That's true...you can smell it off in the distance, the Pacific awaits, crashing, retreating, shooshing and swaying in moon-time, but do you think I could go take a look-see? Not from anywhere round here!!! It's only two blocks away, and yet covered by private marinas and side to side apartment towers so huge it feels like we're being swallowed up by concrete and palm fronds. I went for a meander around the neighborhood yesterday after walking John back to the conference after his first break and was a little disappointed to not get any nearer the ocean that I am at the hotel.
John at least had a good day at the conference, though being gone til 7:00 PM on so little sleep was a bit much. I think they should keep those things within the 8 hour work day mark, but whatever. He said it was all pretty interesting, and we went to dinner in the hotel restaurant to gab about his day, then for a walk to, again, try to find this ocean but had to settle for a very large fountain where some of the biggest seagulls we've ever seen were having a bath. Not to alarm anyone, but Long Beach seems to be a bit of a 'hood, California style. Not anything horrible, but there's a pronounced police presence here, and lots of homeless people loitering about. So when we came upon a large gang of hoodlums on bikes that were lurking by the marina, we decided we were too tired to deal with any riff-raff and headed back to the hotel, around 8:30, where we both crashed almost immediately.
My day was rather boring, and after I was accosted on the street, in my original search for some waves, by some punk-ass with Bryl creamed, stringy hair and a "wifebeater" (a tank top for dudes who need to flaunt their machismo) whom I had been keeping an eye on and then suddenly he sidled up RIGHT NEXT TO ME, I got a little spooked and decided to hide in the hotel for the rest of the day. I wussed out on going to the pool feeling too vulnerable now to put on my revealing bathing suit, so I stayed in my jammies and watched 2 movies (The Big Lebowski and Lost In Translation), read my book, worked on a super-cool beading project, finally taking a shower around 5:30 PM. Oh, and the accessible shower completely blows. It flooded the entire bathroom floor, so I had to use up our towels mopping everything up, ringing out the towels, then doing it all again. I hung the towels out on our tiny little balcony, which is enough to stand out on but not to sit, and they're still not dry this morning. After all the ringing, my left hand is really sore and weak, so I've been pouting about that. That's my writing hand, and I can barely hold a pen in it now! Hrrrrumph. Our bathroom in Holly-weird better be better than this.
John and I had the breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant around 7:30 this morning, then he left for another day of library fun. He's so cute talking about the library stuff :)~ Oh, and we realized that the stairway right near our room leads directly to the pool, so I'm excited that I don't have to traipse around the corridors and elevators in my swimming gear, especially since there's a whole basketball team staying here and the guys are constantly running around the hallways! I think I'll head down for some pool time around 11:00! Wheeeeee! Now all I need is a fruity drink with an umbrella in it!
Anyway, we read that there was a big thunderstorm in Minneapolis with tornado warnings, so I'm a little worried about the babies, but I'm sure they'll just tuck in under the bed like usual. Maybe I'll call and leave them a message on the answering machine, the poor little loves!! We hope all is well at home, and I'll write again tomorrow! Maybe I'll have something fun to report ;)~
Love to all,
R&J
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
We've Arrived in Long Beach!
After a very, very, very long day and night, we dragged ourselves into our fluffy Marriott bed last night at 2:30 AM Pacific time (which is 4:30 to y'all at home, and to our tired bodies which had been up almost 24 hours!). John just left a few minutes ago to register at his ELUNA conference, and I'm still blinking like a mole at the morning light with my coffee and Cheez-It's. This hotel doesn't have a continental breakfast, so I'll have to wander downstairs to the overpriced restaurant, or test my navigating abilities (which are inadequate at best) to find something cheap to eat and hopefully a convenience store where I can get a few non-perishables. Sigh. Already I'm feeling the agoraphobic hermit taking over me.
So, we left the condo in the responsible hands of John's brother, Dave, said goodbye to the little stink-bombs, and took the bus and LRT to the Humphrey terminal. Our flight departed early, and despite the "jimmy-legs" really bothering me, I did get a few winks, although not more than a few minutes at a time, therefore I refuse to consider it official "sleep". John said he got a little sleep and that he kept waking himself up with his own snoring. I'm not sure if that was truly the case since I didn't hear him, but I also wear earplugs and am used to his sleeping noises, so maybe I just tuned it out. We ran into a co-worker of John's and her beau, also headed to the conference and to the same hotel, and they offered to drive us to the hotel in their rental car, so that was very nice! Unfortunately, the National Rental guy was really slow. I mean, REALLY slow. Dude didn't get us out of there until after 1:45 AM, and then as we got to the gate to check out, the Check Engine Oil light came on, so we had to go back to fetch a new car, which took until after 2:00, then we still needed to drive all the way to Long Beach. Thankfully, at that hour, there was very little traffic and we made here where the staff were super-friendly and got us into our rooms in less than 5 minutes, where we promptly passed out.
