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/

            ###  30  ###

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/

            ###  30  ###

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/

            ###  30  ###

Arriving in an Empty Los Angeles (CA) -- January 2015

DAY ONE – 19 January 2015

My counter-parts and I were all set to travel back to our specific regions in the greater Los Angeles area in December, but the company decided to cancel all trip.  The reasoning of the head office was it was too close to the holiday.  We would’ve been gone between 15-19 December, so back before anyone should be leaving for the holidays.  Honestly I really think it was the company didn’t want to chunk out for our expenses at the end of the year.  I’m sure the final decision on our trips came from our bean counters.

I’d been looking forward to seeing how California decorates for the holidays, even though I don’t celebrate them.  Yeah the commercialism can bother me, but the artistic quality of what people come up with can be interesting.  And one of my client contacts had offered to take me on a boat ride after dark in order to see how all the lights looked when viewed off-shore.  I’d previously mentioned this to my manager, and she said it wouldn’t be a conflict of interest to do that, as no favors were being offered.  If anyone asked, it’d be no different than going for a ride with a friend.  Since the December trip didn’t happen, the point is moot.

And when drafting this journal, the question in my mind was how would this be different than previous entries.  How I interact with my clients is not anyone’s business, as I want to keep the journal focused on the fun and interesting items.  Also, at the time of this trip, there was a huge upheaval in the person life, so going this time was making me a bundle of nerves due to anxiety.  It’s one thing to tell someone you’re only a phone call away if they need you when you’re a couple miles away, it’s different when you’re going to be two time zones away.  By the time this is published (some months after the trip actually happened), the upheaval may either be a footnote in my life experiences, or part of a strong foundation for the future.  At this point it was too early to see, and the travel blog was not the venue for those thoughts.

Since the itinerary for January trip was just going to be what I’d originally planned to do on the December trip, that part of the planning stage was easy (as my brain kept coming back to the personal issue which weighed heavily).  The arrangements for flight, car rental, and hotels were made online as they had been before.  I’d get another 6 am flight out of Austin, and arrive in Los Angeles by 7.30.  I thought that seemed early, but this was a direct (without the touch-down I had the previous time).  I told my clients the first I’d see would be about noon, as I factored in the time it took to get baggage, pick-up car rental, and actually drive the distance to my furthest destination.

The flight out of Austin was about a third empty.  I commented to my counter-part Roy that it’d been a long time when I’d seen a flight which wasn’t full.  He concurred.  I just figured not enough business travelers booked this flight, and didn’t think anything of it.  Since it was so early in the morning, I took the opportunity to doze a little instead of reading or playing a game on the Kindle.  Figured if I couldn’t get a power nap in, then going into repose to recharge the brain before the drive would be good.

After a nice easy landing at LAX, I noticed picking up baggage was also quicker than normal.  It’d been chilly in Austin, so I had a sweater in my suitcase, and had been wearing my fleece pull-over when I left Texas.  Austin was twenty degrees below normal, and Los Angeles was currently degrees above normal, so with weather forecasted to be in the 70’s, I wasn’t going to need those bulky items.  I’d purchased a garment bag for my suits last month, so I wouldn’t have to roll them in shopping bags, so I wanted to see how well everything came out.

I was too busy soaking in the warm weather on the shuttle bus to pay much attention to the other passengers.  But when we were dropped off at Enterprise, I noticed the bus was a little empty too.  I was able to haul in, get my rental secured, stow my gear, program the destination into the GPS, and get on my way in record time.  It was barely 8.30 when I was leaving the rental agency, and it’d only take me about 90 minutes to reach San Bernardino.  And as I got out on the highway, there was traffic, but it was light and moved along at a pretty decent clip.  Yeah, I was going to get there long before my scheduled noontime arrival.

The GPS took me east across IH-105 (through Lynwood), where I picked up 605 north which took me all the way to Duarte.  I then turned east on 210, which sent me through towns which were in the region of my counterpart Mary Beth.  I chuckled as I went past Glendora and Rancho Cucamonga, wondering if MB was at the dealers there.  Of all the drives I’ve taken to reach my destination, this was the most northern route I’d had.  I was able to see the mountain range really close up, but there was no safe place to pull over and take pictures.  Some of the peaks were Mt. Baldy, Mt. San Antonio, and Timber Mountain, although I had no idea which was one was what.  I could snowcaps on a couple of them.  That had been a while seen I’d seen that.

