In the midst of busy season and me already on the verge of crying (it normally doesn’t happened until mid-February) the powers to be (aka the Partners of my firm) decided I had time in my schedule to go down to Los Angeles to help out another team prior to their press release. In the partner’s defense I had stupidly told my fellow managers that I had some capacity in my schedule and could help out if they needed it…this was of course before I got assigned three new areas (a manager had just quit) and I meant a few hours, not two whole weeks…lesson learned.
So last Monday, I flew down to “sunny” Los Angeles for the 10 day assignment. Within the first few days, I knew I was in trouble…while the team was great, I was in overhead when it came to the technical issues, the team was working well into the early hours of the morning and I still had stuff to deal with back in SF. But work aside, I hate to admit it…I actually kind of enjoyed myself in the city of angels.
To begin with, I am from the Bay Area, Northern California, and as a Nor Cal girl, I was properly raised to despise all things south of Santa Barbara, specifically Los Angeles - I may or may not have passed this trait on to Martin, who now involuntarily yells out F-ing Dodgers at the thought of LA.
But after only a couple of days, I began to understand the appeal of the city - the downtown/financial district was clean, with plenty of open space; the constant airing of infomercials and commercials for gyms, weight loss programs, diet pills, laser treatment and plastic surgery motivated me hit the gym (3 times) and finally use my Crest White Strips; after feeling healthier from working out, I didn’t hesitate to indulge in guilty pleasures such as McDonald’s egg McMuffins, ice cream sundaes, and buffalo wings all conveniently available under the client’s office building; after hanging out with the homeless and general crazies in LA City Library Park on Sunday I gained the confidence needed to go see a movie by myself (and without the judging eye of a companion, I continued the binge and ordered popcorn, a hot dog and soda foregoing the junior mints since they didn’t have the right sized box); and the film crew outside my hotel reminded me that I still have a shot at fame, or at least my 15 minutes of it. Even the weather couldn’t stop me from enjoying myself… the usually sunny Los Angeles was allegedly hit with torrential down pour, flood warnings with possible evacuations, freeway closures due to flooding and tornados – yes, tornados. I say allegedly since I didn’t actually see the storm - I had spent the entire duration of the 6 day storm in a windowless conference room.
After 10 days, I left the city, not in love (I am still not a huge fan of the urban sprawl, constant traffic and need to drive everywhere, let alone the pressure to look good all of the time or LA scene,) but no longer in hate either….that is until San Francisco has to play the Dodgers again in baseball next season.
So last Monday, I flew down to “sunny” Los Angeles for the 10 day assignment. Within the first few days, I knew I was in trouble…while the team was great, I was in overhead when it came to the technical issues, the team was working well into the early hours of the morning and I still had stuff to deal with back in SF. But work aside, I hate to admit it…I actually kind of enjoyed myself in the city of angels.
To begin with, I am from the Bay Area, Northern California, and as a Nor Cal girl, I was properly raised to despise all things south of Santa Barbara, specifically Los Angeles - I may or may not have passed this trait on to Martin, who now involuntarily yells out F-ing Dodgers at the thought of LA.
But after only a couple of days, I began to understand the appeal of the city - the downtown/financial district was clean, with plenty of open space; the constant airing of infomercials and commercials for gyms, weight loss programs, diet pills, laser treatment and plastic surgery motivated me hit the gym (3 times) and finally use my Crest White Strips; after feeling healthier from working out, I didn’t hesitate to indulge in guilty pleasures such as McDonald’s egg McMuffins, ice cream sundaes, and buffalo wings all conveniently available under the client’s office building; after hanging out with the homeless and general crazies in LA City Library Park on Sunday I gained the confidence needed to go see a movie by myself (and without the judging eye of a companion, I continued the binge and ordered popcorn, a hot dog and soda foregoing the junior mints since they didn’t have the right sized box); and the film crew outside my hotel reminded me that I still have a shot at fame, or at least my 15 minutes of it. Even the weather couldn’t stop me from enjoying myself… the usually sunny Los Angeles was allegedly hit with torrential down pour, flood warnings with possible evacuations, freeway closures due to flooding and tornados – yes, tornados. I say allegedly since I didn’t actually see the storm - I had spent the entire duration of the 6 day storm in a windowless conference room.
After 10 days, I left the city, not in love (I am still not a huge fan of the urban sprawl, constant traffic and need to drive everywhere, let alone the pressure to look good all of the time or LA scene,) but no longer in hate either….that is until San Francisco has to play the Dodgers again in baseball next season.
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