la in forty eight hours
Well, I thought it to be impossible but it’s not. I was able to spend time with friends in los angeles in a mere forty eight hours.
Not to say that the weekend wasn’t a whirlwind and that I didn’t suffer from a major case of jet lag but it was definitely worth the tiredness. I was able to fly out on the bus, Skybus, for $60.80. I was able to buy a ticket for ten dollars each way, and then when you add in the taxes it upped the price to $40.80 and because I am particular about where I sit (meaning I need a window seat) I paid the additional ten each way for priority boarding.
The terminal section at CMH was new, and very quiet, it seems as if you are walking down into a brightly lit dungeon. The boarding was semi painless, I was in group 1 and as everyone tried to file into the front of the plane, I walked myself on the tarmac to the rear of the plane, up the stairs, and got myself a window seat in an isle all by myself. Flying out I had a snack, and four jack and diet pepsi’s. Which took my grand total to $30.00 for in flight service. I was also a very good student and did my homework on the way out.
Landing, and getting my luggage (carry on only) I was able to walk out of the plane, through the terminal and get into the escape vehicle (aka the ross mobile). We stopped and had dinner at a chinese place. I can’t remember the name, it was close to BUR, decent food and not a bad price. Then we went speeding our way to Santa Monica through downtown LA. Unfortunately there’s no real rush hour traffic in LA, as it’s just busy the entire time and we got stuck a little bit of traffic.
(I will say that, motorists in LA in comparison to motorists in Ohio are far better, the entire weekend I saw no Californian driver make any lane changes without a signal.)
Ross, Jamie, Steph, and I made our way to Roosterfish in Venice. A nice neighborhood type bar, that started very very light but ended wall to wall. Kelsey and Des showed up and had a few drinks. At one point I think I had the same conversation with Kelsey three separate times in a row. I was extremely jet lagged and tired. Shortly there after, partly because I was tired, and partly because there were people who wouldn’t leave one member of our party alone we left.
Saturday, we spent the day trying to get as close to the Hollywood sign as possible.
We followed the directions and ended up in a heavily residential section of LA; closest we could get to the sign. Took a few photos and walked along a dirt trail. Next we wanted to get to the Hollywood Reservoir and venture around a bit there. Unfortunately it’s been closed due to land slides, so we couldn’t get down to walk around.
Which means, we had to find something else to do, so we went to the absolute best theater in LA, the Arclight.
(Of course, we had to pass the wonderful scientology museum about psychiatry and death. I think, in the few years that I’ve been going to LA, we travel past this exhibit at least once per visit.)
We ended up watching the Bourne movie, which was my second viewing and it was as fantastic as the first. After the movie it was dinner time, and we ended up at Basix, another tradition we have. It was a good meal, with the fantastic key lime pie, with the very same waiter as the last time. The dirty martini was excellent, and just one, gives me enough of a buzz to enjoy myself.
I felt kinda lame, because I think people wanted to hang out Saturday night, but I was still jet lagged and exhausted. So we ended the night at the apartment watching Season One of Ugly Betty.
Sunday was very low key. Sat and enjoyed brunch at ihop with Gray, Steph, Jamie and Ross. We were there, until we had to run back to the apartment and get me to burbank. I got in around 1:30 AM, got to my car around 2:00 AM, got home at 3:00AM and then was back at work the next day.
Life after undergrad…
It’s been a while since I’ve updated everyone on the comings and goings on in my life. I thought that once I finished my undergraduate program that this (consistently blogging) would be easier and something that I enjoy doing in my life. However; it’s proven to be a distraction away from the computer and one that may be necessary at times is inexcusable when you have an approximate audience of 20 or so reading.
So to start from the beginning. I finished my undergraduate program! I am walking on December 16th and being hooded on the 15th. I ended the program with a GPA of 3.471 which isn’t exactly where I wanted but high enough that I am still satisfied. My term GPA for my last semester ended at 3.67 which places me on the Dean’s List for a second time and really just solidifies my decent academic standing.
Of course, we had to celebrate and celebrate we did….
I know, I know it’s one of the few and rare instances that you’ll see me in a photo on my own site or even in my flickr…..
Most of the group went out to Gameworks after our last class, and champagne toast. It was fun, I was the motor car first place winner, but then people got pissy and blocked me from winning the balloon game.
Work has been stressful. Conversion was delayed again. Which is very fortunate as I was originally scheduled to be on vacation during the time we flipped the switch.
I always want to take a trip after the program ends. One for my undergraduate program and then one for the upcoming MBA program. For the conclusion of this program I decided that I would go out west to LA and then up to San Fran. I’ve been to LA a few times (three now actually) and have always enjoyed my time out there (here). Then for a weekend I would fly upto San Fran and then fly home on Sunday. I booked my hotel in the Union Square section of San Fran. I am staying at a Personality Hotel, specifically Hotel Union Square. A chance to get away even more, explore the city and then also a chance for me to see Mikey.
Getting to LA was somewhat of a struggle. I had to deviate from my original plan of flying to ORD and then to LAX. Inclement weather had me flying to IAD and then to LAX. I am not one for very long flights so when I was stuck in a plane flying across country for six hours I was less than enthusiastic. Fortunately, I was able to sit next to a decent guy who works as a helicopter pilot for some law enforcement agency in California. He was nice, but when you travel across the country and you have time for two movies you know the flight is long.
I’ve spent the past five days out here in sunny California. The weather a stark contrast from what I left in Ohio. It’s been somewhat of a whirlwind tour as I don’t precisely remember what days we did what. I know I’ve spent sometime at UCLA, I know we spent time on the Santa Monica Pier, I know we spent time in Malibu and at the Huntington Library mostly in that order but to signifiy them with days right now isn’t something I am capable of doing.
I’ve been adding my photos as I go into flickr and you can check out the photo stream here.
Tonight is dinner at a Mexican restaurant with some peeps from the old musicology land. Perhaps some debauchery perhaps not… It’s too early to tell.
flickr