Once I reached San Bernardino, I really saw what an economically-depressed area this was.  I’m sure in the past this was a better place, but it’d seen better days.  The last time I visited this client was when I rode with my District Representative, who gave me some backdrop information.  I had to go past a Home Depot to get to the dealership, and there was a score of day-laborers hanging around the area waiting for some construction boss to come along and grab them for a short-time job or two.  It was 10.30 when I pulled into my destination.

When I spoke to my contact (Joe) and mentioned how sparse the traffic was and how quickly I got through baggage and the rental process, he commented that was probably because everyone else was off today.  It took a moment for the fact to shift in my mind, and then I realized it was MLK Day.  Suddenly all that fell into place.  Joe got a good laugh over my brain fart.  We went over the business we needed to discuss, and that brought us up to noon.  By then I figured I’d tip over to my dealer in Redlands.  If I saw anything interesting along the way as a place to stop for lunch, I would.

The dealer in Redlands is one of my favorites to deal with, as I have such a good rapport with my contact there (a man named Junior).  Junior got to hear about the situation I was going through, and he demonstrated some genuine empathy about it.  While we have a strictly professional relationship, this is someone I’d continue to stay in contact if I ever leave this position.  Before Junior set me up in an office to work in, I mentioned I hadn’t had lunch yet, and asked if he wanted to go with.  (There’s a small plaza across the road with some quick places.)  Junior had a meeting to go to, otherwise he would join me.

My TripAdvisor article already had my comments about BK Subs, so there’s no need to repeat it.  I worked until it was about 5 pm, and then figured it was time to work my way to Riverside to check into my hotel.  It wasn’t far to go, but considering the time of day it’d take me 30-45 minutes.  Since I’d been up since 3 am CT, I wanted to get something to eat and crash out earlier if I could.  I’d stayed at the Hyatt Riverside on the previous trip, so I knew exactly where I needed to go, and what would be waiting for me.

There was some seminar taking place at the hotel, but it was nice the parking had been set aside for those actually staying at the hotel.  The ground floor was crowded, and one elevator was working, but those were really small concerns when the front desk gives you a warm welcome as a returning guest.  I got up to my room and found a surprise waiting for me.  There was a home-made cookie with a nice personalized note next to a bottle of water setting on the desk.  I’m sure that’s done for all the returning guests, but I’d never seen it before, so it really came off as a nice gesture.

The first thing I did upon entering was take a couple pictures of the room for a TripAdvisor article, and unpack (and hang) the suit I’d be wearing the next day.  I did a quick phone call to check on the situation at home while I was doing that to make sure everything was okay.

Riverside has a nice pedestrian street, and I’ve eaten at two places here already (the second I really enjoyed), but wanted to find new ones.  The front desk gave me a tip of a Mexican place called Mezcal, which was located on the pedestrian street.  Dude, you got me sold, as I’m always game to try a new Mexican place.  I was even given a card for a free appetizer.  Hoofing it down directly, I find it closed.  It’s not that late in the evening, and no signs which showed hours or whatever.  Man, bum steer.

After a quick stroll down Main Street on the section blocked from traffic, I decided on a place called Elephant Thai Cuisine.  The chicken teriyaki I had was pretty good, although service was slow at refilling my water glass.  Yeah, I learned that trick from hometown-girl-done-good Rachael Ray on $40 A Day, where you could save on a restaurant tab by not ordering a beverage other than water.  I was still hungry afterwards, and had seen a sign for ice cream outside a nearby pizza joint.

Now when I visit places, especially those I’m going to write articles on, I try to be discreet about taking pictures if I can.  Not only does it mark you as an out-of-towner, but it tends to creep people out.  The interior of the Antonious Pizza Café had a huge high ceiling with lots of snowflakes suspended on fishing line.  The flakes were of varying sizes, and different heights.  It was a really nice art project.  That would’ve been a good thing to take a picture of, but it was more important to chat with the proprietor there, as I was getting a cookies & cream milkshake.

When I came in, an old lady rolled over to me and tried to make small talk.  This was someone who had not aged well, didn’t know how properly apply make-up, and was still trying to dress like it was jazzercise time from the 1980’s.  Spidey sense tripped on, and I made sure she didn’t get too close.  I don’t know if it was one of the local prostitutes, or just a sad old lady whose had a rough life, I didn’t want her anywhere near me.  Even if I was unattached and looking for some No Strings Attached fun, I wasn’t interested at all in what she was offering.  The lady followed me around the café a bit while my milkshake was being prepared, and briefly out the door when I left.  The evening was nice and I was going to sit at the outdoor café, but I didn’t want her anywhere near me.

