A Little L.A. Story

How about a little L.A. story about heat and traffic frustrations? Last Tuesday Eric asked me to pretty, pretty please help him out and pick up his course reader for a class in Westwood. It just so happened that Tuesday was one of the hottest days this week, and I've not been using the air conditioner in my car since the car has been a bit finicky lately. I wasn't exactly pleased to face the heat, but I figured if traffic didn't stink, I'd be able to get it done in an hour or so. Traffic was fine--until I got to Westwood. With the school year now in full swing, the tiny area of Westwood Village was clogged with cars and parking was rarer than a real set of bosoms on Rodeo Drive. I finally found a spot in one of those $3 a minute rip-off pay lots and took off for the course reader materials store, hoping I'd make it back in short order so I could avoid paying any more for parking than I had to.

I discovered the course reader materials location was vacant, so I had to call Eric and figure out if he was just playing a mean joke on me or if the store had moved to another location. As it turned out, the store had just moved up the street, so I managed to get in and out pretty quickly. By the time I made it back to my car, my clothes were beginning to feel like I'd just stepped off the log ride at Six Flags. All I wanted to do was get in the car and get back to the AC and my day off. I can't with any justice communicate the frustration, despair, and raw animosity I felt when I turned the key and heard nothing but a click. Again. Click. Once more. Click. #!$%#&^!

After that mental primal scream I quickly moved into let's-get-this-over-with mode and went to tell the lot attendant my car wasn't starting and I needed to call AAA for a tow. I was sure he would insist on charging me for the time my car was dead in the lot waiting on the AAA tow truck to show up, but it didn't quite turn out that way. My car had literally been in the lot only a few minutes and had been running fine then, so he was unconvinced I couldn't get it started again. He soon found I wasn't making things up. However, he took it as a challenge, and after playing around with it a few minutes he got it started somehow. Even hotter and sweatier than before, I didn't question his mechanical magic. I thanked him profusely and sped away. When I had made it back to the apartment and collapsed in the AC, I reflected how once more my old aphorism had just proven valid: No good deed goes unpunished.

The truth of this statement has been demonstrated to me time and again, yet I keep helping, each time looking for a different outcome. The definition of a psychopath is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. So, I guess this habit makes me a psychopath. Or, more likely, just a plain old sucker.

Malibu Fog

This past Saturday I had a pleasant diversion when some friends came to visit me at the Villa. It was a pretty unusual day for Malibu--it was so foggy even the mid-day sun didn't burn through it. It was foggy, but not cold, so it turned out to be a nice day at the Villa. Debra, Devi, and Melissa came by to see the museum and to be misinformed on one of my tours. When I came out for the tour, I spotted Debra in line signing up, so I went over and said over her shoulder very seriously, "I really don't recommend that tour." The Visitor's Services guy who was signing people up was new, and when he heard what I said his face took on a horrified expression. People take themselves so seriously... Anyhow, the ladies claimed they enjoyed my tour and afterward we had lunch together at the cafe and chatted until it was time for me to teach again.

Me, Debra, Devi, and Melissa

Saturday's foggy weather matched my mood for the week. Coming back to work after a break through a haze of allergies that drugs couldn't quite alleviate made me feel as if I were muddling through. Maybe it's allergies, or maybe it's a daze of confusion after being hit with school groups for the first time since June. Whatever it is, it's clear the summer lull is officially history.

Anniversary

September 24, 2006

Return

This morning after breakfast and some final souvenir shopping, we packed up and hit the interstate for the long drive back to L.A. The drive back seemed longer than the drive out, even though we made good time and it was technically shorter. Overall I think it was a great trip. Eric and I got to spend some time together and celebrate our wedding anniversary and spend time with his parents, who also happen to be celebrating their anniversary this month. Like any vacation, the one downer is that you have to come back. I don't have to work again until Wednesday, but boy will I hit the ground running--school groups are starting again and I'll be working overtime that day as well. Welcome back! From here on out it will be a steady march to the holidays before I'll get more time away from work. I don't mind, though. I need vacations like anyone else, but after awhile I start to feel the need to get back to work. It must be some sort of disorder. I blame my parents.


[Note: If you'd like to see more pictures from the trip, go here.]

Grand Canyon Trip: Day Three

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

The cabins of the Maswik Lodge sit near the railroad, so we have a lovely wooded view out the window of our room. Yesterday evening Eric and his dad went off looking for elk and deer. We had seen some does and fawns wandering around near the shuttle stops, and one of the drivers told them a tale of "the biggest elk I've ever seen" with "the biggest rack I've ever seen," so they were eager to have a sighting themselves. Knowing a wild goose chase from a golden opportunity, I had opted to wander the shops with Eric's mom. Sure enough, by dinner them the guys returned without having sighted their quarry. Early this morning Eric's dad went out again--I think he said he was out for two hours--and saw nothing. Not long after he returned to his room, he spotted some deer out the window. Murphy's law.

After a quick breakfast we caught one of the shuttles that helps to move people from point to point throughout the park. We discovered one shuttle stopped at an IMAX theatre at the National Geographic Visitor Center a few miles outside of the park in Tusayan. The theater features the IMAX film, Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets. The visuals of the Grand Canyon on an IMAX scale were certainly impressive, but the film was light on the geologic and historical exploration of it. It was certainly entertaining, just not that informative.

Once we made it back into the park, we headed for Yavapai Point again in order to pick up one of the rim trails. The view from the trail make my regular evening walks look decidedly boring. I very much enjoyed hiking with such an incredible view to take in all the while. We spotted a few deer and elk tracks and a very aggressive squirrel hassling a snacking couple. (Squirrel bites are the number one treated injury in the park.) By the time we ended up back at Grand Canyon Village, it wasn't long before the time we were to board the train. So, we rested and rehydrated while we waited.

Before long we were back on the Santa Fe car, riding the rails back to Williams. After an afternoon of hiking, it was a rather drowsy ride, but by the time we pulled into the depot my thoughts were turning toward supper. We hadn't really had lunch, and I had worked up quite an appetite. The pizza place smelled best, and we had no problem completely eliminating a large pizza. What's more, I was able to enjoy my pizza without regret knowing I had gotten my exercise for the day hiking. All in all it was a really great day.