Author: alittlecameo

Astrology | Travel | Speaking Spanish

Some sleuthing a la the Famous Five

March 24, 2011

Bonding with Esmeralda after I got her home yesterday, I discovered that her rear seats fold down flat!

It was a nice surprise that was to come in handy as  I did a late night dash to Ikea for a whole bunch of stuff, just because I could. Because I had wheels and freedom and the ability to ride the freeways to my heart’s content.

I think that the previous owner had no idea that the seats folded flat, because when I pulled up the base of the seat, I found two receipts dating back to 2005. (see them here: Found Receipts)

I feel like I want to make you guess what is so interesting about these receipts, but that doesn’t really work over this medium. It turns into a whole lot of bubbling excitement for me for too few or too slow responses. So here I go and give the game away with a list instead.

  1. These facsimile receipts are still readable after 5 1/2 years. Quite remarkable.
  2. The purchases were made in Phoenix, Arizona and they were returned to Los Angeles, California. A distance of 378 miles which takes 6 to 8 hours of driving (according to Google).
  3. The sales tax in each state differs, 8.1% in Arizona and 8.25% in California (2005 tax rates)
  4. When the chick (note the jewelry on the receipt and hence my dubbing the previous owner a female) returned the items in California, she got more money back. She got $29.50 plus the tax of $2.43 when she only paid $2.38 in tax in Arizona.

Okay, so she only made a nickel (five cents) on that transaction which would have gone nowhere if put towards her gas (petrol) bill to drive back. But it raises an interesting point of how you can make money on returning items in a different state, and how much tax you could save on some of those bigger ticket items you might be purchasing.

Side note: I always wanted to solve mysteries like the Famous Five, Trixie Belden, the Secret Seven and sometimes Nancy Drew. That went nicely with my fascination of Harriet the Spy and love of the boardgame Cluedo. Whilst this may not be a real mystery, it has been fun putting all the pieces together. Who knows, maybe I’ll be dumpster diving tomorrow in search of the next great mystery.

Esmeralda is back!

March 23, 2011
Esmeralda's bits
Esmeralda's broken bits. They have made way for strong, new bits that won't break.

I got to pick up Esmeralda from the mechanic today and the reunification was so sweet.

My excellent mechanic, Vicente from European Motors, was just lovely. He showed me the bucket of bolts that came out of Esmeralda and all the broken bits she had replaced. He then told me to take it easy for 500 miles and then bring her in so he could check everything over and make sure that everything was sorted. I asked for a definition of easy, and he said nothing over 80 miles per hour. I then asked what the speed limit is (because even on the freeways I pretty much hover around 55 – 60 mph) and he said that it is 65 to 70 mph.

No fear Vicente, I will not be going hard on Esmeralda like that. That and the fact that I do not need a speeding fine to add to my car expenses in the US.

Let it be known

March 22, 2011

 

Flowers in the entry
Today's floral arrangement

That I love flowers.

 

I love giving flowers. I love getting flowers. I love to have flowers around me.

I was feeling a little lonely today so when I saw some white Geraldton Wax in the supermarket today, I had to get some. It is such a strong connector with home. It makes me think about the big bushes Mum has out the back that she would regularly prune for us to take to the Farmers Market and takes me back to my childhood home.

My paternal grandmother is accomplished in the art of floral arrangement. She always trims and arranges flowers in such a fluid and patient way that it always seems far easier than it really is. My mother was convinced into going to floral art classes after some people saw her arrangements of native flowers at our Farmers Market stand. She excels at the zany side of floral art and they all make a bold statement. I still have many more years to improve my skills, and maybe that’s an idea for a class I can take here.

In the meantime, I have flowers around me that remind me of home, make the place beautiful and cause my heart to sing.

 

A comment on the t-shirt

March 21, 2011

I met my friends Astra and Jolena on Hyperion Avenue for a little catch up and some pizza at this great little place the Tomato Pie where we sat and watched them make the pizzas.

We then stopped by Trader Joe’s where I had to pick up some staples; coffee, sugar, Supreme Brie.

I got really quite excited when the cashier commented on my black Mildura Brewery Pub t-shirt and said “Is that anywhere near here?” Finally, the first comment on one of my three t-shirts from home! The blue Arts Mildura and red Virgin Blue shirts need to pick up their game because the Brewery t-shirt is totally winning the cool stakes.

My excited, yet taken aback response was “No, actually it’s from my home town in Australia. (Beat) They make really good beer.”

And then my excitement stalled as I had a deer-in-the-headlights moment when he asked if I’d been anywhere good in the area. Initially I thought he was asking what beers I like in America and I panicked that I’d gotten myself into a situation where I had intimated that was passionate about microbrews when the truth is that I don’t drink beer and know very little about it. Then when I realised he was asking about places, I panicked again because I couldn’t think of where I’d been out and suddenly I felt really boring and nanna-ish.

He wasn’t even hot.

I don’t know why I panicked. I don’t know why I couldn’t just keep the banter going with “Yeah, I went to the Beer Bar on Sunset a couple of times, but I hear that’s closed now”. Or “Yeah, I’ve just moved to the area, do you have anywhere you’d recommend?” That is what an American would say. That is the chatty conversation they would keep up. That is what a funner version of me should have said.

I’m either taking on a distinctly American neurosis or my social skills are sliding into disrepair. Must do something about this.

