I turned forty-two years old this September.  I don't know if I've lost a step or not.  I don't feel forty-two, that's for sure.  I know that around the corner of the next few years I will start to slow down.  Fifty is less than a decade away.  I better get my shit together, huh?  This September went by like lightening.  That is not to say that nothing happened.  A lot happened.  Here's what happened this past month.

San Diego botanical building in Balboa park

Sept 1, A co-worker of mine told me about a couple of photographic exhibiting at the San Diego art museum.  How often do I get to San Diego?  Like once every twenty years at this rate.  I hadn't been since I was a child, and really that was only a visit to the San Diego zoo.  I was quite eager to go down there, visit my buddy O, get to know San Diego, and check out these exhibits.  I made it to San Diego at around 11:30 or so.  I went to my buddy's house.  We ate something and then went to the museum in Balboa park.  The day was hot as blazes.  I thought the weather would have been nicer down in San Diego than here in Los Angeles, but I was wrong.  The museum is in Balboa park, as I said before, which is a picturesque location, where I could spend a day taking pictures.  We didn't have a full day, but I took some pictures as witnessed above.  That is the botanical building.  The exhibits were pretty cool.  The photos were quite neat, and I learned a little about portrait photography.  After our visit to the museums we headed down to downtown, where we stopped off at a placed called the Twisted Kilt, which is a sports bar.  Pretty girls in pleated skirts greeted us.  We had a little food before our journey back to Los Angeles, since we had decided to have some Tommy's upon our arrival.  We headed back to my buddy's place, he picked up some clothes, and we went on our merry way back to Los Angeles, where he was going to spend some time with his mother.  It was a good little trip, but it also makes me want to go down there again and explore on my own.  Maybe for a weekend.  Time will tell.

Sept 2, After the long day I had yesterday I really didn't want to do much.  That and the heat is unbearable.  However, I did wake up early and headed out the door at noon because I had to work today.  I worked all of an hour, but with the heat it was tough picking up all the books that were stuck in the outside book drop.  I championed through it, finished up in an hour and then filled up my gasoline tank and then just went home to chill.  That's what I've been doing since.  Tomorrow, back to the grind.  Yesterday was pretty cool, but also rushed.  I now know that I have to go back to San Diego and explore.  It's definitely a big city, which is something I like.  Balboa park is definitely somewhere I need to explore some more.  It reminds me of Golden Gate park up in San Francisco.  Griffith park is a great park, but it doesn't have pavilions or buildings or a botanical garden like these other cities do.  The Observatory is the great building on the hill, but Griffith needs more stuff.  It needs a botanical garden.  I'm not sure where they would put it, but certainly somewhere by Fern Dell would be nice.  There's already a great park there, but a full-fledged botanical garden would be cool.

Inconsiderate slob at the car wash and the sign that instructs drivers to pull up when drying

Sept 4, Next week I may or may not be teaching my senior computer class.  Until then I have my Wednesday mornings open to run some errands and generally get some things done.  Today I wanted to get my car washed before running to the store.  That's when I came across this inconsiderate slob.  Dummy here was drying her car in the wash area despite the fact that common courtesy, and the sign posted, says to pull up.  But she got her comeuppance.  Moments after I took this picture she slipped and fell on her ass, nearly cracking her head open.  I didn't laugh, just knew that this one time the Universe gave me a moment of "instant karma." What made me angry is not just the fact that this person didn't even flinch when I pulled up.  A considerate person would have seen me and maybe finished drying their car somewhere else.  I've actually had some good encounters with considerate people at this car wash in Eagle Rock.  But this dummy not only didn't flinch, she took her sweet time.  Her fall was the icing on the cake, and I hate to say it, but it made me feel a little better.  That and posting the picture above on Facebook as well.  Ha, sucker!

I have Chandaka with me this weekend

Sept 5, his heat is melting me.  Luckily I was able to wear shorts today while I did my route.  That helped A LOT.  While on my route a girl that works with AE basically said that AE and I would be good with each other.  I told her, "Put in a good word for me then." She said she would.  I hope she does.  I spilled the beans by saying that, because now this particular co-worker knows I like AE.  I don't think it was much of a secret.  She can see from the way I look at her, I'm sure.  I have stuck my neck out with this one.  It was something I needed to do given this opportunity.  I think that AE likes me, to what extent I'm not sure.  I think she would be interested in me if she could put aside her cultural "obligations." I would do my best to make her happy.

