My Old Friend...Sacatela Creek, Part 2

So, there we were, at Wilshire and Normandie, for the CicLAvia event. That location just happened to have things that I wanted to see...but as we walked it 3 times, I came to a realization. Take a look at both these photos and do you notice something about the road itself? (By the way, the photos are taken on either side of the feature I want you to notice.)

It takes a little dip. Not a huge thing, but enough that after walking it the 2nd time, I noticed it.

I didn't totally make the connection to a post I wrote several years ago, but I did get enough of a "Spidey Sense" tingle, to go and once again Google a post from 2008 from The Militant Angeleno about Sacatela Creek.

If you remember back, I found his post and wrote one of my own, HERE.

Well, let's just say my Spidey Sense was right on. The street with the dip in it is Mariposa Street (which was the historical spot where water would seriously flood out and was the cause of them covering the creek in the first place.) It has quite a few storm drains at the exact place where the dip is (no surprise there) and those storm drains go into the infamous (now covered) Sacatela Creek storm drain system.

I learned a lot more at another cool web site, called the La Creek Freak. He shows on his post that there is actually a small Pocket Park at the location of the Bimini Slough and Bimini Baths, just up Vermont a few blocks. First off, I want to go visit that park! Definitely!

Second, the blog post links to 2 photos of the creek running right next to the former Ambassador Hotel!

Which was the exact sight I wanted to explore that day. Proof once again, that I had found another part of the lost river.

He also goes further then the Militant Angeleno and explains that the creek continued about a mile or so further south and entered the Ballona Creek, at the intersection of present day Arlington Ave and Country Club Drive. Ballona Creek flows westward and empties into the Pacific Ocean at Marina Del Rey.

I am so excited to learn more about something I care about. A great extra, from a day exploring Wilshire.

The Two Of Us, Ready For Bed

Me and my cat in bed.

Weird shot that it is, it shows my new LA Dodgers sleep pants and the cat, settled in for the night.

She hates the flash, so she tries not to look at the camera.

She normally waits until I have shut the light and settled down, before she hops on the bed, but this night I believe I had read something, before going to bed. She gave up on me and settled in, doing the kneading thing with the blankets and then waited for me to shut the light. Well, I just couldn't resist her and took a photo.

Sorry I missed the kneading thing. They always look so funny doing that.

The King Of K-Pop

One of the many things about walking the section of Wilshire Blvd that we walked, is that it is smack dab in the middle of Koreatown.

When I worked on Sunset Blvd, I was on the far northern edge of that section of town. You saw a few businesses in the area sporting signs in Korean, but not much else.

Here though, every billboard in the air, had something to do with the resident population of the area. No signs in Spanish, no gay males mentioning HIV, both of which one could see on the streets surrounding my old work area. Instead, it was all about things that interest the Korean population and what is more important then K-Pop!

Of course, adding to the K-Pop theme, is the resident King of K-Pop...Psy himself!

Check out the green sign in the photo, it is an advertisement for some brand of liquor. They made sure he is literally lording over the entire Wilshire/Vermont area of town.

I found it funny.

Pacific Rim

Max Martini (who I have mentioned here on my blog once or twice before) will be starring in a SciFi movie called Pacific Rim. Guillermo del Toro, wrote and directed it.

Here is what I can find in regard to the plotline.

"In the near future, giant monsters identified as "Kaiju" have risen from a portal in a crevasse beneath the Pacific Ocean, resulting in a war which takes millions of lives and quickly consumes humanity's resources. To combat the monsters, a special type of weapon is designed: massive robots, known as Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But as the war continues, even the Jaegers struggle to win the war against a relentless enemy. Against all odds, the remaining forces of mankind make a final stand."

The other day, I actually saw a sign on a bus, for the movie and it made me excited for the first time.

Maybe I will even go see it. :-)

Good Luck Max!

A Preview Of My Apartment In Oswego

I don't live there yet, but since I am paying the rent, I guess this is mine.

Welcome to my apartment in Oswego, NY.

From what little I can see in the photos, I have a kitchen and a room. I think that is it.

Actually, that would be just fine with me, since that is how I lived, when I moved to LA all those years ago.

It was called a bachelor apartment, back in my renting days in LA and it cost me $185 a month. That was in 1979.

