Law & Order: Parking Enforcement

Wednesday, March 8th
8:55 AM
1107 N. El Centro Ave
Hollywood, CA

I arrived to work at the usual time, just before 9 AM. No one comes into the office until 9:40, but I leave early to beat the traffic and I get a lot done before the office gets too noisy.

Wednesday is always a nice, low stress day because Monday and Tuesday have street cleaning and we can't park on one side of the street; it's a big horrible anxiety-inducing regatta in the morning and we never recover from it for the rest of the day. Of course, LA people will understand the desire to park legally due to the hefty fine levied against you should you park your car ANYWHERE it might not be allowed.

So I roll down El Centro hoping to find a good spot out front, instead I am greeted by about twenty orange cones marking off approximately 3,000f the parking on the street. I can't believe what I'm seeing. No parking anywhere in the near vicinity. What the fuck?!

Here's the thing that I'm the most mystified about- there aren't any signs. If they were doing road work, the signs not only would be up currently, they would have been up for three days before road work began. If it was a film shoot, we would have needed a public announcement from the location manager a week in advance. But there is no sign of any signs. Fuck it. You can't stop me from parking here, then.

So I carefully wedge myself between two poorly placed cones, get my shit and walk up to the office.

And I go about my normal "opening" routine, but all the while I keep looking out the window to see what the fuck is going on with those fucking cones. Finally, some dude on a cell phone walks out of the alley and greets somebody that is driving up. He walks over to a primo spot and moves the cones.

It turns out it's just some guy who has coned off our street. Sooooooo illegal. I'm sooooo in the mood to bust somebody this morning. I mean, I want to bust this DB* but I don't like the bad karma; therefore, he'll get a chance to move his stupid cones before I call the IEDC on his BoostMobile chirpchirp ass.

The following is a transcript of the conversation that followed:

ME: Excuse me.
DB: Yes?
ME: Are those your cones?
DB: Yes.
ME: Why are they there?
DB: Well, I- uh-
ME: Because I work in the building right here and there isn't any place to park.
DB: Yeah- you see- I- I-
ME: You just let those people into a spot. Are you shooting something? I must have missed your posting.
DB: Oh yeah- I- um- it's not really a shoot. More like a computer thing.
ME: Uh-huh, well I don't see any signs and I've got my employees driving up and down the street looking for parking.
DB: Yeah. You see I was waiting for these two clients to show up.
ME: Where exactly are you doing this "computer thing?"
DB: (points to the next street over) The building down there.
ME: Why can't you park in their lot?
DB: Yeah. Well, you see, I was just waiting for these two clients.
ME: OK, great, I'm going to just move your cones so that my employees can park on their street and I'll bring the cones over to the next street over and you can cone that street off, although I'm not sure that the trannie hookers will like you putting obstructions in their place of business and some of those dudes carry knives.
DB: Yeah. OK. That sounds good.
ME: Thanks.

I think I was more than lenient with this guy. My boss wanted to call the police right away and bust him, not only for illegal parking obstruction, but all his cones said, "Dept. of Water and Power" and something tells me the DWP was not doing a "computer thing" across the street.

Later that day, I looked out and sure enough, none of the cones had moved. Everyone from my office had obeyed the cones and parked two blocks away, which is exactly what I didn't want to happen. Whatever. If I see that guy again, I'm going to kick him in the nuts.



*douche bag

What is the fascination with eating contests?

Someone sent me a video on Maxim Online of a dude eating 10 Slim Jims in 10 minutes. He barely didn't finish, having two inches of the last beef stick left. When the camera whipped around and revealed that the entire office of about 30 people was watching this contest, I realized that not just in college, people are obsessed with eating contests.

It really got me thinking- what is the point? I mean, I know that it's fun and hilarious and masochistic and all that. I understand how much fun it is. But beyond that, what's the allure? Are you looking for a gastrointestinal hero? Unique bragging rights? Is it engaged out of soul-searing boredom?

The last eating contest I was a part of was when Kristal, an employee here, had started with us no more than five days before, when she was challenged to eat the remaining pizza from lunch. It equaled one full size large(huge) pizza plus two additional pieces, and a mixture of toppings and crusts. She had one hour to down about 14 huge pieces of pizza. Oh yeah! And like any good competition, if Kristal finishes, she gets a hundred bucks.

Just like all competitions that don't exist in Sci-Fi movies, the competitor KNOWS what he or she is getting into- in this case, Kristal knows she's going to throw up today. To her credit, she powered through 12 pieces, an entire large pizza, before going down to tossing-cookies-town. And she got fifty bucks.

When I lived in the dorms at school I remember saltine contests, cake eating contets, numerous accounts of the infamous milk challenge, and many more.

