Distractions, reflections

Distractions, reflections

David Ing, at large … Sometimes, my mind wanders

2006/12/14 Nodding donkeys in Ladera Heights, misbooked flight

December 14, 2006
I discovered that the fastest way from the south beaches and LAX airport up to Hollywood during rush hour — avoiding the freeways — is along La Cienega Boulevard. This speeds through Ladera Heights, where I’m always intrigued by the sight of “nodding donkeys“, pumping oil in the heart of the Los Angeles area.

20061214_LaderaHeights_nodding_donkey.jpg

My brother Ben reminded me that the nodding donkeys were part of the location filming for L.A. Confidential. I stopped to take this snapshot by pulling into the Kenneth Hahn Recreation Area. Turning around, there’s a pond, and further on, playing fields.

20061214_KennethHahnRecArea_pond.jpg

After a business meeting and lunch with Ben in Burbank, I headed to the airport. I thought that I had this trip fairly well planned out, but when I arrived at the airport, I discovered my fatigue from the following week. The check-in agent couldn’t find my reservation. When I pulled out the printed itinerary, it showed that I had booked the flight for Tuesday, not Thursday! I had booked the flight online myself, and had done it wrong. The 3 p.m. flight was already overbooked by 14 seats, so the agent put me on the 10 p.m. flight. It’s a red eye (overnight) flight, but he was kind enough to not charge me for the change to the reservation.

20061214_LAX_MapleLeafLounge_view.jpg

Thus, it was 7 hours in the Maple Leaf Lounge at LAX. I did get 7 hours of laptop time, so I caught up on reviewing papers from students in Finland.

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