Our First Day in RB

We saw our new home for the first time today. From my in-law’s house in San Gabriel, we had to take five different freeways to get to Redondo Beach. Wow, even with a GPS I still felt lost!

THE BLACK HAWK
As we drove around today running a couple of errands, Air Boss and I are thinking that the Black Hawk may be a bit too big to maneuver the narrow hilly streets of Redondo Beach. Getting in and out of our shared driveway involves some tricky steering. We have about four inches of clearance on either side of our side mirrors as we try to swing a tight 90 degree turn to get from our garage to the main driveway. Air Boss has been thinking about what his replacement car should be (since we had to sell our second car prior to our move out here). He’s considered the Mazda CX7, the Accord Hybrid, the Nissan Murano and has admired the Saturn Sky. Now with today’s tight turns, narrow streets, and freeway acceleration, a Mini Cooper would probably be more appropriate. Just don’t know where to fit ‘Shroom and Lolli . . .

WISE ADVISE FROM THE POSTMAN
As I was packing up the Black Hawk for our final 35 miles to RB, I met the postman who delivers my parents-in-laws mail. Since the Black Hawk trunk was wide open and there were coolers, fishing rods and beach towels littering the back, the postman thought we were going camping. I had informed him that we just drove across the country from Boston to move here. As we chatted a bit, he provided some well-appreciated insight on the LA traffic and mind-set.

“Drive defensively,” he had succinctly summed up. “Everyone is in a rush and everyone is late. People think that you have to drive aggressively to keep up but the best drivers are the ones who know how to drive defensively.”

Wow – I thought I was a pretty aggressive Bostonian driver (although a pretty wussy LA driver) but know I know a little bit better. I had always believed that the best defense was offense but I guess that isn’t the safest tactic around here. Thanks Mr. Postman for your words of experience!

THE FURNITURE AND THE FISH
Well, Air Boss has completed setting up our bed so that we can finally put our sleepy heads down. It has been a busy day and we’ve earned our sleep. The kitchen is a mess (too many dishes, pots & pans and not enough storage room!), the linen closet looks like it exploded, the bathroom door can’t close because our bathtub runner is too thick, and I can’t find the dirty laundry hamper. At least we have toilet paper and running hot water. And a very happy fish no longer in a tiny plastic container.

BTW, Omigee ate his first food pellet today! That marked the end of his eight-day hunger strike. That’s a long time considering he usually eats twice a day. Of the five of us in this house, I think Omigee is the best adjusted of us all.