The problem with 8 part posts is that one gets behind in posting actual life events. It is going to be a busy few weeks. Here is what is coming up.
Tomorrow is the fall application deadline for Boston University. Thursday is the deadline for Northeastern and Suffolk. Boston College deadline isn't until May 1. These days are relevant as I'm applying to the evening MBA program of these schools. Note that these are all Boston schools, and I will not be leaving the area any time soon. The school I'm really hoping to go to though is the one that is best at googling my name.
Saturday is Draft Day for year 12 of Dove Hunting. I'll spend the vast the majority of the day* sitting in front of a computer typing into a chat box. I'm not sure that it is my favorite day of the year, but it as least in the discussion. Bonus points for none of the day being spent in a hospital room with Becky this year.
*Last year the draft took about seven hours. We made really good time.
Sunday we will host our monthly gaming activities. We will also be celebrating either the color green, pi(e)s or perhaps just green pies.
Some time next week I'm hoping to resume sessions of Risk Legacy. Legacy will get a full post at some point, but the short explanation is that your moves in the game have permanent affects on the game board. Through the course of play you write and place stickers on the board and occasionally rip cards up. It is like risk, but awesome.
The weekend after
that I'll be heading off to Orlando to visit my sister and catch a
couple Spring training game assuming I ever bother to buy a plane
ticket.
Two weeks after that is the start of passover. I'm going to try to host my first sedar for gentiles since my college days.
There are also two puzzle events in April. Boston Area Puzzle Hunters League on the 21th of April and DASH the weekend after. I think I'll be able to partake in BAPHL and will be helping run DASH.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
A Weddings Adventure Part VI: Manhattan West Coast Style
We reluctantly left Mexico on Wednesday and made our way back to
Los Estados Unidos. This time we stayed
at a Radison, which was a significant upgrade upon the Travellodge. It
even had a sleep number bed, which rectified my problem that hotel beds
are always too hard. From now on I'm going to have to try to always
stay at a hotel that has one*. Not feeling too
adventurous, we ate dinner in the hotel
restaurant, where I got steak which was easily better than any I had in
Mexico. The meal reminded us both that we were back to American sized
portions, and that we needed to carry wallets around again.
*Unless the hotel comes with a hammock.
Thursday
was our one free day to roam the streets of Los Angeles. Figuring out
to spend a day in LA proved to be a bit of a logistical
challenge. Everything is spread out and
expensive, and neither of us had any great interest in the trappings of
Hollywood. We ended up finding a $5
all day trolley that connected various hotels including ours to a few tourist destinations.
The first stop on the trolley was Manhattan beach, where at
least some of the local rich and famous live.* There was a pathway with various local
shops along it. Up a street on one side were colorful houses that cost more than we are likely to make in the next few decades. On
the other side was the boardwalk, beach and ocean. We ate lunch at a
bakery that offered enormous sandwiches and delicious mini cupcakes for
dessert. There was also a cute
independent bookstore whose kind is rarely seen anymore. We went down
the boardwalk and watched the surfers for a while. This allowed me to
explain the entertaining art
of watching people fall to Becky. There was a pier that led to a free
aquarium, but it was closed.
*For example there dwells Nomar Garciaparra and Mia Hamm who Becky's grandmother asked us to stalk on her behalf.
 | |
| Becky and Honey on the pier |
*The night did have a striking resemblance to what my friend Rich's idea of heaven must be.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
A Weddings Adventure Part V: Wedding in Paradise
We weren't just in Mexico to rest and relax in the sun. We had important business to attend to. We had to go to a wedding*
*On the beach, where we could rest and relax in the sun.
As we were getting dressed we started hearing music coming from the beach. This was unnerving as we were concerned we were going to miss the ceremony. We finished up and rushed down the hundred or so steps to get down to the beach. It turns out, Jason, a groomsman, was just warming up his guitar, and we were amongst the first to arrive.
Paddy, our flight companion, was standing by the canopy, with an iPad in toe. You see an iPad is not merely a device for taking funny pictures, but it can also be used to store text, say for a wedding ceremony. Yes, Paddy wasn't merely in the wedding, he was presiding over it.
There were about 45 people at wedding. Most were people from Alaska or the pacific northwest who worked in fishing in some capacity. We were part of the Boston gamers*contingent.
*That is how everyone in their families knew us. The Boston people who played games.