I worked my way back to the hotel, and had only drank half my milkshake.  I’d gotten a small, and it was very filling.  Well, there’s a fridge in the room, so the remainder will keep until the next morning.  It was getting close to 9 pm PT, which seemed early to sleep, but the body was getting near collapse time.  As recent personal events had made it so sleep was not something I was getting a lot of, when the body wanted to drop off, I was inclined to let it.

For more information on the places visited or mentioned:

Los Angeles International Airport: http://www.lawa.org/welcomelax.aspx

Lynwood:  http://www.lynwood.ca.us/

Duarte:  http://www.accessduarte.com/

Glendora:  http://cityofglendora.org/

Rancho Cucamonga:  http://www.cityofrc.us/

Mt Baldy:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Baldy,_California

San Bernardino:  http://www.ci.san-bernardino.ca.us/

Riverside:  http://www.riversideca.gov/

Mezcal:  http://mezcalriverside.com/

Rachael Ray:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachael_Ray

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Ending Another Trip in the City of Angels (CA) -- November 2014

DAY FIVE – 21 November 2014

It was another nice morning, seeing a sunrise partially obscured by a nearby building.  After coming back from breakfast, I showered, and packed.  During every morning I’ve been here (this month and last month), I’d gotten into a routine of watching the local television stations in the morning for the weather and traffic, plus whatever news might be current.  Last month I’d cycled through them and come across one group which I found the most interesting, so this week I’ve been turning them on specifically.

KTTV’s morning show (the local FOX affiliate) has an older gentleman who tends to be a bit more on the serious side, with two younger (30ish) ladies who provide both the comic relief and eye candy, as well as a few others who come in for specific segments.  It’s still a professional environment, but this group seems (to me) to have the most fun.  The two ladies grew up in western New York, so when they were talking about the recent storm which overnight dumped six feet of snow on Buffalo, they were able to speak about winter difficulties from personal experience.  They’re not as amusing as Austin’s Dudley & Bob morning radio show, but they make a decent substitute for me.

As I drove up PCH when leaving Seal Beach, I attempted to do some of the “dashboard camera shots” again, but really could only get some mildly decent pictures when at a stop light.  The traffic was lighter to do that here, but as I got closer to the roundabout (near California State University at Long Beach) it got more difficult.  I’m driving first, taking pictures second.

When I passed the empty tent where the Xmas trees will eventually be, it gave me some amusing thoughts for when I’m here next month.  It’ll be interesting to see all the holiday decorations amidst the ocean views.  I’ve been used to seeing a green December since coming to Texas, but this would be a chance to see a new variation.

Like last month, I’d be driving PCH up to my dealer in Torrance.  It’s a nice drive, pretty direct, and I avoid the crowded highway.  There’s stores and other stuff along the way which I hope to explore in the future.  That except when I get to the area around Wilmington, which isn’t the friendliest neighborhood.  When I look at the houses, I try to imagine back the 1950’s when most of these were probably built, and how this was more “new suburbia” then, as opposed to the “hood” it’s become.

Just because I have twisted humor, I had to take a picture of this sign.  Of all the things listed on the marquee, I know what’s the most important to me when I’m checking into a seedy motel in a sketchy part of town.  I want to make sure the inside of the place doesn’t resemble the outside.

Again once my meeting was done with my dealer contact, I tried to take a few pictures of the area, to get a since of the terrain.  Looking in kind of a southwest direction, the hills I saw were of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.  I’m told that’s a more “exclusive” area to live in.  Since I’m not a native, I take information like that on faith until I’ve driven there myself or researched it.

I’d mentioned to my contact (John) during our meeting that I’d stayed down in Seal Beach this week.  He let me know he was a captain at one of the premier yacht clubs there, and they have a regular private dinner cruise.  John also said being able to see all the holiday lights from out on the ocean was really nice.  I nodded in agreement, saying that it sounded like it would be.  John then told me to contact him when I arrive for my next visit, and we’ll spend an evening out on the boat with the rest of his club.

I certainly thanked him for the invite, and commented that would be something to consider.  Of course when I got back to the office, I’d have to consult with my superior to make sure anything like wasn’t frowned upon.  In years past, there were always situations of favors and other nice (but innocent) things being done for a visiting representative or client.  This was a genuine friendly offer, and I appreciated it, but in our sue-happy modern climate I have to make sure my company won’t have a cow with me doing something like this.  The offer being made from one person to another is fine.  But when it’s being made during a business trip, whether it’s meant to part of the trip or not, it’s the perception of things like this are why companies get bent out of shape about stuff like this.