Is this an international occurrence, or is this only an American thing? Do european kids come home from studying abroad and tell their friends how they watched some kids drink a gallon of milk in under an hour? There HAS to be an explanation for this retarded phenomenon and I'm determined to get to the bottom of it.

The grossest thing that I have ever witnessed someone eat was on Fear Factor. No surprise there right? I mean, they have people eating ANIMAL DICKS, so of course that's going to be the grossest thing that I ever see eaten. Bugs, brains, smegma from a hippopotamus- all disgusting but not the most horrific thing I've ever seen: That title belongs to the episode where two girls drank OSTRICH EGGS. I've never dry heaved to such an extent, it was horrible.

Do we want these people to succeed, or is the pleasure distilled from the inherent disaster that lurks under the idea of every one of these contests? What do you think?

Open Letter to American Express: Blue

Dear American Express: Blue, I just received your monthly correspondance, as usual, and I wanted to write back to thank you for supporting 100f my drinking habit this year. Every pint of beer, every dry martini, and every glass of wine has been enjoyed on your line of credit. You must understand that this year, in ONLY the two months of this year, I have ingested more alcoholic beverages than any other entire year prior. I know that this trend will not continue throughout the entirety of 2006, which is why I feel you should be thanked at this important occasion. Not only does your letter to me (it's cute how you refer to it as a "Statement"), represent my significant monetary expenditure on alcoholic beverages, but it serves as a wonderful trip down memory lane to some of those memories that may have been lost in the raging rapids of vermouth and hefeweizen. I glance at the laserjet font on your pale blue paper and see so many friendly faces, I can't help but smile as I reach for my checkbook. I can also assure you that you will soon be hearing from many of my friends as well, because you, AmEx Blue, are responsible for many drinks for many friends: Bryan and Katie, Adam and Amanda, my girlfriend's champagne splits, Jeremy's birthday shots, Matt's Guinesses, and I'm sure many more that I've forgotten about. Besides, you've also got Wade and Lica at the Prospector whose generosity was not forgotten by the reciept for your bar tab. Your economical and financial prowess has been a great help to me and my friends, American Express: Blue. This next drink is on you as I drink TO you. I wish you well and I'm sure I will see you soon, whether it's at the Prospector, the Edendale Grill, La Poubelle, Cinespace, or a new piece of barwood as yet undiscovered by your clear, embossed plastic majesty. With Regards, Jeffrey A. Crocker PS- Please find enclosed my check for $468.03 as requested by your "Delinquent Accounts" representative. Here's to you guys! Oh yeah! Don't worry about that President's Day weekend when I blacked out and threw up blood- I'll put the medical bill on my Discover card.

South American Herbal Insanity Tea

There is a person at my office who may or may not be "my boss," that does a lot of online shopping. The result is a deluge of odd packages that arrive at the office every day. Some days its' Porsche tires; some days we get Burmese wooden Buddhas wrapped in Thai silk. Some of the other recent purchases have been: racing seats, stick shift grip knobs, four giant boxes of leather bound literature classics, computer accessories, motorcycle chains, a translucent Rolling Stones mirror, and the list goes on. Usually about one item every day. Today, it was Peruvian tea. Or as the package says, Inka Tea. I'll save you the trouble of researching it- it's tea made from the Coca plant and as expected, it is illegal in the United States. This person in the office, who may or may not own the office, opens this box from Peru and walks into the kitchen with a GIANT plastic bag full of tea bags, their little strings all twisted around each other. This person in the office, who may or may not sign my checks, asks us if we want some "herbal" tea. I'm kind of thirsty and eager to take a break so I say, "sure!" The water boils and the tea steeps. It's pretty smooth and tasteless, which would be the worst thing that I could say about it. This is a good example of one of those things that I will make a crack about and someone will say, "you don't drink it for the TASTE!" like I'm some sort of asshole insulting their ugly kid sister. Why can't I drink it for the taste? You don't eat food for the societal impact it has on Ethiopia. You don't breathe air to prove all those fish wrong. If I'm going to drink tea, I'm going to dri... ...oooooohhhhhhh..... THAT'S why you drink this tea.... I'll catch you guys later, there's some R & D that needs doin'....

Newsgroup Recommendations

I need some newsgroup recommendations; preferably for glue-sniffing, indelibale marker huffing, or a guide to using home solvents and cleaning products for alternative uses. Apparently my subscription to alt.news.huffnet expired. And I think they took www.pensnifferillustrated.net down. Also, I don't get the newsletter from PaintThinnerBrainThicker.org anymore. This is all for research on a documentary I am working on. Seriously. Also, did anyone TiVO the last season of "Last Comic Standing?" Also, my research calls for the study of powerful hallucinogens. Also, it's urgent.

