Sunset Over Irvine (CA) -- January 2015

DAY FOUR – 22 January 2015

Insomnia aside, I actually felt pretty decent when I woke up.  The stomach was still a little queasy, but a lot less than it had during the night.  Eating an assload of antacids seemed to do the trick.  Once the breakfast area opened, I went down for some grub.  That will be the real test of how it was.  Hannah was down there too, but she was getting an earlier start, so didn’t stay very long.  I mentioned that I hadn’t heard anything from her, and the offer was still open if she wanted me to drive to a place for decent food.  Of course the food I ate last night wasn’t decent, but I omitted that fact.  Again she said she’d consider it.  I’m sure she was just being safe to make sure she wasn’t getting into a car with some creepy dude.  Won’t fault her for that at all.

My first stop of the day was in Costa Mesa, as there was another new dealer contact for me to meet.  That went well, and we had good discussion.  When it was time for me to set up my equipment, he offered me either an out-of-the-way office, or an empty desk in the middle of the Service Department.  Oh, I’ll stay among the Service Advisors, because it would probably be more fun that way.  They chuckled “Oh, the GM guy is sitting with us today, we gotta behave.”  I said just act no different than they do any other day.  It was more fun.  They were getting work done, and handling issues, but there was positive energy of people enjoying their jobs.  And it put in the position if I was needed for any escalations, I was there.  For me, being around that level good vibes was doing wonders to take my mind of stuff at home.

Once I was done there, I bid the crew in the Service Department farewell, until the next time I was here.  I hopped on Interstate 405 and then cruised east, which took me past John Wayne Airport.  I’d considered flying in there at one point, but SouthWest doesn’t fly there and any other airline would have me layover in LAX, so what would be the point?  While my destination was in Irvine, I was close to Lake Forest so I tipped over there to find a place for lunch.

I drove around in a grid pattern looking for restaurants, but I was able to get great views of the mountains in the distance.  I’m not sure which ones they were, but as usual the best views came when it wasn’t the best opportunity to take a picture.

After looping around one street, I spied a plaza with a place which had a “grand opening” banner.  That seemed like a good place to try.  The establishment was called Java Bakery & Café, and was very much like a Starbucks, just with a larger sandwich selection.  Kind of like Star Co in Round Rock where my writer’s group used to meet, before the venue changed hands.  The interior layout could’ve been designed a little better, as it caused people to bottle-neck, but it made for a great amount of outdoor seating.  The BBQ chicken Panini I had was quite good.  The place needed more than one bathroom, because I wasn’t able to wash my hands after the meal because someone was taking a nap in the loo.

At my dealership in Irvine, once I was set in an office, I had the highlight of the trip.  Normally I don’t mention work stuff, but this merits it.  Not only did I do an escalation call with a customer which took him from being “extremely pissed off” to “extremely happy,” but an hour or so later the customer came down to the dealership and we talked extensively, which cemented the situation and ensured his satisfaction.  Since I’ve been doing this gig, I’ve waited for that “in-person” meeting, that first time I’d get to interact with a customer.  And I always hoped the first would be a good interaction, not with a rabid and/or crazy customer.

The other highlight of the week happened between those two customer interactions.  I phone call I received from someone, and the resulting 40 minute conversation, made me extremely happy.  While this didn’t resolve the situation at home by any means, I could hear the sound of the person who she used to be peaking through the darkness of her recovery.  That gave a lot of hope for the future.  And how the situation had been going, I hadn’t been seeing much of a future at that time, so I had a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings.

The car shots here are some classic models which were sitting at the dealership.  None were for sale, obviously.  It was nice when I needed to stretch my legs to be able to wander about and check out some of these vintage items.

My original plan today was to leave the dealer a little so I could drive to Laguna Beach, and then take PCH back through Newport Beach, to Huntington Beach, and then back to Seal Beach.  The idea was I could watch the sunset over the Pacific.  But due to dusk coming earlier because of the Daylight Savings, it’d be dark when I was leaving.  And it’d be rush hour anyway, so while I might be able to see the sunset, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it (much less take any pictures of it).

