This Life

LADWP: The Los Angeles Department of Water and (sometimes) Power

2009-10-15T05:00:00-07:00

(original image on Flickr by P-Kittye)

Thirteen hours. That's how long we were without power yesterday. Yes, I know it was raining, and in Los Angeles that's the excuse for civilization to fall into total disarray. But seriously, THIRTEEN HOURS?

Living in Los Angeles is pretty funny when it rains. Funny in an "OMG, this is insane so we may as well laugh" kind of way. The biggest problem is that people forget how to drive. They slam on their brakes in the middle of a flooded street, force backwash up the tailpipes of their cars and then wonder why their cars stall. Or they speed up and try and make it through as quickly as possible, then act surprised when the resulting aquaplaning sends them hurtling into the nearest parked car.

Sorry if I sound all superior here, but if there's one thing English people know how to cope with, it's rain. Sure, those verdant green fields look pretty when you're looking out of the window of a plane, but once you've landed, you'll soon discover exactly WHY everything's so green. So while the slightest glimpse of sunshine sends us English folk into a frenzy of suntan lotion, rolled up trouser legs and lunchtime sunburns, it's rain that we're really comfortable with.

Anyway, back to my point about yesterday. It started to rain hard in the Hollywood Hills around 11am, and by 11:30am the power was out. No big deal--it happens pretty much every time there's rain or wind or excess heat. Come to think of it, it happens every time the weather does anything out of the ordinary. Normally, it lasts for 15-30 minutes and then comes back on. Not this time.

By 2pm I called the DWP and asked for an estimated time for getting our power back. "We're not sure," I was told. "It could be 10-12 hours." 10-12 HOURS? I asked what the problem was. "We're not sure." Again with the not sure-ness. The nice operator went on to tell me it could be a power line down, a transformer out, a transformer on fire, a transformer down and on fire, a flaming power line wrapped around a flaming transformer lying on the still-burning ground...the possibilities were endless. OK, so I may have embellished a little. But still, they didn't know.

Here's my point (I do have one, I promise). The electricity rates in Los Angeles have been increasing, supposedly to get people to conserve power. Where does all that extra money go? The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (LOVE that name!) recently made a video about the lack of maintenance of LA's aging water and power systems. The DWP has reduced critical staff to the point where basic maintenance and updating of the system simply doesn't happen. Workers and customers are both frustrated, and so far there isn't any sign of things changing. Here's a press release that gives more details: IBEW Local 18 releases video about the crisis in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

We finally had our power restored at around 12:30am. Others are still waiting. I'm not sure what ordinary people can do about this except complain to each other. And blog. I may be powerless, but I'm loud about it. And that's something, right?

Queen Mary: The Music Video!

2009-10-02T09:47:27-07:00

Just in case you haven't heard enough about the Queen Mary, here's a music video that David Mirkin made from footage he took during the voyage. It's on the James Taylor website in the Aug/Sept newsletter. The song is "Sea Cruise," which James prepared especially for the cruise.

The ocean really was this green in the ship's wake. Apparently, it's something to do with the density of the water. I think. Maybe. Oh, who am I kidding? I have no idea why it's this color. But it's pretty.

The band James works with is really an amazing group of musicians who are all well-known in their own right. Here's the list:

Arnold McCuller
Larry Goldings - Piano, organ, electric piano
Steve Gadd - Drums
Jimmy Johnson - Bass
Michael Landau - Electric guitar
Kate Markowitz - Vocals
Caroline Taylor - Vocals
Andrea Zonn - Fiddle, vocals

The video shows a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff as well as footage of soundcheck and performances. James' wife, Kim (Caroline) had a birthday onboard so there's some footage of her party. James also made a trip below decks to sign autographs for the crew. Apparently, nobody usually does this and since most of the crew doesn't have above-deck privileges, they were super excited to see him. They brought albums, CDs and even guitars for him to sign. I feel sorry for the people who were trying to get room service during that 2.5-hour period!

Paddy the Hero Horse - ABC Goulburn Murray (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

2009-09-19T17:46:27-07:00

"He stood there and did what I asked him. If you can have that sort of communication, all the big parades and the big accolades we've had as gendarme can't compare to that because that was when the chips were really down. I asked him to do something and he said, righto, I'll do that. And that's what he did."

via www.abc.net.au

For those of you who wonder how intelligent horses really are, click on the link to read this story of a retired police horse who saved the smaller animals in his pasture from the vicious fires in Victoria, Australia.

Several studies have shown that horses are capable of reasoning and problem solving (as anyone who's ever tried to keep an equine escape artist in his stall will testify). But even so, Paddy's something special.

