Monday, April 21, 2008
Disparity of Wealth
So occasionally due to job circumstance I get to be the fly on the wall regarding household finances…. some times are definitely more amusing than others. It’s eye opening what people spend their own money on.. I’m sure some one could say the same about what I spend. Anyhow I was in budget mode.. hacking and slashing my way through unnecessary expenses (and who says accounting can't be fun)... with one of my clients Mr. and Mrs. X, when Mr. X was explaining the decline in the market to Mrs. X and the fact that they’d have to start conserving…just a little bit. As a joke, Mr. X said it could get so bad that they’d have to move in with me.. I seriously laughed out loud to imagine what people used to living in 7000sqft + with 5 acres of property would do living in my apartment…just for the mental picture… that would be some what akin to a broom closet in their home. So to add to the hilarity of his statement I said "ya in my shared 700 sqft apartment". Mrs. X let out a squeal of actual horrification said “That would be soooo awful”. I think that statement accidentally slipped out as it was directed more toward my living conditions than actually living with me. Amazing what we humans can get used to…one mans trash is another’s treasure… It’s all a matter of perspective isn’t it? :)
Wicked LA (Part 2)
So on with the actual show! The show was amazing.. the lighting.. the staging.. the fabulous characters and the SINGING.. Ahhhh-MAZING! My favorite character was definitely Ga-linda (but this is coming from the girl that actually saw Legally Blonde the Musical on Broadway and loved it.. so you know.. take that for what you will). I must admit that I did absolutely no research into the plot of this show before plopping my self in the assigned seat in the Pantages Theater so I was surprised by every plot turn, clever, very clever.. I especially liked the cameo by Dorothy and Dodo and Popular was my favorite song. I don’t want to ruin it for any of you that haven’t gone yet so I won’t say another word.. besides it’s worth the price of admission and the trek to slums of Hollywood …at least in broad daylight.. I can’t really vouch for the evening show.
After the show we ventured to Downtown Disney….oh so close to the happiest place on earth.. so close infact I could have taken a Mickey Mouse Tram.. but that might have be too much fun for one day… so I stuck to the free Disney experience. I have actually never been to Downtown Disney.. which seems like another way for Disney to keep those families staying at the Disney Resort Hotel from venturing outside the magical kingdom with their pocketbooks.. but it was pretty cool outdoor shopping mall and restaurant row. And we had some live entertainment.. a guy was playing an electric violin.. yes they do have such things..
We decided to have dinner at ESPN Zone.. which also doubles as an arcade.. sadly we did not play any games.. we looked longingly at them.. does that count? There was a rock wall climbing game that I totally would have been into… however it was closed for renovations.. Another was a horse racing game.. where you and 3 other players jockey your mechanical horses.. I saw some women actually “helping” by wiggling her daughters horse so she could keep us with the other players, not sure if that was cute or a little obsessive?
We had a spectacular dinner, followed by an equally amazing sizzling cookie with ice cream.. Yummy… if I only I had one now…. I then proceeded to drive everyone home. All of my passengers fell asleep on the ride home.. it must have been my smooth driving skills… however I did have to keep myself awake by singing my heart out to every song on my upbeat running mixes as we made our way back to the Greater San Diego Area aka the real Happiest Place on Earth.
After the show we ventured to Downtown Disney….oh so close to the happiest place on earth.. so close infact I could have taken a Mickey Mouse Tram.. but that might have be too much fun for one day… so I stuck to the free Disney experience. I have actually never been to Downtown Disney.. which seems like another way for Disney to keep those families staying at the Disney Resort Hotel from venturing outside the magical kingdom with their pocketbooks.. but it was pretty cool outdoor shopping mall and restaurant row. And we had some live entertainment.. a guy was playing an electric violin.. yes they do have such things..
We decided to have dinner at ESPN Zone.. which also doubles as an arcade.. sadly we did not play any games.. we looked longingly at them.. does that count? There was a rock wall climbing game that I totally would have been into… however it was closed for renovations.. Another was a horse racing game.. where you and 3 other players jockey your mechanical horses.. I saw some women actually “helping” by wiggling her daughters horse so she could keep us with the other players, not sure if that was cute or a little obsessive?
We had a spectacular dinner, followed by an equally amazing sizzling cookie with ice cream.. Yummy… if I only I had one now…. I then proceeded to drive everyone home. All of my passengers fell asleep on the ride home.. it must have been my smooth driving skills… however I did have to keep myself awake by singing my heart out to every song on my upbeat running mixes as we made our way back to the Greater San Diego Area aka the real Happiest Place on Earth.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Ratatouille in Real Life (Part 4)
Okay last of the rat story I promise… so I never was able to find out if Animal Control actually picks up dead rats.. if some one knows let me know…
The next morning the rat and the trap were missing.. at least from all appearances.. I mean if I couldn’t see him from the sliding glass doors or windows.. I wasn’t about to go out there.. if he wasn’t dead he was going to be one mad rat.. probably looking from some revenge. So I avoided the back patio and the laundry area for a week before I got up the courage to go out there (meanwhile everyday Mark was leaving me threatening messages to go out there and find the rat.. so he could have some closure.. uh hello.. what about my safety?), I went out there and still nothing.. but as I said before the patio at this point was in such a state of disrepair it was difficult to see what was actually out there. Somehow I did clear a rat free path from the laundry room to the sliding glass door.. it’s amazing what you will do when the threat of having to go back to the Laundromat is eminent.
