los angeles « ((little fat notebook))

Posts Tagged ‘los angeles’

Crazy commute

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: driving, experiences, los angeles, opinion, panda, traffic, work

18 October 2010

The first half of last week, my morning commute was a whopping 2 and a half hours in the morning. Going home was much better at around 1 hour and 45 minutes, but still – over 4 hours a day just to get to and from work? Factor in the 9 hours spent at work and I barely have enough time to get ready in the morning, eat dinner at night, rest, get ready for bed, and sleep in the remaining time. Plus it’s been drizzly and cold, which makes things all the more miserable.

The sudden spike in commute time (it used to take me an hour and a half or so) is due to added construction along the 405, particularly in the Sepulveda Pass. They’re shutting down Sepulveda going through the mountains, which means everyone is forced to use the 405 and congest even more than usual. It’s absolute insanity and I’m getting really tired from all the driving. I’m thinking of renting a place nearby just to alleviate the stresses of driving so much and give myself more time to rest at night.

At least now I have the SafeCell App on my phone so I can earn points for not using my phone while driving! Once I save up enough I can redeem them for items at hundreds of retailers. It’ll make my commute much more rewarding as I focus on driving safely and imagine as my points rack up. 🙂 Now if only I could find a good radio station to listen to… I’m so sick of all the music they cycle through and the boring talk shows that just repeat themselves. I’m even sick of the commercials I’ve heard time and time again! I tried audiobooks, but haven’t found any good ones since I listened to the ones I really wanted to hear. Panda suggested podcasts, so maybe I’ll look into those.

Ionic footbath

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: experiences, interesting, los angeles, pictures, spa, treatment

10 October 2010

I had a Groupon awhile ago that included this ionic footbath. I was just interested in the jade stone massage, but since it came in a package I used the service and it was very interesting. Whether or not it does what it claims, something turned the water orange and made my feet tingle! My joints would need detoxing.

water turned orange in ionic footbath - detox from joints

The water slowly turned orange in my ionic footbath.

orange water color corresponds to detoxification of the joints

Apparently orange means I was detoxing from the joints.

Honking away earthquakes

laelene Posted in video blog，Tags: driving, interesting, los angeles, observation, tradition, videos

03 October 2010

Going under the earthquake tunnel one night, capturing some of the honking in action. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Read about it here.

earthquake tunnel from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Huntington Gardens: pond & desert

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: experiences, huntington gardens, interesting, los angeles, pictures, plants

01 October 2010

The final installation of the gallery of pictures from the Huntington Gardens. See Part 1 and Part 2. Click pictures for original size.

: This plant seems to want to be 2D.

: A dragonfly resting on a reed.

: A cluster of lily pads hides two secrets! Little turtles!

: One of them swims off and the other follows suit.

: I wonder if their necks get tired like that.

: A wasp takes a rest by my feet.

: I was really hoping to see a frog…

: This turtle was working on its tan.

: I figured a flower petal wouldn’t scare the koi as much, and was pretty much able to touch it with my ploy.

: I think it’s fascinating how large and tall lotus flowers are.

: Don’t step here! It’s a pond underneath! Check out the turtle poking out. 🙂

: That bird is up really high on this cactus tree thing.

: I love the wings! A bit of flash as they open up, then they retract and it goes away.

: Some of these desert plants grow really tall!

: I wonder if they get water up to the top the way the sequoias do.

: These cacti decided it wasn’t worth it to fight gravity.

: This is a pretty cool cactus. Looks like someone designed it with layers.

: This pretty much looks like a tree.

: They stand up so straight! They kind of look like fingers.

: Perhaps these flowers grow larger because they are closer to the ground and get more nutrients and water?

: They can grow pretty elaborately. It reminds me a type of coniferous tree, but I can’t remember what.

: These things grow almost as tall as palm trees!

: Cousin It in old age.

: This is one happy cactus!

: It looks rather like a snow globe. So perfectly round!

: This is quite the menacing cactus.

: So geometric… these would work as a great fence.

Speed limits

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: design, interesting, los angeles, observation, opinion, question

26 September 2010

Oh, the wanderings of a curious mind. As I was driving down a street a couple of days ago, I noticed that the speed limit was listed as 40 MPH. I had this recollection that the speed limit was 35 on that road, when I was driving along the other side earlier in the day. So suddenly I had this epiphany that maybe, just maybe, the speed limits on the two sides of the road were different?

A bit further down the road, the speed limit did go down to 35, so I figured that when I was driving up the opposite side, I probably just hadn’t noticed the change from 35 to 40. However, it did get me thinking about this issue – do roads ever have different speed limits on opposing sides of the street? Is there a requirement that they are the same? I know that as humans we love congruency and symmetry, but is there a practical purpose to it?

As long as the speed limits do not vary greatly, I don’t see why they can’t be slightly different to account for differences in curvature and width of the road. After all, sometimes one side allows for parked cars along the curb (and therefore should have a lower limit) whereas the other side may just have a wide shoulder not quite enough for a car (and therefore should have a higher limit). When you’re winding up the side of a mountain on the inner lanes, the turns are much tighter than outer lanes. Or even on freeways, perhaps there should be a 55 limit on the far right lane so it’s easier for cars to merge in and trucks can casually push on. Then again, in a place like Los Angeles, who really follows those speed limits anyway? :-/

Scenic, peaceful drive

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: driving, experiences, los angeles, opinion, panda

16 September 2010

I’ve been driving the 210 freeway in LA a lot more lately because that is how to get from my house to Panda’s. Now that he is living from home, I go out to his town when I have time and I’ve found that the drive is quite pleasurable. The roads are clear with only light traffic when you get to the Pasadena area and you drive along the rolling hills, getting peeks of great views. There is a lot of greenery surrounding the roads and it’s very peaceful.

Usually PCH is known for its scenic drive, but I think that the 210 should be recognized for its scenic route as well. Sure, it doesn’t give you spectacular views of the ocean, but it also doesn’t wind around hills and force you to drive in one lane. You get lots of space, lots of nature, and a certain tranquility that you can only get if you park your car along PCH. Driving it is a whole other story. More adventurous and energetic, whereas the northern hills of the Valley are more zen and calming.

Being a light drive, you don’t have crazy drivers who cut you off or ride up on you until you speed up or move out of the lane. It’s a great time to clear your mind and enjoy the weather. No need to brake and go all the time, or try to get around that one slow car clogging up traffic. There’s plenty of space to maneuver around cars (or be maneuvered around) without getting in people’s space and igniting short tempers. I wish battling the 5 and 405 was half as easy. That would make my commute an absolute joy!

Collector’s car

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: cars, driving, interesting, los angeles, pictures

15 September 2010

Check out this old school car.

closeup of old school car driving in westwood

Is the license plate just sitting there or is it actually screwed in?

A macro meal

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: experiences, food, los angeles, pictures

03 September 2010

I attended a “Meet the Macro Experts” meal and info session one night at M Cafe. It was wonderful! I love the food and find the lifestyle intriguing, but I like my bad foods too much to follow it strictly. 😛 Take a look at what we had!