Friday, April 6, 2012

From LAX, Terminal 7

It is 3:11PM on Good Friday in Southern California, where I have been now for 16 hours and from which I will fly (back to Baldy-more, hon) in seven hours.  My business is done for the day, and I am ensconced in the United Club, catching up on email, making a few calls.  Soon, I will insert earplugs and put on a mask and take a bit of a snooze.

This is the trip I tried three weeks ago, but from which United's cancellation of my westbound flight forced a scrub.  A few thoughts?

--I sometimes have pity for conservatives who live in California, what with the taxes they pay and the horrific background noise of omnipresent liberalism. But I no longer pity them.  They really do live in paradise, at least the parts I've been to.  LA is very nice, with the sea and the mountains within sight of each other, and a vibrant, desert climate separating the two.  If they have to pay higher taxes for this, so be it.

--LAX is simply not keeping up with the rest of LA.  It is a bit seedy, sorta run-down.  For some reason, I have a sense that LA should have a hipper airport.  Like Dulles, its dining choices are abysmal.   I may simply gorge on free trail mix in the United Club.

--I made a tactical error on the flight home, choosing an aisle seat for the red-eye.  What I should have done was select the window, as then I could evacuate my kidneys just before the flight and hunker down unmolested for five hours.  Now I will have to deal with my seatmates and their in-flight needs. Curses.

--I am a fan of the red-eye for the eastbound leg of trips to California.  I usually get plenty of sleep and arrive chipper and rested back on the East Coast.  

--There are few things in life as good as Hertz #1 Club.  When I hopped on the Hertz shuttle last night--tired and bedraggled--it was quite crowded.  Upon reaching the car farm, that crowd turned into a customer service line, while I looked for my name, saw my number, and went and got in my car.  I have no clue what this costs me each year, but I would probably pay more.

--I drove a Nissan Sentra as my rental car while here.  Small, but plenty of room and a cavernous trunk.  It seems to me that even relatively low priced cars are pretty good these days, sorta like TV sets.  Remember what low priced cars were like in the 70's?  Man, they sucked.

That's all for now.  Should I think of anything else, I'll let you know.



4 comments:

"The Hammer" said...

Damn shame we're gonna have to give it back to Mexico in another 20 years.

Anonymous said...

AND YOU REPRESENT BOTH ENDS OF GOD'S SPECTRUM

AND THEN GOD CREATED MARYLAND (Even non Marylanders should love this one.) God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael, the archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day.He inquired, "Where have you been?"God smiled deeply and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look, Michael. Look what I've made."Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and said, "What is it?""It's a planet," replied God, and I've put life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a place to test Balance.""Balance?" inquired Michael, "I'm still confused."God explained, pointing to different parts of Earth."For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor.Over here I've placed a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black people."Balance in all things." God continued pointing to different countries."This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice."The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land area and said, "What's that one?""That's Maryland, the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful mountains, rivers and Streams, lakes, forests, hills, the ocean and plains.The people from Maryland are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent, and humorous, And they are going to travel the world.They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, high achieving, carriers of peace, and producers of good things"Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then asked, "But what about balance, God? You said there would be balance."God smiled, "Yes, Right next to Maryland is Washington, D.C.? Wait till you see the idiots I put there.."____________________________________________________________

Mudge said...

Do you think we could just give them all of LA, Hollywood and the people of San Francisco (keep the Bay area property though)? As a bonus, we could offer them Oakland and Berkeley if they will also take Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi. I really think that would be a win win (until they figured out the severity of the liability we handed them).

Sally said...

Did you travel in a tracksuit this time?

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