Last night I went with another pizza lover (and generous driver) to a place in Chatsworth called “LA Best Pizza.” The walls had the usual framed photos of the owner with celebs. Although – most of the celebs I couldn’t recognize. The tables had receipts from Hollywood agencies who had ordered the pizza in bulk (like an order for $900 worth of pizza for the CSI crew).

We brought home the pizza and discovered that it wasn’t the best. Not even in my top five. The toppings were okay. It was cooked okay. However, there was no SAUCE. Even costco $9 pizza at least has ample SAUCE!

fade out. Soundtrack begins Lara & Reyes “Cat Cry.” Cut to exterior shot of bird on windowsill looking around and flying away. Sun rises and shines through open window on sleeping man. Man looks at watch, groans and forces himself to get up.

This morning my 9am car repair appointment didn’t show up – so I began calling around again. A few people told me they’d call back later in the afternoon. Then, at 9:40 the original 9am guy called and said he’d had a “rough night” after “going out” and overslept – but he’d be there before 10.

He took a look and tried to jump me. That worked – sort of. It would start maybe two or three times after being jumped and then not start. At first this made it seem like a new battery was needed – but after looking even closer he said that one of the battery contacts was extremely oxidized. So, he got out a little brush and what I think was a drill bit and scraped off all the white flaky dusty stuff (probably should have worn a mask) and reconnected the battery.

After jumping it this time the battery seemed to hold the charge a lot longer. I let the car run for half an hour to “recharge” the battery.

Then I went to run some errands that I couldn’t do yesterday and then went to Runyon Canyon for a hike with a friend from the Hollywood -ish area. After that we went to the Grove to get rootbeer floats at Johnny Rockets. This was part of an ongoing inside joke that became a reality. Dr. Pepper announced it would give everyone a free Dr. Pepper today, and so we were going to get them and make Dr. Pepper Floats. However, due to the overwhelming response on Dr. Pepper’s site, getting the printable coupon was going to be impossible. After leaving the canyon we were close to the Farmer’s Market – which had a Johnny Rockets – which we knew would have floats.

There was no parking at the Farmer’s Market (Mom, FYI this is where we had Cajun food in Hollywood) so we went next door to the Grove. We ended up parking on the 6th floor of the garage. After getting our floats and trying to get back to the car we had to take an alternative route becuase all foot traffic had stopped in the main circle due to a large stage which in three hours would apparently host a music show and something by Jon Lovitz. When we left our ticket said we’d been there for an hour and 4 minutes. The parking is supposed to be free for the first hour. We tried to explain to the attendant that we’d been waiting in the exit line for ten minutes… and she had none of it – and demanded our money.

I think I remember now why I only manage to visit the Grove about once a year.

I was pleased to read this when I got home…