Personally, I think it would be a great idea.  One of the things I’d been thinking about this week (especially when writing down the details) of how to make this blog still informative and not repetitive.  While I’m going to the places for business needs, and not detailing the specifics of that, I have a set region which I’ll be revisiting for months for to come.  I can’t keep describing the same areas over and over, with the only variation of what different restaurants I happened to go to.  It’s quite possible that future entries about subsequent trips may only have a single posting, unless I had the opportunity to do something really interesting or have a wildly different experience than before.

I had the same flight out as the last trip, so I took the same route to LAX during the same type of day.  The only difference was not hitting traffic on the 405, and I was scoping out gas stations as close to the rental agencies, so I know for future fill-ups.  Surprisingly, I got through the security check point equally as easy as I did in Austin.  For a big airport like LAX, that’s freakin’ amazing!

Now the line to get food at California Pizza Kitchen was still pretty long, and the service was the speed of molasses.  I get stuff there only because it’s the least-offensive of the available offerings, and even then I get the pre-made sandwiches.  This time I could’ve waited for a personal-sized pizza, but I wanted to try to get some work done before getting on the plane.  I can get CPK at home in a sit-down location, so I’ll actually go there to enjoy their food.

My counter-part Roy was taking the same flight back as me, and he soon joined me (as his territory was north of Los Angeles in Thousand Oaks, Santa Clarita, and Palmdale, plus points north to Bakersfield).  He commented that he remembered to print his boarding pass twenty-fours ahead of time, and ended with “B-24.”  I looked at him with a smile and simply stated “A Group.”  Hell, A-56 is at the ass-end of the A Group, but it’s still A Group.  Roy’s friendly retort was something to the effect of him hating me because I always beat him in the Southwest lottery.

It was a direct flight back, so there wouldn’t even be a touch-down or anything like that.  It was a nice smooth flight until about the last half-hour, when we were approaching the Austin corridor.  There had been some rain and wind which Roy’s region had the previous day (which missed mine), and it’d been moving eastward.  We knew we’d encounter it one the way home, the question as to what intensity.

The captain announced that he expected we’d be getting some choppy situations, so he recommended everyone return to their seats and buckle up.  A few minutes later the plane was shaking side to side.  Not too violently, but enough for me to place a square in the wrong position on my Tetris game.  Roy’s knuckles started to get white, as he again commented how much he hated flying Southwest.  Hey, I flew through Hurricane Noel out of the Caribbean in 2007, and have never experienced a flight as nail-biting as that one.  This was cake as far as I was concerned.

It was raining in Austin, but the temperature had warmed back up to the normal now, so it was comfortable when we returned.  I’d consumed things out of my snack baggie (trail mix, Cliff Bar, Kashi Bar, and fruit snacks) during the flight, so I wasn’t hungry for dinner.  I wanted a milkshake, but that would wait until I got back home.  My luggage was the fifth item out (heard Roy make a comment about that), and I motored to the shuttle to take me back to my parked car.

This was a much better trip than last month’s, because the work-fun ratio was more balanced, the hotel experience was nicer, and I certainly ate more properly.  This was the way a work trip should be, productive and enjoyable without being overly stressful.  I know next trip I’m going to visit the dealers I didn’t go to this time, but I hope to have some new material and observations about the area.  I write the travel blog both as a way to share my experiences, and to make people aware of things out there they could visit.  But I don’t want people’s recreation to visit my dealerships, unless they actually intend to purchase a vehicle.  And no, I won’t get a kick-back from them.

I write these strictly for the love of doing it.  And I thank everyone who’s read these, and shared the experience.  I’ve enjoyed travelling with you, and I hope you’ll continue to do so.

For more information on the places visited or mentioned:

KTTV Morning Show (“Good Day LA”):  http://www.myfoxla.com/category/240698/good-day-la

Dudley & Bob (KLBJ-FM, Austin, TX):  http://www.klbjfm.com/shows/dudley-and-bob

CSU Long Beach:  http://www.csulb.edu/

Torrance (CA):  http://www.torranceca.gov/

Palos Verdes Peninsula:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palos_Verdes

Thousand Oaks (CA):  http://www.toaks.org/

Santa Clarita (CA):  http://www.santa-clarita.com/

Palmdale (CA):  http://www.cityofpalmdale.org/

Bakersfield (CA):  http://www.bakersfieldcity.us/

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