The dealership had some old cars present, and I liked taking pictures of those.  While I was doing that, I noted how beautiful the sky looked.  It’s not over the ocean, but it was going to be the only sunset I’d get to see this trip.  I’ll take what shots I could.

I mentioned to the receptionist she was missing a great view, and she said that happened a lot because she was tied to her desk phone.  After I snapped a few shots, I came in and showed her the pictures so she could enjoy it by proxy.

As I cycled through some of the other pictures I’d taken, and was telling her about my blog, she mentioned her friend did a travel blog too (called BKL Photography).  I knew I was strictly amateur, but when I checked this out, that confirmed it.  That’s the blog I want mine to be, considering some of the locations visited.  Well, I work with what’s available to me, and to the best I got with that.  Still, go and scope this site out.  Us writers need to stick together and support one another.

Considering it was rush hour when I was leaving the dealership, it made the most sense to return on the 405 the way I came, instead of trying to pick up PCH.  A highway drive, even with stop-and-go traffic, will move faster than a two-line parkway with lights.  I got off in Westminster, as it was a straighter shot back to my hotel.  I stripped out of my suit and tie into a polo shirt and khakis, and got some brief work done.  Again there was no word from Hannah if she wanted to be taken to a better restaurant.  Okay, driven to a better restaurant, as I couldn’t pay for her meal on my expense account.  Hope she’s happy with fast food, as I’m sure as hell not.

My friend Alexis at Sparkles wasn’t working tonight, but she’d previously recommended Beachwood BBQ to me (which was right next door).  I popped in to see what the wait was, and I could get a seat immediately at the bar.  After I placed my order, and not getting anyone to engage in a conversation, I people-watched.

There was a couple to my right who I gathered were business partners, and by the way they talked they were both attached.  And by the way they acted, the level of familiarity they had with each other, I’m sure whatever happened on this trip stayed on this trip.  A couple and their lady friend came in and sat to my left, saying they wanted to be able to experience what it was like to eat in Texas.  I mentioned as I was from Texas, I was looking forward to seeing how this compared to what I had at home.  Their response was their friends had told them this would put any Texas place to shame.  They seemed rather resistant to conversation, and their lady friend wanted to keep having a margarita which she never reached bottom with.  I’m gathering she wasn’t having a good day.

I’d ordered the smoked chicken dinner plate.  While this normally came on the bone, I asked if they could de-bone it, so technically it was “pulled.”  For the sides I got the potato salad and asparagus, with a slab of corn bread.  The chicken was a little dry on the first bite, and then I released I was blind.  There was a tray of five different sauces sitting in front of me, which greatly enhanced the already good flavor.  Certainly not as good as what I can get at home, it was great meal.  After I ate, then I walked the Seal Beach Pier, as I’ve done every night here.  Considering the big meal I just had, it was better to have the walk afterwards.

For more information on the places visited or mentioned:

Costa Mesa:  http://www.costamesaca.gov/

John Wayne Airport:  http://www.ocair.com/

Irvine:  http://www.cityofirvine.org/

Lake Forest:  http://www.lakeforestca.gov/

Java Bakery & Café:  http://myjavabakery.com/local/home.php

Laguna Beach:  http://www.lagunabeachcity.net/

Newport Beach:  http://www.visitnewportbeach.com/

BKL Photography:  https://bklphotography.wordpress.com/

Westminster:  http://www.westminster-ca.gov/

Beachwood BBQ (Seal Beach):  http://beachwoodbbq.com/

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A Familiar Fire House in Carson (CA) -- January 2015

DAY THREE – 21 January 2015

Say what you will about my people watching when I refer to a server or someone as cute.  I’m not freakin’ dead.  I appreciate beauty and friendliness when I find it.  I have someone at home my heart has been given to, and even though there’s an outside event which created a challenging situation between us, it doesn’t change the way I feel about her, or me being friendly to people.  I’ve always, where possible, have tried to engage people in random conversations, as never know what interesting things you might learn.

