14 April 2008
Adventures in LaLa Land
Posted by BaBa under: Daily Life .
Monday, I went for a short trip to LA, actually Ontario California. I flew to LA after school and then got the rental car to drive to Ontario. I sat next to a Brit and his son on the flight out. We got to talking as I realized that he was pilot heading home. They had been in England for a funeral and were completing their last leg home. We talked quite a bit about the company and the prospects of mergers in Delta’s future. He was on the negotiating committee trying to reach a bargain with NW pilots. It was quite an interesting conversation. The in flight movie system was down so we just started chatting. Right before the end of the flight, an attendant came back with a printout announcing the merger. It was interesting to be right there when the crew learned about the merger. I think that it will be good for Delta in the long term.
I made sure to get a car with GPS as I was sure I would get lost without this helper in the car. I have a mixed view about these gadgets as when you get dependent on it, it will let you down. More about that later.
I made the hour trip up from LA to Ontario and got to the LaQuinta where I will be staying. I got checked into the hotel and then got directions to pizza. I remember Shakey’s Pizza from my childhood in Atlanta. They all closed in Atlanta. The closest Shakey’s was now in Macon about 1 1/2 hours south of the city. Well it also closed. The chain started in California and is still strong out there. There is now only 1 Shakey’s east of Mississippi — Warner Robbins Georgia (2 hours south of Atlanta). So you can see it was a real treat to get pizza tonight from Shakey’s.
In fact I ate at Shakey’s each of the three days I was in California. The conference was nice. I picked up a nice remote with laser pointer to use in the college lecture room. I also picked up some advice as to my Filemaker work and solved one critical design problem I was facing. I also had time to complete the last of the grading for the University and catch-up on a few items that were pressing as the terms at both schools come to an end.
It was very hazy and you could barely see the mountains in the distance for the haze. I had a pleasant stay and unlike my trip to Phoenix last month did not pickup a bug while gone. On Wednesday, I prepared to head for the airport after picking up a last pizza to eat on the plane. I even brought a cooler lunch bags and ziploc bags to bring home the leftovers. A little nuts, but I did enjoy the pizza. I left the pizza place and the GPS kept telling me to make a U turn where I new the freeway was near the motel and I was headed that way. Frustrating. However, I got back to the freeway and it corrected itself. I was holding the wheel tight and starting to panic about making the flight. Especially when the GPS took me to the airport a completely different way than I traveled on Monday. It then told me to stay to the right and then move to the left. Well the far right that it told me to be in was an exit and you CANNOT cross several lanes of LA freeway on a dime. I was slap in the middle of downtown LA and in my mind running late. YIKES. I fiddled with the &*&(X machine and got it to recalculate and get me back on the freeway.
I made it to the airport 15 minutes later than I wished. I try to be there 2 hours before flights at a minimum. By the time I got the car checked in at Hertz and got to the terminal, I had just a few minutes less than 1 hour before takeoff. Fortunately there were no delays in getting my bag checked or getting through security. I had a short walk to the gate. The same gate area where we returned from LALA land with Sheridan in August. I got a snack at the same McDonald’s and then boarded the flight. It was a little surreal to be back in the exact same gate area where we boarded the last leg to return home with Magoo.
The flight was easy and I watched the Golden Compass on the way home and made a late return to the house arriving in bed around 1am.
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