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Thanks Harry W

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BlogWorld:  It was interesting… smaller than I expected, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  There were things I expected to see that weren’t here, and things that I didn’t expect to see [...]]]> My time is up for this trip to the City of Angels, Los Angeles.  Here are some thoughts on my brief time here.

BlogWorld:  It was interesting… smaller than I expected, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  There were things I expected to see that weren’t here, and things that I didn’t expect to see that were.

I only had the one day Expo Pass which allowed me to go to the Expo and a couple of Keynote sessions.  I went to one keynote session that featured the CEO of Technorati.  She gave a report on the current status of the blogosphere and there was a shot Q&A session afterwards.  There were a lot of stats that I normally don’t think about but I found them quite interesting. I think the next time I go I won’t be so cheap and will go for the whole package because I think I’d enjoy the breakout sessions by various speakers.

I’ve been blogging for almost ten years and spent very little time on the business part of blogging for most of that time.  I predominantly focused on content and very little on the business end. After people told me I could make a little money I put ads on the site a couple years ago and that helps with expenses.  I want to look into the business part of blogging a little more seriously in the future.  That means doing more with social media and stuff like that.

Traffic:  Traffic on the highways is just hideous.  I finally figured out that I could take the streets and get everywhere a lot faster, especially during rush hour which seems to be from about 4:00 am to 3:59 am.  Everywhere I went was less than 30 minutes from my hotel in Marina Del Rey.

I also learned that in Los Angeles yellow traffic signals mean nothing at all.  They just add a little color to the scenery.  Red traffic lights mean that 3 more cars can go through after it changes.  I also learned that pedestrian crosswalks are sacred and people take them very seriously as one gentleangryman pointed out.

Dining:  I hardly ate while I was in L.A.  I had a small continental breakfast at my hotel each morning (cereal, cinamon roll, fruit and some juice).  I think the only other food I had was a sandwich at iHop near my hotel one night, a couple tacos at Jack in the Box, chicken dinner from Pollo Loco and a burger at In and Out.  Friday after returning from BlogWorld I discovered a little BBQ joint in Venice (not far from my hotel) called Baby Blues BBQ. 

I love places like this.  It’s not fancy at all.  All the tables and chairs ate mismatched and there is various old memorabilia on the walls.  By definition you’d think memorabilia would be old, but in this case I feel the need to ad old to the description.  Some might prefer to call it junk rather than memorabilia, but I found it interesting.

The food was excellent.  I had a BBQ chicken breast sandwich that had coleslaw piled on top of it.  It had sauce on it but you could add more from the four bottles on each table.  I sampled all four varieties; one marked BBQ, sweet, hot and one labeled XXX.  The sweet was excellent to my tastes.  The others were hotter and even more hotter.  The XXX was properly labeled. WOW!  The place reminded me of Bubba’s in Dallas Texas that we visited last year.  I would definitely go back to Baby Blues BBQ.

Now… back home to St. Louis.

 The flight was uneventful, which is always good.  It was a full flight, so it’s a little uncomfortable for four hours.

Someday I’ll see the Grand Canyon from a little closer to the ground.

I have a ticket to watch [...]]]> We flew over the Grand Canyon on the way to Los Angeles. 

 The flight was uneventful, which is always good.  It was a full flight, so it’s a little uncomfortable for four hours.

Someday I’ll see the Grand Canyon from a little closer to the ground.

I have a ticket to watch the Tonight Show taping Wednesday night, so I’ll probably go over that way mid day to avoid the 405 rush hour traffic.  I tried to head over that way this afternoon, but spent about 45 minutes just trying to get onto the highway.  I changed my mind and headed back to my hotel in Marina Del Rey.  I stopped at El Pollo Loco for my only meal today.  Well, it’s the only one if you don’t count a bag of licorice.

I think we flew over Tuscon, so I waved to Deborah.  I’m pretty sure she probably saw me.

Language NSFW

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Here are some of their recent inflight announcements:

“To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don’t know how to operate one, you [...]]]> Kulula Airlines,  a South African airline that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Here are some of their recent inflight announcements:

“To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don’t know how to operate one, you probably shouldn’t be out in public unsupervised.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve reached cruising altitude and will be turning down the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to enhance the appearance of your flight attendants.”

“Please be sure to take all of your belongings. If you’re going to leave anything, please make sure it’s something we’d like to have.”

“Thank you for flying Kulula. We hope you enjoyed giving us the business as much as we enjoyed taking you for a ride.”

“Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted.”

“In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child traveling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are traveling with more than one small child, pick your favorite.”

“Weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but we’ll try to have them fixed before we arrive. Thank you”

“Your seats cushions can be used for flotation; and in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments.”

“As you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses.”

“Kulula Airlines is pleased to announce that we have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately, none of them are on this flight!”

“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to The Mother City . Please remain in your seats with your seat belts fastened while the Captain taxis what’s left of our airplane to the gate!”

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Captain Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we will open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal.”

“We’d like to thank you folks for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you’ll think of Kulula Airways.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to smoke, the smoking section on this airplane is outside on the wing. If you can light ‘em, you can smoke ‘em.”

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Using the 3D feature you can get an aerial view of the route, as if you were in a helicopter flying [...]]]> Planning trips with Google Maps is a pleasure.  Google Maps has just released  new feature that allows you to bring your upcoming trip to life, by allowing you to preview your route in 3D.

Using the 3D feature you can get an aerial view of the route, as if you were in a helicopter flying above the road. To preview your own route is as simple as clicking on a button. Start by entering your starting point, destination, and mode of transport.

Then, just click on the ’3D’ play button. The map will switch to Earth view and automatically start flying you along your recommended route.

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 Note:  You need to have the Google Earth plugin for this to work