I nearly forgot yesterday that I had to go to an Excel Advanced training course today. I left the house around 6:45, not knowing how long it would take to get to the LAX Holiday Inn. It took about 45 minutes and I arrived at the hotel a full 90 minutes before the start of the course. I spent that 90 minutes trying to call the office and make sure everything would be taken care of (none of us remembered I was going to be gone).

On my lunch break I walked down Century Blvd hoping to find a good place to eat. Instead I got a choice between pornography (with Live Dancing Girls!!!), Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and McDonalds. After downing the only two items on the menu without beans I decided to walk up La Cienega Boulevard. I stopped at West Arbor Vitae Street and turned left. I turned left again at the first street heading south (Hindry). I walked down towards the hotels as landing flights wiggled my hair.

As I walked on Hindry I started noticing something weird. All the open grassy areas were fenced off. I thought that this must be one of the worst neighborhoods in Los Angeles – even the parks are closed off. Then I started seeing more and more condemned buildings in various stages of demolition. Most buildings were just vacant with graffiti and broken windows, but every now and then I’d see a house with a car outside and signs of life. It slowly became obvious that something big was going on – perhaps airport expansion? I realized that the “parks” with grass actually used to be lots with properties that were long ago demolished. If you look at the map below you’ll see what I mean.

Hindry started to bend to the right (southwest), but I assumed there would eventually be a cross-street that would take me back to Century Boulevard. I got a call from the office and just kept walking. Instead of running into the back of the Holiday Inn I ran into dead ends and fences. I’ve tried to make a walking map of my journey – but google won’t quite cooperate. I actually took Hindry Avenue down one street farther to what must be technically an alleyway behind the hotels. To my consternation there were fences between me and the hotels – and then as I continued northward there was a fence running all the way paralell to La Cienega all the way to Arbor Vitae Street. At this point I only had ten minutes to get back to the class. So, in a bad neighborhood, in a thick polo shirt and jeans, in 95 degree heat I ran all the way back to the hotel. I felt like I was a rat in a big maze since the only way out was to go back to the beginning. I still made it to class on time (after all – when have I ever been late for anything in my entire life?), but the sweat was pouring off me for several minutes. I think the old me would have been embarrassed, but I chuckled to myself that my lunch break was probably far more interesting than anyone else’s in the room.

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