Oswego's room that I rented on West 8th Street cost my family $60 a month.

This one is $525. Times change.

Here is another shot of the kitchen. He just put new flooring there, so I think that is why I got two photos of the room.

I did ask if I have a bathroom and my landlord said I have a private one. Yay team.

I can't wait to get there and make it my own space.

CicLAvia: How Was It?

We did indeed find a few hours to spend with the bicycles on Wilshire Blvd.

We ended up doing our normal thing, we parked at North Hollywood Station and then we took the Subway into the Koreatown area of Los Angeles.

We got off at the Wilshire/Normandie Station and began walking toward the Downtown area. I had a few sights that I wanted to see and they were in that direction.

After we walked about a half mile and checked out sight number 1, we realized that if we wanted to see the sights on the other side of the street, we needed to go back to our starting place, Normandie Ave. It had a pedestrian crossing at that spot and there wasn't another, for at least another half mile up the street. So back we went and being we were done with looking at the sight we had just experienced, we got to enjoy the riders and the vibe.

What surprised me, was the quiet. It was almost totally quiet on this very busy street. I loved it.

So we crossed the street at Normandie and saw the sights we wanted to see on the other side and while doing that, we got some different shots of the first destination. So it was all good.

We then headed further up the street and saw more things, until we got to the Wilshire/Vermont Subway station.

There was some sort of dance show going on there, but we decided to catch some lunch at Denny's and so we did that.

After lunch, we decided to call it a day and so we then rode the subway back to North Hollywood. Many bikers were using the public transportation, which made me very happy.

All in all it was a good day, not too hot and not too sunny, especially as the afternoon wore on. Some sort of front was coming through by 3PM and so we had more clouds, then in the morning.

Another thing off that bucket list of mine.

Glad I experienced it.

I will post more photos of some of what we saw along the way, on another day.

Water Urn In The Summer Heat

My Water Post For Today.

I felt like a real "water" post, where the water is front and center and this one fits the bill perfectly.

The fountain is in the patio at Union Station, but it is a shot that I have not used in the past.

Cool refreshing water.

Coolness that is so welcome during the hot days of summer, here in Los Angeles.

I hope you enjoy.

I know I do. :-)

My Poor Car

My car, which should be getting ready to be sent across the Country, is instead at the Body Shop.

To say the least, my Husband and I are not happy. In good things, it was totally not my fault and the check from the other insurance company has already been cut.

It was such a stupid parking lot mistake on Father's Day morning and our car was not even moving when the other hit us. Unfortunately he is a truck made of metal and I am a Saturn made of plastic polymer.

15 days until I get it back again.

Sigh...

CicLAvia 6/23/13

The city of Los Angeles has been having these civic events for the past few years, actually since 10/10/10.

I don't ride a bicycle, so I have not joined in one of them...

But this one, is drawing me in. We will see if I can carve out enough time over the weekend to attend CicLAvia.

What is CicLAvia, you might ask. It is when an area of streets are closed down to car traffic, so that residents and bicyclists can walk in the middle of the roadways, checking stuff out and just enjoying their day in the sun.

What does the word itself mean? From the CicLAvia site: "Spanish to English, “bike way.” It also describes either a permanently designated bicycle route or a temporary event, the closing of the street to automobiles for use by others."

Wilshire Blvd is an incredible road and the section that they have closed off has a bunch of historic buildings and neighborhoods that reflect different eras in Los Angeles history. One of them in particular, is of interest. The former Ambassador Hotel and Brown Derby sites, over by the Wilshire/Normandie Subway station has my attention.

I took IBM computer training in that area, back in 1981. I haven't been there since.

If you would like to see the history of the route to be closed on Sunday I urge you to read The Militant Angeleno's post. I spent more time then I had on Friday morning, getting lost in LA History. He's a great teacher.

No matter what, enjoy.

Hot Fun In The Summertime

End of the spring and here she comes back
Hi, hi, hi, hi there
Them summer days, those summer days
That's when I had most of my fun back
High, high, high, high there
Them summer days, those summer days
I 'Cloud nine' when I want to Out of school,
yeah County fair in the country sun
And everything, it's true, ooh, yeah, yeah
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime

Yes indeed, Sly and the family Stone, from the summer of 1969. I remember it well.

