California or bust

I have no photos because the USB port that fits my camera is for a printer. My friend Joseph's USB ports are all new and much smaller on the female end.. So, photos will have to wait, possibly until I get home.

My trip to CA was frustrating and not especially enjoyable to begin with. You can check the security time for each city in your destination on the internet. I found the link either through the Northwest Airlines web site or the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport web site. I was flipping back and forth between both, so not sure which I had at the time. The ironic thing is (you insert the state, city, and time of departure), Wichita, KS has the longest average and maximum time to get thru screening of all the cities that affect me on the flight and my trip. This was based on May, 2008 statistics as reported to TSA. So it was no wonder the first leg of my flight went so disappointingly and badly.

I went on the TSA web site and learned about the new (probably NOT new to most flyers) 3-1-1 rules. I won't go into them. If you fly a lot, it's old news to you. If you don't and you're interested, go to their web site and learn about the rule. Needless to say, it required either a shopping trip to buy sample and small sized gels, pastes, and liquids, or it required a checked bag. I opted, with a bit of prodding, for the checked luggage.

I know I'm a duf. "Back in the day" I've been called "stupid" for some of the idiotic things I say or stunts I pull. It took me getting my Master's degree and accepted into a Ph.D. program before I recognized I was not the village idiot many have told me over the years that I was. However, when I pull a boner like I did on Tuesday, I wonder where and how I ever got thru high school, let alone collage. All I can say is, in college, we used the metric system and I'm not used to ours. The rule was one quart baggie. I had everything in one of those bags that artists like us send tip-ins in. I even went out and BOUGHT a box of them. When I got to the airport, the woman was going thru the security line with a much smaller bag than I had my things in. I asked her "Is that the quart size?" Needless to say, I had to remove everything from my larger zippy bag and put it in the quart sized one, all the while moving in line with NO ROLLING luggage. By the time I got thru the security screening, I was frustrated and sweating like a pig.

Although the flight to Minn/St.Paul (MSP) was uneventful, I never cooled down, still sweating profusely even with the air from the plane blowing directly on me.

My nearly 4 hour layover in MSP was supposed to include a nice visit with an internet friend. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. To make matters worse, I had a small bag of reading material, including Sommerset and a paperback, that I left at the house and my neighbor Donna who took me to the airport, didn't think we had time to go back for it. So, I was stuck in the MSP airport with nothing to do. And, I was still sweating like a pig.

The MSP airport is gorgeous. It is large, but it is also well landscaped and has a modern architectural attraction if you like glass and concrete, which I do. I have no idea how warm or cool it was outside, but I was finally able to cool down. So, I spent most of my time outdoors, until that it, it started to rain. And I was no longer sweating like a pig, but truly enjoying the great weather.

For the 4 hour flight to LA, I had been assigned a middle seat. I've never been in a middle seat before and seriously don't remember ever flying in a plane with three seats on each side, although that may be because my company usually booked my flights and I've flown 1st class back when economy was treated nearly as good. To make a long story even longer, I was in this middle seat between a HUGE guy and an Asian American young man. Before takeoff, the flight attendant came and asked the HUGE guy if he would be more comfortable in a bulk head seat (or somewhere up front with no seats in front of it), where he could stretch his legs. He jumped at the chance, and I jumped into the aisle seat and felt less claustrophobic in a matter of seconds.

From there on the flight was wonderful. I got acquainted with the Asian American male who had just graduated from John Hopkins in neurosurgery and had just been accepted into NYU, and the family across the aisle, who had one son who was about to go to Iraq on a second tour and one who was already there. I also did a little art and tried to explain what altered art was to people who didn't even know what collage was. They all seemed to love what I was working on, though, and even the flight attendant came by and checked on my artwork progress from time to time, refilling my coffee each time she did!

When the plane got to Santa Ana, a smaller airport south of LA and Anaheim, the five of us walked to the baggage claim and continued talking until we all had our bags. By this time, my friend Joseph had joined us and we were all looking for my bag which I thought was all blue, but turned out to be black on the bottom (again, the duf, but everyone had a good laugh and no rebukes).

After a great meal of steamed veggies, a salad, hummus and tortilla chips, coffee for me, and a green drink that Joseph made in the food processor that tasted like new grass for both of us, we watched the election coverage on his flat screen TV. Do you think I'll ever go home?? Maybe Bleubeard will learn to get his own water and food :>)

As we were getting ready for dessert, his friend and fellow musician Tanya, who I met for the first time last night, came to practice. They went to Joseph's recording studio and practiced for about as long as it took me to wash the dishes (yep, I have trouble sitting and doing nothing). Then they came and got me and treated me to an awesome personal concert of steel drums played by Joseph and concert violin played by Tanya. They were playing classical, 15th century medieval, and chamber music, that which is normally reserved for recorders, violins, flutes, and violas. It was a stunning example of how versatile the steel drum really is. And with Tanya, who is also a member of the LA Symphony and a couple of other high profile symphonic LA groups, their duet was simply amazing. I felt so honored to have a "private" concert the very first night I was in LA.

Today we are going grocery shopping and doing a few touristy things. Then tonight, it will be pedal to the metal for Joseph when he begins his latest gig, an out of town weekender north of San Francisco. Hopefully I'll get a cable and photos before the next time I "check in."