The groom and his groomsmen lined up and waited for the bridesmaids to descend the steps. The bridesmaids wore sage dresses along with necklaces and earrings that Becky had designed. As they made their way across the straw mats and reached Bo, he gave each one a high five. Then Lia came down, accompandied by her father, and wearing a dress* that both of her mother and grandmother had worn before when they walked down the aisle. No high five for her though, guess she wasn't special enough.
*Altered by Becky and Ellen, who had to take apart some parts that were ripping earlier in the day.
Paddy's ceremony was closer to a best man's speech then a traditional ceremony. He talked about how Bo was like a big brother and how Lia was always perfect for Bo. Lia's dad, Eric, handled the more spiritual part of the ceremony. He, being more of a traditionalist, read off of a laptop. They also included some personal touches. They took sand from their Alaskan home and combined in with the sand on the beach to symbolize how they are now forever twined.
Bo and Lia wrote their own vows and managed to do it without seeming hokey, an impressive feat. Bo promised to get a dog and occasional go for a morning run or do yoga, along with the love and cherish parts. When Lia was done she stuffed her cue cards into Bo's pocket. They exchanged rings, the groom's ring having been found in Mexico for $10 at a flea market. "By the power vested in me by absolutely no one," Paddy pronounced them husband and wife. They proceeded with a kiss that I'm not sure has ended yet.
The party took place later on a patio upstairs. The resort chose the DJ, which resulted in some interesting entertainment selections. For instance, they set up a screen which featured MTV style music videos. But don't think it wasn't personal, as Bo's and Lia's names were plastered on the screen, superimposed on whichever video was being played*
*We spent much time trying to figure out which one was Lia and which was Bo.
The best man, Logan, gave a toast, followed by Lia's brother Micha and Lia's dad*, and .. On 2nd thought it would probably just be quicker to name the people who didn't give toasts, as there were over a dozen toasts.
*Eric talked about the time where Bo didn't realize that he was in the car and accidentally mooned him.
We sat next to some friends of Lia's from Seattle who she thought we might get along with* The food wasn't particularly memorable other than some delicious cheese filled rolls. Some of items did reappear in the restaurant in later days as part of their waste not philosophy.
*What you just bought Through the Ages? Yes I am familiar.
Micha stole the dance floor. His technique would best be described as a robot with rhythm. There were also a group of locals partying with us as well. While in Mexico, Lily, Lia's sister, had become smitten with a guy she met. Bo and Lia ended up inviting him and three of his friends to partake in their festivities. Not to be outdone, Paddy, changed into a speedo and returned to the dance floor. He then proceeded to lift to his girlfriend*, Anna, up, carry her to the pool, and jump in. Having done his adult duty for the day, he was free to reign wild.
*Now fiance as he proposed later in their Mexico stay. After Anna didn't object to being thrown into a pool in a dress there was little chance she would say no.
*On the beach, where we could rest and relax in the sun.
As we were getting dressed we started hearing music coming from the beach. This was unnerving as we were concerned we were going to miss the ceremony. We finished up and rushed down the hundred or so steps to get down to the beach. It turns out, Jason, a groomsman, was just warming up his guitar, and we were amongst the first to arrive.
Paddy, our flight companion, was standing by the canopy, with an iPad in toe. You see an iPad is not merely a device for taking funny pictures, but it can also be used to store text, say for a wedding ceremony. Yes, Paddy wasn't merely in the wedding, he was presiding over it.
There were about 45 people at wedding. Most were people from Alaska or the pacific northwest who worked in fishing in some capacity. We were part of the Boston gamers*contingent.
*That is how everyone in their families knew us. The Boston people who played games.
The groom and his groomsmen lined up and waited for the bridesmaids to descend the steps. The bridesmaids wore sage dresses along with necklaces and earrings that Becky had designed. As they made their way across the straw mats and reached Bo, he gave each one a high five. Then Lia came down, accompandied by her father, and wearing a dress* that both of her mother and grandmother had worn before when they walked down the aisle. No high five for her though, guess she wasn't special enough.
*Altered by Becky and Ellen, who had to take apart some parts that were ripping earlier in the day.
Paddy's ceremony was closer to a best man's speech then a traditional ceremony. He talked about how Bo was like a big brother and how Lia was always perfect for Bo. Lia's dad, Eric, handled the more spiritual part of the ceremony. He, being more of a traditionalist, read off of a laptop. They also included some personal touches. They took sand from their Alaskan home and combined in with the sand on the beach to symbolize how they are now forever twined.