Welcome to another summer. Good times and not so good times.

Here's hoping it doesn't get TOO hot this year.

Photo is obviously at the Bowl last Sunday. Don't we all look like it's summer. :-)

All Ready For The 4th

I was at Walmart the other day and I decided to buy these little inexpensive banners for the front of my house.

Yes, I realize I am a little early to the 4th of July party, but what the heck, it's that prime time area, between Flag Day and the 4th.

I think they look very cute and I am glad I bought them.

Enjoy.

Steely Dan, Is Indeed, Playing The Beacon

I have been remiss in keeping my blog up to date on the Steely Dan tour for 2013. They did indeed finally acknowledge that a tour is going to be on for this year. If you remember, I just had 2 dates in the Chicago area, for confirmation on a post back in early March. They did finally give us quite a list of tour venues...but no Beacon Theater in New York City.

Others were concerned that there would be no plans to play in the City...but I knew better. They live in NYC, so there was no way they would not. Those dates are the easy money. :-)

It took them forever, but they turned up this week. You can see the entire schedule, so far...HERE.

I personally am thinking of the Beacon date on 10/5. We shall see what I can do to make that happen.

So How Did It Go? - Me And The Playboy Jazz Festival

As I mentioned on Sunday, my Husband and I received free tickets to the Playboy Jazz Festival.

In spite of my early misgivings, I got on board with attending the event and off we went.

The Hollywood Highland bus does not run after the concert begins, so we aimed for the almost last bus. We ended up on the property at exactly 3PM and we could hear the first group, as we worked our way up to the almost nosebleed section of the venue.

The one thing that I was pretty confident of, at that location, we were going to get the shade first. I was spot on, with that prediction and my hat could have been taken off at 4PM. I left it on for a few hours, especially since I intended to take a walk down to the Bowl Store and check out this year's souvenirs.

The LAUSD Beyond The Bell Jazz Band - We hardly heard them, but what we did hear, sounded like good Jazz. We were both sorry we missed most of their performance.

ELEW and JazzAntiqua Dance Ensemble - OMG, this man was awesome! (He is performing in my photo) Here's how his website describes how he plays. ELEW is making a substantial impression on the music world with a thunderous new style of playing: an inspired melding of ragtime, rock and pop that he calls Rockjazz.
As a matter of fact, he played, "People are Strange" and a wonderful rendition of the Cranberries "Zombie", which drove me crazy, because I knew the song and couldn't figure out what it was. Obviously, I did eventually put the clues together. He reminded me of Liberace, just a little bit. He studied under Wynton Marsalis, so he has some heavy performance creds. I totally recommend him.
The dancers performed on a few numbers and gave a different feel to the set. I enjoyed them, too.

Brubeck Brothers Quartet - A Tribute to their Father and as you would expect in a tribute, the usual suspects were there, including "Take 5". It was a nice set. Basically straight ahead Jazz.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Again, totally what you would expect from these performers who were made famous by Paul Simon. I heard some of it, but not all, as that was the time I did my shopping. They were good though and my Husband really liked them.

Taj Mahal and the Real Thing Tuba Band - Someone needs to teach this band how to end a set. They are the only performers who got the hook. Unfortunately for one of the tuba players, he fell down backwards, as the circular stage began moving. I felt so bad for him. Their set was good and the 4 tuba players were definitely a different sound.

The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with special guests Patti Austin and Hubert Laws - Patti Austin didn't make it, due to illness. The band played straight ahead Jazz (or as straight as you can be, when your setlist features a Tribute to Quincy Jones). He was in the audience celebrating his 80th Birthday and they kept showing him at his seat.

Bob James/David Sanborn featuring Steve Gadd and James Genus - Steve Gadd played the infamous drum solo on the Aja title cut and so he is a bit of a idol of the Steely Dan fans, that I hang out with. Unfortunately for me, Aja was not one of their numbers. :-(
The players did a great job playing and I enjoyed their set.

India.Arie - She was having the most trouble with her "in-ear" and that was affecting her set. She never got it totally resolved, but she soldiered on. She explained at the very beginning that she calls her set a songversation and that we needed to listen to the words. All in all, it was well done and one of the last things she did was have her Mom come out and play with the band.

