Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Memorial Day Weekend

Overall, it was a restful weekend. Took two out of three games from the cubbies. Before Friday's game, I took the mini in for it's first service call. Fluids and filter check and replace. I decided not to take a loaner car [would have been free] since I had nothing else to do and wait it out. The message I got from LoJack a few minutes later was amusing. "Your car may have been moved without your permission, please check on it as soon as possible." Since I had the LoJack key in my pocket, and not on my car's keychain, that made sense to me. The service writer had a british accent and asked if there was any other issue or damage to look at. I answered no, and he offered, 'so, no campaigning then?' which brought a smile on both our faces. I did have to order the tow hook cable cover, since the one the salesman put on my car blew off the first day. As soon as it is painted the correct color, I asked him to mail it to me and I'll put it on. Of course he answered that he will 'post' it forthwith. Two countries, separated by a common language. Demonstrated even more by the commentary on the DVD 'Shaun of the Dead'. Changing the word Pissed to Drunk so american audiences will know that he thought she had been drinking instead of being angry. Got the car back and it drove away better than ever. They even gave it a nice wash. The best part was when the cashier said 'no charge'. Headed west on I-10 to the end when it turns north up the coast along California Hwy 1. Pacific Coast Highway is affectionately called PCH around these parts. Passed through lower Malibu, stopped a bit at Zuma to watch a surfing competition ramp up, then headed north again to Point Mugu. What a beautiful drive, even with a slight overcast. Since I took everything out of the car earlier in the day before the service call, I did not have my camera with me. I can not use the data features of this darn perpetual roaming phone either. I'll have to snap a few in the weeks to come and post them. Maybe I have some in another online archive from a few years ago, will have to check that too. Cut over to the 101 from PCH before getting to Oxnard. The smells of the strawberry fields put me in an even better mood. All of this with the top down, of course. Maneuvered onto the 101 back to LA and ran into some traffic, I still had five hours before game time, so plenty time to soak up the sun. Thought when I got into the valley, it was getting really hot. So much so that the convertible in front of me put their top up! Well, we were only doing about 20 mph on this li'l freeway at the moment, so he didn't even have to pull over. His passenger seemed appreciative. Finally got through the downtown heading traffic and got back to the speed limit through Pasadena. Checked my mailbox and decided to head home until the gates would open for the game. Drove by a few movie theaters just in case the lines were short, they were not. Why would they be? It's only one of the most popular weekends for movies. While getting ready for the game, noticed how sunburned I had become from one day on the road. This will take a lot of work to even out the arms with everything else. Dodgers came from behind to win a great see-saw battle Friday night, but only scored nine runs in their win, so the fans with tickets did not earn ten free hot wings at hooters this day, like we did a week or so ago. Not that I took them up on the offer, it's advertised during the pre-game, but I have yet to walk into a hooters. There is one on Colorado Blvd in Pasadena that I drive by at least three times a week, but have yet to stop in at. Maybe I need to be in a group to go there, yeah, that's it. Woke up late Saturday by the time I got to the early game, the parking lot I usually park in was full. Fortunately, the attendant was just opening a side gate to the next lot when a car ahead of me paid him a double sawbuck to do it. The attendant recognized me as being two hours later than normal and waved me in too. The couple that got out of the other car introduced themselves and told me what they did to park there. I asked them if they were going to the Stadium Club and they wanted to know what it was and how do they get in there. I checked their tickets, and it did not say Club Access so I had them follow me as my guests, with the advice that they just look like they know what they are doing. They bought my blue normally-pre-game drink, she had one as well, and him an ale. I told them how food service worked, they ordered some and got a table, we thank'd each other and I left for my seats. Lost that close game, but had a lot of fun watching it. Sunday's game was the long one. Tied at zero for a long time, we finally scored a run in the eleventh to win it. It was hot, I was burnt, and the ale after the game upstairs in the club helped a lot too. Met a couple from Lost Wages at the bar. Seems they drove in just for the games on Saturday and Sunday. I called them wise for going against the main flow of traffic between LA and LV but they didn't get it. The cubbies did draw a lot of fans, over a hundred thousand total for the three game series. Monday was a quiet day, playing Railroads on the dual core on the internet and getting bought out, as well as re-watching all the commentaries on 'Shaun of the Dead' before sending it back to Netflix. Not recommended for kiddies as it's rated R, but a nice zed-word movie with a lot of comedy in spite of the foul language. Then again, what would you say if zombie approached you? Nice that it was set in London, too. Back to work, helping people print and e-mail each other while working on PBEM war-gaming in the background. Cya.

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