When it was time to have breakfast, I put on my sweats and went down to the lounge area.  While I was getting my scrambled eggs, I struck up a conversation with a fellow business traveler named Hannah.  Her company had flown her from Tennessee for a conference this week, and since she didn’t have a rental car, she could only eat at the places which were within reasonable walking distance.  There was a Subway, a Denny’s, a Starbucks, and a Thai place next to the hotel.  Any other establishment was more than a reasonable walking distance from here.

We talked shop for a bit, but I did offer to drive her down to Main Street Seal Beach tonight so she could have a better meal there.  This was her first time in the area, so she didn’t know what was available, and I could give some recommendations.  Hannah said she’d consider it, and I let her know when I’d be back in the evening, and how to reach me.  After breakfast, she grabbed her laptop and went to meet the shuttle her company had arranged for her, and I returned to my room to get ready for the day.

The morning stop was in Bellflower.  I was still locked out of my work applications, but I was still able to interact with my dealer contact there.  I was also able to speak to a customer and smooth over some ruffled feathers, which was one of the functions of my role.  Getting close to noon, I then departed for my next locale.  I try to get in the vicinity of my destination, and then look around for a place for lunch (unless something along the way jumps out at me).  When I got to Carson, which is a very industrial area, the nearby food choices were slim.  Yeah, I could’ve driven out a little further, but I wanted to maximize my time with my clients.

After making a couple loops around the area, I saw I was faced with two choices:  Jack In The Box or Del Taco.  Since the few times I’d had Jack ended up destroying my stomach lining due to the amount of grease soaked into the food, I passed on that.  I recalled having Del Taco back in Rochester in the 90’s when visiting out there, and it being pretty decent when I ended up at one in Flagstaff in 2008.  It seemed to be the logical choice.

The service there sucked.  Completely.  And the food tasted so bad, I swore it was rotten.  I only took a few bites.  Complaining to the management was met with apathy, and I didn’t want to spend all day there pleading my case.  I just threw everything away, and consumed a Cliff Bar from my snack baggie.  Yeah, I should’ve spent a little time driving further out for something better.

Next to my dealership was something which I recognized from my first visit here months ago.  As this was the first time back to this specific location, I was now able to follow up on it.  When I passed by the first time, I asked Evert if that’s what I thought it was.  He indicated that it was probably so, but he wasn’t as familiar with the show like I was.  I’d done some research later to confirm that it was.

This was the Los Angeles County Fire Station 127, which was used as “Station 51” in the 70’s show Emergency!  As this was one of the shows we watched regularly (as it gave us an idea of what Dad did, even though he wasn’t a paramedic, just a firefighter), it was burned in my brain.  I hadn’t thought much about the show since it went off the air, and I don’t think any of the cable channels were still showing episodes of it (as cable channels tended to do in order to fill programming slots).

I took a few exterior shots, knowing that I’d later send these to Dad.  I wanted to see if I could get inside for a shot or two there.  I’m sure I wasn’t the first goofball to come along and do this (especially now since the episodes have started being released on DVD).  The door was locked.  I waited a few moments after knocking, and then went walking back to my dealership.  I really didn’t have all day to spend there, because I was actually here for work purposes.  Still, it would’ve been nice to have a couple of additional shots.

I have to make a point of amusement here.  After speaking to my contact on business stuff, and getting myself set up in an office, I called our tech support to see if there was any ETA on the escalation to return me access to company systems.  The front line guy I spoke to noted the higher levels had tried to call me, and left a message (which was untrue, because my phone showed no missed calls).  He looked over what his counterpart did, and did a remote access to discover a permission had been turned off.  It took him *twenty minutes* to figure out what wrong with my system and confirm it was working, because he did the one thing the earlier guy didn’t do.  I was happy at this guy, and annoyed at the competence of the first person I spoke to.

I had a lot of escalations to take care of, so I left my dealership a little early so I could head back to the hotel.  I figured I’d be spending most of the evening playing catch-up, and my stomach was starting to do flip-flops probably due to crap lunch I had.  My access to the work sites lasts until midnight eastern time, which is 9 pm local, so I wanted to have a quick dinner and then knock as much stuff as I could.

