Was that 405 or 4 or 5?

The I405 runs through the West of Los Angeles metro basically from the top to the bottom. It joins I5 both North of LA and South of LA, but runs through the populated part of the city while I5 runs, well, through the other populated part of the city on the East side. Here we are, somewhere in the San Fernando hills.

This isn't the greatest picture in the world, as it's taken through the windshield of the car (which is covered in bugs). Notice how there is no blur in the tires of the vehicles around us? That's not because we have a really good camera. No, that's because nobody is actually moving.

The local joke is not that it's the 405 (I.e. four-oh-five). Rather, it's the 4 or 5; as in the number of hours it will take you to get anywhere, on it. Thankfully, we don't have to spend a lot of time on the Interstate highways.

Welcome to California

Four weeks and counting. Of course, my first post was the previous comparison shot of Rayla with her star double. I suppose I should actually write something a little more meaningful (although, they do take their stars very seriously here).

Rayla's post regarding the journey covered the gory details so I'll try and avoid repeating them. To say we were tired as we crossed the border into the U.S. would not be entirely accurate. Exhausted, for sure, but to add to that we were also overwhelmed. At least I was. Entering California, however, and at least being in the State we would call home started to make things much more real. In a way, it made the move a lot smaller, even though we were greeted by Mount Shasta.

The picture shown here is just over the Norther California border. I was looking forward to seeing Shasta again. The last time was in 2005, as we drove North up I5. This time, however, we are on highway 97, which gave us the wonderful opportunity to drive around the mountain. This shot was taken from just about due North of the mountain (see the blue dot on the map). We then got to drive towards the mountain, and around and past it on the West.

Of course, once the mountain is in the rear-view mirror, it's interstate highway the rest of the way, but that's another post.

My Wife: The Supah-Stah

In regards to the previous post, here's a comparison. Of course a side-by-side comparison makes it easier to see the differences, but I think this shot could show how people might be confused. I got the image of Cate from imdb.com.

Where are the stars?

I came to LA with big expectations - looking for divas in the supermarket parking lots and superstars hanging out in Venice Beach. So far, no star spottings for me, just for everyone around me. That's right, all those years ago where Erin said I looked like the actress in Elizabeth and Anjali pulled out the Enquirer shot, they knew something: I look like Cate Blanchett. You know, the queen of the elves in Lord of the Rings. Turns out a few people think that. Like the guy in the store where I got my cell phone last week (do you think I'd have these credit problems if I was a movie star? I asked him), and now a guy in the supermarket, who came up to me with a tabloid in hand and asked if this picture was of me. I of course said yes, and asked to go ahead of him in line, as I was late for filming. Kidding. He did ask, but I just looked at him and he walked away. Watch for the headline - "Cate lashes out at the common people".

...and Sunday is pretty good too

We had big plans on Sunday, as it was Kinga's birthday party. Her friends Rob and Mercedes live in the 'burbs, and organized an afternoon party (also celebrating Steve's birthday earlier that week) for about 30 friends. Before the party, Kinga, her friend Aggie and I all went out for pedicures and manicures, at a place in Venice that is always packed, and apparently is the best place in town. Certainly it was a great bargain. I got all my nails done for $20 - I'll be going back for sure!

Many of the people we had met at the house party a few weeks back were at the birthday party, so we even knew some people, which was nice. It was a real celebration for Kinga, who had also been sworn in as a citizen on Friday, and Marcus got her this great cake (picture to follow). Many of the party-goers are taking dance lessons, so we were treated to a great salsa and flamenco dance demonstration. All in all, a very nice afternoon with some great people.

saturday night's alright ...

Well, actually Saturday night is all right for a lot of things, like going out for dinner with friends. We decided to take a leisurely drive down the Pacific Coast highway, winding through some beach towns before meeting Terrence and Jen in Dana Point for dinner, a town about half way between where we are in LA and they live, north of San Diego in La Jolla. This picture of a statue of a surfer was taken along the way.

Darren and I started our day looking for a car wash. The line up was more than a block long, so we decided to skip the wash and pick up cell phones. It was about 2 pm, and we thought we'd be done within the hour, giving us about 3 hours before our dinner reservation. Ha. First, we had known that having no credit in the US was a problem, but we thought that we had solved it by opening bank accounts with the US branch of a Canadian bank. Not so much. Although we will be able to get credit cards, it will still take about 3 months before we have any credit established, and even then only Darren will have a credit rating as I don't have a social security number (due to the type of visa I have, I can't get one unless I find an employer willing to sponsor me). We had spoken to a few cell phone companies, and knew that the deposit was going to be hefty, but that we'd get it back at the end of the year.

We thought we'd try one more time to get phones without a deposit. After spending about 20 minutes with a nice guy at the Cingular (the new AT&T) store, we had picked out phones, settled on colours, and Darren had selected a new wireless headset. Then we went to go set up the accounts. When the credit department told the store manager how much they wanted for a deposit, even he was taken by surprise. Turns out they wanted $500 for each line. As Darren and I debated whether we should just get one phone now and wait 3 months to get the other, or whether to take a pay-as-you-go plan, Melvin, the store manager, kept trying to convince the credit department that they only needed to take one deposit, to no avail. Finally, he gave us a deal on the phones (no charge, waiving the $100 fee), no activation fees (saving another $60), and a discount on the headset. It took us almost 2 hours to sort out all of the details, and we left the store nearly 2 hours after we got there, after paying the hefty deposit, and consoling ourselves that at least we now had accounts that would help us establish credit.

We headed for Dana Point, passing through Long Beach, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach. Lots of people out enjoying the surf and sun, although it was only about 68F. So many people out, as a matter of fact, that it took us nearly 2 more hours to travel the 60 miles. We made it to the restaurant with 5 minutes to spare. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Terrence and Jen, and are looking forward to seeing more of them over the summer.

Friday, May 18

It has taken me a few days, but we have located the photo cables and I have finally published the blog I wrote earlier this week with pictures. I am hoping that Darren will add to it when he gets some free time, as he can add some colour to the travelogue I have started. He will also remember more of the stories with humour that I am still suppressing. Once the scars have faded, I might be able to add more.