My friends and co-workers, "T" (right) and "Stash" (left) at Disneyland during Dapper day

Sept 6, For a while I've been flying under the radar at my horrible Glendale job.  I've tried to keep my nose clean, and I've been doing a good job at it until today.  Today was terrible.  Not the whole day, but a two hour sliver just before quitting time.  I don't want to tell the whole story, but suffice to say I screwed up something minor that turned into a major thing.  It was my mistake, and I owned up to it.  What did suck was how my supervisor got on my case.  She doesn't need to talk to me like I'm a child.  Just mention what I got wrong in a calm manner, not some celebration of how dumb my move was and how smart they are.  Clearly anyone can make an honest mistake, there is no need to beat me up about it.  I was beating myself up after I found out about it.  This is what I hate about this job.  Most of the time it's OK.  But when this particular supervisor gets on you, it feels like a dog is sinking their teeth into you.  Like she enjoys it.  I texted my buddy after all this and I said how I really have to set a six month deadline to quit this job.  I don't deserve this, nor do I want to have to endure much more of this bullshit.
Thankfully after work I escaped to Disneyland to meet up with a few of my co-workers.  It was something called Dapper Day at Disneyland, where people dress quite snappy and genially looked nice.  I rushed over, and made good time on the freeway, but it still took me an hour and a half to get to Disneyland from work.  Once there I met up with my mates and had dinner, went on a couple of rides, and then had a couple of drinks in Downtown Disney.  We ended the night after dropping off one of my co-workers at his car and then going to IHOP for a late night snack.

Sept 8, Spent the entire day in my PJs.  The only thing I did yesterday was pick up my aunt from work.  I needed a completely lazy weekend since I have plans for the next three weekends.

Sept 9, Nothing big happened, just a bunch of little things that could have been worse.  TheGirl hung out with her family, and that's OK by me.  She posted something on her Facebook about how this weekend was so wonderful, and that TheChisel took her to Solvang, and how it was the greatest, and how shit shit shit.  Whatever.  That kinda talk just makes me want to throw a table across the room.  I'm tired of hearing what a wonderful time she had with this wonderful man.  Why?  Because it belittles that statement when she says she has a great time with me, a wonderful man.  If everyone is wonderful, no one is wonderful.  Tonight I knew I wouldn't be going over to her place because her husband invited her out for dinner.  Fucking shit!  Couple that with the weekend statement and I was in no mood to go over anyway.  Couple all THAT with Friday and I really just wanted to head home.  But then she started sending me texts asking how I was, how Chan was.  Here's how the exchange went.

TheGirl: You and Chan okay?
Me: Chan misses you, of course - he was like "ain't we going home?" snot tonight Chan ;)
TheGirl: I sorry. Aww, you make me cry. :-(
Me: hims understood we gonna see each other Wed - now he just happy Wed is around the corner
TheGirl: Still sad.
Me: don't be.. me told hims it wasn't meant to be - besides, we have Disneyland!
TheGirl: Would rather do Disneyland than what I went through today.  So fake and phony.
Me: whatcha talking about Monkey?
TheGirl: I'm just saying I can't wait until Friday to be with you.

My Monday job supervisor told me that starting next month I'll be starting work at 4pm.  That didn't sound horrible since I do want to have some more time between jobs.  However, the money that's now going to be left on the table sucks.  I figure I'm going to lose about $60 a month.  Sucks!  i'm just glad today is over.