Did you go to school for that?

March 19, 2011

When I tell people I have a background in marketing they often ask “Did you go to school for that?”

People in Australia don’t ask that. They just accept the information about what field you’re in and don’t feel the need to judge them and their job on their level of education. I guess eventually you may get to the point where you find out if someone went to uni, and then you might ask them what they studied and where they went.

Sure I think tertiary study is important, but it certainly isn’t essential for everyone and if you haven’t been to university, it doesn’t make you any less good at your job or any less intelligent that someone who has.

Televised public comment

March 18, 2011

Channel surfing the cable tv tonight, I turned over to the Los Angeles City Council Public Comment and caught a fabulous piece.

During my stint in local government, it was my dream to get Council meetings podcasted. That way it would make Council and their decisions more accessible to those spread out across our large municipality. In California, they’ve taken that to a whole new level and televise it, and it really is another form of entertainment.

Each member of the public is given 2 minutes to address the Council when it opens for comment and in the few minutes I’ve been watching, I’ve seen some doozies.

1. A guy in a grey hoodie stated that his concern was with the prevailing winds. He painted a picture of WWII and Japanese hydrogen bombs setting fire to California’s countryside. He then said that he was concerned with radiation contamination coming from Japan and specifically for the 25,000 runners in this weekend’s LA Marathon. He wanted the runners to be informed that they could be exposed to radiation falling from the sky and that they could make their minds up whether to participate or pull out. According to this guy, going from your car to the shopping mall doesn’t pose as much risk as “2 – 4 hours” running.

2. A woman came up to the lectern and started on a tirade about the derogatory portrayal and stereo-typing of Latinas. She had a brain and wanted “to use every morsel of it”. She also had bleached blonde hair and was wearing a sequined tiger-striped cap. She then thanked the navy and all the pilots for being upstanding humans.

Thankfully, the Council isn’t obliged to respond at that point in time, and the next person in line is called to the microphone.

Just some fun Friday night watching and another thing that makes me feel relieved to be out of local government.

First visit to a taco truck

March 17, 2011
Taco truck dining
Tucking into tiny tacos from the taco truck

On the way back to my place from the comedy show the other night, my Friend Who Puts The A in LA swung by a taco truck just off the 101 Freeway for a late night snack.

Two taco trucks were parked in the front of an auto parts store. At first we pulled up to one, and then changing his mind, A moved spots and we pulled up alongside the El Matador taco truck. Apparently it is the awesome truck, while the other the less than awesome one.

As we got out of the car, A asked how my Spanish was and I almost did a doggy roll over with glee at the chance to break out some Spanish. While eyeing the menu which I didn’t understand, I asked A how many I should order and if there was anything that he recommended. He said the Al Pastor and Carnitas were good. So I went with that and added a Carne Asado to the order when the man asked me what I wanted.

He asked if I wanted chilli, and I think both he and A thought I didn’t understand, but instead I was just thinking if I did and decided no (which is probably a good thing for a first time taco truck experience). Then I got a bit confused as the server asked really quickly if I wanted cebolla o cilantro. Although I know that cebolla is onion, I had forgotten it, so he repeated it in English and I said no to the onion and yes to the cilantro (which is American for coriander).

The tiny tacos were great. The meat was so delicious and I didn’t regret the no onion or chilli as the coriander sauce was spicy enough. So as a first visit, it was amazing. I’ll be going back there for more tiny tacos and more Spanish practice!

Mortified

March 16, 2011

So my Friend Who Puts the A in LA took me to a comedy show at King King in Hollywood tonight that totally rocked.

The premise of the Mortified show is regular people digging out their old diaries, poems, songs and old mortifying soul-baring and sharing it with a crowd. There were people sharing their pre-teen “my name is Susan I have long blonde hair, brown eyes and a dog called Happy” diaries, their adolescent “does he love me, should I sleep with him” thoughts and their college “who am I” dark inner workings. And it translates into pure comedy gold.

As I was laughing at the re-enactments of those awkward writings, it got me thinking about my own juvenile journals. Specifically the creative writing piece I wrote for Year 11 English about my first kiss called a very melodramatic Shattered Expectations. That’s the kind of stuff that would go down a treat at this kind of show. And it’s not just a live gig, but a whole bunch of other stuff and soon to be a tv show.

It was so great, so original, so funny and such a trip down my own memory lane, that I can’t wait til the next one in LA.

Thumbs up

March 15, 2011

My walk around the Silver Lake reservoir this morning was a little bit of the same, yet a whole lot more.

I saw some familiar faces running around the ‘lake’. Not people I know, but people I’ve seen doing the same before. One of them was a guy with a big nose, 80’s style haircut and runners legs who I’d seen lap me a couple of time previously. This time he was out there with a girl and they were doing some cool down jogs. He was fully kitted in a running singlet and shirt and my guess is he’ll be taking part in the LA Marathon this week. The marathon starts not far from here at Dodger Stadium and then they run all the way to Santa Monica. Yes, it is about 40km to Santa Monica from here, which is unexpected when you’re looking at a map and a really long way away.

As I was getting to the last stretches of my lap, a shiny blue pick up truck drove past. The driver was hanging out the window looking at me, and then as the road curved ahead, he drove around the corner with giving me the thumbs up. I put it down to my new exercise outfit. I’ve graduated from being the dork in the t-shirt to the trim thing in fitted gym gear.