The party took place later on a patio upstairs. The resort chose the DJ, which resulted in some interesting entertainment selections. For instance, they set up a screen which featured MTV style music videos. But don't think it wasn't personal, as Bo's and Lia's names were plastered on the screen, superimposed on whichever video was being played*
*We spent much time trying to figure out which one was Lia and which was Bo.
The best man, Logan, gave a toast, followed by Lia's brother Micha and Lia's dad*, and .. On 2nd thought it would probably just be quicker to name the people who didn't give toasts, as there were over a dozen toasts.
We sat next to some friends of Lia's from Seattle who she thought we might get along with* The food wasn't particularly memorable other than some delicious cheese filled rolls. Some of items did reappear in the restaurant in later days as part of their waste not philosophy.
*What you just bought Through the Ages? Yes I am familiar.
Micha stole the dance floor. His technique would best be described as a robot with rhythm. There were also a group of locals partying with us as well. While in Mexico, Lily, Lia's sister, had become smitten with a guy she met. Bo and Lia ended up inviting him and three of his friends to partake in their festivities. Not to be outdone, Paddy, changed into a speedo and returned to the dance floor. He then proceeded to lift to his girlfriend*, Anna, up, carry her to the pool, and jump in. Having done his adult duty for the day, he was free to reign wild.
*Now fiance as he proposed later in their Mexico stay. After Anna didn't object to being thrown into a pool in a dress there was little chance she would say no.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
A Weddings Adventure Part IV: Punta Serena
We stayed at Punta Serena, a private resort on the Blue Bay off of the Pacific Ocean. It was actually pretty far south, about as close to Guatemala as it is to any point in the USA
The first thing to note about the resort is that it really did look like the pictures. There were exquisite views from everywhere, even the bathroom had an excellent view of the beach and ocean. There was a full sized pool, two hot tubs, and a private beach. The water was all a deep clear blue and the sky was clear enough to see the sunrises and sunsets, a full moon, stars, and even Venus. We were told that you later in the year you could see dolphins, turtles, and other wild life from the pools and beach, but we apparently came a little too early in the year for that. We did have the pleasure of a large iguana's company, who tended to hang out near one of the hot tubs. On the down side, the place had stairs everywhere, and it was a significant workout just to get to the beach.
The room itself was large but only moderately furnished. It was as if they didn't expect you to spend much time in it, It wasn't especially clean, or say adequately supplied with towels, but that seemed more of a cultural issue than a staff one. The room had a balcony which featured a hammock, of which I made great use.
At one point we got a little visitor in the bathroom that Becky befriended.
The food wasn't really what one would think of as Mexican, but closer to American dishes, steak, chicken, pasta, and fish, with local touches. The portions were small, which wasn't bad as it allowed for ordering of appetizers and desserts. They did have interesting water juices though, which was water mixed with whatever they had on hand (papaya, pineapple, oatmeal...). The menu was the same everyday, which could get tiring after a while, but weren't quite there long enough for it to be much of a problem. One interesting quirk was that they would always take orders from females before males. The restaurant was open air with a new roof that was erected after the previous one was defeated by a hurricane. It allowed for some nice views of sunsets at dinner, but did occasionally result in some insect competition for meals. All in all the food was solid, but not a reason to go there for.
They had an open bar by the pools, which offered snacks and drinks. They seemed to specialize in non-alcoholic fruit drinks, but had a pretty good supply of everything. There best one was a self titled Punta Serena, a mixture of half of a dozen fruit juices that they offered to all new guests.* They used the precise measuring system of a dollop of this and three splashes of that, which resulted in drinks tasting different each time. They seemed to use a lot of alcohol, but the drinks never reflected much of it, so perhaps the drinks were a bit watered down. We did discover the Jose special, a drink with chocolate, coconut milk and Kahlua, which Jose greatly appreciated serving. The staff were willing to deliver drinks and food to anywhere around the pool area, which was useful for maximizing laziness.
*We ordered it more once we figured out what it was called.
The staff spoke enough English to handle all common queries and were exceptionally accommodating of all requests. We later learned from a common visitor that there was very little turnover in the staff and many of the employees had been their for decades. We never really needed to speak Spanish, but we tried somewhat albeit mostly just with hola and gracious* It has been over a decade since I've taken any Spanish and even when I knew a word, I'd instinctively say the English anyway.
*We said gracious so much that it was hard to stop once we got back to America.
