Random diner in El Segundo. They have breakfast all day. 3/5 stars.
Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Tag Archive: Manhattan Beach California
All days are nights to see till I see thee, And nights bright days when dreams do show thee to me. ~William Shakespeare, “Sonnet XLIII”. After one week here in Los Angeles, I can say that I like it here, but I definitely miss my family. I miss my friends in San Antonio. I miss my old job, where I was an important person in the organization, the go-to guy for all the answers.
The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles. ― Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief. LA is quite a diverse city. One hour east is the high desert of Palm Springs, where oases dot the landscape, interspersed with wind and solar farms. 45 minutes east is Riverside and Moreno Valley, a hilly area whose highways are replete twisting and turning highways that hug the landscape overlooking hundreds of feet of valley. Yeah, don’t look down. Once you break pass the valley, you enter the concrete jungle of LA itself. Once you see LA, be prepared for vehicular combat. My little corner of paradise, San Pedro, is 30 minutes south of the heart of LA.
San Pedro is a lot like Gulf Breeze or Perdido, Florida–lots of nice homes interspersed with rundown bungalows and townhomes. On one side of Pacific Avenue are the rich folks with nice homes, and on the other are the poor fishermen with beat up homes. The old fishermen are all deformed, permanently changed by years of the sun beating upon their brows and the sea salt eating away at their flesh. The town is rather quiet. The people here are laid back, and all of them seem to know one another. An outsider like me is easy to spot, yet I am still welcome.
Fort MacArthur is an oasis of its own, a historic landmark parked upon prime real estate overlooking the harbor. I wish the housing were here on Fort Mac itself, but not too close to the general officers.
Los Angeles Air Force Base is about 30 minutes drive from Fort Mac using 110 and 405, as long as I leave before 0630. If I leave between 0630 and 0730, the drive is about 45 minutes as long as I avoid the 405 and go 110 to 105. After 0730, you might as well read a book in traffic. The traffic itself is very much like the 35-South/ 410-East traffic coming from Retama Park to Space Center or the Loop 1604 and 281-South traffic in San Antonio. The base itself is rather small, especially compared to Lackland.
Work at SMC looks like it could be fun. I will be working command and control systems. I met the guy that I will be replacing. He seems like a fun guy. I will hate to see him go. If I like this job for the next four years, I could see myself staying beyond 20. I just got a little disgruntled the past four years. Then again, if the price is right, I would like nothing more than to retire with $3,978/month, $47,736/year (O-3E) or $4,351/month, $52,212/year (O-4) plus an $8,333/month, $100,000-dollar/year paycheck doing something new.
This week I have logged 18 miles running, about 10 miles walking, plus countless miles jogging to and from dinner (maybe 8?). The terrain immediately to the west of Fort Mac is very hilly. To the west of Gaffey Street it is pretty much straight uphill to CGO housing on the Crest. From the Crest it is all straight downhill to the waterfront. Cabrillo Park Beach sand is very soft, which makes for a good workout. Manhattan Beach near LA AFB has even softer, deeper sand. That workout turned my legs into Jell-O. From now on I will alternate between sidewalk and sand at Manhattan Beach. The best thing about running on the sand is that I feel no pain in the knee! On the hilly terrain I have to be careful going down steep hills.
That is all for now. Stay tuned next week.
Related articles
- Week 2: Cubicle Warrior’s Adventures in Battlefield Los Angeles (walterkilar.wordpress.com)
- Cubicle Warrior’s Tips for Driving in Los Angeles (walterkilar.wordpress.com)
C’est le meilleur pain perdu que j’aie jamais mangè. Je le recommend vivement! 5/5 stars.
By the way, I would like to thank the lady that paid for my meal. She could tell I was homesick and alone out here, so she paid for my lunch.
Creme De La Crepe
1 (310) 546-9900
1140 Highland Avenue, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
http://m.google.com/u/m/x0uF1E
Hours: 8am to 10pm
