Things That Make You Go "Duh!" - Saturday 5/9/2009

I picked up the round cookie sheet that I've been resting the sprouts on, and found this huge rust stain on the counter.

Duh. Took a lot of scrubbing to get this up.



During cleanup, I stacked too much stuff in the sink. As the pan on top filled with water, it tilted suddenly and dumped about half of its contents on me!

It's a two-duh day!

Accept No Substitution - Thursday 5/7/2009

'Cause you know that imitators are popping up all I over the place.... Huh? Stopped by the Newhall Farmer's Market to pick up some tomatoes. One day I will get some corn on the cob here, but I was on my way to the gym to a spinning class and didn't need any more food.

The class went better than I expected, since I hadn't been for about 5 weeks, since before the most recent bout of bronchitis. I coughed afterward, but not during and really worked hard hard hard for an hour. Whoo!


Liiiiiiight. Pleeeease.

How to Deal - Wednesday 5/6/2009

Yeah, so our office is on work-share again for a couple of months. The writer's strike of last year is still reverberating through the industry in that small companies like ours with about a dozen employees in that financial reserves were depleted. Then there was the lovely threatened actor's strike led by SAG, which meant that a lot of productions put off starting, so we're not getting the usual boost from increased movie production this year.

Anywhooo.... All this is to say that I have today off. Next week I'll work three days and will receive unemployment for the other two.

My advice if you're in this boat is to figure out the cheapest things that you enjoy doing and make sure you continue to do them. For me, investing a couple of bucks in a cup of coffee is well worth it. I get to sit at Barnes & Noble Cafe and look at a stack of books...and decide which ones to request from the library.


Mmm. Double espresso goodness.

Other good things to do : keep moving (hiking's cheap!), read, connect with friends, listen to music, get outside.


Grow stuff. I've started cucumbers and herbs. The big sprouts are cucumbers...they weren't even out of the soil in the morning!

There and Therer - Tuesday 5/5/2009

Aah, too bad I don't have time to have breakfast on Braveheart's patio. It's a beautiful morning.


The view from her front porch...it's even more lovely in the evening. Her house is on the market. Sigh. Anyone want to buy a nice house in L.A.?


One of my other favorite buildings in L.A. This is on the corner of Hollywood and Highland, and you've seen it from other angles, if you've read this blog very long.


Hmm. So it used to be a bank building. Now there are vacant store front spaces available for rent.

This Doesn't Look Safe - Monday 5/4/2009

From directly behind this truck on the freeway, I couldn't even figure out what the tall stuff was. Down on the surface street, it became clear that it's sections of chain link fence.

Maybe he was transporting this at 5:15 a.m. to avoid hearing the opinions of the CHiPs?

Water Board Awash With Perks - Sunday 5/3/2009

Hey, it's not my headline.

Hydra pointed this out on our way into Trader Joe's. Unfortunate.

How to Play with a Toy - Sunday 5/3/2009

Dodger versus the large plastic ball with two little balls inside it.



Toys are only really fun if you can break them. African Grey motto: Everything comes apart.


Success!

Now, to get the tiny bell out of the little ball...

Sundry Drive - Sunday 5/3/2009

We decided to drive out to the Rock Inn in Lake Hughes for lunch on Sunday.

There's a better photo of the whole place at their website. Apparently, they've stopped calling it Harley's Rock Inn, and are playing up the historic aspect of this 80+ year old hotel and restaurant. I wish I had taken a shot of all the gleaming Harley's and Harley-wanna-be bikes out front of the restaurant.

It's pretty loud on a Sunday afternoon. Wonder how much sleep one's likely to get in the hotel on a Saturday night. There is really not much else to this little town, except Papa's Market across the street.


Love the backs on these bar stools. It's quite a crowd. Lots of middle-aged weekend bikers mixed with real mildly alarming bikers.

Hydra walks into a biker bar wearing the Detroit Redwings hat his cousin brought him from Michigan. There's a hockey game on the tube in the corner. Yep, you got it: Detroit Redwings v. Anaheim Ducks in Stanley Cup playoffs!

There's a heavily tattooed, drunk, serious biker dude behind us yelling nearly incoherantly from time to time, but apparently in synchronization with what's going on in the hockey game. It takes us a while to figure out he's rooting for the Redwings. Whew.


I like this elderly lady sitting by the window reading a book and drinking coffee. I expect to be that woman when I am her age.


On the way back, we stop to look at the new electricity transmission lines going in. I think these are going to help get the energy being created by the wind farms in Tehachapi down to the folks in Santa Clarita and beyond. The pieces look like giant tinker toys.

Hydra admits that he has seen pieces of these things being airlifted in by helicopter from his commute up Bouquet Canyon and Vasquez Canyon roads. Harumph! Why was I not alerted sooner!?


The idyllic Pitchfork llama ranch.



This llama, not wanting to be sold and carted away from paradise, heads for the brush.



Back at home after running errands, I return to the scene of the yard work. Tore out or moved old straggling African Daisies and planted new ones.


Added new soil and rearranged the rocks. These will fill in nicely through the summer.


Added a pot of Gerbera daisies and some geraniums to the front porch. A little color in amongst the succulents. Also started cucumber and herb seeds in one of those peat-pot starter terrariums.

Okay, now a plea for help. Has anyone ever had a pair of this style of grass shears that actually works? I've bought probably 3 pairs in the past 8 years and none of them have done much more than crimp the grass. Do you know of a brand that works?