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue - This, This was when the concert kicked into overdrive. I am up and dancing and enjoying this band. They played "Sweet Home Alabama" at one point and then a bunch of wonderful stuff, including a long Louis Armstrong trumpet solo done by Trombone Shorty. You could hear his roots on the streets of New Orleans. Great stuff...I was sorry to see them go.

Sheila E. - She did not come on until 10PM and so she totally lost the vast majority of the audience, due to the fact that it was a Sunday Night. I felt bad for her, cause she puts on a good show. Sheila had her Dad, Peter Escovido play with her and then had her Mom come out at the end of his performance, to dance with Peter. I thought that was very touching. She didn't play the song that I expected would be the encore, but the set was good.

All in all, I was glad I went.

MacArthur Park Is Melting In The Dark...All The Sweet Green Icing Flowing Down...

My Water Post For Today.

Yes, I am back at MacArthur Park...but for a very important reason.

Jimmy Webb, the man who wrote the song MacArthur Park 45 years ago, came to the park on last Saturday evening, to perform his hit song. Not like it is a surprise to us Angelenos, but this park was the inspiration for the song.

As he said in the article, he lived in nearby Silverlake and he would walk down Sunset and turn at Alvarado, to get to the park. I want to mention, that this is quite a bit of a hike.

His girlfriend at the time, Suzy Horton, worked in the area, so he would sit at the park and watch the people. As he mentions, everything in the song, comes from the things he saw. He said he more then once saw cakes left at the tables, after parties would break up. I am sure that probably one or two, ended up sitting in the rain...maybe even with sweet green icing... ;-)

You can read the entire fascinating article, HERE.

...and those cryptic lyrics, here.

"MacArthur Park"

Spring was never waiting for us dear
It ran one step ahead
As we followed in the dance

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, nooooo

I recall the yellow cotton dress
Foaming like a wave
On the ground beneath your knees
The birds like tender babies in your hands
And the old men playing chinese checkers by the trees

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, nooooo

There will be another song for me
For I will sing it
There will be another dream for me
Someone will bring it
I will drink the wine while it is warm
And never let you catch me looking at the sun
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life
You'll still be the one

I will take my life into my hands and I will use it
I will win the worship in their eyes and I will lose it
I will have the things that I desire
And my passion flow like rivers through the sky
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life
I'll be thinking of you
And wondering why

[Instrumental Interlude]

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet green icing flowing down
Someone left my cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to make it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, nooooo
Oh, nooooo

The 35th Annual Playboy Jazz Festival

Without my knowledge or consent, my Husband won tickets to the Playboy Jazz Festival. I will admit that I was a bit taken aback by this, since I have so much to do, before I leave in 2 months. I was also concerned about sitting in the sun all day, listening to Jazz. Not exactly my thing and I didn't think it was his thing, either.

Then I read up about it and found out that it doesn't even start until 3 in the afternoon, so my original thought of sitting in the sun all day, was off the mark. Probably just a couple of hours, at most.

I will definitely bring my blue hat that I got from Coolibar (they make sun protective clothing). I am positive, I will need it.

Here is the line up for Sunday.

The LAUSD Beyond The Bell Jazz Band
ELEW and JazzAntiqua Dance Ensemble
Brubeck Brothers Quartet
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Taj Mahal and the Real Thing Tuba Band
The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with special guests Patti Austin and Hubert Laws
Bob James/David Sanborn featuring Steve Gadd and James Genus
India.Arie
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Sheila E.

I am seriously looking forward to hearing Sheila E. :-)

Of course, my review later.

A June Gloom Kind Of Morning

It's been a typical June Gloom kind of week.

It takes a few days until it gets up here in the wilds of Northern Los Angeles...but eventually, it does.

This was Wednesday or Thursday, I believe.

Of course it was gone, by the time I left for work and so I got to reacquaint myself with it, in North Hollywood and then Burbank. :-)

I always love when we have something just a little different, weather wise.

EcoCar2 On KCAL 9 News at 2.

Who knew that our local station (part of CBS2) had a news at 2PM? I know I didn't.

Well, they invited the EcoCar2 Team down to their station in Studio City (AKA CBS Radford) and the team drove the car over for the interview. My son was one of the team who was chosen, but minus turning up in a few of the teases during the hour broadcast, he was not interviewed. I personally was good with that. :-)

You can view the segment HERE.