I'm at a little bit of a loss without my John, I must confess. He's the planner, I just sort of tag along behind, taking note of where the food and bathrooms are at any given stop on the itinerary. It's one of those Yin-Yang features that has helped our relationship, even though you might expect the opposite. And I do have a bit of a fear of going out alone, so I've got to be a little Braveheart today. I can't just sit in here and eat Cheez-It's all day. Well, not that I couldn't do it, I am most certainly capable, just that at some point, ya know...I'm going to run out of Cheez-It's. And me without food is a dangerous thing!!
We ended up with a handicap accessible room which is impressive from an accessibility standpoint, and makes me beam with delight for those with disabilities. For us, however, it's kind of a pain in the ass. The shower floor is absolutely flat, of course, and there's a sprayer instead of a regular shower head. John warned me that the water would run all over the rest of the floor, so I'll have to keep that in mind when I finally decide to bathe. The toilet is great for me with my short legs, and the T.P. is so near the floor you almost have to get off the camode to reach it. Again, not too big a deal for me, but for my 6' hubby, a bit of a stretch.
Christ, it's only 9:29! What am I going to do with myself all day? He's gone til 7pm!!!! Oh, and I'm very quickly losing any nerve I had to actually squeeze into my two-piece to hang by the pool. That might have to be a Hollywood Hills Hotel thang, at least then John will be with me to suffer the humilation of "shark-bait" whiteness in the land of the tan. Plus, it looks like it's an outdoor pool here, and amazingly, it's cooler here than in Minneapolis. Last night it was 65 degrees!!!
Well, I should put on my brave face and go for a walk. I'll post again soon!
Love to all ;)~
R&J
PS: We have not felt any earthquake activity, thankfully! They said there were a bunch of aftershocks yesterday, but we missed all of that. I went to sleep wondering what earthquake protocol is...hmmm, the earth opens up beneath you, debris is falling from every which way, where the fuck you gonna go??
So, we left the condo in the responsible hands of John's brother, Dave, said goodbye to the little stink-bombs, and took the bus and LRT to the Humphrey terminal. Our flight departed early, and despite the "jimmy-legs" really bothering me, I did get a few winks, although not more than a few minutes at a time, therefore I refuse to consider it official "sleep". John said he got a little sleep and that he kept waking himself up with his own snoring. I'm not sure if that was truly the case since I didn't hear him, but I also wear earplugs and am used to his sleeping noises, so maybe I just tuned it out. We ran into a co-worker of John's and her beau, also headed to the conference and to the same hotel, and they offered to drive us to the hotel in their rental car, so that was very nice! Unfortunately, the National Rental guy was really slow. I mean, REALLY slow. Dude didn't get us out of there until after 1:45 AM, and then as we got to the gate to check out, the Check Engine Oil light came on, so we had to go back to fetch a new car, which took until after 2:00, then we still needed to drive all the way to Long Beach. Thankfully, at that hour, there was very little traffic and we made here where the staff were super-friendly and got us into our rooms in less than 5 minutes, where we promptly passed out.
I'm at a little bit of a loss without my John, I must confess. He's the planner, I just sort of tag along behind, taking note of where the food and bathrooms are at any given stop on the itinerary. It's one of those Yin-Yang features that has helped our relationship, even though you might expect the opposite. And I do have a bit of a fear of going out alone, so I've got to be a little Braveheart today. I can't just sit in here and eat Cheez-It's all day. Well, not that I couldn't do it, I am most certainly capable, just that at some point, ya know...I'm going to run out of Cheez-It's. And me without food is a dangerous thing!!
We ended up with a handicap accessible room which is impressive from an accessibility standpoint, and makes me beam with delight for those with disabilities. For us, however, it's kind of a pain in the ass. The shower floor is absolutely flat, of course, and there's a sprayer instead of a regular shower head. John warned me that the water would run all over the rest of the floor, so I'll have to keep that in mind when I finally decide to bathe. The toilet is great for me with my short legs, and the T.P. is so near the floor you almost have to get off the camode to reach it. Again, not too big a deal for me, but for my 6' hubby, a bit of a stretch.