Filming on Broadway capped a night that could have gone so wrong, but didn't

Sept 11, A few weeks ago I was told that my senior computer class at San Marino would be moved to the community room in the library.  That stunk, and I openly wondered if that was a good idea.  There was talk of possibly canceling the class until the City Manager moved back to City Hall.  That talk went nowhere, and today I had my class in the community room for the first hour, and then the last half hour in the computer lab.
I worked my regular shift after the class and lunch.  Nothing major.  The new monitor started working last week.  She's cute.  I think she smiled at me.  She did joke around with me before I left work.  H thinks I should make my move.  I need to know if she's single first.  I went over to TheGirl's to pick her up and take her out to dinner for her birthday, which was on Monday.  She wanted to have dinner at San Antonio winery near Chinatown.  I was cool with that, they have good food.  After battling traffic we made it there just a little after 6pm, thinking we made it with a lot of time to spare since the restaurant usually closes at 7pm.  Wrong!  The restaurant closed at 5pm.  Likely because it was the middle of the week and they probably have less business during the middle of the week.  So now we had to scramble for a second option, which I didn't even think about since I was sure we were just going to eat at San Antonio.  I pulled out my iPhone and used FourSquare to find a good Italian restaurant.  I double-checked my choice on Yelp and we were on our way to downtown Los Angeles, Broadway between 1st and 2nd, to be exact.  I parked the car down the street and we walked to a place called Maccheroni Republic, which is across the street from the Grand Central Market.  We started out bad because we found out they don't have liquor.  Terrible.  I wanted to throw my hands up, nothing was going right tonight.  But we could bring our own bottle, the fella said.  The market was closed, but we were told there was a nice liquor store up the street.  We ordered our food and made the trek down to what turned out to be a very hip liquor store.  The fella there gave us a good tip on a bottle of riesling, TheGirl's favorite.  They didn't have her brand, but this one supposedly was close.  We went back to the restaurant and opened the bottle and it turned out to be very good.  The food, excellent.  The night, salvaged.  What could have been a disaster turned out to work out perfectly.  Good food, good wine, good times.
We ended the night watching a film crew working on something.  The marquee said Blythe Danner, and I could see her from across the street as they filmed.  Like I said, the night turned out to be really awesome.  TheGirl wants to visit downtown again soon.  I do too.  I saw where The Last Bookstore is, and can see that in the time when I was last there downtown is much different.  I've been waiting for Clifton's to open, but really I should have been visiting downtown as often as I used to.

Tequila tasting at El Portal (photo courtesy of H)

Sept 12, Last week there were a ton of books on the route, this week not so much.  Usually not much happens on Thursdays.  Today was a busy day.  On the route I got to see AE after not seeing her in a couple of weeks.  I actually remembered to bring her my Ikiru DVD, which I told her I would bring to her last month.  I'm sharing it with her because, frankly because I like her.  I want her to connect with me.  I don't know if a movie is going to do that, but I'm trying everything.  TheGirl's friend was there too.  She's recently married, and this was the first time I've seen her since.  I congratulated her again, and asked her how married life was treating her.  She responded with what I could distill down to a meh.  I would have thought she would be glowing, but she told me that she was relieved that the ceremony was all over and done with.  That doesn't sound like someone who is excited about being married.  But what do I know?  Maybe she was tired.  Maybe something else.  Outside later she asked me how TheGirl was doing.  I told her OK.  I didn't want to say that TheGirl has written her off as a friend.  It's not my place.  Kay, as I'll call her, mentioned how she posted a birthday greeting on TheGirl's Facebook earlier in the week, but that TheGirl didn't respond.  She also mentioned how she noticed TheGirl hanging out with TheChisel.  She noticed a lot of things.  It's pretty amazing how people will automatically go and view a person's entire Facebook profile and review every little entry to see how their lives are going.  Why not just ask?  That's not the way we do things nowadays.
After work I talked to my buddy Dane.  We chewed the fat, but I couldn't stay long because that girl Gina texted me during my route.  She wanted to take some pictures.  I agreed to take them after work, letting her know that I had plans for later in the evening.  I took some pictures of Gina, emailed them to her, and then made my way to Pasadena for some fun.
My co-workers from San Marino invited me to some tequila tasting at El Portal.  I didn't want to go at first, since it was a school night and I didn't want to go to work all hungover.  But, they convinced me and I went.  It was a good time.  I don't think I got my $30 worth of tequila, but I did have a great time.  I didn't get home until way past midnight.  I also have to stop getting so tanked when I know I'll be driving home alone.  I waited out my buzz as long as I could, but I still felt a little buzz as I drove home.  I hated doing that, but it was fucking late and I needed to get some sleep.  The buzz wore off about half way home, but then the tired eyes kicked in.  Still, great night.

