September 28, 1990
Dear Everyone:
I love travelling in a foreign country.
Last Tuesday, I went to
El Segundo.
The “Cognitive Resources” people at the refinery here had asked
for some help with their filing system.
And yes, they really do need some help.
For one thing, about half their files are stored in a closet off
the loading dock at the back of the building, because they don’t have
enough room inside. For
another, the files are sorted by
salary classification rather than by employee name.
So if you need a file on John Doe, you have to know how he gets
paid before you can pull his file.
Chances are, what John wants to know is how he gets
paid.
So I started making arrangements to fly to El
Segundo. At first, I figured
I’d pack an overnight bag, go to the airport after work one day, fly to
Los Angeles, spend the night in a hotel, meet with “Molly” (the “CR”
person), and fly home at the end of the second day.
But then, “Alma” reminded me that US Air flies out of Buchanan
Airfield in “Pleasant Hill”.
I was able to book a flight out of “Pleasant Hill” Tuesday morning and
back Tuesday night. Anything
that precludes packing and lugging stuff back and forth for only one day
is good with me.
In fact, I left home at pretty much the same time
Tuesday morning as I usually do to go to work.
It’s just that, on Tuesday, I was working in El Segundo.
I got to the US Air terminal (i.e., trailer) in plenty of time.
Our plane left the ground right on time and I had a window seat
so I could watch the scenery as we took off.
Around here, we have something called “The
Greenbelt Initiative”.
Certain people feel that the area has been “developed” enough and want
to keep the remaining “undeveloped areas” (i.e., farm land) as they are.
So they’re busily trying to get the issue on the November ballot
to vote on. You’ll notice
that these people already have homes in the “developed” areas.
This is known as “I’ve got Mine; the Rest of You get Lost”.
Unfortunately, the farmers who still own what farm land there is
can’t afford to run them as farms anymore.
Anyway, I noticed from the plane window that the
only areas around here that actually are
green are the developed
areas. The rest of the
county is brown.
But I guess “Brownbelt Initiative” would have the wrong
connotation. I also noticed
a line that had green on one side and brown on the other.
Clearly, this was the demarcation point between a “developed”
area and an “undeveloped” are.
Then I spotted the little garage doors built into the sides of
the hills and realized that the brown part was the infamous “Pleasant
Hill” Naval Weapons Station.
Probably wouldn’t want to park a house there anyway.
It didn’t take me very long to realize that the
woman sitting next to me had a terrible cold.
My first thought was:
“God, don’t give it to me!”
My second, more charitable thought was:
“The poor thing.”
Going up and down in a plane with a stuffed up nose and ears would be
truly miserable. Still, for
the rest of the day, I kept imagining cold symptoms and telling myself
that it was all in my imagination.
Once we landed at LAX, I headed straight for the
National Car Rental counter (no baggage!) where I collected an envelope
with my car’s id and stall number.
I also collected directions to El Segundo which I forgot as soon
as I got outside. I’m as
good at remembering directions as I am at remembering names.
The only reason I can remember my own is because people keep
reminding me of it.
A bus took me from LAX (which I am convinced is
only slightly smaller than Rhode Island) to the rental car lot where I
collected my Geo Spectrum and, following vaguely remembered directions,
turned right on 96th Street and right (or was it left?) on
Sepulveda Blvd. I’m familiar
with Sepulveda Blvd from my days tin “Exploitation” and “Profiteering”.
Half the wells in Southern California are described as being X
feet east or west of the center line of Sepulveda Blvd.
I had directions from “Molly” – these I had written
down. I knew that I was
supposed to be going south on Sepulveda.
Trouble was, the morning sun was firmly on my right.
Now, I never got to be a Girl Scout, but I did read the boys’
Scout Manual when I was a kid.
(I am, after all, my father’s daughter.
If you leave a book lying about, chances are I’ll pick it up and
start reading it. If you
don't want me to read your books, don't leave them lying around.)
I was pretty sure that I was going north instead of south.
(Good thing it was a sunny day, or I might still be
on Sepulveda.)
I got turned around and headed back towards LAX.
I knew I was heading toward LAX because, up ahead of me, I could
see a Pan Am jumbo jetliner crossing Sepulveda.
(Crossing Sepulveda?)
As I got closer, I realized that Sepulveda dips down and goes
under the runway at this
point.
A few more blocks (LA has the world’s largest
blocks) and I was in El Segundo and soon found the refinery.
I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon going over
“Cognitive Resources’” files, then drove back to the rental car lot,
which I miraculously found on the first try.
But, it seems, I wasn’t supposed to park it back in its stall.
Nobody told me this.
Why wouldn’t I park it – I un-parked it, didn’t I?
When the woman at the counter asked me where the keys were, I
said, “In the car” and she accepted it, so no harm done.
Spent 3 hours killing time in the airport, waiting
for my flight. Mostly, I
outlined my recommendation for “Cognitive Resources”.
A few minutes before we were supposed to get on the plane, who
walks up but the lady with the cold.
Fortunately, this time she sat somewhere else.
When we landed at Buchanan, I walked around the
terminal (trailer), got in my car and drove home.
No baggage, no buses, no waiting on the green curb, just go home.
Now that’s the way to travel.
Love, as always,
Pete
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