Omnium-gatherum
Matt Hanson’s Brain Archive
January 22, 2006
My first time in LA
The clean cab’s meter clocked the mileage in units of dollars while we talked.
“Where did you fly in from?”
“New Hampshire..Is this typical weather for LA?”
“A bit cooler then normal”
“So, where are YOU from?
He was from Afghanistan, but after 20 years in LA and no family left in the country of his birth this was him home now. Despite the political nature of the question I had to ask…”So what do you think about US invading Afghanistan?” To the cabbie - Afghanistan had been as success. On the whole, Afghans are much are happier now. It had not been a plesant place before and now they are doing much better then they ever had. The US invasion of Afghanistan and regime change had been a great success for the Afghans. Not so with Iraq which was not going well at all.
“Perhaps it will turn out well.”
“Perhaps” I said.
Hailing from Birmingham, Great Britain, Steve was a self-proclaimed Trekkie who engineered the glass for civil aircraft and the bulletproof windshields for Humvees. He sat the hotel bar drinking down watered down American beer when Bartman invited him over to sit with us. Being a sci-fi fan myself and obsessed with British television programs here was someone I could really geek out with over one of my favorite programs - Red Dwarf. The Bombay Gin followed by Jack Daniels with Coke flowed as we all chatted about Great Britain, Humvees, Monty Python, and Steve’s all-time favorite film….Star Trek II.
KAAAHHHHNNNN!!!!
Sang Lee was a quiet man. Feeling chatty and curious I ventured into usually avoided territory and asked him where was from.
“Korea, South Korea”
Click, on came the radio. Was this a signal?
“How long have you been in the states, Sang? In LA the whole time?”
“Missouri, 15 years, LA a year and a half. Too cold in Missouri.” The radio got a litte louder.
The remainder of the drive to John Wayne airport was without chatter.
I’m home.
January 5, 2006
The little car that just didn’t make it
‘They’ say that most accidents occur within a few miles from your home. In this case, ‘they’ were right. This time I called home to tell my wife to look out the front window.
It was 9:30 AM as I hopped in the little Geo Prism - 8 years old, 140K miles - it was not a healthy car. At last summer’s inpection Steve’s Auto Body said this would be it’s last year and for < $100 for a new set of tires I outfit the geo for it’s final year of operation…but the big question on everyone’s mind was, Would it last? I backed out of the driveway, tuned into WBUR and popped it into DRIVE. 10 yards, 20 yards…I saw a white SUV cut the corner onto my road and soon was bearing down on me. The small Geo didn’t place me far off the ground and soon all I could see was a large headlight heading for me as I tried to move out of the way. I was, too late.
No one was hurt due to the low speed but my car was a wreck. It wasn’t just the bashes along the drivers side, it was the front wheel bent at an odd angle. The car was a piece of junk before and now it was totaled junk. The SUV had fared better, sort of. A brand brand new Mercedes ML SUV had hit me and cracked and dented some pieces around the front wheel, plus a flat. It was a real disapointment for the driver - the Mercedes was to be the centerpiece at a celebration Friday night where the truck was to be officially presented to her. The truck didn’t have the same cool look with the skinny doughnut where the fat tire used to be.
Then again, she did hit me and would have been served better had she been looking where she was going.
Because of the wheel, the Geo had to be towed the 30 yards back to the driveway but soon the insurance company will come to collect it and surprisingly I’ll get a check for a car that just wasn’t worth much. I’ve decided I’m in no rush to get a replacement car. It’s back on the bike for me for a bit, except on those really really cold days…
