Here and There Blog

The Palace of Culture is the best landmark and is also the view from my window. As I walked around last night, I was able to get one picture in before dark. I thought I could navigate by the green domed buildings or church steeples but both were everywhere and they all looked alike. Warsaw is a pleasant surprise. As the end of September comes to a close, the weather is still around 60F, sunny, and the trees are turning yellow with the approach of fall. Parks are everywhere. I’ve rarely seen a big city with so many parks and where the parks are not, small gardens exist in their place. This is also an easy walking city. While not quite a grid, the streets are close enough to make navigation simple and there are a few tall building to serve as landmarks. I’m not sure how many miles I’ve walked here but I have covered territory from the city center, to the old town, to the parks and back.

Polish Beer - Warsaw

So much going on today! I'm at LAX waiting for the flight to London and then on to Warsaw from there. I've only driven here billions of times but today I decided for unknown reasons to try a different route. Big mistake. I found myself cruising the inner streets of Inglewood instead. Had I not been driving I would have been staring in fascination. Everyone worries about me going to the Middle East. This tells me that you've never been to Inglewood in the greater LA area. I have never seen so many cops with guns drawn, in separate incidents than today. The count - 3. Two of the detainees had their hands on their heads and the guns pointed there as well. Another few blocks down, a cop had her hand right on the gun belt as she questioned someone. Had I been wandering down that street I would have been harassed far more here in LA than anywhere else in the world. Had the cops seen me, I would have been escorted out of the Hood. Luckily in LA, all roads lead somewhere else and ...

The saga of life while living single in a family neighborhood continues.... Yesterday morning I left the house before sunrise. As I drove down my street I saw a familar and annoying sight. It was a shadow image of the much hated abondoned plastic playhouse. "Oh no! A second one!" I thought in total panic. Then I realized it was the same playhouse but someone had moved it to the other end of street. Oh happy day! I'm sure it was my next door neighbor since he had also resented the playhouse from day 1. Happiness only lasts so long because after a 2 month hiatus, dog poop has reappeared on my front lawn. It's a big dog too. At least the side yard is still protected weekly by pepper and hot spices blends. The yard waste was picked up today after another 4 week AWOL from the yard waste recyclers. That's a bonus so I can finally (in a couple weeks) de-weed the backyard again. Such is life in Carlsbad suburbs. The next door kids are done with school for the day so it...

For fun I've added in the Southern California earthquake monitor site. See link to the left side of the blog. Enjoy!

3 more days before vacation! I have a renewed sense of energy now that I sense the weekend is near! I'm still not quite sure what I've gotten myself into on this trip but if I could figure out Oslo, then Warsaw won't be that much more difficult. Once again, it's the start of a long, long work day but only 72 more hour and I'll be in air!

When I'm not blogging, it's a sure sign that work has taken over my body and turned me into a corporate zombie that would like to eat brains but is too busy to leave the office. I was up at 4:00 am today, so I could work before I went to work. I had to go offsite today and that meant losing time in the car. So it was a couple hours before the drive and then once home, another 3 hours. 14 hour days don't amuse me especially when they are followed or started with school. Tomorrow, the formula repeats! I can't wait to be on the plane and turn off all electronic devices, watch a movie I don't like, and eat food that's full of calories and carbs but lacking in flavor!