April 01-08 2012

Welcome to the month of April!- Spent the day packing and getting ready for my trip to the Southbay!

Monday 02- It is still windy as all get go, but I’m headed to Redondo Beach to stay at my friend’s condo on the beach.
It was a nice drive and the Cougar ran just fine using little gas. I stopped off at Carl’s Jr. on PCH and 190th and got me a Big Burger. Called Kula and Tom, they’ll be waiting outside to open the security gate.
They got me settled in, gave me the nickel tour of their beach condo. Then Kula and I went for a short walk down on the bike path.
Kula cooked up some fantastic chicken and rice we had for dinner.
I went for another walk along the beach at night.

Tuesday 03- Beautiful day outside.
A woman from France came to pick up a table that Kula had listed on Craig’s List. Tom and I carried it down to her car and put it in her SUV. Her husband worked on the Harry Potter movie filming. She also said her family is going to JT and I suggested she try Joshua Tree Lakes Resort to see if they could get a better price than the $600 for three days she was telling me about.
Tom helped me get my cheap Chinese bike I bought at WalMart ready to ride the strand. I really need to get a better bike, especially after seeing Tom's nice bike. He does a lot of riding up to PV and back. I don't need anything like his, but I do need a proper bike.
I went for a walk to the pier.
I went for an evening walk.


Wednesday 04- Tom and Kula woke me up at the ungodly hour of 5:45AM so I can drive them to the LAX airport so they could catch a plane going to Iowa. I got back to the condo and went back to sleep.
I rode my bike to Hermosa Pier stopping along the way to take a lot of pictures of the marina where I lived so many years.
I went for an evening walk along the strand.


Thursday 05- Very nice day.
I drove over to visit Tom and Aki in Torrance. They are doing fine and appear to be in good health. Had a nice chat with them about old times and places we’ve been.
I then went to the Fashion Mall in Torrance. I visited a huge Barns and Noble store there and talked to the tech guy there about their EBook readers. I bought a pair of running shoes because the pair I brought are hurting my feet and I forgot to throw my running shoes in the car before I left Joshua Tree. I got a good pair of New Balance for $39, so I didn’t feel that ripped off.
I think I ate my last Super Star at Carl’s Jr. I need to start eating healthier.
I then walked across the parking lot to Albertsons to get some supplies. I saw a woman I recognized, but couldn’t place her. Her name was Fatima or something close to that. She has been working there for 30 years and I used to shop there all the time, so that’s probably where I’ve seen her; she agreed.
I got back to the condo around about 6PM. I tried to help two women put a large table into their car that was parked in the underground garage, but it wouldn’t fit.


Friday 06- Smiley day!
I went to visit Aunt Audrey. I could have spent another 6hrs with her but we both were tired after the first 6 :)
She has so much history. We'll have to chat sometime about her; I'd really like that. Oh, and she just loves you!
One funny thing happened is when Aunt Audrey had called someone and handed the phone to me and said it was Kelly and Kelly started talking to me saying this and that about her family, and I'm going ah huh, ah, huh, while I was trying to figure out how she was related to me. I only found out after hanging up the phone and asking Aunt Audrey who I was talking to. Kelly is my second cousin, Frank's granddaughter. Audrey had probably mentioned her before, but there are so many for me to keep track of. Aunt Audrey told me all about the Gooseberry bush out back in her yard in England in the 1920s.


Saturday 07- Another Smiley day!
I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.
Then I went for a long walk down to Torrance beach taking pictures all along the way. Once I got there, my objective was the old steep ramp we had to use in the olden days before the city made less steep ones to the north. I use to climb that ramp struggling to get to the top when I was 8-10 carrying all kinds of beach paraphernalia like chairs, buckets, balls, while wearing flip-flops sandals. Later I would carry my surfboard up and down without any problem. I rode my skateboard down a few times flying out onto the sand for many yards.

Sunday 08- I drove home.