As Albert Hammond wrote in 1972:
Seems it never rains in southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California, but girl, don't they warn ya?
It pours, man, it pours
Here’s a funny story: We unpacked our alarm clock last night and I went to set it up in the bedroom. I was doing a lot of unpacking and organizing, so I didn't look too closely, but I noticed right away that the batteries were low, so I replaced them with fresh batteries. I set it for 8:00am today, because we were supposed to meet John, a moving guy, at The Salvation Army store at 10:00am to help us bring the entertainment center to the apartment.
The alarm went off, and I just pressed “snooze.” It went off again 10 minutes later and, again, I snoozed. The third time, I was kind of waking up and I looked around. It was totally dark. I was trying to figure out why it would be so dark at 8:20am, and then I realized that I had never changed the time on the clock. So, when it went off at 8:00am (NY time) it was really 5:00am (California time). I felt SO stupid! I fixed the time and then set it for 8:00am again. When the alarm went off at 8:00am I snoozed it a couple of times again and then my cell phone rang. It was John, the mover, telling me he was canceling, because it was raining out.
I looked out the window and couldn’t believe my eyes. It was POURING! This is the first time it’s rained in SUCH a long time. I don’t think we’ve really seen rain in months! So, I told Eric and then we went back to sleep. I was just happy I hadn’t already gone in the shower before John called!
We woke up at 11:00am. I know, I can’t believe it myself. We have gotten SO bad, sleeping later and later. When we go back to work, we’re in for a rude awakening!
When we got up, we took showers and left the apartment pretty quickly. We wanted to go to HOME DEPOT to get some wood for the top of my desk, the top of our coffee table and for some shelves.
We decided to go to HOMETOWN BUFFET for lunch (sorry, Jimmy!). We were there the first time we visited San Diego and just happened upon it while driving around town. I mentioned what a coincidence it is that it ended up being two blocks away from where we now live! Anyway, I figured if we were going to have an “all you can eat” meal, it would be best if it was lunch, because we could “work it off” running errands all afternoon.
The place was packed, just like last time. We tried not to each too much, but wanted to try all the different dishes they have. We left satisfied, but not stuffed.
Our first stop was HOME DEPOT, where we got the boards cut. We also bought brackets and screws to make shelves. Then, we went to TARGET, because our landlord had given us a $20 TARGET gift certificate and I wanted to see if I could get a tall trash can for the kitchen. I was able to find a nice one, and also got another shelf system for the closet floor, to put more shoes on. I have an obscene amount of shoes (like 50 pairs) and about the same amount of purses, so they’re EVERYWHERE.
Our last stop was STAPLES, where I was able to find a desk chair for only $20! I was so happy, because it’s so much more comfortable to use a real desk chair than a regular chair.
It was an exhausting afternoon. It had been raining on and off all day long, and it's no fun running around in the rain, but when we got back it wasn’t raining at all and we unloaded everything from the car. Eric started working on the boards, putting together my desk and the coffee table, and I opened the small shelf unit for the closet, to put it together. Of course, one shelf was missing! And it wasn’t like the box was opened. It was completely factory-sealed. It just didn’t have one of the shelves in there! I was hoppin’ mad. I left right away and drove back (about 6 miles) to TARGET and exchanged it for another one. The whole exchange took less than 5 minutes, but the traffic to and from was bad, mostly because of the weather, but also because it was now 5:00pm.
When I got back, Eric had the desk and coffee table done. The coffee table was really pretty much finished already, but Eric thought that putting a board on top would stabilize it, and it does look better. After putting a board on the desk made of six boxes, we upholstered it with fabric, too. I then put my desk accessories, lap top and printer on it. I’m ready to work!
Lastly, Eric put together my desk chair and the shelf unit and everything worked out great. It started pouring again. Really pouring. It’s so weird, because the rain was such big news all afternoon. They said there were more than 200 accidents on the roads, because of the rain. I know things slow down in NY too, because of the rain, but people so rarely see rain that they don’t know how to drive in it, and it’s really dangerous!
Not only is there big news because of all the car accidents, but the rain is also causing a lot of mud slides and flooding. It’s horrible, because instead of a little rain 10 days in a row, it’s just one day of complete downpours for hours at a time, so the rain just runs off everything and floods all the streets. It’s supposed to rain again tomorrow, too, so who knows what else will happen.
Eric was saying what a mess this place is. First the fires, now the flooding and mud slides. It does seem like a lot of bad things are happening since we got here, right? Think we’re bad luck for California?
I made us dinner -- something I hadn't made in a long time -- a dish I used to make for Eric a lot back in NY. I call it Chicken Gorgonzola, except I didn't have all the ingredients I usually need, so I kind of winged it. Eric said it still tasted great. I usually make it with gorgonzola cheese, bread crumbs, garlic and parmesan cheese, but I didn't have bread crumbs (I forgot to buy them). Since I don't eat chicken, I made another big salad for myself.
Our friends, Geri and Larry, returned home safely from their Amazonian Adventure. Geri called to let us know and told us a few stories about the many places they explored and the people they met. What a different world it was than what we are used to. I can’t wait to see pictures, because Geri’s a fabulous photographer!
Tomorrow we are hoping the rain stops enough so that we can finally get the entertainment center delivered. We are really in an unpacking mode right now, trying to get the place to look good and feel comfortable. I’m going to PIER 1 IMPORTS tomorrow to try to use the gift certificate that our friends, Brian and Elaine, gave us. I want to buy a chair for the living room and they have such beautiful furniture! More shopping – I can’t wait!