Another trip to the Coast

This month my regular trip is a long LAX layover and a short Tulsa layover on the 757. I bid the trip because when I did it last month we were at a layover property in Manhattan Beach, with an ideal location (close to restaurants, Trader Joe's) and fantastic amenities (free WiFi, great exercise room). When bids came out, I was sad to learn we would be spending the month at the other long layover property in Torrence. So I was going into the month with a bad attitude.

I was pleasantly surprised however. The property is not that bad and I ended up having a great time. We left home at 6am and fly one quick leg to LAX, arriving just before 8am. After a quick ride from the airport to the hotel, we all got checked in and headed to our rooms to crash. I got up at 3:45am that morning, which no matter how you look at it, is nasty. I had played cards with some co-workers the night before so I was spent.

I slept great for about two hours and then headed down to work out. I will always be shaped like a pear, but getting 30 minutes of cardio can't hurt in the long run. Plus if I did not work out right away, I would never have gone down.

There is a Trader Joe's nearby, about a mile away, which is a lot further than at the other property, but I figured I would walk down there and then take the bus back if I bought too much stuff to carry, or was too tired. My co-worker Andrea went along. We stopped at a sandwich shop called ToGo's for lunch. I had a BBQ Chicken Ranch sandwich that rocked my world. We got to Trader Joe's and I went to the wine section, planning on buying a few bottles of Two Buck Chuck, but one of the First Mates (that is what they call their employees) showed us a Famiglia Pinot Grigio that were selling for $2.99, so it was an easy sell. I also got some Roobios Red Tea (I first discovered it on my trip to West Africa a few years back), some social responsible rain forest gum called Glee (don't be glum, chew Glee gum - http://www.gleegum.com/), and some organic breath spray for my dog.

We were feeling pretty energized, so we walked the mile back to the hotel no problem. Andrea, being a woman, naturally purchased more than I did, but I was a gentleman and offered to carry some of her items.

We met up with Kris and Marty at the Rain Bar in the hotel lobby for Happy Hour. Our waiter was a dude named Dan and he was pretty funny. I think we might have been a bit too demanding, but he took it in stride, or he spit in our food to get even, but I guess we'll never know.

We had this strange lady show up at the bar while we were sitting around. She had bleach blond hair, wore a tight black cocktail dress, but had what my Dad would call "a rode hard, put up wet look" about her. I got Marty and Andrea to pose so I could take her picture. We think she might have been a prostitute and we started calling her the "Painted Whore" which was not very nice, but we were drinking and her behavior was so odd. Whenever men approached her she would put on her iPod and blow them off, but it was obvious she was "trolling" for something.

Being that it was Pacific Standard Time, we all got pretty tried early on and called it a night. The next morning we had over 8 hours of flying ahead of us with a non-stop to Orlando, then Dallas and on to Tulsa.

Our flight to O-town was filled with celebs. In first we had Marcus Allen, Ed Marinaro, and Vanessa Minnillo. In coach we had Kevin Sorbo and his family. When Ms. Minnillo came up to use the lav, I mentioned that my sister was a big fan. Vanessa (we are on a first name basis now) suggested she and I get a picture for my sister. Luckily I bring the digital camera for just such an opportunity.

Our captain, Phil, was a riot. He must of told me a dozen jokes, but the only one I remember was "Why don't Baptists do it standing up? They don't want people to think they are dancing". He also carried an "Easy" button from the Staples commercial wherever he went so I got him in a picture with Kris and the "button".

We made it to Tulsa and we were just exhausted. The hotel has those Sleep Number beds which I hate. You see it has two chambers separated with a metal rod, but I like to sleep in the middle of the bed, which you cannot do with the rod. I also can never figure out which number works best for me. I think I am a 70, but by the time I wake up, I am so stiff.

Our third day was long as well, with one leg to base and then a Reno turnaround. We had an interesting woman in First, Ms. Howe. She was an 83 year old retired school teacher who's husband sat in coach because she says "he's cheap". She told me something good would happen to me soon, so we'll see if that comes to fruition.