There is a car parked across the street from my apartment for the last week now. It has a car alarm that goes off an average of at least once every half hour. Anything and everything apparently sets it off: passing busses, helicopters, airplanes, and stupid cars with their stupid ghetto noisy exhaust mufflers. I want to smash that car, throw a stick of lit dynamite under it, run it over with a bulldozer, drop it off a cliff, anything to get that DAMNED NOISE TO STOP! It’s driving me f*cking insane! It’s the worst car alarm system in the world! I just want the noise to stop!!! ☹️

I just had a funny thought: don’t know how far we are along in the TV season? Just count the number of contestants left on a reality series commercial. That’s how many weeks there are left in the season. 🙂

I saw a drive-by shooting over spring break. But not in LA. I had to go home to Denver to see one. Something exhilarating, but not that I would care to repeat anytime soon.

…you can frequently hear sirens approach and turn off.

…you are awakened at 0230 by the sound of cars peeling out, possibly from a drag race.

Watch for the new BMW X3 commercial. You tell me. How do they do it? I want to know.

So I’m walkin’ on my way to work this morning, mindin’ my own business… I’m the first one to cross the intersection SB at Hoover & Jefferson when I hear the revving engine of a motorcycle. I look to my left and there’s this guy on his bike in the #2 lane jumping and weaving out of control…. and approaching fast. He zooms through the crosswalk at around 30 mph about five feet behind me (I’m about halfway through the street at this time) and I turn to see him collide with the front third of a guy on a bicycle going through the crosswalk/intersection. There’s a large crashing sound, debris goes flying, and lots of students gather around. I call USC DPS emergency number (lots of kids are on their cellphones too) and the dispatcher says they’ve received the call and LAFD is on the way. Some people get the motorbike and bicycle out of the intersection.  A few minutes later LAFD arrives and the two vic’s are transported in the same ambulance (a bit of an irony). Even a student fro the Daily Trojan was there (the right place at the right time?). Fortunately, even seconds after the accident both victims were up and walking about. Thankfully the driver of the motorcycle was wearing a helmet because after he slammed headlong into the bicycle he skid into the front fender of a white 4-dr. Taurus that was waiting to make a left turn. I wait for half an hour for LAPD to show up but I decide to leave and let DPS give LAPD my contact/witness info. The only one left waiting besides the few DPS officers was the poor guy in the Taurus because he needed to get a report for insurance reasons. This was my brush with if not death then most certainly severe trauma.

I’m back from the Marathon. What fun. I was at mile 8 again this year and not half an hour after I get there (0600) a bike rider goes down so I call in LAFD through net control. Fortunately it was only a knee laceration and she was on her way shortly—albeit slowly. The rest of the day passed without incident (at least at my water station) and I made it home before 1200. Next year I’m going to need either a high noise environment headset for my VX-7R or a VHF Jedi series to interface with my Mot boom headset. That probably doesn’t make any sense to almost averyone. I’m tired. I got up at 0400 today. Nappy time….

The Returning Resident Renewal program here at USC (sounds like some kind of recycling program) is as convoluted and bureaucratic as anything else the university has to offer. I was hoping for a better (subjective term around here) apartment next year. I ended up signing a contract for the exact same room that I have now. But hope is not lost—the reassignment procedure begins on the 31st. Bully!