Well that seemed to be working out just fine.. Pet Louie had completely vanished until a month later Alycia’s friend Mark (I know confusing for purposes of this blog he will be Mark 2) came to visit and decided that he was going to dedicate his time to a major service project.. cleaning up our back patio/laundry area, sifting through Alycia’s stuff to take care of whatever the rat has infiltrated and locating the rat. I am forever indebted to Mark 2 for taking pity on us.
So apparently food storage IS really important. Pet Louie could not have survived out there with out it. During “Project Cleanup” it was discovered that the rat had actually eaten through Alycia’s 72-hour kit.. his razor sharp teeth had acted as a can opener and he sucked the goodness out of a tuna can.. this big guy was the McGuiver of the rat community. There were also some granola bar remnants and a couple of empty juice boxes. Mummified Pet Louie was found under a weed that that had been growing out in the patio area, literally under our noses the whole time.... I am really surprised he didn't stink up the place. Pictures were taken (courtesy of Mark 2).. if your stomach can handle it let me know and I’ll send them over.
The next morning the rat and the trap were missing.. at least from all appearances.. I mean if I couldn’t see him from the sliding glass doors or windows.. I wasn’t about to go out there.. if he wasn’t dead he was going to be one mad rat.. probably looking from some revenge. So I avoided the back patio and the laundry area for a week before I got up the courage to go out there (meanwhile everyday Mark was leaving me threatening messages to go out there and find the rat.. so he could have some closure.. uh hello.. what about my safety?), I went out there and still nothing.. but as I said before the patio at this point was in such a state of disrepair it was difficult to see what was actually out there. Somehow I did clear a rat free path from the laundry room to the sliding glass door.. it’s amazing what you will do when the threat of having to go back to the Laundromat is eminent.
Well that seemed to be working out just fine.. Pet Louie had completely vanished until a month later Alycia’s friend Mark (I know confusing for purposes of this blog he will be Mark 2) came to visit and decided that he was going to dedicate his time to a major service project.. cleaning up our back patio/laundry area, sifting through Alycia’s stuff to take care of whatever the rat has infiltrated and locating the rat. I am forever indebted to Mark 2 for taking pity on us.
So apparently food storage IS really important. Pet Louie could not have survived out there with out it. During “Project Cleanup” it was discovered that the rat had actually eaten through Alycia’s 72-hour kit.. his razor sharp teeth had acted as a can opener and he sucked the goodness out of a tuna can.. this big guy was the McGuiver of the rat community. There were also some granola bar remnants and a couple of empty juice boxes. Mummified Pet Louie was found under a weed that that had been growing out in the patio area, literally under our noses the whole time.... I am really surprised he didn't stink up the place. Pictures were taken (courtesy of Mark 2).. if your stomach can handle it let me know and I’ll send them over.
Ratatouille in Real Life (Part 3)
Have I mentioned the fact that I absolutely hate the Laundromat. To the point that I think I would have about 8 loads and no matching clothes before I would schlep all my clothes out to my car and head over for a marathon session at the Genesse Fluff and Fold.. as nice as that sounds and all, Pet Louie and I needed to have a chat.
I was not about to let him keep me from enjoying my washer and dryer (not for more than a month at least).. for goodness sake this was ridiculous... surely he could have gone to torment someone else by now. So I braved it… of course only in broad daylight. I came to the conclusion that rat and I could peacefully co-exist as long as he didn’t try to make his presence known while I was doing my laundry. Alycia still refused to do laundry in there.
So fast forward a couple months of me doing laundry without incident, when Alycia said that maybe we should set a trap just to be sure he was gone. I was pretty sure he was gone since I had done laundry in there about a 100 times and never once seen him. So once again call the male pal from out of town. We went to home depot and got the biggest rat trap known to man.. slapped a big hunk of peanut butter on the trap and set it out by the washer in the laundry area.
We decided to watch a movie and about a hour later there was a loud snap and some thrashing sounds come from the back patio. We flicked on the patio light and there he was in all is glory.. the hugest rat I have ever seen face to face (ok also the only rat I have seen face to face.. through a thick wall of sliding glass door thank goodness). Pet Louie’s body was about 10 inches long and tail about 12 inches and he was wearing that huge trap like a necklace. The trap had not done its full job, and he was still quite mobile. Unfortunately we had done very little contingency planning for this type of event and it was dark.. I did feel bad about leaving him there.. but I wasn’t about to risk my life and possibly get rabies… so we rationalized that the rat was would be dead by morning in which we could call the animal control people to pick it up? Hopefully they make house calls like this?