Christ, it's only 9:29! What am I going to do with myself all day? He's gone til 7pm!!!! Oh, and I'm very quickly losing any nerve I had to actually squeeze into my two-piece to hang by the pool. That might have to be a Hollywood Hills Hotel thang, at least then John will be with me to suffer the humilation of "shark-bait" whiteness in the land of the tan. Plus, it looks like it's an outdoor pool here, and amazingly, it's cooler here than in Minneapolis. Last night it was 65 degrees!!!
Well, I should put on my brave face and go for a walk. I'll post again soon!
Love to all ;)~
R&J
PS: We have not felt any earthquake activity, thankfully! They said there were a bunch of aftershocks yesterday, but we missed all of that. I went to sleep wondering what earthquake protocol is...hmmm, the earth opens up beneath you, debris is falling from every which way, where the fuck you gonna go??
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Buggin'
OK, I don't know about any other Macintosh users out there reading this, but we've been having trouble viewing our blog from our Macs. I think it's some goofy thing with our service, but who the hell knows. Anyway, we'll be checking into that, so hopefully this doesn't affect my mum's computer since I know she likes to read this and uses a sweet Mac. We're getting syked about the trip, and as I write this I shudder thinking about all the cleaning that needs to be done before we head out. Yikes...we need to have more parties at our place because that's the only time I get the place clean. Well, except when John & I are having a spat, then we do what I call "avoidance cleaning". Mum always teases me when I complain about having to do chores, "You two need to argue about something, hee hee!" I'd rather have a messy place and be Schmoopie ;)~
Well, we've got our pool gear! The swim suit I was going to get looked really dumb in person and had those awful "floating orb" boob things that I can't stand, so I decided on this bottom and a top similar in style to this but the colors match the little skirty thing (or one can only hope...I'm not known for my fashion sense) and John tried on his trunks and they still fit. He hates the trunks, but they're functional, so ya know, whatever. I think they're kinda funky; they're plain grey while dry, but when you get them wet a bunch of black Chinese dragons appear in the fabric. But then again, I have a disturbed taste for some of the cheesiest shit known to man (I once bought a shirt in Tijuana that said, "I got drunk in Tijuana!"...need I say more?) so I decided to stay out of the issue. If he has a beef with his trunks, he can take it up with them. I also found myself a nice thin robe with a hood that will help me *try* to keep my paleness to a nice shade of Minnesota eggshell. I hate tans nor do I do it well. I go from translucent white to peeling lobster in 30 minutes flat. I probably won't sit in the sun too much, but I do plan on doing my laps early, before there's too much pee in the pool, and then maybe reading my books a bit before the sun gets too hot. I'm a little afraid of doing laps in that suit...which is another reason to hit it before anyone else is there. Maybe I'll just float gracefully ;)~~
I'm a little nervous about our flight/hotel/rental car coordination. We're getting into LAX at one in the morning or some ridiculous time, so we'll need to hail a cab or shuttle to the Long Beach hotel. Then leaving Long Beach, we'll have to shuttle back to LAX, pick up our rental car, head for the Hollywood Hills. For our departure on Tuesday, we'll have to check out of the hotel at 11 AM, screw around for about 6 hours until the Dodgers game, watch most of the game (while also lugging our most valuables with us-gods forbid to leave it in a rented Prius for someone to make off with), then probably have to cut out of the game to head back to LAX, return the car, then wait for our 11:00 PM flight home. Oy vey. "Cheap" flights are getting shittier and shittier. Pretty soon we'll be just taking a fucking Greyhound everywhere. Bullocks to that!!
Regardless of the strange connection worries, we're getting excited! I can't wait to be blogging some actual travel news!!!!!!!!!!!
Soon, very soon!