We journeyed over to the sister resort, Los Angeles Locos, one night to mingle amongst the commoners and get dinner. The way things are set up, we could visit Los Locos anytime we wanted, but they couldn't visit our resort. I'm sure it would be a nice family vacation destination*, but after staying at Punta Serena it seemed just loud and crowded. Dinner was good though other than the ant farm on the side of the table. Afterwards we were happy to get back to our own private resort.Our American tourist smugness is coming along well.
The pool did have a swim up bar.
One other thing worth mentioning. The resort was clothing optional. For the first part of our stay this didn't matter, as the wedding party decreed that grandma didn't need to see too much skin. After the wedding party cleared out and we started to get some new visitors, we got to see a few more exhibitionists.
Friday, January 20, 2012
A Weddings Adventure Part III: The Journey
We got to the airport the next morning, exchanged currency, and met up with Kevin and Ellen. We also met our first new Alaskan, Alexis, who had sent all of us a message that she would be on our flight and that she spoke Spanish, a useful skill when going to The United Mexican States. We boarded what would be Becky's first international flight to Manzanillo.
The Alaskan airlines flight took about three hours, but it was significantly more cramped than our cross country journey. We ended up sitting around some pretty grouchy people. A person behind us demanded that an airline employee call her boss about him not receiving first class accommodations, while the lady next to me thought having a broken seat recliner was the worst travesty in the history of mankind and only shut up about it when they agreed to her request of a free drink. Not exactly great for setting the mood for a relaxing sojourn. On the other hand, the guy in front of me had recently discovered the Ipad 2's photobooth feature, and thought it was the coolest thing ever, showing off all the funny faces to his partner and passing flight attendants.
We arrived in Manzanillo at 3:15 local time, which happened to correspond with CST. It was a tiny airport practically on the beach with only a handful of flights a day. They rolled up a couple of staircases and let people out from the front and back exits. We did learn our first Mexican lesson then. Do not sit in the middle of the plane or you will be last on the very slow moving customs line.
While on the customs line I noticed that Alexis was talking to the couple who was seated in front of us. As it turns the Ipad enthusiast, Paddy, was best friends with Bo growing up. In retrospect this shouldn't have been a shocking development.
Once customs conferred we weren't carrying more than 12 video cassettes, two musical instruments, or one portable typewriter, we were able to officially enter Mexico. We shared the hour long taxi with Kevin and Ellen. The driver drove through a couple of small towns and offered to stop for us to get beer, but we declined since we would get all the free drinks we would want soon enough. The resort, Punta Serena, was built on a cliff, so the the last part of the treck involved a twisty, dizzying cobblestone road.
The Alaskan airlines flight took about three hours, but it was significantly more cramped than our cross country journey. We ended up sitting around some pretty grouchy people. A person behind us demanded that an airline employee call her boss about him not receiving first class accommodations, while the lady next to me thought having a broken seat recliner was the worst travesty in the history of mankind and only shut up about it when they agreed to her request of a free drink. Not exactly great for setting the mood for a relaxing sojourn. On the other hand, the guy in front of me had recently discovered the Ipad 2's photobooth feature, and thought it was the coolest thing ever, showing off all the funny faces to his partner and passing flight attendants.
We arrived in Manzanillo at 3:15 local time, which happened to correspond with CST. It was a tiny airport practically on the beach with only a handful of flights a day. They rolled up a couple of staircases and let people out from the front and back exits. We did learn our first Mexican lesson then. Do not sit in the middle of the plane or you will be last on the very slow moving customs line.
 | ||
| Becky Debarking |
 |
| The entire airport runway |
While on the customs line I noticed that Alexis was talking to the couple who was seated in front of us. As it turns the Ipad enthusiast, Paddy, was best friends with Bo growing up. In retrospect this shouldn't have been a shocking development.
Once customs conferred we weren't carrying more than 12 video cassettes, two musical instruments, or one portable typewriter, we were able to officially enter Mexico. We shared the hour long taxi with Kevin and Ellen. The driver drove through a couple of small towns and offered to stop for us to get beer, but we declined since we would get all the free drinks we would want soon enough. The resort, Punta Serena, was built on a cliff, so the the last part of the treck involved a twisty, dizzying cobblestone road.
 |
| Taxi to the Resort |
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Weddings Adventure Part II: The Cast
Previous to the Mexico wedding we knew seven people who would be in attendance.
Nathaniel and Ariel are from Alaska and own the house Bo and Lia are
currently living in. We have spent more time in their house than we
have hanging out with them, which greatly amused Nathaniel. Bo and Lia are able to stay in their house as Nathaniel is currently away at farming school and loving it, two things that I don't remotely understand.