I was not about to let him keep me from enjoying my washer and dryer (not for more than a month at least).. for goodness sake this was ridiculous... surely he could have gone to torment someone else by now. So I braved it… of course only in broad daylight. I came to the conclusion that rat and I could peacefully co-exist as long as he didn’t try to make his presence known while I was doing my laundry. Alycia still refused to do laundry in there.
So fast forward a couple months of me doing laundry without incident, when Alycia said that maybe we should set a trap just to be sure he was gone. I was pretty sure he was gone since I had done laundry in there about a 100 times and never once seen him. So once again call the male pal from out of town. We went to home depot and got the biggest rat trap known to man.. slapped a big hunk of peanut butter on the trap and set it out by the washer in the laundry area.
We decided to watch a movie and about a hour later there was a loud snap and some thrashing sounds come from the back patio. We flicked on the patio light and there he was in all is glory.. the hugest rat I have ever seen face to face (ok also the only rat I have seen face to face.. through a thick wall of sliding glass door thank goodness). Pet Louie’s body was about 10 inches long and tail about 12 inches and he was wearing that huge trap like a necklace. The trap had not done its full job, and he was still quite mobile. Unfortunately we had done very little contingency planning for this type of event and it was dark.. I did feel bad about leaving him there.. but I wasn’t about to risk my life and possibly get rabies… so we rationalized that the rat was would be dead by morning in which we could call the animal control people to pick it up? Hopefully they make house calls like this?
Ratatouille in Real Life (Part 2)
So a couple weeks after the first Louie sighting and fearing to go out to our laundry area.. what is a single girl to do in these kind of predicaments? Now I can do a lot of things but organizing a rat hunt is not something I ever want to be my specialty. Enter the desperate call to the male pal from out of town (Since I don’t want to subject any of my in town friends to this) to save the day.. well sort of..
Mark my long time friend from LA came to visit on a Saturday.. I think mostly to see if the tall tales of the rat were actually true. Of course he is brave enough to immediately venture out the laundry garage and start rooting around in there in search of the Louie.
I must say I was extremely embarrassed about the state of our back patio and laundry area. We had really let it go since the rat sighting.. thank goodness for fences, they actually do make for good neighbors.
Anyhow.. Alycia and I were in the apartment noses pressed to the window just waiting to hear Mark scream like a girl (if he did come across the rat) he moved a couple boxes and items from off the shelves of the laundry area and suddenly the rat sprung from it’s secret hiding place.. (I think he might have made a nest of my sleeping bag..ewe!!!!) and nearly attacked Mark (or so he claims). All Alycia and I hear him say was OH MY HOLY CRAP (or something of that nature)…. and jump like 10ft out of the laundry room and run inside.
Mark claims that the rat is ginormous and wants to head to home depot to get a trap to take care of it. I, however, do not want to have to deal with disposing of a dead rat a day later.. I know.. I’m a big sissy! So I continue to hope that Louie will venture to the bait station and the HOA will somehow save the day. A girl can dream can’t she?
Mark my long time friend from LA came to visit on a Saturday.. I think mostly to see if the tall tales of the rat were actually true. Of course he is brave enough to immediately venture out the laundry garage and start rooting around in there in search of the Louie.
I must say I was extremely embarrassed about the state of our back patio and laundry area. We had really let it go since the rat sighting.. thank goodness for fences, they actually do make for good neighbors.
Anyhow.. Alycia and I were in the apartment noses pressed to the window just waiting to hear Mark scream like a girl (if he did come across the rat) he moved a couple boxes and items from off the shelves of the laundry area and suddenly the rat sprung from it’s secret hiding place.. (I think he might have made a nest of my sleeping bag..ewe!!!!) and nearly attacked Mark (or so he claims). All Alycia and I hear him say was OH MY HOLY CRAP (or something of that nature)…. and jump like 10ft out of the laundry room and run inside.
Mark claims that the rat is ginormous and wants to head to home depot to get a trap to take care of it. I, however, do not want to have to deal with disposing of a dead rat a day later.. I know.. I’m a big sissy! So I continue to hope that Louie will venture to the bait station and the HOA will somehow save the day. A girl can dream can’t she?
Ratatouille in Real Life (Part 1)
So contrary to Disney pop culture living with a rat is not that fantasic. I was sadly disappointed that my rat did not get up and cook me breakfast.. (or maybe I’m not) or at least help me with my chores, but that might have something to do with the fact that he was exiled to little laundry garage off the back patio of my apartment.