Love, R&J
Well, we've got our pool gear! The swim suit I was going to get looked really dumb in person and had those awful "floating orb" boob things that I can't stand, so I decided on this bottom and a top similar in style to this but the colors match the little skirty thing (or one can only hope...I'm not known for my fashion sense) and John tried on his trunks and they still fit. He hates the trunks, but they're functional, so ya know, whatever. I think they're kinda funky; they're plain grey while dry, but when you get them wet a bunch of black Chinese dragons appear in the fabric. But then again, I have a disturbed taste for some of the cheesiest shit known to man (I once bought a shirt in Tijuana that said, "I got drunk in Tijuana!"...need I say more?) so I decided to stay out of the issue. If he has a beef with his trunks, he can take it up with them. I also found myself a nice thin robe with a hood that will help me *try* to keep my paleness to a nice shade of Minnesota eggshell. I hate tans nor do I do it well. I go from translucent white to peeling lobster in 30 minutes flat. I probably won't sit in the sun too much, but I do plan on doing my laps early, before there's too much pee in the pool, and then maybe reading my books a bit before the sun gets too hot. I'm a little afraid of doing laps in that suit...which is another reason to hit it before anyone else is there. Maybe I'll just float gracefully ;)~~
I'm a little nervous about our flight/hotel/rental car coordination. We're getting into LAX at one in the morning or some ridiculous time, so we'll need to hail a cab or shuttle to the Long Beach hotel. Then leaving Long Beach, we'll have to shuttle back to LAX, pick up our rental car, head for the Hollywood Hills. For our departure on Tuesday, we'll have to check out of the hotel at 11 AM, screw around for about 6 hours until the Dodgers game, watch most of the game (while also lugging our most valuables with us-gods forbid to leave it in a rented Prius for someone to make off with), then probably have to cut out of the game to head back to LAX, return the car, then wait for our 11:00 PM flight home. Oy vey. "Cheap" flights are getting shittier and shittier. Pretty soon we'll be just taking a fucking Greyhound everywhere. Bullocks to that!!
Regardless of the strange connection worries, we're getting excited! I can't wait to be blogging some actual travel news!!!!!!!!!!!
Soon, very soon!
Love, R&J
Friday, July 04, 2008
Hollywood Hills
We booked our hotel in Hollywood today! It's called the Hollywood Hills Hotel. Check it out and see for yourself how funky and weird this place looks. There's some posh place called the Magic Castle that we can go to as guests...it's like one of the highest rated hotels anywhere but it's exclusively for magicians or some weird ass thing, but I love it! It sounds absolutely droll, and you all should know my love of all things droll ;)~~ This is where they hold the Houdini Seances!!!!! I'm usually not one for exclusivity and hold places that have dress codes in fairly low regard, but....for some reason this seems more like a place where people just want to feel fancy rather than be all richy rich snobbery blobs.
We're getting really excited, and even more now that I know there are pools at both hotels so I can keep up with my workouts that I've taken to calling my "spa days"; makes it a bit easier to stick to it ;) Much as I shudder at the thought of the sanitary conditions of hotel pools, I'm going to suck it up for this trip. How can you go to California and NOT spend every day near the pool eating bon-bons?! I've just been window shopping online at Kohl's and I think I found the suit I want . Hopefully it will hide my undesirable bits (i.e. my belly & booty) cuz I'm sure the place will be filled with a bunch of hard bodied babes that will make me miss my forever-gone gymnasts body. Sigh.
Ah, but speaking of all things gluttonous, I've been getting the California lowdown on restaurants from one of my online buddies who is from Studio City, lives in Nashville, and is a punk rock lovin' sous chef!! So I've gotten some cool hints for some eateries we've gotta hit while we're there. I wish she still lived there to show us around. Though I'm not thrilled about flying again, I am excited about hitting the CA. I do love it there, as shopper-scary driver-wildfire-heaven such as it is, it's got palm trees lining the sidewalks, and the Pacific is perfect natural beauty in a big earthy bowl, a sight and sound comparable to none. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!!!
California, here we come!
We're getting really excited, and even more now that I know there are pools at both hotels so I can keep up with my workouts that I've taken to calling my "spa days"; makes it a bit easier to stick to it ;) Much as I shudder at the thought of the sanitary conditions of hotel pools, I'm going to suck it up for this trip. How can you go to California and NOT spend every day near the pool eating bon-bons?! I've just been window shopping online at Kohl's and I think I found the suit I want . Hopefully it will hide my undesirable bits (i.e. my belly & booty) cuz I'm sure the place will be filled with a bunch of hard bodied babes that will make me miss my forever-gone gymnasts body. Sigh.
Ah, but speaking of all things gluttonous, I've been getting the California lowdown on restaurants from one of my online buddies who is from Studio City, lives in Nashville, and is a punk rock lovin' sous chef!! So I've gotten some cool hints for some eateries we've gotta hit while we're there. I wish she still lived there to show us around. Though I'm not thrilled about flying again, I am excited about hitting the CA. I do love it there, as shopper-scary driver-wildfire-heaven such as it is, it's got palm trees lining the sidewalks, and the Pacific is perfect natural beauty in a big earthy bowl, a sight and sound comparable to none. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!!!
California, here we come!
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