Siezing a Pink's opportunity

A rare scene at Pink's
Originally uploaded by cianna.

Twelve inches of rain in seven days. This is (or was) a desert. Over 100 years ago, this area saw some similar weather, but not since. Amidst the 200 foot wide sinkholes, the complete submersion of the 101 freeway, and rapidly disappearing hillsides, I caught this rare view of a local landmark: Pink's Hotdogs with no line! It was 5:30 in the evening, too, generally high time for a Lord of the Rings Dog (a hotdog with onion rings and barbecue sauce) or the new Harry Potter Dog (I think it's chili, nacho cheese, and grilled onions on a polish dog...?). Yes, I did have to pull over (and got a spot in the small lot!), and grabbed a more traditional Chili Cheese Dog accompanied by some of the best fries the world has ever known. That would be, of course, either this world or another populated by wizards...

When I moved in, I joked that I couldn't believe I found one of the only second floor apartments in LA... It was a bummer when I was carrying all my boxes of books up the stairs, but it's pretty excellent during this unbelievable rain. The amount of rain doesn't seem out of control for Northern California, but LA definitely can't handle it. The street in front of my work was flooded. There are a few sinkholes, and a lot of houses sliding. Everywhere the traffic is tied up, lots of accidents, and whole sections of the freeway underwater. It's pretty amazing. I feel lucky to be dry and warm.

Did you hear about the bombings in the Philippines today? I'm a little flipped out. I'm only a little worried that my family might have been injured. I'm more worried about my friends. But what really gets to me is the thought that the Philippines just can't shake this violence. It's a country that has so much to offer -- and had even more in the past. Its literacy rate at one point was somewhere around 90%. The islands are gorgeous and rich in natural resources. The location for shipping is ideal (part of the reason they kept getting colonized). The people are friendly and diverse. The southern islands are even protected from typhoons! But corruption, a history of being treated as ane exploitable resource by foreign imperialists, and an entrenched class system do not help. And these extremists besmirch the name of Islam and help to keep the country in a reactive and desperate state.

Add to this the news of a highly virulent multiply drug resistant strain of HIV, and I'm having a hard time of it right now. Robert Gallo says we shouldn't worry too much, that the new strain doesn't appear to be transmissable, but knowing how this virus mutates, it's kinda only a matter of time.

In both cases I'm having fears of returning to the 80s. Lots of people died and it was all no fun. I'm not really able to imagine going through that again.

Yeah!!! Spoke with Troy today for the first time since he arrived in Vienna. Let's hear it for voice chat on Yahoo messenger!! Troy said it was even clearer than when he used a landline there to call a bank in San Francisco. Gotta love that. And the fact that it's free!

This does, of course, only increase my dependence on the web, further reinforced by my studying both German and Teaching English as a Foreign Language online.

But then, you all are reading this online, so you're at least partially in the same camp.

Sake House

Sake House
Originally uploaded by cianna.

Last night actually took myself out to dinner at Sake House Miro on La Brea. Very fun little sushi place that claims it's real Tokyo style, and I buy it based on my 3 days in Tokyo. Yum!

Tonight went out for Filipino food with a coworker. After chatting with a friend in London today I'm thinking I need to get as much of this food as I can before I leave for Austria. Darn!

Phew! Just got back from Sacramento where I presented my big HIV document. I was fully prepared for the group to be angry with me just because they weren't involved in selecting me as a writer and because I made such radical changes in the document... but they were actually really happy! That's such a huge relief. Another draft to go, but all is well in the HIV writing world for me tonight.

Dump those U.S. coins!

IMG_0265
Originally uploaded by cianna.

Yesterday Troy dumped his last U.S. coins... very happily!

Today he left for Vienna. Kinda odd to think about, but he's very excited. Now I just have to figure out how to get there myself.