So Pet Louie first came to be noticed back in October 2007, fortunately I was not the first to discover him. I returned from a weekend away and Alycia (my roommate) informed me that she had gone into our laundry garage.. at night… had flicked on the light.. and she had seen SOMETHING scurry into the recesses of the laundry room some where near the water heater.. she wasn’t sure exactly what it was either mouse or rat or a trick of the light?... needless to say.. neither of us were going to venture out to the patio or the laundry area anytime soon.
I did call our landlords and then the Homeowners Association since their monthly newsletter said to call them with rat problems.. note to self.. beware of communities where the newsletter actually sites rat problems. Their ever helpful solution was to put out a bait station.. in the front of our condo… uh.. did I mention that the rat was near the back patio… I wasn’t exactly sure how this was going to help the situation.. but I was hopeful that one day Pet Louie might wander out to the front of his kingdom and take a leisurely stroll into the bait station and hopefully die somewhere other than underneath my washer and dryer.
So Pet Louie first came to be noticed back in October 2007, fortunately I was not the first to discover him. I returned from a weekend away and Alycia (my roommate) informed me that she had gone into our laundry garage.. at night… had flicked on the light.. and she had seen SOMETHING scurry into the recesses of the laundry room some where near the water heater.. she wasn’t sure exactly what it was either mouse or rat or a trick of the light?... needless to say.. neither of us were going to venture out to the patio or the laundry area anytime soon.
I did call our landlords and then the Homeowners Association since their monthly newsletter said to call them with rat problems.. note to self.. beware of communities where the newsletter actually sites rat problems. Their ever helpful solution was to put out a bait station.. in the front of our condo… uh.. did I mention that the rat was near the back patio… I wasn’t exactly sure how this was going to help the situation.. but I was hopeful that one day Pet Louie might wander out to the front of his kingdom and take a leisurely stroll into the bait station and hopefully die somewhere other than underneath my washer and dryer.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Wicked LA (Part 1)
So last weekend I went to see the Broadway Musical Sensation WICKED the untold (until recently) story of OZ and Wicked Witch of the West. We had had our tickets for months (we had one failed attempt to go in which we were trying to get tickets only a couple days before the show where I’m sure we would have needed binoculars to see. Needless to say no one was too upset that didn’t work out) and so we had been eagerly awaiting this day. This was an all girls trip (4 of us: Cassie, Lisa, Pam and I) so we decided to make a whole day of it.. go up to Hollywood a little early, grab lunch, see the show, head to Downtown Disney, grab some dinner and then head home.
Lisa and I flipped a coin to see who would drive (We’re making Pam drive in Hawaii so she is off the hook) and I was crowned the chauffer of the event. We definitely got more than we bargained for. Downtown Hollywood.. ummmm…not really for the faint of heart. One of many reasons: apparently there are hardly any protected left hand turn signals on the road up there which wouldn’t be such a problem except for the extremely heavy traffic.. it is customary to turn left on a yellow/red light.. oh boy..that was two whole moments of pure anxiety that I really wouldn’t care to repeat.. I seriously thought about closing my eyes through it.. honestly I don’t think that would have been more dangerous.
After we made it through the gauntlet that is Hollywood and made our way to a small pizza parlor close to the theater we were also able to witness an actual protest.. of all things protesting Scientology? What the? People wearing plastic masks carrying signs with things like “How many people must die?". I don’t think these people could inspire me to join their crusade against anything. Pam made a interesting comment that she always wondered what people that are not members of the LDS Church must think about the protests in front of General Conference in Salt Lake and then she said.. they must think what we’re thinking now.. whatever.. and go along eating their lunch.
PS.. WICKED was amazing as everyone said it would be!
Lisa and I flipped a coin to see who would drive (We’re making Pam drive in Hawaii so she is off the hook) and I was crowned the chauffer of the event. We definitely got more than we bargained for. Downtown Hollywood.. ummmm…not really for the faint of heart. One of many reasons: apparently there are hardly any protected left hand turn signals on the road up there which wouldn’t be such a problem except for the extremely heavy traffic.. it is customary to turn left on a yellow/red light.. oh boy..that was two whole moments of pure anxiety that I really wouldn’t care to repeat.. I seriously thought about closing my eyes through it.. honestly I don’t think that would have been more dangerous.
After we made it through the gauntlet that is Hollywood and made our way to a small pizza parlor close to the theater we were also able to witness an actual protest.. of all things protesting Scientology? What the? People wearing plastic masks carrying signs with things like “How many people must die?". I don’t think these people could inspire me to join their crusade against anything. Pam made a interesting comment that she always wondered what people that are not members of the LDS Church must think about the protests in front of General Conference in Salt Lake and then she said.. they must think what we’re thinking now.. whatever.. and go along eating their lunch.
PS.. WICKED was amazing as everyone said it would be!
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