He was sending Facebook messages during the entire half hour before they actually were on the air and I was getting a kick out of that. He is SO jaded about Broadcasting and I take full responsibility for that. lol

Congrats guys and girls, good job.

Star Trek Into Darkness

Well, look what came back today...my ability to have my photo on the right side of the post. I don't know what to say, they re-invented the wheel. :-)

On to the reason for this post. I had a day off, a real mid week day off. So to celebrate this fact, my Husband and I decided to go to a movie. An old fashioned date, yeah, that's right, a date. Yay!

My son had seen Star Trek Into Darkness last month, while he and the EcoCar2 Team were in Yuma and he said that he really enjoyed it. It takes a lot for him to like something, so I value his opinion.

With that rousing approval, we plunked down our money and checked it out.

Full disclosure here, I am a die hard Trekkie, from WAY back. I owned a big yellow tribble, for heaven's sake!

So most of the nods that were going on in the movie, and yes, there were many, were understood by me. You talk Original Trek, this girl knows her stuff. :-)

My opinion, yes, you have seen most of this plot line before, but it was a very entertaining 2+ hours.

I loved the evolution of the camraderie between the characters, it was spot on and infinitely entertaining. The actors are faithful to the legacy of the show and I definitely had less of a problem with them this time. They were a known quantity.

I know I am late to this party...but if you haven't seen it, do.

Los Angelenos

The other day I read an article about Angelenos and how we refer to ourselves.

The original pronunciation was, of course, Spanish...but over the years it has been Americanized. It brought my foggy memory back to long ago days growing up in New York, listening to Billy Joel's early albums.

This one, in particular, Streetlife Serenade, contained the song "Los Angelenos", and I found a wonderful old live track, on You Tube, HERE. I hope you enjoy.

Los Angelenos

All come from somewhere
To live in sunshine
Their funky exile
Midwestern ladies

High-heeled and faded
Drivin' sleek new sports cars
With their New York cowboys

Hiding up in the mountains
Laying low in the canyons
Goin' nowhere on the streets
With their Spanish names
Makin' love with the natives
In their Hollywood places
Making up for all the time gone by

Los Angelenos
All come from somewhere
Cuz it's all so easy
To become acquainted
Electric babies
Blue-jeaned and jaded
Such hot sweet schoolgirls
So educated

Tanning out in the beaches
With their Mexican reefers
No one ever has to feel
Like a refugee
Going into garages
For exotic massages
Making up for all the time gone by

Hiding up in the mountains
Laying low in the canyons
Goin' nowhere on the streets
With the Spanish names
Makin' love with the natives
In their Hollywood places
Making up for all the time gone by

Los Angelenos
All come from somewhere
It's so familiar
Their foreign faces

The Rugged Coastline of Wales

My Water Post For Today.

I have a very good Steely Dan friend who I have known for at least a decade. He and his wife reside in England and they decided to take a trip to the coast of England, in Wales.

As soon as I saw the photo, I had to have it...and with his kind permission, here it is.

He mentioned to me that he loved the wild flowers growing around the rocks. To me, it almost reminds me of the California Central Coast...rugged, stark and hauntingly beautiful.

Both Doc Martin and Ross Poldark, would feel right at home here.

I hope you enjoy.

Yes, It's June 10th Once Again

No Water Post Today. See Wales tomorrow. :-)

Yes, it is Anniversary Day for my blog. Who knew that Welcome to the Jungle by Guns and Roses would be my theme, year after year.

6 years of writing every day, but as one learns in the 12 step program, you take it one day at a time and that is my philosophy. I manage to write something, no matter how small it is, to keep myself and my readers going. This post is number 2199, by the way. In case you are tracking such things.

With my going to Grad School on top of working, I know my blog has suffered a bit, but we made it through to the other side and my ramblings have increased in length, once more. :-)

As I do ever year, I mention what has been going on in my life and what I see...looking into that crystal ball of mine, moving forward.