Bella*, the photographer, had taken taken Bo and Lia's engagement pictures. She had recently given up a job in finance to start a career where she was more passionate. We liked her work for them and commissioned her to do our own engagement photos*. Bo and Lia liked her even more so they flew her out to Mexico to take their wedding pictures. She got a nice vacation and some cash and all she had to deal with what the brutal taskmaster that is Lia (it is okay if you don't really feel like taking pictures, why not just spend the day in the pool?)
*While she was here we showed her our wedding pictures. While doing so, she asked if that was a Settlers of Catan cake. Reason 27 I really like having had a Catan cake; you can determine if people are gamers by showing them your wedding pictures.
*She did not disappoint. She shared our vision, was absurdly cheap, and produced outstanding pictures, some of which can be seen here.
Kevin and Ellen are our two really good Boston friends* who didn't spend the weekend getting married. Kevin really doesn't like going on vacations, but doesn't seem to have any objection to actually being on vacation. After all playing Tichu while relaxing in the sun in Mexico is even nicer than playing Tichu in dreary Boston. Ellen on the other hand loves going on vacations, or rather loves having gone on vacation so she can show off how wonderful her vacation was in 6.2 million pictures. At one point she was wandering around the resort while skyping, pointing the laptop at the majestic scenery.
*We actually met Kevin at Bo at the same time, on 11/11/08. No I don't tend to remember dates like these, but this one I can look up. Becky and I had gone to a local game night at Eureka, an outstanding game and puzzle store in Coolidge Corner. There Kevin, Bo, and I played a game none of us had hear of before, a deck building game called Dominion. We discussed afterwards getting together to play more games. Becky and I occasionally discussed this with other game night participants, but nothing ever came of it. This time however, by the time I got home, I had e-mails from both Kevin and Bo about gaming the next night. This is what is known as a good day.
Bo and Lia, our hosts, are Alaskan salmon fishermen* who spend half her year in Alaska and the other half in Boston where Lia works on a PHD program at BU. I'm told Bo works absurdly hard as a fisherman, working upwards of 20 hours a day, but I only know him as someone who never has anything to do, which makes a rather useful friend. Lia, on the other hand, we can sometimes with a concerted effort get her to take a 10 minute break from her studies.
*Yes like the show Deadliest Catch except no not really.
Bella*, the photographer, had taken taken Bo and Lia's engagement pictures. She had recently given up a job in finance to start a career where she was more passionate. We liked her work for them and commissioned her to do our own engagement photos*. Bo and Lia liked her even more so they flew her out to Mexico to take their wedding pictures. She got a nice vacation and some cash and all she had to deal with what the brutal taskmaster that is Lia (it is okay if you don't really feel like taking pictures, why not just spend the day in the pool?)
*While she was here we showed her our wedding pictures. While doing so, she asked if that was a Settlers of Catan cake. Reason 27 I really like having had a Catan cake; you can determine if people are gamers by showing them your wedding pictures.
*She did not disappoint. She shared our vision, was absurdly cheap, and produced outstanding pictures, some of which can be seen here.
Kevin and Ellen are our two really good Boston friends* who didn't spend the weekend getting married. Kevin really doesn't like going on vacations, but doesn't seem to have any objection to actually being on vacation. After all playing Tichu while relaxing in the sun in Mexico is even nicer than playing Tichu in dreary Boston. Ellen on the other hand loves going on vacations, or rather loves having gone on vacation so she can show off how wonderful her vacation was in 6.2 million pictures. At one point she was wandering around the resort while skyping, pointing the laptop at the majestic scenery.
*We actually met Kevin at Bo at the same time, on 11/11/08. No I don't tend to remember dates like these, but this one I can look up. Becky and I had gone to a local game night at Eureka, an outstanding game and puzzle store in Coolidge Corner. There Kevin, Bo, and I played a game none of us had hear of before, a deck building game called Dominion. We discussed afterwards getting together to play more games. Becky and I occasionally discussed this with other game night participants, but nothing ever came of it. This time however, by the time I got home, I had e-mails from both Kevin and Bo about gaming the next night. This is what is known as a good day.
Bo and Lia, our hosts, are Alaskan salmon fishermen* who spend half her year in Alaska and the other half in Boston where Lia works on a PHD program at BU. I'm told Bo works absurdly hard as a fisherman, working upwards of 20 hours a day, but I only know him as someone who never has anything to do, which makes a rather useful friend. Lia, on the other hand, we can sometimes with a concerted effort get her to take a 10 minute break from her studies.
