East Vs. West

Today was the first day of my second bootcamp session after having a week off. That week made much more of a difference than I had thought it would. I was huffing and puffing in no time. There are a lot of new folks in this group and I thought for sure I wouldn't be in last place anymore. I was kind of right. You see, the bootcamp instructors split up throughout the streets where we run and direct people where to go. The fast people get to keep running straight down the hill in order to make a loop around a farther block. The medium speed people (me, a girl I work with, and a greasy man) get directed around a closer turn, so we can get back quicker. The slower people (new chubby girls, Ruben) get directed somewhere else. I never cross paths with them until the end, so I don't know where they go. Maybe they just run around inside the parking lot, which is our "base". Today I saw Rubes running up ahead and I had to beat him. I don't know why I'm so competitive lately. I ended up getting stuck behind him in a narrow part of the sidewalk and he got to the parking lot before I did. I was beaten by Ruben. I imagine one day I will have to shove him out of my way. At least he got a new exercise mat - no more 70s sleeping bag.
My goals for this session (what I have to write on my food journal): look good this summer (and I mean I would love to get into a bikini before I'm too old), and run a mile in 7 minutes. I think I'm pushing it with both of those goals.
Eric requested that I get him McDonald's breakfast on my way home. I had to smell the greasy hashbrown and spicy sausage patty and it was torture. I tried to make do with my black iced coffee and looked forward to my smoothie waiting at home.

While driving to work I realized how grateful I am for the decent weather at this time of year. Yesterday I was thinking it was spring already and then was surprised when I realized it was still February. I began to think about the differences between east and west coast.
I've been saying it since I moved here: the thing I miss the most about the east coast in general, but NJ/NY in particular is the Italian food. Fresh mozzarella, pizza, that thin salami from Italian delis, ziti, lasagna, good chicken parm: you can't find any of that here. That's right - I can't find ziti anywhere. The chicken parmesan is easily found - but the chicken isn't flattened - it's about an inch and a half thick, which is nasty. The local "Italian" food place is called "Two Guys from Italy". Eric says it's more like "2 Guys from Armenia" or "2 Guys from the Italy/Slovenia border". The food is that gross.
Another bit of proof: the best pizza we have found is dominoes. No one in NJ really would eat dominoes if there are other choices available.

I do miss snow. I miss watching the snow fall at night with the street lights shining through. I miss how quiet it can be and how warm the house is. I miss it during the Christmas season. It's strange to see Xmas lights on cacti and palm trees. Everything's still in full bloom on Christmas Day in CA. I feel bad for kids here because they never get to know the joy of a snow day. Do you remember how exciting that was? I realize that snow is a hassle and inconvenience when you're an adult - most jobs don't close for snow- what a drag it is to be old.

I miss New York City. Los Angeles the city is pretty lame. Everything is very low and spread out. There are a lot of cars, but few taxis, and they certainly don't drive like NY taxis. There are bars, but not a lot, and most are for the beautiful. There's a certain ugliness to NYC that I appreciate.

I will say it now: Santa Monica Pier is a joke. When I moved here, people were all like "Did you see Santa Monica Pier yet??" and I got excited. I was picturing Seaside Boardwalk married with Three's Company. The drive to the pacific can be pretty nice: looks beachy and smells like the atlantic. The pier is a different story. It's a tiny boardwalk with a ferris wheel (that I think was recently sold) and a taco bell. There may be a Bubba Gump shrimp restaurant as well, but my point is that it's crap. I though California beaches were supposed to be this great thing, but I was terribly mistaken. We can be proud of our trashy beach heritage!

Irish Bars. When I say there are 2, I am not exaggerating. Where am I supposed to celebrate St. Pat's? They don't even have a St. Patrick's Day parade...but what's the point when there are no Irish here?

People drive poorly everywhere I've ever been. I like to think that people out here are especially bad, but that's just me being picky and clannish. NJ drivers are just as dangerous in largely similar ways. The one big difference is the lack of turn signals here. It must not be part of the driver's ed curriculum because even student drivers don't use it. Sometimes I get so angry about this omission that I honk my horn - but it's all in vain because they have no idea why I'm beeping.

I complain too much. My next post will be positivity central.