Home Again from SoCal

It's been a whirlwind week. Up at 4am Monday morning, in the car at 6, and finally I slogged through Oakland's horrible TSA snaking lines of Southwest Airlines security. And you know what? I made it just in time for a 90 minute wait until my flight took off. I was ready for a nap.

Thankfully, John Wayne Airport is much smaller and thus the layout is easier than Oakland. I genuflected at The Duke on my way over to get my rental car.
Finally I was on my way down the yellow-brick road of Highway 405 to the not-so-beautiful industrial area of Forest Lake (formerly known as "El Toro") only a few miles away. (Later, when I asked where the Forest or the Lake was, I was told that a long time ago a "forest" of eucalyptus trees had been planted by a railroad company. I never did see any evidence of this, but was told, that really, really they are there. As for the "Lake," a shrug of the shoulders was my answer.)

By late afternoon at PSSC Labs, where nerd heaven exceeds all boundaries, I was actually starting to nod off at intervals. I know. Sacriligious. What can I say? Well, I'm not usually up before the crack of dawn, you know. So I excused myself and thought, "I'll just wander back to the hotel and take a quick nap, then maybe I'll tool over to Irvine and check it out... Y-A-W-W-W-W-N."

So I checked into the the new Comfort Inn and while watching a bit of TV, I nodded off ... until - you guessed it - the next morning. Yup. That's right. I slept for about 10 hours, and I probably could've slept a few more.

I hate short trips like this. Now I never really had much of a chance to check out the "sights," if indeed there are any. Afterall, all I saw were miles and miles of ugly flat buildings - industrial, yet landscaped, sterile buildings. I spent the rest of that day in the lab until I needed to get back to the airport.

My most memorable "eating" experience was Arnie's Mahattan Deli just down the road from the airport (Arnie's Manhattan Deli 1660 Dove St, Santa Ana). They had the best, freshest, warm rye bread for a cornedbeef on rye that you could ever have. It was to die for! The personal highlight of my journey. :-)