Friday I went to Universal Studios Hollywood. My impressions of the place were this: Wow, you know you're in LA when even the theme parks have parking garages. Parking inside one of those was suprisingly confusing. Because of the garage setup and crowd control measures they got in there, the available space to park in was rather small (since most of the other spots were sectioned off on different floors that you couldn't access. It's tough to describe. Anyways up the elevator and into the restaurant/shop area. I must admit, Universal did a good job creating a night spot there, lots of restaurants and shops plus a movie theatre. Good place to spend a night out.
Anyways once inside the theme park, I headed for the one and only thing I wanted to see: The studio tour. Yeah I know, $35 for a studio tour is a bit rediculous, but hey, I was in hollywood, I HAD to see the studio!!! Anyways, the park is built into a large hill so half of it looks over the other half. From the upper part of the hill you could see a lot of whatever that valley that LA is in is called. The best part...you had a CLEAR view of the Warner Brothers Studios!!!!
The studio tour was pretty interesting, got to see some famous sets from movies like pyscho, the truman show, old western movies, as well as other generic sets that were used for tons of movies. My personal favorite was the western sets...I pictured myself having a gun battle with some evil looking guy at high noon. Shooting him, stealing his wife, taking the other pretty girl and...wait...its not that kind of movie set.
So after the studio tour, we went on the Back to the Future ride...exactly the same way I remember it as when I was in Grade 5 at Universal Studios Orlando. In fact if you looked closely enough, on the safety video, the dummies even had the old pepsi can (despite the fact that coke is served throughout the theme park....hahaha, wouldn't that be funny if they changed the video around based on this blog?!?) Went on the mummy thrill ride next. What a ride...the excelleration was pretty sweet...the ride only lasted about a minute which really sucked because the wait for it was about an hour and a half.
The waterworld live show was incredible...much better than the movie, of course that doesn't say much. The T2 3D show was pretty sweet as well. The Van Helsing haunted house was pretty funny if for no other reason than the terrified 15 year old girl (is it wrong if I say she was hot?!?) infront of me...had my sister not been there I would have...ahh nevermind.
After universal we came back to the apartment, grabbed a couple of drinks, watched Vegas Vacation and headed out to a bar at Hermosa beach. Now this is the one thing I noticed about California that I'll never be able to get over...THEY TURNED ON THE FUCKING LIGHTS AT 1:30am!!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THAT?!? The party was still going, and last call isn't until 2am. Evidently more than a few places in LA do that...infact most of them do. So I came back, had a drunken chat with some hottie online and went to bed.
My last day in LA was spent in Beverly Hills and Venice Beach. Beverly Hills wasn't impressive to me...well the shops weren't at least. Seeing an Enzo parked on the side of the road almost made me wet my pants. Needless to say a picture does exist with me standing next to one. Fuck that car is sweet. I also saw a 355 but that's nothing compared to the Enzo.
Venice beach was nice and the shopping was pretty good. Funny to see stores line there ledges with spikes to keep away the birds...stupid birds. My redeye flight home sucked. It was supposed to leave at 10:30...we bored the plane and evidnetly these fags can't fuel a plane right. What's there solution?!? Turn it on and off! Yeah, they had to call Toronto to do that...evidently LAX doesn't have any mechanics. Well they try that and sure enough, it didn't work. So we have to swtich planes, wait another hour and get back on. This time it worked fine. As compensation we're offered one alcoholic drink...yeah that's a good idea, give tired and angry passengers alcohol.
Well the flight home went by without problems...I couldn't sleep for the first 2 hours, but watching enough of the Whole 10 Yards will put anybody to sleep. By the time I do get drowsy I see the great lakes which means I've essentially stayed up the whole night (with the help of a 3 hour time change). Yeah my schedule was fucked and work that week was good.
And that concludes my summer vacation 2004. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.
July 30, 2004
July 26, 2004
Wednesday was pretty...meh. Left Vegas around 12pm or so. Destined to see the Worlds Biggest Thermometer. Pull out of the parking lot and into the gas station...nothing like grabbing a slim jim and a can of Arizona Iced Tea for the road. Now there's something you must understand about these people we call americans...they can not make a normal sized can of iced tea. Nope, it has to be SUPER SIZED! I think the can my sister bought from the kwik-e-mart was at least a litre. The thing was massive. Fortunately her center console support it, or else I would have done some serious chugging. Well anyways...within 45 minute I am out of the state of Nevada and back into (relative) normal land...relative because we are in California.