Disneyland railroad all decked out for Friday 13th

Sept 13, Work was work, nothing special.  I asked to get out early because I wanted to get a jump on going to Disneyland with TheGirl tonight.  My boss said it was fine, and told me that I was about 12 hours over my projected yearly allotted hours.  I think I'm going to be fine since I'm losing an hour at Montrose and next week I'll be going to Big Sur on Friday, and that's eight hours right there.  So the trip already helps me erase eight of twelve hours.  Done!
Traffic wasn't much of a problem, though the we did have to deal with some traffic on the way to Disneyland.  It was the clusterfuck just as we arrived close to Disneyland that jacked us up, and threatened to make me want to suggest bolting.  I didn't take the usual Disney drive exit, believing that going to Harbor and doubling back would be better.  Wrong!  Harbor was backed up, and a complete mess.  It was impossible to make a left turn without having to wait at least three light cycles.  After spending what seemed like an eternity waiting to get from the freeway exit to Harbor I bolted and figured I would hit Disneyland from the West.  That began a big circle up Harbor, West on Broadway, South on some other street I can't remember now, and then East on Ball Rd.  When we hit Ball road close to Disneyland the clusterfuck was there too.  I then figured I would try one of the satellite parking lots, the Toy Story lot would be a good option.  Down Walnut I went until Katella, turned South on Harbor and then left into the Toy Story lot.  Surprise, it was packed.  They turned us away, placed a piece of paper that said "exit" on it and directed us to go straight to the "parking structure." Ah, if it was THAT easy, wouldn't I have gone already?  Well, I followed the guy in front of me and boy was that a mistake.  No one with a the piece of paper I was given was going the direction I was going, which made me think that something went wrong.  Me!  In the wrong direction, obviously.  Well, it turned out to be OK since I got in a line of cars that wen to the Downtown Disney parking lot.  It was nearly packed, but an employee told us to park in an area that is usually the buffer.  Finally, we were able to get out of the car.  It was crazy.  I left work at 5pm, left TheGirl's house at 6pm, and didn't actually park the car until part 8pm.  We had some drinks in the outside patio of Trader Sam's, and then headed to Disneyland.  It was packed, and I had some trouble getting in since I updated my pass and for some strange reason the old pass becomes invalid.  Makes no sense to me, especially since the old pass is supposed to be good until September 15th.  Oh well, we finally made it into the park, which was packed as you can imagine.  Being Friday the 13th the park had some different things going on.  There was a DJ playing music on Main Street, right in front of the train station.  There was also a DJ at the Frontierland station, where I took the above photo of one of the trains.  We had dinner, walked around, and got on a couple of rides.  What could have been a horrible night turned out to be pretty damn good.
On the way to Disneyland TheGirl and I talked about her friend asking about her, and also she spilled the beans on TheChisel.  As far as her friend she said that was dead.  TheChisel, as I suspected, is there as a matter of convenience.  She told me that she can't stand him.  Which I think it slightly disingenuous since she still spends A LOT of time with him.  She went to Solvang with him last weekend to celebrate her birthday.  But she said that everything he does online is to impress the world.  His claims of love might be true, but they are also boisterous on purpose.  He needs to impress someone, and his doing it through Facebook.  I knew this already, or at least I suspected it.  He just seems like a guy that needs to impress what he doesn't actually have.  TheGirl fucking around on TheChisel with TheHusband and that other waiter guy, and now talking up some old man to be her sugar daddy, shows me that she isn't into him.  Just like she wasn't that into me, by proof that she was going off with TheChisel every other week just before our last break-up.  Our talk confirmed a lot of things I already suspected.  She has no real good motive to lie to me, though at the same time she does have some motive.  I'm safe, I won't judge her.  I certainly won't walk away.  I haven't.  I have wanted to spend less time with her, because I feel that my still hanging with her is a crutch.  Since I don't have a girlfriend I can still have this pseudo girlfriend thing with her (sans sex) and fell somewhat fulfilled.  Certainly a real relationship would be better, but for now I'm here.  Tonight's talk, as I said, confirmed a lot of things I suspected.  Furthermore it made me feel better about other things.  Though the main thing that still hurts is that TheGirl is not happy.  She told me so.  She is grasping at straws, hoping that she can find happiness.  That's not a good place to be.  I'm happy, when am I not?  She can't find that happiness in herself, and so she seeks it with men.  That's a dead-end.  TheChisel will soon be out of her life.  He will be hurt.  TheGirl told me that she isn't going to be hurt since her heart is as hard as stone.  That sounds more like her heart is fragile and she wishes it was made out of stone.

Birthday celebration with my cousin's kids and cards they made me for me

Sept 14, I didn't do much today until my family came over to celebrate my birthday early.  They brought over food and cake.  My cousin's kids made me some cards, which had some money.  That cash will come in handy for next week's trip.  After dinner my cousin's husband fixed the fence outside that had broken a couple of days earlier.  Good times.

