Traveling - Travel log day 2
Wherein I chill in a Hotel room before the fun really begins. And by fun, I mean "dysFUNction"
Yeah, day one was the tedious trek from San Jose to San Diego to visit with family for the coming Thanksgiving holiday. Apart from the usual slow traffic on I-5 near Griffith’s Park in downtown Ellay1, and the perpetual slowdown in Oceanside/Calabasas, I got here without any serious issues2.
I usually bunk at my brother’s townhouse up on the hill in Mission Valley, my two sisters were planning on coming down, and I felt that I should get a hotel room. Fortunately, Mission Valley is Hotel Mecca. It is close to the convention center to be affordable lodging for event goers, and close enough to things like Sea World that brings tons of tourists to San Diego that they get good occupancy even in the off season.
Hell, it is on a road called “Hotel Circle” and literally all the chains are here.
I got in about 4:30PM, and frankly I was shagged. Just totally exhausted. I had stopped at noon for a big burger for lunch, so I wasn’t hungry, and by 7PM I was barely coherent enough to do the easy Tuesday NY Times crossword3.
The night cocooned me and I slept soundly.
This morning, I am up, having my in-room watery coffee, and wondering where I will go for breakfast4. There is the amazing Breakfast Republic, but I see that Jane’s Cafe is walking distance from the hotel, so I checked out their menu, and found this rather deadpan description:
That’s metal AF: Boiled and baked round bread roll.
I guess it is right, but damn, that is some serious effing shade right there.
Yep, I am gonna take a walk over there around 7 for decent coffee and maybe a “boiled and baked round bread roll”
America: Fuck Yeah!
Los Angeles. One of my favorite SciFi writers, John Brunner used this terminology to refer to LA in his great work, Stand on Zanzibar, I use it to this day. Oh, and I highly recommend reading it. It can be hard to get into, so slog through the first 50 pages, and then the style will “click” and you will be hooked - Pinky Swear!
After my step-father passed away in late 2018, and being the executor of the estate, I splurged with my share of the inheritance and traded the amazing sports car that I drove, a Honda S2000, for an Acura RDX. Alas, shortly thereafter Covid happened, and I drove mainly to visit my ailing father on his descent into Alzheimers and his demise in April 2022. Whilst that is sad, I am glad to say that the adaptive cruise control makes navigating the insanity of heavy commute traffic a lot less enraging. Hallelujah to modernity!
When I finally for the last time exited Facebook, I splurged on the $39.95 annual sub to the NY Times games to get access to all the historical puzzles (back to the 1940’s!?!?!?) and eagerly await the drop of the next day’s puzzles at 7:00PM pacific time (10PM eastern time).
One downside of staying at my brother’s house is that they aren’t “breakfast” people, so I am left to scrounge up something to eat, usually stale bread to toast and an egg. Pretty boring fare.