I still did my Seal Beach Pier stroll, because I wanted to keep my daily mileage as much as possible, and made a brief stop at Sparkles to say hi to Alexis.  I wanted something filling, but not heavy, so a burger would be good, and I was informed The Abbey was pretty decent.  From looking inside, this looked like a café with a bar area running lengthwise down the main room.  (Okay, since places in Seal Beach aren’t that big to start with, it looked like the best use of space to me.)  Behind the bar was the open-flame pizza oven, and a large wine selection.  There were a couple televisions over the bar, and the Anaheim Ducks were on.  Oh, I could sit watch hockey.

The hostess seemed to be engaged with a table of her friends (or perhaps they were regulars, too), but she made an off-handed gesture of letting me know seats were available at the bar.  That’s usually okay when I’m dining solo, as I could watch the game.  The service at the bar was pretty inattentive, especially since I said I wasn’t looking for any alcoholic beverages.  I could drink on these trips, just as long as I didn’t put it on the company card.  And in an area I don’t know the laws as much, I’m just better off not having any.

I ordered a turkey burger with fries, once the server decided to grace me with her presence.  The place wasn’t overly busy tonight, and there was another server with the hostess at the table with their friends, so it appeared there were enough people on duty.  The turkey tasted like it was undercooked, and the fries were bland.  When I mentioned it to my server, she didn’t seem to register it.  Even when I asked if there was a manager around, that came off as being ignored.  At that point, considering the way my stomach was churning, I didn’t want to argue all night.  I paid my bill, left, and headed for the closest drug store to buy a container of antacids.

Two bad meals today was not a good thing.  I’ve had food poisoning once before, and it sidelined me for a day.  Having something like that where I’m solo out in the field was not a good thing.  Even if the crap food gave me the squirts, I just hope it’s done before I have sit in the airplane, otherwise it’s going to be a long flight.

For more information on the places visited or mentioned:

Bellflower:  http://www.bellflower.org/home/index.asp

Carson:  http://ci.carson.ca.us/

Emergency!:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068067/

The Abbey:  http://theabbeysealbeach.com/

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A Hunt for Lunch in Garden Grove (CA) -- January 2015

DAY TWO – 20 January 2015

The body got some sleep, but decided to wake me up at 6 am.  6 am Central Time.  That’s 4 am local time.  Some sleep, although not very restful was better than the insomnia I had going on the previous week.  [And I’ll note here, that ended up being my sleeping pattern almost the entire week.]  Since breakfast was onsite, I put on my sweat pants, sweat shirt, and hat, and went down to the dining area.  It was the same stuff I had on the last visit.  It was filing, but a little light on the protein.  Since it was only one day, I could deal with it.  Not getting ready so early in the morning means less I have to fight the morning rush, and it gives me the opportunity to people watch the other business travelers.

I did the opportunity to do a short walk around Riverside after breakfast because I wanted to get a picture of an actual California orange tree.  These used to cover large areas around Riverside only a couple decades ago.  I'd traveled through what remained of those lands back in October, and saw a lot of empty, dried-up fields.  It was nice to see the tree today.

The last trip out, I was in constant text communication with someone back home, so I could make observations about what I was seeing, and get some feedback.  Now, that level of contact was practically non-existent as I was concern for someone’s mental health after the traumatic events of the new year.  The trip I did in October I felt alone at some places because I didn’t the connection with someone at home.  This was worse, as it was wrapped in the anxiety of wondering if she was okay, and how her recovery was going.  There was a lot of home stuff weighing on my mind, and I’d have to keep focused on job-related things in order to stay sane during the trip.

After getting cleaned up, finishing off the milkshake, and checking out of the hotel, I shot a few miles down the road to my dealer in Riverside.  There was a new contact there which I got to spend some time with.  And then the weird shit started happening to me.  Set up in an office, I locked my computer as I went to get the password to access the dealer’s WiFi.  When I came back, my password didn’t unlock my system at all.  I needed to do a hard reboot on the laptop in order to get to the point to login again.  At that point, I discovered my company passwords were no longer valid, and I was denied access to any company site.  I could at least still access the documents on the laptop, and could successfully establish an internet connection (checked my Yahoo mail), but I was unable to get any work done.  I spent over an hour on the phone with our IT guy, who was unable to figure out the concern.

