That guy looks a lot like Brian, so much he could be his brother" and thought no more of it until I was standing a couple of metres from her. That's what I get for doing things on the spur of the moment.
Friday 5 March
Had a really good sleep in this morning. I woke briefly at 7:30 then slept until 10:30. I have no excuse for jet lag. Rang Jon and had a good chat. With my visit being so brief he's willing to forgo the gym one day so we can meet up. Give up the Gym? I'm touched.Walked down to Pacific Beach and had a burrito for lunch. There's a place that makes really good ones, can't recall the name, just that it's on Grand.
There's something to be said when looking for a coffee place and your eyes light up to see Starbucks. To know that coffee isn't an extra and that they can make a consistent brew. There's two people sitting inside tapping away on their laptops. It's nice they are allowed to plug into the mains power. There's also a girl working on a folder of papers, and me scribing into me palm pilot. It brings to mind eighteenth century poets in coffee shops, and the coffeehouses I found in Dublin in April of 1990.
Memo to self: The "WOOF!" cap is to be worn in straight areas. A cap highlighting New Zealand would be more effective in getting attention in gay areas. Having something that says "Tourist" can be good a times. (How can I do something that says "Cute Tourist"?)
Bought a couple of books from Obelisk. I like that shop. With the US dollar so weak right now they were so much cheaper than I can buy at home.
The guy sitting opposite me on the trolley appreciated my cap. Pity I was only going one stop and not all the way.
Saturday 6 March
On the way to Las Vegas. The snow capped San Bernardino mountains floating above the haze/smog look surreal.Went to Buffalo tonight. It's the place where I won $US50 and a t-shirt last June in a hairy chest contest. As there was only five contestants the odds were in my favour. Pretty good result for someone who went to Vegas without gambling. I met Curtis who introduced me to the group he was with. Alas Vince wasn't interested in me, then I discovered cute Phil is Vince's husband. Also met Don and Aaron, friends from LA/Long Beach area in Vegas for Nascar.
Sunday 7 March
Watched my brother get married. He was pleased that I was able to make it there. Hey, he's my brother, what else was I going to do? Afterwards the group of us ate at Del Frisco's. The food was amazing.On the way back from the restaurant the guys were in a taxi driven by Tasha. She was great, best taxi driver I've met.
Buffalo was quiet so I checked out Gipsy over the road. It was humming. Wisconsin sweater boy was cute, but alas he appears to be a rice queen. The bus boy was hot, shirtless with a variety of tattoos, and a nice sprinkling of hair on his chest. Chicago boy was hot too. He was dancing on the stage and picked an ice cube out of his drink and threw it at me. Alas he throws like a gayboy and meant to get someone else's attention.
Monday 8 March
LAS is efficient. Grabbed my electronic boarding pass and went through security fast. I had to go through the foreign nationals queue which was a lot faster as there was a lot less of us. The flight back to San Diego was so much better than the drive I did with my brother last year.We were back in time to see Mark and his dog Hogan on TV.
I had a nap in the afternoon. I must be getting old. In the past I could get in at seven in the morning and after a couple of hours sleep I could face the day fine.
Tuesday 9 March
My calf muscles are sore so I decided to walk down the hill to stretch them instead of accepting a ride down. It's nearly noon and I am just sipping my breakfast coffee at Zanzibar Coffee Bar on Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach. There is a lot of art on the wall and I like several by Vanessa (can anyone find me a link?), especially the redhead in theater face paint (fr?); and moonlit lady holding an apple. Unfortunately no paintings of men though. Nice ambient music too.This is a good place for cyclists. Pity too many think they are safer on the sidewalk than on the road. Going by the one who nearly hit me while his attention was across the street maybe they are safer; pedestrians can jump out of the way faster.
Aargh! I just had a woman sit at the bus stop beside me and ask me if she could give me something about the bible to read (Watchtower). Now why would she think someone playing with his phone would want to do that?
While I was writing the above entry a nicely dressed pan-handler asked for fifty cents. The land of the free huh? I don't see the like back home. Buskers would be the closest. I really appreciated the buskers in the London Underground when I did me OE years ago. Some days I just hated the crowds, felt claustrophobic. The buskers music 'would soothe me.
I like PB. The weather is nice and there's quite a few shirtless hunks walking about, even in March (early spring). I do recall even more in summer.
Did a bit of shopping. It's so tempting with the US dollar so weak. A pair of 501s for half the price I'd pay at home, books for 60%.
Wednesday 10 March
This place is so cash based. I'm not used to carrying more than $NZ20 but here I need cash for tips.Jon picked me up in his bright yellow truck. We ate lunch at Pacific Beach Bar and Grill. He had a few errands to do in North Park so dropped me off in Hillcrest. I was going to wander around, window shopping. I saw the Brass Rail and called in for a drink. Scott is an excellent barman and I stayed for an enjoyable afternoon. Jon picked me up from there and we went to Brians' American Eatery, a diner near Hillcrest, for dinner.
Back in PB after a nice relaxing day.
Thursday 11 March
I'm currently watching a train go past. I saw a pedestrian quickly across the tracks and figured I wasn't in that much of a hurry. I failed to consider how long the freight train and how much time it might take to pass by."Do you know if The Last Samurai came out on video?" That's the question I was asked in the restroom of Nordstrom in Horton Plaza. Is that a new code?
Friday 12 March
Just killing time at the airport. I think someone has quite a bit of cheek to be collecting donations for US homeless in this terminal. I'm in the international terminal and he's hoping to get money from foreigners for the people who have fallen through the cracks in US society. Through taxes at home I've paid for those in my society, where everyone can be housed. I am aware that it isn't just foreigners departing from here, and that a few of the travellers could be Americans who give change to pan-handlers, but society would be better if those people found a more effective way to salve their consciences.Five bucks for a beer?! Outrageous, unless the workers here a paid a living wage instead of minimum wage. I was talking to a barman a few days ago (I have no idea how many bars I've been in recently). He said a lot of patrons are abusing the tipping system. He is taxed on, if I recall correctly, 8% of the till takings.
I take back what I said about the nightmare of LAX security. There was two lines of security; one busy, with X-ray machine; and one empty, with no scanner. I asked the lady at the empty one what the difference was. She explained how the other was for checked bags, and as I had my boarding pass I could just go forward. When I got around the corner I found the scanners I had been expecting. My wait would have been under ten seconds.
I've just finished the book I brought with me. (I do have another.) It was Startide Rising, by David Brin. I wish I'd read it sooner. It's good.
Having said nice things about security I should say that the PA has advises passengers on another flight to go through security as the lines are long.
Oh No! I'm on the plane now and there is a baby in the row in front of me. It's in a seat like a baby-seat in a car. The seat in front of it is prevented from reclining. This does not prevent the mother and grandmother from putting her's all the way back. Another person for inconsideratebastards.com.
I picked up a copy of the premiere issue of Cargo "The New Buyers Guide For Men". I like this magazine. I hope it gets an international distribution.
Saturday 13 March
Saturday? Not for me, I'm crossing over the dateline during nighttime.Sunday 14 March
I followed Karla's suggestion and awoke early yesterday (Friday). I was sleepy enough to doze through two films I wanted to see. I was awake to watch one properly; School of Rock, starring Jack Black. I first saw him in High Fidelity. Both worth seeing.Landed about 6am, had a light but busy day and went to bed just after 8pm to get over any jet lag. It was fun but I wouldn't call it a vacation.
