here’s a more recent car, from chicano park day. i know of a similar one, but it is a convertible, (not quite twins, basil. twins). this one is very clean. almost like it just rolled off the lot.

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today has been a repeat of the last few days: up early, hoof it a mile to the meeting rooms, same bfast everyday (scrambled eggs, some variation of potato cubes, and some fruit). again passed on the unappetizing vat of oatmeal, sausages or pale patties of mystery meat, and the starbucks coffee.

to a change it up, i took the plate of food and a drink over to the main meeting room to sit in on an early presentation. i’d managed to walk a city block with my hands full without spilling a drop, only to splash the juice all over the tablecloth when i sat down and bumped the table leg. tried to blot it a little with my cloth napkin, but now i just had two wet cloths in front of me. ate my food and left the room. i assume the staff changed out the cover during the extended break, when they split the space up with divider walls.

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i feel like i’m getting strung out on the constant availability of sugary snacks and sodas that are always just outside the door. pretty sure that i haven’t lost any weight in spite of the mileage of walking around this place.

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got out of the last morning class a bit before the surge to the free lunch. yesterday included mac n cheese and a drumstick, and today was rice and vomit. i mean it was chef prepared vomit on a lovely serving tray. the little sign said it was chicken and broccoli, but i swear i saw the same come out of my old dog when i was a kid.

i ate the artisan dinner roll. my lunch took about five minutes. managed to leave the room, just as the hoarde was lining up at the buffet tables. i was not in the mood to network. i dashed out a side door, into the hot sun.

i’m really not sure who thought it was a good idea to put astroturf in this particular area, in a desert—it smells vaguely of melting plastic in the heat, while being gently sernaded by a recorded loop of wavery indian reed flute music.

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my dinner adventure started with a quail family that ran that across the road in front of my car. i’m really hoping the tiny baby ran fast enough—they are colored similar to the pavement, and i couldn’t see it in my rearview mirror. i did see the bigger parents running back, with the black head feathers bobbing. they run really fast on those little stick legs.

i decided to get mexican food. looked around on google maps, and selected a random place, that was easy to get to, three miles away. was more of a fast food place, though a huge step up from taco bell. i wanted carne asada, but apparently my mouth said carnitas, since that’s what i got. super shredded up, with a bit too much onions and tomatoes atop the pile. i’m not sure if it was too salty or just too spicy. they had a line out the door by the time i left, so it’s very popular at a minimum.

i also didn’t notice there was a small step down into the inside table/dining area, and almost twisted my ankle, or at least almost fell on my ass, but i recovered it nicely, and pulled off a smooth i meant to do that face, i don’t think anyone noticed, or even cared. lol.

by the time i got back to the hotel, it had gotten to a more reasonable upper eighties degrees, so i decided to take a long walk back to my room, around the outer perimeter of the building. it has two long wings, that follow along a river. there is an interesting variety of birds, lizards, tiny prairie dogs, and cacti.

between the wings, they have three swimming pools. if you’ve ever watched bride and prejudice, you’d giggle a bit at the thought. also a couple of small, kiddie pools, i assume. i doubt they have heated jacuzzis.

hardly anyone in the pools. must be casino time.

i noticed some brave souls out there earlier in the day (from the air-conditioned comfort of the lobby window), i can imagine the sunburn. and heatstroke.

kids don’t care. they’ll jump in ice water if you say they can go swimming.

at night, the pools are lit up, turquoise jewels in a sea of darkness. and all of the rooms and lobby-side restaurant can watch you perform your underwater ballet, like you’re in a flick with esther williams.

i’d really like to go swimming, but feel too much like a potato in a swimsuit to go. i bet if my better half were here, he’d ask the front desk if the pool was heated.

one more day. one day more…

better half and i spent last week in san diego.

busted our asses at work, for the weeks leading up to time off, lots of overtime and stress. it’s almost like we shouldn’t bother taking any time off, as we’ve already made up the week and then some by the time we go. same when we come back. we’re both getting burned out, and were so ready for time away.

should change our titles to design jugglers.

anyway, our mini vacation really started about six in the morning on a saturday, with chicano park day. first in-person show in a couple of years. heard they might limit the number of cars to something ridiculous like one-hundred and fifty. by the time we left around eleven, there was at least twice that, a hot sun, and thousands of people.

didn’t even get to shoot the cars up by the majestics’ house…just too many people. walking in front of the camera, almost knocking over our tripods, bumping into the lens…and it got so hot out. day before, and the days after…all ten degrees cooler. figures.

the illegales car club includes the car above. i’ve been acquanted with the owner for several years now, and i found him later in the day, over in the grass field surrounded by cars, and chatting with some people, as usual. i butted in to say hello.

known as el abuelo, he had two of his cars there that morning. i think he said he arrived at four a.m., and always seems to get spots by the freeway on-ramp.

here’s another shot of it from a different angle. the sun was coming up, and there is some lens flare, that sort of bugs me here.

feeling generous, so here are some other random pictures i shot until i find some time to work up some other cars to share, starting with the few people that did chat with me, or my better half.

the street was full, the lawn around the playground was full; the grass near the basketball courts, had very few cars, which was odd. i know there were plenty of cars driving round trying to get in, but either didn’t have registration or just showed up too late. just weird. all the space available is usually just crammed with cars and bikes.

also, for chuckleberries, i found us in the crowd of the headline pic in this article, better half talking with someone about his lens collection, in front of the chevy truck, in the sea of people.

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