Grad School is heating up, since I have gotten (more or less) permission to go. I am looking into ways to furnish my room, get my car over there and basically set up my house and life, to miss me for 5 long months. It will be a busy summer, but I am excited beyond all belief and honored to have been accepted into the program. In a funny thing...I was looking at jobs they have for students and my Lab Assistant job in the Audio Visual department is still available! I used to take photos and develop them, for my AV teacher. Seriously, they still do that? I would have thought that job died with Kodak.

My workplace will be turning 50 not this September, but next September and I have some half a$$ plan to start writing articles that KCET can post on their webpage, about work back in the day. We will see how that goes and if I can combine that with my final project in Social Media.

My son has just finished year 2 of his competition as you just recently read and I will document what goes on in year 3. Mostly making the car lighter and improving their many emission readings, acceleration, breaking and handling of the vehicle. It is the real science of the project and my son will also be using it for his Senior Design project for graduation. One thing I can guarantee, he is going to be a busy person next year. My best to him, no matter what goes on.

My Husband will be paying the bills and keeping the house going in my absence. Let's all hope he can rise to the occasion and make it happen. I really don't want to see a box arrive every month with the bills. :-)

My "Other" sons.

#1 "son" gets out of the Marines in July. Good luck to him, during this very difficult transition and my best to his wife, too.

#2 "Magic son" moves on to year 2 of his 4 year school. I don't know when he is able to graduate, but I am betting it will take 3 years, instead of 2.

Finally, my baby, Makenna. How will she survive her Mommy being gone?

Stay tuned for year 7, to find out.

A Seabee Gets Married

He's been a Sea Bee for 4 years...though from what I just learned, he will be out on a disability discharge very soon. He was getting ready to deploy for the 3rd and last time, when his shoulders dislocated on him again and he will have to have surgery on them. Not a great start to a marriage, but that's life...it always throws curves.

I mentioned him in a post many years ago, when he was on his second deployment in the Seabees, which you can read HERE. I also wrote about him when he was about to go in, HERE.

We were invited to the wedding last Thursday in Las Vegas. My son was supposed to be in the wedding party, but was unable to do so, due to the amount of time he spent in Yuma and San Diego. He had to attend a class on Thursday and that did not give him enough time to get to Las Vegas for the ceremony.

My "Magic Son" was Best Man and he got some awesome photos of the couple. This is one of them.

I think the couple are truly beautiful...and look at all those metals the groom has!

My best to them, in their new life together.

The Empress Pavilion Closes

OMG! I am so bummed! Our favorite Dim Sum place closed last week.

We have been going there for at least 10 years. Many a trip taken either from my workplace or from home, has ended at the Empress Pavilion.

One of our more recent trips, was documented HERE.

The reason for the closure is that the building it is part of, has become run down and so business has dropped off. I can attest to the fact that the building has been going a little downhill, but I didn't think it was terrible.

It has been a few months since we have been there, though. You can read the entire LA Times article, HERE.

Another Goodbye, To Someone I Call Friend

Many years ago...maybe 24 or 25, my Husband and I decided that we would like to start a family. What we thought was going to be an easy transition, became a long and tedious one. During that time, when we were trying to start our family, things were not going so well. I came to the decision that the job I was currently doing, was not conducive to conceiving and raising a family. In one of those synchronicity moments, a job opened up at my workplace, but it was Christmas, I was busy and I didn't apply. One day a week or so later, the person who's department had the job opening, came into the Tape Library where I worked and we began to talk. I mentioned in passing that I had thought seriously about applying for the Traffic job in her department. She turned to me and said "Apply for it!"

So I took her advice and did so. 3 months passed and not a word was said. I figured she had gotten someone else, or they took the job away (a reality of life for a PBS Station, where money runs out right before the end of the fiscal year).

At the beginning of March of 1989 she came by the Library and said to me, that it had taken months of interviews, but if I still wanted the job...it was mine. That was how I became a Broadcast Operations Coordinator, the job I currently hold.

Though she is several years younger then me, she had an incredible command of our job and department and was absolutely awesome at anything she put her mind to. I learned from a master and any traffic skills I have, were gotten from her. She was my boss for something like 18 years and though we had our ups and downs, her life and mine, intertwined with not only our work, but our having and raising our children. Her daughter is 8 months older then my son and her son is 13 months younger. It was a hard couple of years...but we made it work for us. The photo above was taken during that time. She is the one wearing the hat, sitting on my couch, at my second wedding. She had a 4 month old baby at home and in spite of that, she made the effort to be there for me. I, of course, was 3 months pregnant with my son. A situation that I have mentioned, so many times before.