*Yes like the show Deadliest Catch except no not really.
A Weddings Adventure Part I
Just as a basic rule, if I'm going to try to keep people updated on my
exploits, I should probably blog about any 3 city, 2 country, 2 wedding
trips that I make.
I got off work at 5:30 am on January 4th 2012 for hopefully my last ever night-shift, which is good since if I mentioned Mexico to my coworkers one more time I would have come to bodily harm. Got home, packed the remaining few items in an intricately organized system*, woke Becky up and we were off. The taxi came on time, though did park in front of the wrong building. Luckily, at 6:30 in the morning, you can kind of assume any taxi about is probably yours.
*It fit. okay?
We had a direct flight to LA with JetBlue. The flight was relatively comfortable as JetBlue is built more for 6 foot 2 people than your average airline. We got in about a half hour early*, even after having to wait for the gate to open up.
* I don't really understand this concept of early. My experience with flying is that something random and unprecedented will go wrong leaving me or my stuff stranded in some random and often unplanned for city. In fact, I have a friend's phone number saved under the name "stuck in ohare" and Becky and I have often played the "guess what city I'm in now game", but flying with Becky rarely involves things going wrong. It is kind of unnerving.
LA was a steamy 81 degrees, which would have been even nicer if I wasn't wearing a winter coat. I know, I know you are just brimming with sympathy. There was an intricate mosaic along the walls to the baggage claim where colors faded into other colors which Becky really enjoyed. The first sign we were at LA was the swarm of drivers in dark sunglasses holding up names of people they were picking up. One of the signs looked like it was for a record label.
After some momentary confusion we waited for a shuttle to the hotel. After about 4000 vehicles* passed by for various hotels and parking lots our ride arrived. We stayed at a Travel-lodge outside of the airport. It was the quality you would expect if you chose a hotel entirely based on price and location, which makes sense since that is exactly how I chose it. I'm used to hotel beds being way too firm, but generally the pillows aren't made of stone. On the other hand, it had a 24 hour Denny's attached, which makes up for a large amount of flaws.
*yup in LA
We spent our one pre-Mexico night in LA in exciting fashion, alternating between sleeping and trips to Denny's. I got to bed at around 3:00 pm pct which is 6:00 pm est or absurdly late into the middle of the night in Joel's inner clock time. Oh, how I'm not going to miss having to reset my hours again.
I got off work at 5:30 am on January 4th 2012 for hopefully my last ever night-shift, which is good since if I mentioned Mexico to my coworkers one more time I would have come to bodily harm. Got home, packed the remaining few items in an intricately organized system*, woke Becky up and we were off. The taxi came on time, though did park in front of the wrong building. Luckily, at 6:30 in the morning, you can kind of assume any taxi about is probably yours.
*It fit. okay?
We had a direct flight to LA with JetBlue. The flight was relatively comfortable as JetBlue is built more for 6 foot 2 people than your average airline. We got in about a half hour early*, even after having to wait for the gate to open up.
* I don't really understand this concept of early. My experience with flying is that something random and unprecedented will go wrong leaving me or my stuff stranded in some random and often unplanned for city. In fact, I have a friend's phone number saved under the name "stuck in ohare" and Becky and I have often played the "guess what city I'm in now game", but flying with Becky rarely involves things going wrong. It is kind of unnerving.
LA was a steamy 81 degrees, which would have been even nicer if I wasn't wearing a winter coat. I know, I know you are just brimming with sympathy. There was an intricate mosaic along the walls to the baggage claim where colors faded into other colors which Becky really enjoyed. The first sign we were at LA was the swarm of drivers in dark sunglasses holding up names of people they were picking up. One of the signs looked like it was for a record label.
After some momentary confusion we waited for a shuttle to the hotel. After about 4000 vehicles* passed by for various hotels and parking lots our ride arrived. We stayed at a Travel-lodge outside of the airport. It was the quality you would expect if you chose a hotel entirely based on price and location, which makes sense since that is exactly how I chose it. I'm used to hotel beds being way too firm, but generally the pillows aren't made of stone. On the other hand, it had a 24 hour Denny's attached, which makes up for a large amount of flaws.
*yup in LA
We spent our one pre-Mexico night in LA in exciting fashion, alternating between sleeping and trips to Denny's. I got to bed at around 3:00 pm pct which is 6:00 pm est or absurdly late into the middle of the night in Joel's inner clock time. Oh, how I'm not going to miss having to reset my hours again.
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