Anyways, so there we were driving in relative comfort, when I head into a traffic jam...great! Well at least Paris and Nicole are sleeping so I don't have to put up with whining. That's when I spot it...the worlds biggest thermometer! To be honest, I always pictured it bigger...but ahh well. There's an Arby's next door...maybe I can get a beef n cheddar and stand next to a landmark of sorts. I get into the Arbys, but before I go inline, I must make a pitstop inside the washroom. Now, this may have been the WORST washroom I have ever been in. For starters, the urinal was broken, which is no big deal to me. Head into a stall when I notice there's no door...thank god I don't have to do a #2. I seriously had thoughts about pissing on the floor in this place and I don't think I would have been the first..or last. I didn't even bother washing my hands as this water couldn't have been to clean...high 5!
The rest of the ride was average...except for the fact that we had to drive right through LA during rush hour in less than an hour...we were cutting it really close because Paris and Nicole both started work at 7. Of course, with Nicole in the car, you can't stop for gas unless you have nothing better to do. By the time I pulled into the complex, the needle was firmly planted on it's resting thingy (and anybody who's been in the car with me knows I HATE TO SEE THE FUEL LIGHT ON!
Wednesday night was a relaxing night. Drinking beer overlooking the waves. I managed to watch Vegas Vacation afterwards too (a must see for anybody that plans on a...vegas vacation).
Thursday things slowed down. I slept in. The afternoon was spent visitng beaches along the coast...Hermosa and something else north of it...well the name isn't important. That night while my sister was at work, I relaxed, took a nice walk along the beach, saw the sunset. Very relaxing, although I still couldn't believe how unwarm the weather was.
Anyways, so there we were driving in relative comfort, when I head into a traffic jam...great! Well at least Paris and Nicole are sleeping so I don't have to put up with whining. That's when I spot it...the worlds biggest thermometer! To be honest, I always pictured it bigger...but ahh well. There's an Arby's next door...maybe I can get a beef n cheddar and stand next to a landmark of sorts. I get into the Arbys, but before I go inline, I must make a pitstop inside the washroom. Now, this may have been the WORST washroom I have ever been in. For starters, the urinal was broken, which is no big deal to me. Head into a stall when I notice there's no door...thank god I don't have to do a #2. I seriously had thoughts about pissing on the floor in this place and I don't think I would have been the first..or last. I didn't even bother washing my hands as this water couldn't have been to clean...high 5!
The rest of the ride was average...except for the fact that we had to drive right through LA during rush hour in less than an hour...we were cutting it really close because Paris and Nicole both started work at 7. Of course, with Nicole in the car, you can't stop for gas unless you have nothing better to do. By the time I pulled into the complex, the needle was firmly planted on it's resting thingy (and anybody who's been in the car with me knows I HATE TO SEE THE FUEL LIGHT ON!
Wednesday night was a relaxing night. Drinking beer overlooking the waves. I managed to watch Vegas Vacation afterwards too (a must see for anybody that plans on a...vegas vacation).
Thursday things slowed down. I slept in. The afternoon was spent visitng beaches along the coast...Hermosa and something else north of it...well the name isn't important. That night while my sister was at work, I relaxed, took a nice walk along the beach, saw the sunset. Very relaxing, although I still couldn't believe how unwarm the weather was.
July 22, 2004
Shit, a week goes by quick when you're not sleeping. Lets try to piece together the rest of my Vegas Vacation. Umm...woke up that around 12...checked out of New York New York, got valet to bring us back our car when I noticed something odd. Hmm...Nicole...isn't the A/C in your car broken? Hmm...might just have been in an underground parking garage with cool air...once we get outside it should be back to normal. It never got back to normal...cool air kept coming out of the A/C....ain't that a kick in the nuts? Drive all the way from LA to Vegas in 100 degree heat and the A/C was working the whole time...ahh well.
Go to some mall in Vegas on the strip...yes you can't go into ANY store with Paris and Nicole without wasting 2 hours and seeing neither of them buy anything. Well lunch was good there (it turned out to be the only meal I had that day). We checked into the Luxor (that uber cool pyramid). I think I lost $2 during check in. Check into the hotel, get changed, check out the pool. I gotta say, they make some shallow pools in Vegas. It wasn't deeper than 4 feet anywhere in the water. Really weird. After the pool, it was a walk through the mall inside the hotel before we got back to the room. Get changed out of my bathing suit and into my poker pants! It's poker time baby!
