Overheard at 6th and Lindley Place...

Overheard at 6th and Lindley Place...

"Back, back, Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" *CLUNK*

At least he parked the truck before it got all wet.

As Kidlo said, "¡Agua!"

LAFD, always their efficient selves. By the time I had returned from the Market, they had the hydrant bolted back into place, with nothing other than a brand new cap to show that anything had happened to it.

A pleasant noontime diversion for all...

Or almost all. "Dude, why you don't listen to me when I say 'Whoa?'"

-- MB

Rain, rain, go away...

Rain, rain, go away, come again as snow on the Eastern Sierras, please.

Wednesday rain update

Storm rain total, noon-ish update: 2-13/16 inches (with more expected, of course.)

What happens when your mail carrier goes on vacation

Just some of the mis-delivered mail

hand-sorted by my neighbors last weekend.

MB here...

Last Monday I was pleased and surprised to find the daily "Food 4 Less" circular missing from my mailbox. Unfortunately, I soon discovered that pretty much all my mail was missing from my mailbox. A few days later a client called to ask for my new address, as the check they had sent me had been returned bearing a yellow "NIXIE" sticker reading "Return to sender - attempted - not known - unable to forward". Yes, somehow, my little mailbox which had happily accepted mail for me for close to two years suddenly is refusing to accept checks. To protect me from the corrupting influence of teh filthy lucre, no doubt.

Calling the USPS 800 number yielded nothing but a promise that someone "who can handle this" would return my call within two business days.

So I lurked around the mailroom at the appointed time to harangue the mail carrier. "I don't know, I'm just a sub. You have to talk to your regular carrier. She's on vacation." I told her about the "NIXIE" sticker on my envelope. "Oh, you have a sticker? That's because you moved away and gave a forwarding address." No, no, I still live here. See? It's me, standing before you, and I'm still here. Is there someone I should talk to at the Post Office, other than just the 800 number? "No, the supervisor won't know, none of the carriers will know, no one will know anything. Your regular carrier will be back Monday. You will have to ask her." Got that? Your letter carrier goes on vacation, she takes all knowledge and accountability with her.

Now, I would think that magically disappearing and reappearing mailboxes would raise alarms in the computerized systems rather than print yellow stickers, but that is just me. I would think reliability is paramount in a mail system. Hell, I would even go so far as to think that a system as large and experienced as the USPS would have some backup systems to catch and work around the fuckwittery of a substitute mail carrier who can't find a mailbox that's only clearly marked and numbered and placed in order among all the other clearly numbered mailboxes.

Email has stolen a lot of business from the USPS, but the Post Office still plays a critical role in delivering physical things such as checks, legal papers, etc. There has been talk of dropping Saturday delivery as a way to make up for sagging sales, and I'm all for it -- if the savings are applied to increasing the reliability of the system and removing opportunities for one person to fuck up the chain of delivery all by themselves.

I would ask my regular carrier about this Monday, as the sub carrier had suggested, but their is no delivery on MLK day.

Happy new year!

Although us mommy-and-daddy types were in bed soon after the ball fell in Times Square, the younger set in our building were partying 'till oh-five-hundred, god bless 'em.

So from our little family to you and yours, here's wishing for a joy filled 2010!

Spotted on Spring Street

I don't know why. But there it is.

Downtown grows up!

MB here,

Those of you who regularly read our little blog (and we thank you for your attention!) have probably noticed by now that we just haven't been posting that much. Sure, there's the occasional rant about noise or street corner comedians or whatnot, but we aren't writing as much about our life downtown as we used to.

I wondered why, myself. We aren't tired of writing, or bored of the blog, or blogging in general. It is, I think, that this was conceived as a blog about our adventures of moving downtown with a child, and that part of our life is no longer interesting, and I mean interesting in the sense of that old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times!"

When we started this blog, it was an exciting event to hear of a new shop or eatery opening, and trying to minimize our car trips outside the 'hood was something of a puzzle. Now, we have burgers and groceries across the street, ice cream and waffles around the corner, several choices for Breakfast and I either walk to Ralphs and complain about the prices or bite the bullet and drive to the newley remodled Vons on glendale (or better yet, Gold Line to Trader Joes!) The Downtown Parents Group is going great, the play dates and get togethers are crowded and I spot pregnant hipsters scooting in and out of the loft buildings most every weekend. Hell, H'wood is even setting rom-coms down here in dreamy dreamy DTLA (still waiting for the "300 days of summer" mash-up.)

So what does this mean? We are more comfortable here. And as our comfort grows, the prod of discomfort that pushes us to post dulls somewhat and becomes, how can I say it? Less Pokey.

This is not a "sorry I havn't updated my blog" post, or a good-bye of any sort. It's a recognition that Downtown, or more correctly our relationship to Downtown, has turned a corner. I'm posting to recognise that, to mark the moment, as it were.

And now it's time to get on with it. My next post may or may not be directly Downtown related. Perhaps I'll expand the area of interest of this blog beyond just navel-gazing in the City. Oh, who am I kidding? It will be about Awesome Coffee available right around the corner.

--MB