My plan today was to hightail it into Beverly Hills in he early morning and then visit my daughter. By six o'clock I was on the freeway. It felt good to remove myself and visit my daughter in familiar surroundings. To me, Surf City is about the beaches and that is about it.
I took the 405 to the 10 and exited at National. Two right turns and Overland showed its ugly face. Ugly I say since this street had been torn up, kicked around, and made somehow into a major artery. The once thin road linked Culver City with West Los Angeles. It stops at the Mormon Temple on Santa Monica Blvd. I has been widened into three lanes each way.
To compound problems, the new Expo Line travels through it. It is bad enough that it can take over one hour to finally get to the 10 freeway off of Overland, but hat is no lie. Now cars will stop to allow the train to go the beaches of Santa Monica or Seventh Street in downtown.
I blinked when I looked at all the homes that looked bald on the street. Spanish, Mediterranean, adn English Tudor homes cried as their front yards had turned into scrub or deserted lots. Yes, the water crises has hit Los Angles in a big way yet prices are still rising
At six thirty my fist stop was Starbucks on the legendary street of Beverly Drive. The large Sterling building stood watch as a sentry as I parked down the street. I parked and noticed that Nate and Al's had opened. It is the last to the stores to call the street their own.
Now inside Starbucks, a small man wearing a French cap and acting like one, ordered a toasted coffee. I ordered the same and proud of it. No longer did I need to hide my smile. I now wore an upper plate with teeth.
"Good gracious", I said to myself. Unlike other cities. I did not need a combination to do my toilet. I was somewhat taken back to find my coffee cup had been cut down to size. The cups were twice the size a year ago...But like i said in a previous blog, Everybody is cutting back.
My oh my did it feel good to be wearing a full set of teeth. Inside a few bowling balls danced into the coffee shop and made sure everyone noticed them.. On had muscles out to their and used a Harry Belafonte voice to place their orders.
I focused on the man across from me. He kept fidgeting with his coffee and coke and kept moving them around for a minute or so. He placed a small screen computer before him and adjusted his ear plugs. Now with his sun glasses on, he might just be noticed by a talent scout.
Another man who had his nose molded to fit his thin face paced back and forth. The thin man wore green tennis shoes with fancy purple laces. Other shoes were not made of leather but carefully threaded to meet the mold of the men's feet. I just could not keep my eyes off the shoes. Yes it was the shoes worn in Beverly Hills that separated it from other towns.
The Sunday farmer's market was about to open. I walked down Little Santa Monica and looked into the Chamber of Commerce office. Inside the front window was a display that described how to save water.
Under the library'y parking and the next street over, stalls were being set up for the farmer's market. My budget did not even allow me to buy a coffee. but it did purchase a view of the San Gabriel mountains.
It was a blistery Santa Ana day, without so much as a cloud in the sky. Parents checked out little plastic shopping carts for their kiddies. The conversation in back of me was the usual.
"I am going to buy a bag or oranges. The strawberries don't look too sweet? Who do you like for a Republican candidate? My daughter is having a grand kid next summer..so forth a so on."
Well, I had to go and pick up my number two daughter. It took two hours to pick up a prescription. Kaiser in West Los Angles is more like a Baptist revival meeting. There is a lot of pomp and ceremony. They would not fill my prescription so I had to go to urgent car. Nurse Tomorrow placed rubber over my left arm and began rubbing it.
"Phone fo you. Can you get it?"
Nurse Tomorrow left the room to get her message. When she returned she screamed, "Yo pressure is high: 150-20. Try again. She grabbed my arms again and told me to relax. Now how can I relax with an electric eel is massaging my arm"
I told her to leave. Dr. St Gregory entered and filled my prescription. Nurse Tomorrow was still on the phone when I left. I drove my daughter home and freewayed it to Alpine Village. A life band began at four so I meandered over to the swap meet. I danced with only two old timers but got a change to speak with one -- two bits on the heavy side.
"Are you German?"
"Just because I have blond hair and blue eyes does not make me German. I am a Jewish survivor.
"But are you German?"
Well she repeated her self again. The German music put my now irregular heart beat in place. I felt relaxed by the end of the day.
Cruisin'George says: In life we have the dealers and those who are dealt the hand. But never do you need to stick to the hand that you are dealt.
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