At the poker tables..what's the wait for 2/4 hold'em? About 1/2 an hour, but we get a 1/2 table if you wanna play. Hmm...1/2....my money would last longer there....I'll take it!! Well to make a long story short, I get dealt the following losing hands, Ace-King suited, pair of kings, and Jack King.
So...I get back to the room around 10pm...Paris and Nicole aren't ready. They are doing their girly things. Line of the night was:
Stu: "What's taking you girls so long, you've been getting ready for two hours and I still don't notice a difference"
Paris: "A girl always has to look her best"
Stu: "Better try harder then"
We finally leave the hotel room at 12. Down to the casino floor of the luxor...no Sic Bo...lets try New York New York....They've got SIC BO!!!! Although the table is closed :( Maybe tomorrow (yeah...like we'll still be around). Alright, maybe no gambling tonight...lets check Coyote ugly. Get past the bouncer, but it's a $10 cover charge, so Paris, Nicole and Stu turn around...turns out the bouncer can hook us up with free admission!!!! Sweet...although the place is rammed like you wouldn't believe (honestly, you couldn't move in there) so we get the fuck out after 5 minutes in there....saw one flasher though!!!!!
So it's off to various other casios for free booze. After a few slots and a tram ride, we manage to stumble our way into the MGM Grand where a question is posed: Do they have a Sic Bo table? The answer is no, but they got Studio 54. Well, it's ladies night...and Stu being the genius he is decided to pull a Coyote ugly and get free admission. Stu got told by the cash girl, so in my infinite wisdom I say to Paris and Nicole "Have a nice time inside, I'm not paying $10 to get in!" And I walked away. Now the only regret I have was I didn't see the look on the girls face when I said that right infront her. Well a few more drinks, a walk around Vegas and I find my way back to the room around 3:30am. A good night was had, probably would have been better if I went inside the club...but ahh well. For the record, Paris and Nicole showed up at the room around 9am.
Go to some mall in Vegas on the strip...yes you can't go into ANY store with Paris and Nicole without wasting 2 hours and seeing neither of them buy anything. Well lunch was good there (it turned out to be the only meal I had that day). We checked into the Luxor (that uber cool pyramid). I think I lost $2 during check in. Check into the hotel, get changed, check out the pool. I gotta say, they make some shallow pools in Vegas. It wasn't deeper than 4 feet anywhere in the water. Really weird. After the pool, it was a walk through the mall inside the hotel before we got back to the room. Get changed out of my bathing suit and into my poker pants! It's poker time baby!
At the poker tables..what's the wait for 2/4 hold'em? About 1/2 an hour, but we get a 1/2 table if you wanna play. Hmm...1/2....my money would last longer there....I'll take it!! Well to make a long story short, I get dealt the following losing hands, Ace-King suited, pair of kings, and Jack King.
So...I get back to the room around 10pm...Paris and Nicole aren't ready. They are doing their girly things. Line of the night was:
Stu: "What's taking you girls so long, you've been getting ready for two hours and I still don't notice a difference"
Paris: "A girl always has to look her best"
Stu: "Better try harder then"
We finally leave the hotel room at 12. Down to the casino floor of the luxor...no Sic Bo...lets try New York New York....They've got SIC BO!!!! Although the table is closed :( Maybe tomorrow (yeah...like we'll still be around). Alright, maybe no gambling tonight...lets check Coyote ugly. Get past the bouncer, but it's a $10 cover charge, so Paris, Nicole and Stu turn around...turns out the bouncer can hook us up with free admission!!!! Sweet...although the place is rammed like you wouldn't believe (honestly, you couldn't move in there) so we get the fuck out after 5 minutes in there....saw one flasher though!!!!!
So it's off to various other casios for free booze. After a few slots and a tram ride, we manage to stumble our way into the MGM Grand where a question is posed: Do they have a Sic Bo table? The answer is no, but they got Studio 54. Well, it's ladies night...and Stu being the genius he is decided to pull a Coyote ugly and get free admission. Stu got told by the cash girl, so in my infinite wisdom I say to Paris and Nicole "Have a nice time inside, I'm not paying $10 to get in!" And I walked away. Now the only regret I have was I didn't see the look on the girls face when I said that right infront her. Well a few more drinks, a walk around Vegas and I find my way back to the room around 3:30am. A good night was had, probably would have been better if I went inside the club...but ahh well. For the record, Paris and Nicole showed up at the room around 9am.
