Trip to LA - Day 1 - How to Do Nothing

I got up way too early today for a 6:40 a.m. flight to Burbank. I was out of the house by 5 a.m. Uber to SFO. Long ass wait at security. Happy I got there so early. In line, I noticed the high percentage of women who dye their hair. Who are they kidding? 

Uncrowded flight. Very comfortable. Still dark as we took off. Then, the first light beautifully appeared.

 

I chatted with a woman on the plane. When she asked what I did, I answered, "nothing". I let it hang for a minute and then told her I was a retired attorney. 

The flight arrived early in Burbank. As I waited for Peg to pick me up, I got the following text from my brother Mike: 

How long are they going to leave you standing out there?

Mike is recuperating from back surgery in Las Vegas. Obviously bored, he is tracking my location. 

Peg picked me up, we got Billy boy and headed to a hip Japanese counter restaurant in Echo Park - Konbi. Great start to the trip. Yummy sandwiches, salads and coffee. 

Next stop the Getty Museum for a Manet exhibit of his later work preceding his death. 

We walked thru the museum gardens. Great views of LA schmiltered by smog.

We went on a guided tour of the Manet exhibit. Great info about his work and his life. 

Our guide was very nice. Too nice. She invited questions and comments. An annoying lady started asking way too many questions and offering way too many comments. She just liked hearing her own voice. I was doing a slow burn. Peg laughed about it. I managed to sneak a picture of the lady as revenge.

A portrait of an a-hole who bothered me

Back to the casa for an afternoon nap. Then dinner at Freedman's, an LA hipster Jewish deli.

This is me holding up a beef tongue sandwich. OK, I have to tell my tongue sandwich story. I feel sorry for my mom who has to endure this story again. 

In elementary school in Hayward, CA. My mom packed my lunch one day. At lunch, I showed up with my bag lunch. All the kids and I opened up our lunches to compare. Everybody else had peanut butter and jelly, bologna, etc. on white bread. I opened my sandwich to find leftover beef tongue, sliced thickly on a very healthy thick slice of wheat bread. HUMILIATION! All the other kids were grossed out and teased me. After school, I told my mom about it. She did not get it. Her response was, "but you like tongue". Yeah, I still like tongue; but, you don't bring a tongue sandwich to a white bread school. I forgive you mom.

Peg and Bill took me to the Los Feliz (pronounced FEE LIZ) neighborhood. We strolled some shops, restaurants and bars on Vermont Street. Billy managed to step in a big bad pile of dog poo. Poor Billy. 

We browsed a great bookstore: Skylight Books. How about this title - "How to Do Nothing".

So ends Day 1.