Friday, Feb. 23

I woke up and the first thing I did was check the baggage update webpage again – thank goodness! They said it would be delivered between 7 am and 11 am. It was 7 am now. I showered and decided that instead of sulking in my room, waiting for the bag/call to come, I’d go for a walk and grab some breakfast. People in L.A. are super friendly! I got a free coffee at Starbucks, and lots of smiles.

Walking around downtown is super weird, because there are deep, intense cold shadows, under the freeway and next to buildings, where the sun never shines, and then you step into the California sun, and it is so bright and blinding.

After about an hour, I headed back to the hotel. Just before 11, the hotel front desk called me that my bag showed up. YAY!!!! I was so happy, I ran down the hotel hallway to the elevator to pick it up. Then, I got to brush my teeth – with toothpaste! And, clean socks!! The relief was incredible.

I finished freshening up and then headed out to take on L.A. My first stop was the Central Library – an absolutely massive structure. There’s a main floor “popular” books section, which contains both fiction and non, and resembles a bookstore more than a library. As well, subjects like Science and History have their own floors. There are huge special sections for teens and adults – I have never seen such a big place.

As continued walking around downtown, I was struck by the oddity of L.A. – scenes like this palm tree next to a skyscraper. Beautiful, but maybe just a little bit fake.
he next thing that made an impact on me was Grand Central Market. It reminded me of something from Vancouver – fresh fruits, strange trinkets, ethnic foods – but the “ethnic” here was Mexican, not Oriental. Very cool, but a little overwhelming. Lots of people in a small place.

After walking around more, I ended up in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Again, odd. Beautiful, and serene, and filled me with a sense of peace I wouldn’t expect in the middle of a big, busy city. But, like the palm tree, it was almost out of place. The huge cathedral was surrounded by even larger grounds, which were fenced in with huge courtyard fences, and patrolled by security guards, as seen here.

After lots of walking – I am relaxing in my hotel room this evening. I have another big day tomorrow!

Thursday, Feb. 22

I left for the Retrovirus conference in L.A. today. I am always a little nervous passing through customs, but I am pleased to say that it went off without a hitch. I was lucky enough to be randomly chosen for the airport screening thorough search. The girl asked me if I preferred it to be conducted in a private room, but I said no – I figured that this way there was a better chance of my keeping my clothes on for it. I heard a great story recently in the Lancet about a man who had a medical implement in his rectum, and airport security made him remove it before he flew. I don’t have anything like that to hide, but I can’t say the idea of strip searches doesn’t fill me with terror. Anyway, the search went quickly and painlessly, and I remained fully clothed.

My flight out of Winnipeg was aboard this tiny, four seats across plane. I was sitting next to a rather large person, so I jumped at the chance when the flight attendant told the passengers that we were off balance, and would not be able to take off unless some passengers moved from the front to the back. What, give up being squashed next to someone for the opportunity to have my own aisle? I must admit, though, the thought of the aircraft being off balance is a little weird. Again, it was a tiny plane.

My flight out of Denver was uneventful, but my suitcase was a long time coming. After waiting what seemed like forever after the bags stopped coming down the chutes, I put on my friendliest, most patient face and went to the baggage troubles desk. I found out (as I suspected) that my bag was not as speedy as me, and would be coming in on the next flight, which at this point, was only 45 minutes away. The lady offered to have it sent to me, but I decided I’d rather wait. It’s flush in rush hour right now, so this way the bus to the hotel will probably be quicker, and besides, I figured it would be more satisfying to actually have my bag in my hot little hands.

So, instead, I walked one terminal over to the coffee shop, and spent $8.95 US on a ham and swiss sandwich. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but talk about airport gauging. They’re the only place to buy food on this side of security, and boy does the price reflect it. Not that eateries on the other side of security have cheaper food.

I went again for the baggage to come onto the carousel, and again, by suitcase did not come. Again, I went to the baggage lady. Apparently my bag should have come on that flight – but it didn’t. And she didn’t know where it was. Or when it would be coming. ARG! I went back to the hotel, bagless.

My hotel is amazing. The lobby has this big fountain in it, and the whole this is from another era. Fifties, I’d guess. Everything is tropical and opulent. My room is no exception. I think it is larger than my apartment.

They have me a website where I could check for bag updates, and when I checked they said they had been unable to locate it – but it was a high priority. Ack! Totally freaking out. I’m here for nine nights. What if it never comes? Visions of having to buy clothes and toiletries and loosing my laptop and cell phone charger danced through my head as attempted sleep.