Sept 15, I would have liked to go through NFL Sunday ticket to watch games online.  But that seems to be too difficult to manage.  One friend has DirectTV, but they couldn't figure out how to get me access.  THEY ALREADY HAVE ACCESS, just give me a code and I'm off and running.  But NOOOO!  Dopes.  I just went ahead and bought NFL Rewind, so now I can watch the games after they air on TV.  As I write this I'm watching Thursday night's Patriots vs Jets game.  I'll never have to watch another Charger game... EVER!!  Fuck you Chargers!

Sept 16, Arrived at work and Gil, the guy who came onto me a few months ago, comes up to me and says, "Don't make any plans tomorrow for lunch." He wants me to have lunch with him.  So yeah, my actual birthday is going to be ruined because I'll have this negative thought through the morning.  If something bad happens I'll have that thought throughout the day.  Fuck!  Why can't this guy take a hint?

Text enchange between AE and me

Sept 17, In the past I've had some pretty dull birthdays, some bad days, but today was pretty chill.  Work was work, of course.  The guy who came on to me, and that I feared would want to try something at lunch, actually didn't do anything that bad.  He bought me lunch, brought it to me at work, and then left.  He even added a buck for a Coke from the vending machine at work, and a bottle of Jack Daniels.  It softened my heart.  A little.  My coworker Holly brought me a cupcake.  Gil and Holly were the only ones that actually remembered it was my birthday.  Goes to show you.  What kept the multitudes from posting on my Facebook was the fact that there is no announcement about my birthday on Facebook.  So the ONLY one person, TheGirl's daughter, posted on my FB "Happy Birthday." I didn't do it as a test, but it shows you who remembers.
Then there was job two.  Which went SUPER fast.  Nothing crazy happened.  One person remembered it was my birthday, and that was a former coworker that came to visit the library.  His birthday was last week.  Even my homeless buddy forgot the exact date.  He asked me at the end of the night, "Isn't your birthday coming up soon." I said, yeah, it was tonight.  Ha!  The rest of the exchange I posted above.  She then said that after her trip we could go have something to eat.  Woo!

You looking at me, Chan?

Sept 18, TheGirl took me out for dinner tonight.  I half joked that I wanted to go to a place in Pasadena called Slater's 50/50.  It's a burger joint that is famous for mixing 50% ground beef, and 50% bacon into a patty.  It must be yummy, but knowing that TheGirl is short on funds I just told her that I wanted to eat at Wood Ranch.  The food was yummy, and of course they served me a nice sundae after TheGirl told them it was my birthday.  Yay!  Before going in we had a moment where I puppeteer Chan.  TheGirl put her old glasses on Chan and that led to many laughs.  That monkey really brings us joy.
After work I arrived home and found that the iPhone tool kit I ordered had arrived.  I ordered it because I felt I could open up the phone and clean out the dust that is preventing me from using the iPhone's camera.  I cleaned the camera out as best I could, but in the process of putting the phone back together I broke the screen.  What a dope move.  Now I'll have to drop some money to get it fixed.  Shit!

Sept 19, My iPhone is all nice and fixed now.  Just in time for Big Sur!

Cambria cemetery, one of our first stops on this trip

Sept 20, Travel day always starts out with a quick trip to get ice and snacks.  This time TheGirl forgot her cooler, so we also had to make an additional stop at the 99 cent store to get a cheapo cooler.  I wasn't very hungry when I woke up, and in getting ready I just didn't find the want to eat.  Once on our way both of us realized we were getting hungry, so we decided to find the nearest IHOP and get some food.  I ate like a fiend, as is my custom these days.  We were off again, this time we didn't stop until we reached SLO for gas.  We talked about many things along the way.  She opened up about the new guy, SugarDad, her possible sugardaddy.  This is something she has hinted about, but never told me out and out about.  That is, until today.  She mentioned last night that she was not going straight home, that's because she had a "date" with this guy.  She attempted to have sex with him, but he couldn't keep it up.  This is who TheGirl is these days.  The SugarDad gave her $350 for her "time." I never thought TheGirl's quest for happiness would take her to selling herself.  Then again, I've wanted to sell myself the same way.  She said it didn't go well though, and she didn't expect him to call her back.  He's apparently too hung up on his last sugardaughter.