July 15, 2004
July 13, 2004
I'm a realist. I don't expect anybody to read my full vacation recap. So yeah, I know you're scimming through...I hope you catch hidden references and jokes.
Sunday night was one of those cool days in California. I did absolutely NOTHING at all. Well except for a couple walks up and down the pier and watching 4th of July fireworks but that was about it. And what's the deal with fireworks anyway. Am I the only one that gets bored after 5 minutes. They are sooo bloody repetitive. Meh, maybe I'm just an exception to the rule.
Monday...now that's a day to be proud of. Wake up at 7am, shower and on the road by 9 (keep in mind, I had to wait for my sister and Paris Hilton (well at least her clone) to come back from working a nightshift. Come to think of, that's the only thing that made the ride bareable. LA to Vegas in the July heat with no A/C. And to be perfectly honest, I don't think I would have had it any other way for my first voyage through a real desert. Feeling the heat while driving got me to thinking. I put my hand on the windshield...damn that's hot (think car sitting in the sun hot, except the car was at highway speeds). Anyways, just a short 6 months ago, I was driving from Toronto to Boston in air so cold, the rear defrost was essentially useless because it couldn't keep up with the outside air. Well anyways, after one stop at an outlet mall at the halfway point, I figured alright...they've had their shopping fill, we've got enough gas (yes, I was still anal about the gas...those who've driven with me to Montreal know how I can be). Well with about 90 minutes to vegas I make the mistake of saying "I'm hungry". Stupid me, because the second you mention stopping for food around Paris and Nicole you must make a stop at the next area for food.
As luck would have it, that next place was right on the California/Nevada border. Of course as soon as you cross inside Nevada, there's a Mall/Casino waiting for you. So a quick half hour stop turned to a 2 hour snooze fest topped by Paris buying something and Nicole trying everything on in the store and walking out with nothing. So what's a guy who's been inside Nevada for no more than 2 hours to do while waiting? Gamble of course! Do the customary casino walk. Find no poker tables. Hang head in shame and begin to leave. On the way out I figure WTF...let's put $1 in the slot machine. First pull: Nothing. Second pull: Nothing. Third pull: Nothing. Well that's a waste of a dollar that could have been shoved into a stripers panties. Let me just pull the lever one more time, maybe get a quater back and be on my way. CA CHING! In an only in Nevada story, $20 spits out of the machine!!! Now what you may not have known is in some Nevada casinos they no longer use tokens. It's either real quaters or printed recipts. I gotta say, I'm a fan of both those methods.
$20 richer and 2 hours behind schedule we continue on our fantastic voyage to Vegas. One sight that I'll never forget is driving up a hill...making it to the top and seeing Vegas below. Ahh yes sin city...now lets go gamble!!! While waiting for Paris and Nicole to check in, I figure...hey, I'm up $20, lets try another pull! $1 later I'm up $21 for the vacation! Woohoo. Print recipt and assume Paris and Nicole are done with the check in...nope..so I wait around longer...nope...3 minutes pass...compulsive gambling takes over...I'm now back to $20 profit for the Nevada leg of my vacation and my total to -$7
Later voyages into the casino consist of losing $5 scattered amongst 5 different casinos, finding out that casino's actually do serve free booze (I was unware of that) free valet parking and the monorail is free. Then we make it to the New Frontier casino where they have mini mechanical horses racing. Down $10 now. Lets head back to New York New York. Scattered along the voyage back are pirate shows at Treasure Island, the Fountain at the Bellagio and a cab driver who told off Nicole after she insisted on getting exact change in return for cab fair (no, I did not make that up...of course as soon as the cab pulled into the hotel I used the excuse that I was out of money and bolted like fat boy to a buffet).
Well stumbling around New York New York, what do I find? Sic Bo!!!!!! Oh yeah! On the hottest streak since I've arrived in vegas I manage to make it up to the +$40 point!!! No sooner do I hit the $40 point than Paris and Nicole get hungry. Figuring that it's only 2:30am, I comply and get some pizza. Hmm...I'm sobering up...time for the Bellagio and some poker! Well I make it to the Bellagio but never find the poker room. They had Price Is Right slot machines. Slot machines lack the mental focus that Sic Bo has and I quickly lose interest and fall asleep (inside a casino might I add). Wake up, walk back to New York New York and fall asleep sometime after sunrise.