By then it was getting close to 11 am, and there wasn’t any reason for me to stay at the dealer.  I still needed to drive over to my other day’s target dealership, and might as well do that before the lunch rush begins.  As I cruised westward along Route 91, yesterday’s sunny day had been replaced with an overcast haze.  On prior trips when I breezed past Corona, I could look out the various mountains nearby.  Now the overcast conditions made it difficult to see the Chino Hills, and other peaks.  It felt like it wanted to rain, just without the moisture in the air.  Once I got to Garden Grove, I went driving around the area close to my dealer for find a place for lunch.  I was last over here when I rode with my District Representative (in October), so I knew this was the section where even the road signs were written in Korean or Vietnamese.  I circled around and found the plaza where Evert and I had gotten the extremely slow service from Subway, and decided to check out a different restaurant in the plaza.

I went to an authentic Vietnamese noodle shop.  I use the term “authentic” and I was the non-Viet in the entire place, and the only white guy.  The chicken dish I got was very good.  When it was time to pay for my lunch, I discovered this was a cash-only place.  I’m glad I still had a $20 tucked into my wallet.  I don’t usually carry much cash on me, and that was before I had an expense account.

The meeting at my dealership was short, as a large number of the staff were out for the day at the funeral of a fellow employee.  It was a somber mood of those who were left, due to the sudden and accidental death of that person.  I was able to meet my District Rep there, and went over what information I could with him, even though I had no access to any of my online reports.  Once we covered what ground we needed to do, it was time to head on.

I’d done the drive to the Hampton Inn at Seal Beach a few times, so it felt like I was coming home.  That’s one of nice things about staying at the same area, as I get to explore new places.  I got checked into my hotel, and made another phone call to check-in on the home situation.  Since there wasn’t anything else I could do at this point, it was time to head out for dinner.  I was hungry, but I didn’t know what I wanted.  Too many issues were weighing on the mind, so I tried to do what I could set them to the side.

I walked out to the end of the Seal Beach Pier, then up and down Main Street, as I scoped out places to try.  I noted where I’d been previously.  There’s oddly-shaped trees along the way which had been subject matter of my pictures before, and this time I first noticed the plaques which mentioned these were “Heritage Trees.”  Nice to see these were dedicated to people, as opposed to being something randomly planted.

One shop I happened to stop in was called Sparkles By The Sea.  It was a jewelry store, although none of the pieces were hand-made.  I chatted with the nice owner (Alexis) for a few minutes, and she gave me a couple recommendations.  She didn’t have any business cards, as the shop was recently opened.  I’m not a jewelry person, and getting any thing right now wasn’t high on my list.  The person I’d be buying them for wasn’t a big jewelry person to start with, and considering the recent situation wouldn’t be the most important thing on her mind.  Still, it was nice just to chat with a local, because you learn little tidbits about an area doing that.

After one more trek along Main Street, I decided to return to The Hangout, as I had such a good experience there the last time.  I went for something different on the menu, and opted for the meatloaf.  That wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good as I thought the dish I had last time was.  The place was less-crowded too, so there wasn’t as much people watching to be done.  I do have note my server, Sarah, was very good at checking on how my meal was, refilling my water glass, and stuff like that.  Once I’d finished that, I shot back to the hotel to prepare for the next day’s visit.  Being in a place like this wants to make me explore the area further, but when I’m on the company dime I have to make sure I work first, and then fit in what play I can.

For more information on the places visited or mentioned:

Corona:  http://www.discovercorona.com/

Chino Hills:  http://www.chinohills.org/

Garden Grove:  http://www.ci.garden-grove.ca.us/

Seal Beach:  http://www.sealbeachca.gov/

Sparkles By The Sea:  http://sparklessealbeach.com/

The Hangout:  http://www.thehangoutrestaurant.com/

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