DAY ONE – 15 September 2014
One of the
best things about flying is watching what people wear. We’re past the age of “dressing up” to
travel, so wear something comfy. But I
always spy a lady wearing heels not comfortable to walk in, or a skirt so short
they keep putting a blanket over their legs to keep from flashing someone. Since I was traveling as part of a business
trip, I had a nice pair of khakis and a polo shirt. It’s dressy and comfy at the same time.
The flight from Austin
to Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles , and wondered
how true they were. Keep in mind in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, Los Angeles is a literal (not figurative)
Hell on Earth. Picking up the rental
from Avis was such an annoying process, the decision was made never to rent
from them again.
The purpose of being in L.A. this week was for
business-related things, so I won’t go into those details. Since I didn’t have
to drive this trip, I was able to spend time looking around the area.
Yeah, I might’ve done the touristy thing and took some pictures, but I was also
trying to get a feel for the area, as I would have to be driving this next
time. California
is very strict about touching your cell phone while driving, even if it’s for
navigation purposes. I may get at Garmin for the subsequent visits,
unless I can rent a vehicle which has a built in Navigation system. On
this trip, one of my co-workers was driving, and another was doing the
navigation, thus I could enjoy the scenery.
In Long Beach , we stopped at
an In-N-Out Burger, only because it’d be quick. These were in Austin , and I hadn’t had
an opportunity to try one yet, so I went along with the group’s decision.
Besides, I wasn’t really going to complain at this point. Because we were
on a time crunch, if the group decided on eating at McRat’s I would’ve gone
along with it for the same reason. Basically without duplicating the
stuff I’ll be writing in the Trip Advisor article, let’s just say it was a
quick, cheap meal that made me not hungry any more.
The reps
knew the places to go, so just like on any other trip I take, I listen to their
recommendations. They were paying for dinner tonight too, so wherever
they wanted to take us was fine. We ended up at Walt’s Wharf in downtown Seal Beach . It was
only a few miles from the hotel, and the area went from being industrial to
more residential as we went along. It didn’t look too bad, and a bit more
inviting. My first impression of actual “downtown” reminded me more of
Lake George (NY) with the number of small sea-side shops and restaurants.
Walt’s was pretty decent, excepting for the fact that the vast majority of the
dishes in this seafood place were shrimp-based. That left my menu choices
on the extremely limited side, and ended up with a salad and vegetable
soup. The representatives made sure to give me some good-natured ribbing
about it. At least I wasn’t hungry.
We sat
and socialized for a bit, so there wasn’t really an opportunity to see what the
area had to offer. This was a work-related trip, so those of a higher
position than me dictate the schedule. We’ll get to see or explore within
the time the boss(es) provide. Now tomorrow was the first actual day of
our meetings with the clients, so we weren’t going to stay out too late.
Back at the hotel I took a quick swim in the pool to help relax out, and then
tried to watch another episode of Doctor Who on my Kindle (but their
WiFi connection was rather piss-poor).
Once I
shut out the lights I then realized the brightness from the streets filtered
into the room. I had only briefly been there in the daytime hours, and
not very long at night, I hadn’t noticed it before. I’m sure if there was
a tall building nearby by, the inhabitants would’ve gotten to see me change in
and out from my swimwear (not that it would’ve bothered me in the least).
But the street light (and the glare of the Denny’s sign) was annoying, because
I like my room as dark as possible to sleep. I had been able to pull the
sheer shades to obscure vision, but the heavier ones couldn’t be closed.
Well, I turned away from the window, and put a pillow over my head to block the
light as much as possible.
For more information on the places visited or mentioned:
Walt’s
Wharf: http://waltswharf.com/
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