Sunday night was one of those cool days in California. I did absolutely NOTHING at all. Well except for a couple walks up and down the pier and watching 4th of July fireworks but that was about it. And what's the deal with fireworks anyway. Am I the only one that gets bored after 5 minutes. They are sooo bloody repetitive. Meh, maybe I'm just an exception to the rule.
Monday...now that's a day to be proud of. Wake up at 7am, shower and on the road by 9 (keep in mind, I had to wait for my sister and Paris Hilton (well at least her clone) to come back from working a nightshift. Come to think of, that's the only thing that made the ride bareable. LA to Vegas in the July heat with no A/C. And to be perfectly honest, I don't think I would have had it any other way for my first voyage through a real desert. Feeling the heat while driving got me to thinking. I put my hand on the windshield...damn that's hot (think car sitting in the sun hot, except the car was at highway speeds). Anyways, just a short 6 months ago, I was driving from Toronto to Boston in air so cold, the rear defrost was essentially useless because it couldn't keep up with the outside air. Well anyways, after one stop at an outlet mall at the halfway point, I figured alright...they've had their shopping fill, we've got enough gas (yes, I was still anal about the gas...those who've driven with me to Montreal know how I can be). Well with about 90 minutes to vegas I make the mistake of saying "I'm hungry". Stupid me, because the second you mention stopping for food around Paris and Nicole you must make a stop at the next area for food.
As luck would have it, that next place was right on the California/Nevada border. Of course as soon as you cross inside Nevada, there's a Mall/Casino waiting for you. So a quick half hour stop turned to a 2 hour snooze fest topped by Paris buying something and Nicole trying everything on in the store and walking out with nothing. So what's a guy who's been inside Nevada for no more than 2 hours to do while waiting? Gamble of course! Do the customary casino walk. Find no poker tables. Hang head in shame and begin to leave. On the way out I figure WTF...let's put $1 in the slot machine. First pull: Nothing. Second pull: Nothing. Third pull: Nothing. Well that's a waste of a dollar that could have been shoved into a stripers panties. Let me just pull the lever one more time, maybe get a quater back and be on my way. CA CHING! In an only in Nevada story, $20 spits out of the machine!!! Now what you may not have known is in some Nevada casinos they no longer use tokens. It's either real quaters or printed recipts. I gotta say, I'm a fan of both those methods.
$20 richer and 2 hours behind schedule we continue on our fantastic voyage to Vegas. One sight that I'll never forget is driving up a hill...making it to the top and seeing Vegas below. Ahh yes sin city...now lets go gamble!!! While waiting for Paris and Nicole to check in, I figure...hey, I'm up $20, lets try another pull! $1 later I'm up $21 for the vacation! Woohoo. Print recipt and assume Paris and Nicole are done with the check in...nope..so I wait around longer...nope...3 minutes pass...compulsive gambling takes over...I'm now back to $20 profit for the Nevada leg of my vacation and my total to -$7
Later voyages into the casino consist of losing $5 scattered amongst 5 different casinos, finding out that casino's actually do serve free booze (I was unware of that) free valet parking and the monorail is free. Then we make it to the New Frontier casino where they have mini mechanical horses racing. Down $10 now. Lets head back to New York New York. Scattered along the voyage back are pirate shows at Treasure Island, the Fountain at the Bellagio and a cab driver who told off Nicole after she insisted on getting exact change in return for cab fair (no, I did not make that up...of course as soon as the cab pulled into the hotel I used the excuse that I was out of money and bolted like fat boy to a buffet).
Well stumbling around New York New York, what do I find? Sic Bo!!!!!! Oh yeah! On the hottest streak since I've arrived in vegas I manage to make it up to the +$40 point!!! No sooner do I hit the $40 point than Paris and Nicole get hungry. Figuring that it's only 2:30am, I comply and get some pizza. Hmm...I'm sobering up...time for the Bellagio and some poker! Well I make it to the Bellagio but never find the poker room. They had Price Is Right slot machines. Slot machines lack the mental focus that Sic Bo has and I quickly lose interest and fall asleep (inside a casino might I add). Wake up, walk back to New York New York and fall asleep sometime after sunrise.