Between Jade Cove and Carmel we hit the area of Big Sur that contains Deetjen's, just before the Big Sur Valley.  Right in that area the sun was bright, and we could see the sun setting in the distance.  I wanted to get a sunset picture since my first trip up to Big Sur, but the fog always prevented me from getting a good picture.  Not today.  Just as we drove out of the Big Sur Valley the sky opened up and the fog that hung from about the Big Sur River Inn is was gone, and all I could see was that wonderful ocean and the sun.  I pulled over to a turnout and took as many pictures as I could before I put my camera down to enjoy the moment.  And what a moment.  I cried tears of joy.  When I got back into the car TheGirl could tell I was moved.  She asked me what was wrong.  All I could tell her, in a whimper, was that I couldn't find the words to describe the beauty of that moment.  Big Sur might just be the most beautiful place on Earth.  In my estimation, of course.

We made our way up to Carmel for dinner at our usual spot, Club Jalapeno.  I had a burrito, which was tasty, but not as much as my previous dinners there.  The margarita I had barely gave me a buzz.  I think I have built a tolerance for booze, and that's not good.  Following dinner we booked it up to our hotel in Monterey just off the Munras Ave, which is lined with hotels for nearly its entire length.  The Ramada wasn't anything special, but it wasn't horrible.  It even had a fireplace.

Chicken fried steak at First Awakenings was delicious and huge

Sept 21, When I go on trips like this I like waking up early in order to take full advantage of the day.  Especially on trips like this one where I may be gone for three days, but two of those days are travel days.  I didn't have an itinerary like I did last time, I wanted to play the trip by ear.  However, I did want to wake up kinda early in order to maximize the time.  But, TheGirl has different ideas.  She wants to sleep-in.  When I was first with her she always woke up early.  I taught her the fine art of sleeping in.  She enjoys it now that she has to wake up early for work.  I love sleeping in.  If I could I would do it EVERY DAY.  However, on vacation I don't want to sleep in.  I want to be out the door early.  I woke up early, showered, but I had to wait for TheGirl to shower, do her hair, and then get ready.  We didn't get out the door until about 10am.  We drove down to a breakfast place that I had scooped out for our previous trip.  It's known for good breakfasts, and sure enough it has some awesome food.  I ordered a chicken fried steak with country fries, eggs, English muffin, and a huge pancake.  TheGirl ordered salmon eggs Benedict.  She said the food was great!

Following our super hearty breakfast we drove down to Pacific Shores.  I took a bunch of photos of the coast.  Then we drove around the peninsula until we reached the end of the road.  The day was chilly, but sunny.  Just as we were driving the last leg of our journey around the shore it started to rain.  Thankfully it only lasted about 15 minutes and didn't rain again the entire trip.

TheGirl really liked Cannery Row the last time we traveled up here.  My only interest with that place is in the aquarium.  But, TheGirl doesn't ever want to go to the aquarium.  Hence, we end up walking around a tourist trap.  We went for a drink, looked in some of the shops, and spent nearly forty minutes talking to the director of a Thomas Kincade gallery.  I don't like that guy, but the fella at the gallery did have some good advice about getting my photography out there.  He said to network.  Man, that ain't easy.  If I ever want to sell my stuff I best buck up and do it.

We had just enough time to make it back to Carmel to check out a store called "Secret Garden." Every time we've gone to Carmel it's been too late to check out the little garden in between the buildings.  It was quaint, kinda what I expected.  The good thing is that I FINALLY got to see it.

Following Carmel I decided to drive us out to the beach where we had spent the afternoon.  I didn't want to go straight to the hotel room for some reason.  Out by the northern shore I spotted the moonlight shinning on the water.  I knew I wanted this photo.  I popped the tripod and went at it.  The picture above is the result.

Our hotel for this stay - serviceable

Sept 22, I woke up at nearly 7am again today, but TheGirl and I didn't get out of bed until 10:30am.  I'll cut to the chase, we had sex.  But it was incomplete because all I could think about was the fact that checkout was at 11am, and by the time I petered out it was 10:30.  At first it was like old times.  When I entered her she said it was like old times, and that she hadn't felt this good in a long time.  The clock betrayed me, because I couldn't stay hard thinking that it was nearly 10:30 and knowing TheGirl's slowness in getting ready we wouldn't be ready to go for another hour.  I showered and was ready fast.  TheGirl took until 11:30 to finish.  The hotel lady was none too happy that we took so long.  I'm pretty sure that our sex will continue another day.  TheGirl mentioned that she hadn't cum like that in a long time.  Ego boost, or the truth?  Hmmm?

