Day 15-Biden says the pandemic is over
Biked Huntington Beach bike path today…
Had our last meal at Red Restaurant in Huntington Beach…
10/3/22. Monday
8:30-9:30-I’m up early because I need to post content for my classes to include sending the course content to that crazy OSD bitch, BUT none of this is working at the Ayres Hotel. Although I saved the course content on a thumb drive for that crazy OSD bitch, I’m unable to load it onto B.s Apple computer. I text L. several times about my dilemma and she legitimately tries to help, but I still can’t extract the content. On the up side, I’m able to publish the standard course content, that I prepared in advance, for the regular students, but I’m still unable to send that OSD bitch her course content separately. I have no choice but to abort the mission and jump in the shower; this is all very stressful.
9:30-10:30-B. returned with breakfast 30 minutes ago so I have a few bites of sausage before my shower. Shower. Lotion. I wear my biking uniform.
10:30-11:30-B. and I wheel the bikes from our hotel room to the SUV, reinstall the bike rack, put the bikes on the rack, and drive to the free parking lot.
11:30-4:00-At the HB free parking lot, we pull the bikes off the bike rack, B. removes the actual bike rack yet again (is somebody really going to steal it, as B. claims?), and we’re finally able to get a decent bike ride in [26 miles - a portion of this is on the same bike path we were on yesterday - it’s still packed].
-B. has a tendency to bike further ahead. This may be due to the fact that he has a better bike or maybe my pace is too slow…it’s unclear. BUT, while on the beach bike path this crazy, young homeless guy, who kind of looks like a college student but you can tell he’s actually a bum because he set up camp, in a tent, near a water fountain roundabout, jumps in front of my bike and yells in a weird Russian accent, “You know you love me!” I swerve around him and almost crash.
This loser is blocking my path and it’s difficult to bike past him, but I manage to squeeze through the small space between him and the fountain. This incident is very disturbing to me. B. rides on, oblivious, well ahead of me. Eventually, I catch up to B. and tell him what just happened. He asks a legitimate question: “Why didn’t you yell?” Huh. It never donned on me to start screaming…I think, as women, NOT having a voice is encouraged…This is a real problem in our society.
We reach the end of the bike path and then begin the long trek back the way we came. B. and I are moving single file when a white male passes us and says to B., “On your left.” So far so good but B. has a tendency to weave from left to right, on the bike path, as he’s biking.
Today is no exception. A mother and teenage daughter come up on B’s left just as he is weaving to the left and right into her path, generally not paying attention - the teenager goes down. At the same time, I inadvertently scream, “OMG!”. The teenager wipes out in soft sand and the mother is supercool about it, calling her daughter a “stud” for lying the bike down in soft sand. Turns out they are the wife and child of the guy who originally told B. “On your left!” The husband is livid. He says to B., “I told you, ‘On your left!’ B apologizes and acknowledges it was his fault - the Dad is still pissed - then turns to me and says, “When he said ‘On your left’ I thought it was just him. I didn’t know there were two more people behind him.” I could care less about B.’s protestations. Stop swerving on the bike path - just ride a straight line.
On the way back, we stop at a shitty restaurant for lunch. It’s open air, there are flies everywhere, and the service is terrible. When B. tells the waitress that we’re ready to order, she snaps at him that she’s the only server in the restaurant and can’t take our order yet. B. gets up to use the restroom and reports that she is NOT the only server - there is another waitress on the other side of the restaurant. I order a salad - it’s huge and meh, but I eat most of it. B. gets something??
Riding back to the car is a real problem. We are going against the wind for probably the last 12 miles and it seems like everybody except us got the memo that the wind is in full force from 1:00 pm on. My legs are going the same rate as they always were but my bike is barely moving, it is so windy. My eyes are dry, my lips are chapped, and it’s freezing. It’s so windy that a gust of wind almost blows me over the side of the hill where we’re currently biking. B is miles ahead of me - I can barely make him out, but he is wearing a yellow shirt, so I try to track his location by the intermittent flashes of yellow. On occasion, he stops and waits for me, but when I eventually catch up, he immediately starts biking again. I don’t get to rest for a minute.
The wind is absolutely horrible.
There are several issues with the last stretch of this bike path. Parking in the residential area instead of paying $5.00 for beach parking adds 3 miles of miserable wind-chill factor to the route. If we would have parked the car at the beach parking lot closest to the bike path we would not have had to ride so far, against the wind, upon our return. When I point this out to B., he says parking closer means it wouldn’t have been a long enough ride. Uh…23 miles as opposed to 26 miles? When the last 3 miles are the absolute worst? I’m okay shaving 3 miles off the route to avoid that.
4:00-5:00-We finally arrive at our car. B. re-installs the bike rack, we put the bikes on the rack, and drive back to the hotel, at which point I spend the next hour trying desperately to email the course content, personally, to that OSD bitch, from my thumb drive. I’m finally successful! At last, a win!
-I field a few emails from students.
-B. goes to the pool.
5:00-6:00-B. suggests a restaurant called Red for dinner. I want to wash my hair so bad and had planned to do it in this morning before the shit hit the fan with that OSD bitch, when I wasn’t able to email her the course content.
-I take a shower and wash my hair and it feels soooo good!
6:00-9:00-B. and I have difficulty finding Red but eventually make it to our destination. I like the aesthetic, but the service is bad and B’s drink is weak. Covid 19 resulted in the Big Quit where everybody reassessed their careers or simply got tired of being called “essential” workers just because the country needed individuals to work the shittiest jobs and decided to re-label those who were paid the least as “essential”, even though their hazard pay lasted about two weeks. Anyone who was able quit their horrible 9-to-5 and now most places are understaffed, which means the customer service is horrible.
Although it’s Happy Hour, Red doesn’t feature champagne, unfortunately. I order the 2-piece shrimp tempura, which is quite large, and two glasses of champagne [I almost never have more than three drinks anywhere, as this will cause B. to rail against the fact that three drinks is too expensive.] Side bar: It’s only too expensive when I do it. B. regularly orders three Gin and Tonics when we go out. Unless I’m paying, I always cap my drink order at two.
B. asks the waiter to request a stronger drink from the bartender, but the waiter says the bartender is held tightly to a 2-second pour although he’ll see what he can do. The second drink comes back stronger and we eventually warm up to the waiter.
Red is largely empty - I don’t think this place is going to make it.
9:00-11:00-We drive back to the hotel room and watch Forensic Files. I pack most of my items while the episodes run. Nighttime routine. Bed.