July 12, 2004
Crap, it's been a while since I've posted, lets recap the events of the last 11 days in brief. Hmm...well July the 1st was Canada Day and for the 2nd straight year I was working on my nations birthday. Yeah, national holiday my ass. You wanna know what's bullshit, us hard working Canadians work Canada Day, get the Friday off and have a 3 day weeks. Our neighbours to the south have their nations birthday on a Sunday and they STILL get Monday off. WTF is up with that?!? Ok thats the end of my rant.
Anyways July 1st was my last day at the corporate office. I had some nice plans in store for that day, mainly booking a flight to LA. Well as luck would have it, doesn't Mr. IT Director/bigshot offer me a 2-3 month contract position and wants me to start Monday? Hmm...well yes, I do want the job, but there ain't no fucking way I'm going to start it without taking a vacation first. So I deeply dig my feet into the ground and demand 2 weeks vacation or I'm going to walk out. Long story short I get one week. Note to self, next time book flight BEFORE last day of work, or at least say you did to ensure a full 2 week vacation period.
Well next comes my "get the fuck away from us lunch". And what better place to take me than Korean BBQ? Well I'm not a big fan of it, but Asian people seem to dig the place. Personally I'd rather have gone to a Texas BBQ. I don't give two craps about the all u can eat, the company was paying, I would have got all I can eat either way.
Fast forward to Friday. Yay time to book a flight to and from LA. Hmm...if you book two one way flights, it's cheaper than booking a round trip flight when you fly Tango (by Air Canada). Why, because of STUPID GOVERNMENT TAXES. GST MY ASS! No wait, the Federal Liberals said they'd scrap the GST...that was back in 1993. HAHAHA, why do people keep falling for the Liberals non existent agenda...wait the conservatives have a hidden agenda...I think they found it...yup it's hidden right behind the weapons of mass descruction in Iraq. Anyways I book the flight Friday.
Saturday I arrive in LA around 12pm local time. Mmm, Baha Fresh. If you're ever in the LA area, that's one fast food chain I highly recommend visiting. Simply the best burrito I've ever had (although that's in comparison to Taco Bell so it doesn't say much). That was around 2 I guess. So I get enough time to eat lunch, settle in when my sister tells me we're heading to Santa Barbara, but first we're picking up one of her nurse friends. Pick up nurse friend at 6pm LA time. Nurse friend isn't ready. Wait 15 minutes, then attempt to take a nap while 2 nurses go into Pier One Imports. 30 minutes later, no nap and nurses emerge from store with bags of crap. Arrive in Santa Barbara at 8:30pm to meet another nurse friend. Here's a shocker, she's not ready.
Leave apartment at 9 for dinner. We went to some fancy (in California terms that means an excuse to jack up prices) Italian restaurant. Finish dinner at 11pm. The pizza was good, but definetly not worth the $14 my sister paid (she insisted so I allowed her to). Go for drinks. Leave bar at 1am. You see, people in California are cool...they close down their bars\clubs at 1:30 so everybody is out by last call. 1:45 (now, keep in mind, according to my body, it's 4:45am and I've been up since 7am) back at car...I wanna go to sleep, but 4 nurses and 1 doctor want to go to the casino. The lonely IT vote is discarded as we drive an hour north to some Indian reservation in California. (You know, if I had to tell you which one it is, I wouldn't know). I take an hour nap in the car and wake up in Dutch town (since when did they have a town, and why is it inext to an indian reservation?). Wake up, it must be 3am by this point at a casino (wait...Vegas isn't until Monday...ahh fuck it). So I figure why not, I grab a coffee and head to the poker tables. Yay, no wait. Give me $40 worth of chips. 3:30am...I'm down to my last dollar...all in on a pair of jacks. Luckily everybody folds like the French at the sight of a gun. I manage to win a couple more hands to put me above par ($47 worth of chips at my highest point). Thats when the doctor checks up on me. Naturally I fall to the $23 and it's time to call it a night...at 4am...actually is that calling it a morning by that point, because it's 7am according to my...ahh fuck it).
Back in the car at 4:15. Asleep at 4:17. Wake up at 5:30 in Santa Barbara...say goodbye to nurses and doctor. 5:32 back to sleep. 7am...back at apartment in Torrance. Yeah, that was one day of my trip, this blog has gone on too long, I'll update again later with stories of Vegas, Santa Monica and a certain friend.