Shirt

I'm helping research a documentary about early 20th century Jews and their "business" dealings. Basically I'm transcribing a few paragraphs every page, directly from a book to create a portfolio of research materials to present to potential investors. So I'm near the end of the book, and I'm reading about all these Jewish gangs that would go out regularly and fuck up any Nazi rallies or marches or meetings. One of my favorite passages is from one of the leaders of a New Jersey Jewish assault gang, Puddy Hinkes: "(His) most famous exploit occurred at Schwabben Hall on Springfield Avenue bordering the German neighborhood in Irvington. According to Hinkes, 'The Nazi scum bags were meeting one night on the second floor. Nat Arno and I went upstairs and threw stink bombs into the room where the creeps were. As they came out of the room, running from the horrible odor of the stink bombs and running down the steps to go into the street to escape, our boys were waiting with bats and iron bars. It was like running a gauntlet. Our boys were lined up on both sides and we started hitting, aiming for their heads or any other part of their bodies, with our bats and irons.'" Holy shit. Imagine sitting in your office, and you start to smell something horrible. You run outside to escape the smell only to be beaten by BATS AND IRON BARS. Now imagine that your office was run by Nazis. Actually, go ahead and imagine being a Nazi yourself, because that would help my metaphorical imagery work. Here's my story: In the 1930s when the Nazis and Fascists were gaining power they had their respective enforcers, the Brown Shirts and the Black Shirts. In Minneapolis, an anti-Semite William Pelley created the Silver Shirt Legion. When I was a kid, my mother bought me a black, collared shirt, which I thought was pretty spiffy. I don't actually remember WHERE I ever wore it because when I tried to wear it to Shabbat services, my mother told me I couldn't because of the Black Shirts. Besides the fact that this was FIFTY years after the Black Shirts existed, why in heaven's name of all that is holy would she buy me that stupid shirt if I couldn't wear it? Was I going to wear it to school? Instead of my "Kiss my Ice" No Fear-brand shirt, and corduroy shorts? If I'm correct, I wore that shirt for one day in my entire life and that was the year 2000, to my final high school jazz band performance- where for one, glorious, musical night,- I was the Fascist I had always wanted to be.

The Horror. The Horror.

Please let me know if this has EVER happened to you, because I want to believe that it is more common that not; either way it was the most terrifying experience I've ever had, next to watching Event Horizon. Also, if I had to give this weblog a rating it would be [R], proceed if you are over 17 or accompanied by an adult. I got to work early, same as everyday, and made some coffee. Since I rushed out the door and didn't eat any breakfast I decided to make some scrambled eggs(it's a cool office). Inman rolls in ten minutes later and I say, "I'm making some eggs, want some?" He obliges and so I start cracking the six eggs we have left into a medium sized bowl. I'm trying to be a little health conscious(duh! I have a moustache!) so I decide to go for three yolks, three whites. I always do the whites first, because it's more complicated, and I like to get the hard work out of the way first. Crack! Slowly I transfer the yolk between the shells to get the white into the bowl. One white in. Crack! Two whites in. Crack! Here's the third white...only...it's not...white... ...it's red. All of the inside of the egg is red. It is oozing out of the egg onto my hands, and I hear someone screaming. Oh wait. it's me. My hands are covered in, not yolk? blood? protein? placenta? I know nothing about the anatomy of chickens, but I'm pretty sure that I just aborted one. I drop the [mess] into the sink and wash it into the tearing, grinding noise of the Insinkerator brand garbage disposal. I wash my hands again and again. Inman pokes his head into the room and says, "What happened?" "Red! It was red...i don't...it was...i can't...aaaaaaaaaaa" Inman makes a scrunched up face, and says, "Yeeesh." A very good friend of mine's girlfriend is not a vegetarian, or a vegan, or an octogenarian, or a squallus-eater, or a carnivore, or an omnivore. Actually, she's probably an omnivore. But she doesn't eat eggs. "Why not?" I asked her once. "Because I don't want to eat a fetus." Eggs aren't fetuses. I mean, they aren't supposed to be. They are eggs. In a human, eggs aren't fetuses. They are eggs. A fetus is like a three month old fertilized embryo. You're not killing anything or eating anything because it's nothing. It's just a cellular organism. So is lettuce. Still, my breakfast abortion(great name for a rock band) was pretty terrifying and I was having a really good day so far. Blech. (oh yeah- i figured out how to use the "Listening to" feature. If you can track down Rainbow's(shitty name for a rock band; what were they thinking?) "Since You've been Gone," it's really really really good. Almost as good as Paper Lace's "The Night Chicago Died.")