Weekly Update 05/03/26 – 05/08/26 (California Business Trip, Alaska Airlines, Rental Car Problems)
Weekly Update 05/03/26 – 05/08/26 (California Business Trip, Alaska Airlines, Rental Car Problems)
Sorry this is late. I did not have enough energy
to write it on Saturday. Last week was an eventful week. This post is part of
my ongoing Weekly Update series and covers my trip to Southern California for
work, a visit with family, and a few unexpected travel surprises.
It started Saturday morning as I was getting ready
to go to the airport. I thought I would take a minute and empty the kiddie pool
that had been sitting in the backyard for months. Dawn uses it to help
sterilize branches she wants to use in the vivarium she built for her
collection of geckos and other lizards. She fills the pool with water and
Clorox and lets the branches soak for a few days.
I thought I could simply lift one side of the pool
and let the water spill out the other side. When I tried, I found it was too
heavy, so I had a bright idea. I could lift the pool enough to create a wave
that would splash over the edge on the other side. Unfortunately, I did not
take into account that waves return. When it got back to my side of the pool,
it did not splash me, but the force caused me to lose my balance and I fell
headfirst into the pool. I was not hurt and there was not enough Clorox in the
water to hurt me, but I did have to take a shower and change my clothes.
That led to my trip. The company I’m working for
is headquartered in Irvine, California, near Disneyland, which is within
driving distance of Ventura, California, where my sister lives and where my
mother has been living for about a year. My mother is a private person, so I
will not go into details about her situation except to say that she is doing
well considering she is over 85 years old, but not doing well compared to most
people her age. In any case, I wanted to get a chance to visit her while I was
down there.
I rented a car from Thrifty Rent-A-Car. I signed
up for a Camry Hybrid, but when I got to the counter they were out of Camrys
and wanted to put me in an electric vehicle. I had to explain that I could not
use an EV because I was planning to drive almost two hours to Ventura, then
stay there until I had to return in order to get the car back within 24 hours
and avoid paying for an extra day. If I had to return the car fully charged, I
would need to be back in the Irvine area several hours earlier. Finally they
managed to borrow a car from Hertz.
I drove up to Ventura, passing through the
Mulholland Pass area where traffic was stopped due to construction on the 405
freeway, and finally got to Susan’s house. From there we visited my mother and
then went out for dinner.
Sunday morning we took my mother out to breakfast
and I was back on the road to Irvine by noon so I could get the car back, with
the gas tank full, in time to avoid paying for an extra day’s rental.
I then spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
getting to know the team of people I’m working with. Monday I spent in company
orientation classes. Tuesday I had meetings with my team about the development
schedule. I was pleased that at one point we were talking about setting up
development goals and I mentioned that I wanted to “pull a Mr. Scott.” My new
boss immediately said, “Exactly!”
One of the other people there wanted to know what
a “Mr. Scott” was. He explained that in Star Trek, Mr. Scott, the chief
engineer of the ship, always multiplied his estimates by three to maintain his
reputation as a miracle worker. Yes, he knew exactly what I was talking about,
which I took as a good sign.
While I was there I was surprised by one
conversation I had with one of my fellow workers. He had also just started
working for the company and was, I would guess, in his 50s. He was talking
about how terrible ageism is and how he knew many companies had passed him over
because of his age. But when he had seen a picture of me and learned that I had
just been hired, he felt he had nothing to worry about here. I guess I look
old. I can’t really tell.
The headquarters is located near the Irvine
Spectrum Center, so that is where we had lunches and dinners. The hotel I was
staying in was a little less than one mile from the office, so we walked almost
everywhere.
Thursday I flew home. Two things stand out.
First, I’m very upset with Alaska Airlines. I saw
online that the flight was full and, knowing that, I chose to check my bag. It
cost $45, which really shocked me. But I figured they were likely going to
force me to check it at the gate anyway.
When I got to the gate they announced that, yes,
they needed some people to check their roll-aboard bags and that if they ran
out of storage they would force people to check their bags. But if you checked
it at the gate they would allow you to check your bag free of charge.
I also noticed something strange. The flight from
PDX to SNA was on an almost new 737 and I noticed that the bins for carry-on
luggage appeared to be much smaller than they used to be. In fact, what caught
my eye was that from the aisle seat I could not reach the air control that
would normally have been above my head. On the flight home, on an older plane,
the controls were closer to me.
So it appears that the space you can use to put
your carry-on luggage has changed. I checked with ChatGPT and it confirmed that
the layout of the plane has changed, but that the amount of storage space
available has actually gone up. Thinking about it, there is more vertical space
while the horizontal space has gone down, so maybe Astra is right.
Speaking of Astra, you really have to make certain
you double-check the results it gives you. When I was looking to book my car,
Thrifty offered me a package deal where for a single fee I could drive on toll
roads. I did not remember there being toll roads in Southern California, so I
asked Astra if there were any. She told me there were not, so I did not take
the package.
But when I got to the hotel I found the on-ramp
next to it was clearly marked for tolls. I did not drive on any toll roads
while I was there.
Integrity Check: No factual or logical issues
detected.
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