Anyways July 1st was my last day at the corporate office. I had some nice plans in store for that day, mainly booking a flight to LA. Well as luck would have it, doesn't Mr. IT Director/bigshot offer me a 2-3 month contract position and wants me to start Monday? Hmm...well yes, I do want the job, but there ain't no fucking way I'm going to start it without taking a vacation first. So I deeply dig my feet into the ground and demand 2 weeks vacation or I'm going to walk out. Long story short I get one week. Note to self, next time book flight BEFORE last day of work, or at least say you did to ensure a full 2 week vacation period.
Well next comes my "get the fuck away from us lunch". And what better place to take me than Korean BBQ? Well I'm not a big fan of it, but Asian people seem to dig the place. Personally I'd rather have gone to a Texas BBQ. I don't give two craps about the all u can eat, the company was paying, I would have got all I can eat either way.
Fast forward to Friday. Yay time to book a flight to and from LA. Hmm...if you book two one way flights, it's cheaper than booking a round trip flight when you fly Tango (by Air Canada). Why, because of STUPID GOVERNMENT TAXES. GST MY ASS! No wait, the Federal Liberals said they'd scrap the GST...that was back in 1993. HAHAHA, why do people keep falling for the Liberals non existent agenda...wait the conservatives have a hidden agenda...I think they found it...yup it's hidden right behind the weapons of mass descruction in Iraq. Anyways I book the flight Friday.
Saturday I arrive in LA around 12pm local time. Mmm, Baha Fresh. If you're ever in the LA area, that's one fast food chain I highly recommend visiting. Simply the best burrito I've ever had (although that's in comparison to Taco Bell so it doesn't say much). That was around 2 I guess. So I get enough time to eat lunch, settle in when my sister tells me we're heading to Santa Barbara, but first we're picking up one of her nurse friends. Pick up nurse friend at 6pm LA time. Nurse friend isn't ready. Wait 15 minutes, then attempt to take a nap while 2 nurses go into Pier One Imports. 30 minutes later, no nap and nurses emerge from store with bags of crap. Arrive in Santa Barbara at 8:30pm to meet another nurse friend. Here's a shocker, she's not ready.
Leave apartment at 9 for dinner. We went to some fancy (in California terms that means an excuse to jack up prices) Italian restaurant. Finish dinner at 11pm. The pizza was good, but definetly not worth the $14 my sister paid (she insisted so I allowed her to). Go for drinks. Leave bar at 1am. You see, people in California are cool...they close down their bars\clubs at 1:30 so everybody is out by last call. 1:45 (now, keep in mind, according to my body, it's 4:45am and I've been up since 7am) back at car...I wanna go to sleep, but 4 nurses and 1 doctor want to go to the casino. The lonely IT vote is discarded as we drive an hour north to some Indian reservation in California. (You know, if I had to tell you which one it is, I wouldn't know). I take an hour nap in the car and wake up in Dutch town (since when did they have a town, and why is it inext to an indian reservation?). Wake up, it must be 3am by this point at a casino (wait...Vegas isn't until Monday...ahh fuck it). So I figure why not, I grab a coffee and head to the poker tables. Yay, no wait. Give me $40 worth of chips. 3:30am...I'm down to my last dollar...all in on a pair of jacks. Luckily everybody folds like the French at the sight of a gun. I manage to win a couple more hands to put me above par ($47 worth of chips at my highest point). Thats when the doctor checks up on me. Naturally I fall to the $23 and it's time to call it a night...at 4am...actually is that calling it a morning by that point, because it's 7am according to my...ahh fuck it).
Back in the car at 4:15. Asleep at 4:17. Wake up at 5:30 in Santa Barbara...say goodbye to nurses and doctor. 5:32 back to sleep. 7am...back at apartment in Torrance. Yeah, that was one day of my trip, this blog has gone on too long, I'll update again later with stories of Vegas, Santa Monica and a certain friend.
July 01, 2004
Just to show you how far up to date with things, I missed the second anniversary of my first blog. June 24, 2002. Wow, it's been 2 years already. Most people said it would never last. It did. Sucks though that it never became popular like I dreamed it would be (check that like I KNEW it would be)...but meh, so what? It's out lived just about every other blog that it has been linked to before. Gone through 1 redesign (a second one will be done once I find somebody willing to do it). Yes happy birthday to my blog! What will the next year bring?