Tattoos for convicts

I got a flyer from my MP yesterday, and it really irked me. It said things like,

"The Conservatives believe that Criminals should not receive free luxuries at the expense of taxpayers, who themselves would have to pay for such things"

and

"I was against free tattoos for convicts and am proud our government ended this Liberal program"

I don't usually get involved, or write letters, or anything, but I was just so irked, that I sent the following email:


Rod Bruinooge

I reside in the Winnipeg South electoral district and yesterday received your "getting THINGS DONE" flyer, where you proudly mention that the free tattoos for convicts program was cancelled.

I imagine that the program may have seemed to you and your government a superfluous freebie for convicts, but I think in fact that you may have completely misunderstood the program.

It is my understanding that the free tattoo program was a public health intervention, geared towards minimizing transmission of needle-borne infectious diseases, such as Hepatitis and HIV in the prison setting. I believe the rationale was that providing free tattoos in a clean, safe, controlled environment was less expensive than providing health care for these infections. Additionally, preventing spread of infectious disease is important to the health of all Canadians.

I'll be sure to post his reply, if I get one. The thing that really upsets me, is that it seems that he just didn't understand the program. It's not about about tattoos, it's about health. We're Canadians - we're all about health, and we should be! Unfortunately, others who don't think about infectious diseases all the time (like I do) might have received the flyer, and also not really understood the health implications- because the information wasn't provided to them.

What I like about Christmas

The Christmas season can be a source of stress for a lot of people, including me. There seem to be so many time commitments, so many presents to buy, and the pressure to make this time of year be perfect for everyone else. None of this is actually important to Christmas, of course, but it is so easy to get wrapped up in little things.

I have had a few amazing Christmas experiences, lately, and that is what I want to focus on and remember.

Sang's work had a Christmas party last weekend. The boss hosted at his house, and it was fun and casual and everyone had a great time. Most people brought their significant others, and we all got along too. There is no "wife clique", everyone is just friendly. We had potluck, and then did some PS2 kareoke, followed by some Wii-ing (courtesy of us). I had never kareoked before - I like to sing, but I am not sure it is something I am any good at, and have always felt kinda self-concious about it. But, lots of people were singing, to varying degrees of talent, and everyone was supportive and encouraging. So, I gave it a shot, and I was pretty good - the game came with a scoring system based on your timing and pitch, and I scored the highest level.

I don't always have tons of fun at these kinds of parties, but this was awesome - it made me wish Christmas parties happened more than once a year.

Another great thing about Christmas is that it brings home family and friends who have moved away. My friend and her little baby arrived in Winnipeg last night, and I am very happy that she had the excuse to come for an extended stay at home.

So, I am going to try to focus on these things - which really have more to do with the spirit of Christmas, than the things that make me stressed, anyway.

We got a Wii

For Sang's birthday, I agreed that we could splurge on Nintendo's latest, the Wii. It went on sale yesterday, and we are now proud owners.

We first headed to the Zellers in my parents' area, because it is a small store, and I figured that no one would think to line up there. Nope - people did! And a rather unfriendly group too, of forty-something, "all my friends are on-line" men. They pretty much told us to buzz off, as there were only 7 consoles being sold in the store, and they were already spoken for.

Next, we went to the Superstore. Much friendlier crowd, mid-twenties, mostly guys. Shortly after we arrived, Superstore opened up the outside doors, so we could all wait in the (heated) atrium. The people in line told us the store had 15 systems available, and we would be getting number 14. Number 15 was spoken for about twenty minutes later, when a group of guys showed up.

One illustration of their friendliness, someone went out and picked up Tim Hortons coffee and TimBits for everyone. The waiting in line was actually a fun experience, as everyone was excited and chatty.

About half an hour before the store opened, we got handed out tickets to redeem for our Wii (proof of being there early, to avoid a mad dash through the store). And then, after two hours of waiting, we got in!

Wii came with one controller and nunchuck, and Wii sports. We also got Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz and an extra controller (they sold out of the extra nunchucks by the time we got to the front of the line). We love it! We've played Wii sports bowling and tennis, and Sang has boxed. And, we've played the Monkey Balls.

I wouldn't call it high intensity exercise, but it definitely is more movement that the traditional video games. For many of the games, you need to stand up. And, I got warm enough to necessitate taking off my sweater.

Like all video games, the more you practice, the better you get, but I don't think excelling at traditional styled systems guarantees that you'll be good with the Wii.

So, my verdict = lots of fun!