Though I have not worked closely with her for several years, Thursday was her last day at my workplace...more downsizing.

She will be missed by me.

A Sunset Before A Fire

This was the foreshadowing before the fire...

Memorial Day, I took a bunch of photos of a really wonderful sunset.

It was windy that night. Extremely so and I mentioned on my Facebook page that I was worried about when this wind moved across the country, into the great plains. I was right to be concerned, because just a few short days later, huge tornadoes hit the Oklahoma area. As a matter of fact, one of the absolute worst ever, according to measurements.

The wind brings out the crazys in our area and we had 3 days straight of small fires. They were all put out with no trouble at all...until that last one. The Powerhouse fire, which I wrote about a few days ago. The latest update is that it is 80 percent contained, by the way.

On this day, it was just like you see here. A sunset on a clear evening.

Who knew it would bring on such problems down the road.

The Standard Downtown LA

The Standard Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles is known as one of the trendiest places in the Downtown area.

Young people get off from work and take a ride up the elevator to the rooftop bar to raise a few and wind down after a long work week. That is about all I knew about the hotel itself, that it had a roof bar.

When I saw this sign with the word Standard upside down, I figured out that they go cutting edge trendy at their place of business, including the lobby, and rooms themselves.

Please click on the link and check out this place. I am not sure I would be the target demographic for this hotel, but it is worth a look. :-)

A Statue of An Aged Couple

When I have the time to walk over to St. Joseph's Hospital, I pass right behind this statue.

I see it out of the corner of my eye and I always think it is real, before my mind kicks in and I remember it is that statue at the entrance driveway to the hospital.

Personally, I think it is very sweet.

Just enough reality to make it look genuine. The two of them actually looking at each other. The way the woman's legs are crossed under the bench. The two of them holding each others arms, as if to support each other through whatever is going on in their lives, at that moment.

I hope it brings a smile to your day.

Updated to add.
I went over to the statue today and read the plaque.

This is a statue of Roy and Edna Disney.

Beauty In Destruction

My Water Post For Today.

This is Lake Munz, in the Lake Elizabeth area of Los Angeles County.

As I mentioned yesterday, there is a fire up my canyon. San Francisquito Canyon, to be exact. The fire began right by one of the two powerhouses in the canyon, Powerhouse number 1. It has then moved to the north and west, slowly marching toward the Interstate 5 area. Before that could happen, the wind direction changed and it came back to the area by Elizabeth Lake. There were some homes destroyed, but almost all were saved. One of those things that was saved, is this camp by Munz Lake. I had never heard of it, but it was built by Paul Newman, many years before his death and it is called The Painted Turtle Camp. The fire came up to many of the cabins, but the firemen got the fires out, before they destroyed this wonderful place for children.

I am sure Paul is up in heaven rejoicing today.

Enjoy the serene, in the midst of chaos.

BTW: A little known fact, Munz Lake (along with Elizabeth Lake and Hughes Lake) sit on the San Andreas fault zone and are sag ponds, that were formed by the two plates rubbing against each other.

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Photo by SCVTV.

Powerhouse Fire

It's been an interesting weekend so far. The fire that first turned up on Thursday has grown on Saturday, due to the high heat. It was over 100 degrees yesterday and of course, that doesn't help the firefighters.

As I sat talking to my sister on the phone, I noticed that right out my windows, I could see the huge cloud of smoke and so I took a few photos through my greenhouse window.

Thankfully, it is at least 10 miles away...but as you drive around running your errands, it doesn't feel that way.

They are saying containment maybe by next Tuesday. Sigh...

Sleeping On The Top Of The Couch

A lazy Saturday post...

Let sleeping kitties lie, I say.

Makenna is laying on the top of my son's couch. She seems to do it so that she can keep track of me, as I work on the computer.

As I have mentioned before, she is fascinated with her "Mommy" and so I will be working, totally oblivious to everything and suddenly I turn and there she is. It always startles me.

I keep saying this...but what will my kitty do without me, for 5 long months?

Skype? :-)