My week began last Wednesday, when my upstairs neighbor laundry machine failed and flooded their place, subsequently leaking into my laundry unit and unfortunately, my electrical panel. Came back from class and work at 9pm to a pitch black apartment, fans on full blast, windows open, electrical panel and ceiling exposed, and I tried to thug it out. I really did! But I had, what some may call, a diva moment and ended up at a hotel.
A hot shower later, and feeling much better, I head to bed, looking forward to the hotel breakfast.
The next day at work I tell my coworkers about what ever is happening, and I say: "sometimes you have to laugh to not cry" and once I said that and laughed my laugh honestly sounded like me crying. At this point I didn't know what was going with my apartment and if I would have a place to go back to with power and wifi. I also forgot to mention they kindly plugged my fridge into an outlet in the hallway but had moved my fridge into a corner where I couldn't open my door. At 3pm I got an email telling me the walls were still extremely wet and they would not be turning the power on.
That night I booked a hotel closer to my work the next day, went to Westfields culver city/fox hills mall for Mongolian BBQ to treat myself. I drove up to Baldwins Hills scenic overlook but the sun had set and with my luck, I probably would've gotten locked in, so I drove back down to a nearby park- which I hadn't realised I had been to before. But it was a nice park! I ate my meal (which tasted the same as when I was a kid) and enjoyed the ambience of someone yelling at an unleashed dog. Pleasant drive to my bed for the night.
The next day I stayed at my friend's sister's place which was extremely, extremely pleasant. I had the windows open (and refused to close them despite it being cold, I have a habit of not changing things that can be easily changed once I lay down) but I could hear the birds singing outside (and do they ever stop?). I woke up when the sun rose (there were no curtains) and I laid there thinking about my dream from the night before. I went out to their garden (without the loquats I wanted to eat) and stared at three lizards sunbathing in the hot sun and continued to listen to the birds sing. I ate a sugar apple from their neighbors (so sweet, too sweet), and cut it with the loquats picked the day before (just right). We were supposed to pick Audrey up but there was a oscar peterson record on and I was petting Blue.
On the drive over, we saw the boobs! And I also spotted two Saturn VUEs - there was a young boy with a mullet and stache driving one of them. We stopped by a vista point and gathered around were seagulls and squirrels that felt like prairie dogs and racoons. I fed one a grape and when he reached up to grab it from my hands, I felt his little paws touch mine.
Does he? I wonder.
In the joy of everything, I forgot to take an image of my bed for the night. The Airbnb photo will have to suffice. We had a visitor the next morning during our barbeque, which I'm realising you cannot spot at all, because of how small the image is. We stopped by many antique stores and all left empty handed, but said hello to this sweet pair and a cat named mouse. Audrey looking pensive over Lake Cuyamaca, we asked the fisherman behind her after if he had caught anything, which he had, many little catfish, which he let us hold, and warned us of the barbs, I still poked myself.
I came home tired but happy, because on the way back I put a bike chain back on and circled around the neighborhood, I rode my own bike to get groceries, I can't make up my mind about many things, but I can tell when I am happy. I fell asleep in the closet because the fans were still running and I woke up and forgot I couldn't microwave my breakfast burrito because when they turned my power on, the oven unit ceased function. I went to work and moaned and groaned about it all but I was still happy. I had to take my chemistry test that I didn't study for at all, and did the homework late, and left the test early, because I didn't want to prolong my suffering. I had forgotten my mug, but my lab partner grabbed it for me, and once again, I am happy. I had felt that god had abandoned me during the night and I was being punished for believing he had really left, but I really am happy.