Finally out the door we booked it down to the Big Sur River Inn for breakfast.  Every time we go there we eat inside, totally forgetting that there's a patio that overlooks the river.  This time we didn't forget, and were seated right next to the railing, where the river was only a couple of dozen feet away.  I ordered quite a bit of food, including the summer sausage pictured above.  It was all so yummy.  It's hard to leave this place again.  Intellectually I know that if I lived up here all I would be doing is working like I do in Los Angeles.  And the beauty that is the visits here would be lessened, because I'd have to grind it up here.  But of course if I was able to somehow make a nice bit of money somehow.  Perhaps selling my photography.  Then, I could come up here and stay a while.  I don't think I could totally leave Los Angeles.  Not at this point in my life.  Perhaps later.  For now Los Angeles is me, and I'm Los Angeles.

After brunch, we jotted down the coast until we came to Cayucos for some cookies.  Our next time was Doc Burnstein's ice cream lab in Arroyo Grande.  The parlor was a throwback to the ice cream parlors of the past.  A fella behind the counter complimented me on my Voltron shirt.  I had root beer marble ice cream, which was yummy.  TheGirl had something called Merlot Raspberry Truffle.  She said it tasted like wine.  That was our last stop.  After that we didn't stop until we got to my house.  All-in-all the trip was damn good.  I wanted to see a couple of placed in Big Sur, but spending time in Monterey and Pacific Shores was pretty dang cool.  The Monterey peninsula and Big Sur are becoming like a second home to me and TheGirl.  I like that.

Sept 23, It's always so hard to return to work after going away.  Especially when going away to the beauty of Big Sur.  The day went fast though, which is good.  There wasn't that much work at either job, and at my Montrose job the supervisor I would rather avoid is on vacation for a month.
After work I usually go over to TheGirl's.  The last couple of weeks she's ridden her bike up to the library and I meet her at her place.  Tonight she told me that someone had stolen $900 out of a book she keeps the money in.  Those $900 are for her rent.  She had to tell her landlady that she didn't have all the money, and that she would have it tomorrow.  TheGirl had will have to take money out of her savings to pay her rent.  Not only that, this means that someone close to her stole this money.  The suspects are, in her mind, her daughter's boyfriend and TheChisel.  I hope it's TheChisel, but that's for selfish reasons.  However, if we're going to play junior Sherlocks, the main suspect has to be the daughter's boyfriend.  He had more of an opportunity than anyone, and probably more motive, he's broke.  Of course, there is no real way to find out without calling the police.  But even then, it's going to be difficult.  The really strange thing is that whoever took the money didn't take it all.  They left $60 behind.  Strange.  Which makes me think the person needed an exact amount and may have thought they had time to replace it before TheGirl noticed.  Or TheGirl actually misplaced the money.  I tend to hope that no one stole the money, but this thing isn't as cut and dry as that.  This is going to have some serious repercussions for everyone that she suspects.  I should add that she doesn't suspect me.  Mainly because she trusts me, and also I didn't have opportunity or motive.

The margaritas at Chipotle used to pack a punch - not any more

Sept 25, There's a new girl that's been working at the library for just about a month.  Holly calls her Daisy Dukes.  I think she's pretty.  Since day one I've wondered if she's single.  Today one of my coworkers told me that she overheard her talking to her boyfriend on the phone the other day.  There goes THAT idea.  Since TheGirl is short on funds, because of the theft of her rent money, and the subsequent pulling of that money out of her savings, I decided to treat her for dinner.  Even though I'm in financial dire straits as well.  I get paid on Friday, but the paycheck will barely cover my bills for this part of the month.  I may have to take some money out of my own savings.  But you know what?  TheGirl has always been there when I've needed her.  One little dinner that cost me $25 isn't going to break me.

The text message that informed me this weekend's photoshot is cancelled

Sept 26, Work was pretty chill today, even for work standards.  Mainly it's because mean supervisor is out on vacation.  A cloud has been lifted, temporarily, on the office while she's away.  I didn't see AE on the route, because she's probably half way to Spain right now.  TreasuryGirl was there, and she looked good.  I'm going to have more chances to talk to her now, because the city has implemented a new policy regarding dropping off money to the treasury.  Now we have to wait and have the money counted in front of us before leaving.  This is to assume that the right amount is delivered.  What a pain.
The bad news, shown above in text form, is that this weekends BIG photoshoot with my internet friend Lisa has been cancelled.  As you can see in the photo above, she is not feeling well and can make it to Los Angeles.  The both of us have been looking forward to finally meeting and taking these pictures.  I suppose it just wasn't meant to be.  Fuck!  Oh well.
TheGirl told me today via email that her daughter's boyfriend was going to talk to her about TheGirl banning anyone from her home unless she's there.  That meant that he wasn't welcomed.  He automatically assumed, correctly, that TheGirl was saying that he might have taken the money.  It's only natal for TheGirl to think that.  Well, he didn't call her because he was supposedly too upset.  This incident has hit TheGirl hard.  It has caused her monitory losses and emotional damage.  It's a real shame, because I don't think this kid took the money.  I think TheChisel did it.  He isn't working, says TheGirl, and yet he has enough to spend on her for dinners and hotels and such.  I sure hope it's TheChisel, and that she finds out and tosses him out the door.

