Asymptomatic

For our 10th wedding anniversary, Berta and I stayed over night in Philadelphia. The interesting story is less about what we actually did than what we tried to plan.

Mostly, you wouldn't call it a plan. Friday night, we dropped the kids off at Mom's then raced home to decide what to do. It was still early enough to consider flights out of Philadelphia, provided that they were late enough.

We'd been thinking about getting away for a while, specifically to exercise our passports one more time before they expire. Berta has stamps from Mexico, and I've got stamps from France, and we both have stamps and visas for India. I thought it would be nice to be "world travelers" and add another stamp to the book before it was retired.

It's kind of strange explaining these trips we take. It's like we just need to get away for a while, and it's not about being pampered or being extravagant (although the travel might seem that way), but more about just getting away from home. And so on Friday night we simply looked for a reasonably cheap flight to anywhere that wouldn't keep us away longer than the weekend. This is harder than you might think. more

In the Standard Hotel lobby, behind the reception area, there is a large glass enclosure. Inside the enclosure, hanging from the ceiling, is a makeshift claw apparatus. This claw is not unlike the claw you might find in a midway game to pick up stuffed creatures to deposit in a chute as a prize.

Like the midway game, this claw enclosure is filled with stuffed white teddy bears. Also like the midway games, there is a single special prize that everyone attempts to grab, but nobody ever seems to accomplish, leading to much profit for the midway operator.

In the case of this claw machine, the special prize is a live girl in her underwear....

After work in the client's Hollywood office, I took some time to walk down Sunset looking for something to do and/or eat.

What strikes me as an oddity in bars in LA is that there doesn't seem to be any draft beer. Surely, I haven't been in many bars here, but of the ones I have been in (and there are a few within walking range of my hotel on Sunset) there isn't a single tap. It's all about cocktails.

I walked down to the House of Blues, thinking that maybe there would be some blues, beer taps, and maybe some dinner. I found none of those three there, sitting at the bar. I was struck by the decorations in the building. Everything from the paint on the walls to the dress and demeanor of their employees was worth noting. The use of incense was unique....

I'm about four hours and ten minutes into this light to LA, and I'd like to take an account of the experience of travelling by plane these days, since in the near future, everyone will be cryogenically frozen when they leave their car at the airport and loaded onto their destination flight. For their protection, of course.

The first thing I would like to complain about is the passenger in front of me, who is one of those people who believe that it is their duty, without the regard for the people around them, to recline their seat into my face for the duration of the flight. I think that in this age where the leg room and, lets face it, breathing room of the jet capacity is so low, that people would be considerate of their fellow man and just not do it. I know you're awake. Sit up! Sit up!

With all of the weird security at the airport, I've seen a few strange things happen today. Some lady was allowed to board our plane without a boarding pass or ID. That doesn't sem right. She was with her husband, and the attendant looked up her name before sending her onto the jetway, but is that fair? Here I am practically freaking out over procedure - don't accept strange bags, keep everything with me, have my confirmation ready at check-in, present ID at each checkpoint, have boarding pass ready at gate - and then this old lady pops onto the plane with a "he's my husband, and I might have that piece of paper around here somewhere." What?...