Queen Mary: Onboard and At Sea

2009-09-11T08:00:00-07:00

OK, so in the interests of brevity (and your sanity), I'll condense the six-day voyage into one post. One 20-page post. Kidding.

When we left New York on Friday, the sea was very calm. In fact, it was hard to tell we were on a boat at all (aside from the lifeboats and the aircraft-sized bathroom). That changed on Saturday. It poured with rain and by the afternoon, the seas were officially listed as "rough." Not rough as in "spill the water from your glass." No, this was "can't walk in a straight line and send half the passengers to their cabins to vomit" rough. I don't seem to get seasick so I enjoyed the challenge of trying to walk normally and pretending it wasn't an effort. At least, I enjoyed it until the next morning when I woke up with my legs screaming from the effort. Apparently, walking while drunk or at sea is quite the workout. Who knew?

Speaking of workouts, did I mention that there was a Canyon Ranch Spa on board the ship? That's right--massages, manicures, pedicures, saunas, etc. Even an Aquatherapy pool. They also had a killer schedule of fitness classes and a great gym. Since I figured I'd be spending the two weeks after we arrived in England eating my way from one side of the country to the other, I decided to pack in at least one workout each day.

On Sunday morning, our Core Conditioning instructor decided to do a balance ball workout. In rough, 12-18 ft seas. Need I say more? With each roll of the ship, there were ladies flying everywhere. I looked around me at one point and all I could see were spandex-covered bottoms with legs stuck up in the air like flagpoles.

After the class, I moved into the gym to do a few minutes on the treadmill. Until now, I've never really understood the purpose of side rails on a treadmill. "How uncoordinated do you have to be to need rails ALL along the edges," I thought. Well, I guess they have a purpose after all. I spent 15 minutes bouncing from one rail to the other before calling it a day and heading back to the cabin to nurse my bruises.

Several people have asked about the food on the trip, and let me tell you, it was sensational! As a vegetarian, you get used to people piling boiled veggies on a plate, topping them with melted cheese and calling it dinner. On the QM2, every meal was a taste sensation! Each night they even brought us the menus for the next day so we could make sure there was something suitable for our "dietary restrictions."

Plus, we got to dress up for dinner. Not my guy's favorite part (I have to wear a TIE?!) but I was in heaven. I took a completely separate case of formal and cocktail dresses to wear in the evenings. Here's an example from one of the "semi-formal" nights:

It was kind of cool how seriously everyone took the dress code. Certain nights were "formal," requiring black tie, and it was great to see everyone all dressed up to the nines. The featured artist onboard was James Taylor and one of his concerts fell on a formal night, so the band even wore suits onstage!

Anyway, I'll wrap this up by saying that the six-day voyage was one of the most pleasant ways I can imagine to travel to the UK. I never thought of myself as a "cruise" person. It seemed so boring, to stay in one place for a week and be carted around from country to country. The truth is, it was so relaxing I could easily have stayed onboard for another week. We put our wallets in the safe at the beginning of the voyage and didn't take them out again until it was time to disembark. We had amazing meals, worked out, got massages, visited the planetarium, listened to a great concert, and spent a lot of time napping and reading. Oh, and they advanced the clocks by one hour each night so we didn't even have to deal with jet-lag when we arrived in Southampton. Brilliant, huh?

I leave you with this proof that even people who spend half their lives with hay in their hair can get dressed up when the occasion demands.

Tiger in a Tree

2009-09-04T22:52:54-07:00

It's been a while since this blog has featured Tommy, our vicious attack cat.

Don't let that relaxed demeanor fool you: underneath that soft, cuddly, squishy exterior lies...

...well, we're not sure what lies there because the exterior is so soft, cuddly and squishy that it repels all attempts to find any hint of anything underneath.

This is another of Tommy's favorite positions, along with Flying Kitty, Drooling Kitty and Kitty on a Spit.

For the longest time, I couldn't figure out why on earth he'd drape his considerable bulk along the arm of a chair like this. I mean, how can that be comfortable? His legs hang off the sides and his belly spreads out beneath him like a...like a huge spreading thing (extra points for Blackadder fans).

Then a friend of mine pointed out the obvious conclusion: he thinks he's a tiger.

That's right: my fat, lazy large, energy-conserving kitty has delusions of grandeur.

Well, he sure has the "lazing in a tree" part down. Let's see which other tiger characteristics he has, shall we?

Eating one fifth of his body weight at one sitting? Check.
Spending all his time between meals simply sleeping or drinking? Double check.
Chasing down prey? Not so much
Eating once every 7-8 days?

LADY, ARE YOU CRAZY?!!!

That's OK, Tommy. One step at a time. Start with the stuff you're good at.