Johnnie's pastrami and Chandaka on a Friday

Sept 27, Work was pretty chill today since mean supervisor is on vacation this month.  Everyone is off the pins and needles we're usually on.  The day went fast, relatively.  I talked to my buddy about hanging out tonight and getting some grub.  I haven't seen him since just after he went up to Hearst's Castle.  That was a few weeks ago, I believe.  Next week I'm going to Disneyland with TheGirl on Friday, so my window of opportunity was just open this week.  We went to Johnnie's Pastrami in Culver city for some good eats.  Came back home, talked each other's ear off.  It was good to catch up.  I told him about a job at Glendale.  He was reluctant to go for it.  But I told him that he had nothing to lose, and that I would try to put in a good word for him.  He told me he would sign up for the job.  Good.

The 99 cent store already has Christmas items for sale

Sept 28, Finally a day off.  Today would have been the day that I photographed Lisa, but she fell ill and didn't come to Los Angeles.  Hence, I was left to my own devices today.  I took the opportunity to do absolutely nothing.  The only thing I really had to do was go to the 99 cent store and buy some items my aunt wanted.  That was the only thing I really had to do.  Around 5:40 my aunt hadn't arrived from work and I wondered where she might be.  I had thought that she said to me that one of her coworkers was going to drive her after work.  I called her and she said she was at the local El Pollo Loco.  She invited me to come have something to eat.  I figured, why not.  I booked it over there and ordered a nice pair of tacos.  The girl behind the counter chatted me up about her long shift.  Boy, been there, done that.  I received my order and I ate.  My aunt wanted to pay for mine, but I didn't let her.  As I sat there, thinking about what the girl behind the counter said I thought about how lucky I was.  Not only to have a nice leisurely day off, but to be who I am.  So many other Mexicans wound up living in a different part of Los Angeles.  I was lucky to land in Encino.  I wasn't rich, but we lived in a nice neighborhood and I never had any want for anything.  Today it's the same.  I work hard, get paid way less than I'm worth.  However, I have it good.  I still live in a nice neighborhood.  I live in a house in that nice neighborhood.  It's not mine, because the bank owns it, but I'm paying it off.  I drive a nice car.  Nothing fancy, but it's allowed me to get to work on time, to travel up and down the state.  I have a few bucks in my pocket.  Enough to pay my bills and still have a nice meal now and again.  And despite my skin color I'm Americanized.  I speak real good, yawl.  I have my degree, I'm not a dope, and I have some talents.  I suppose you can say this is why I'm a happy person.  Despite all the drama that I have in my life, work and personal life, I'm still better off than a lot of people.  I've been lucky to travel to Big Sur... eat at some fine restaurants... see some things like the opera... club 33... to name a couple of places.  So many people in this city, like the girl behind the counter today, may never get to see the wonders of this city, or the wonders of this state.  Even TheGirl has had her world expanded by spending time with me.  She had never gone to a museum before she met me.  Yes, I'm a lucky person.  I'm thankful for that.

Sept 29, Spent my Sunday off doing some stuff at home, like putting up a new clothes line.  Tried to clean my room, but didn't get too far with that.  Watched some football.  Picked up my aunt, who bought me Chipotle for dinner.  And talked to my friend Roni as she drove back from Vegas on what turned out to be a six hour plus trip, due to traffic.  Tomorrow, back to the grind.  Love these weekends where I can just chill.

Sept 30, Work was meh today.  This one coworker that runs how and cold worked with me after missing the last few weeks.  I wish she would have stayed away.  She was rude to a patron because she happen to mention the name of another coworker she doesn't like.  Right away that put a target on the patron.  I ended up helping the patron, who was none too happy.  Second job went well.  The shift went long.  I'm tired as I write this.

I've been doing these 52 week projects for the last three years.  This is year four.