Resistance... is futile.

I’ve been here almost a week and I still can’t get used to some things – like the absence of sweet tea. Bakersfield reminds me a bit of the south, but L.A. is a different creature altogether. I went down there for services this past Sabbath and had a blast. I took a few pics of the mountains as I was leaving Bakersfield.

Mr. Meredith was there, and the Garden Grove congregation came up. There were several brethren from San Diego present as well. After services Jim Meredith invited me to join a group going to this Greek restaurant (Caesar’s) in Pasadena. The food was… interesting. I really enjoyed the rice and the beef tips; I wasn’t as fond of the grape-leaf-covered rice thingy served as an appetizer, and I don’t think I’m a big fan of hummus either. Jim must have reserved the place for us b/c we were the only customers present. There was lots of good conversation; I was sort of in the middle of our table, and constantly found myself engaged in conversations going on at both ends simultaneously. At our table were Daryl & Vicky, Ben & Stephan, Rachelle & Jake, Brandon & Lynette, and Greg & Karri. Oh yeah, Desiree too. I did a lot more listening than talking, but I don’t mind that – it helps me learn more about the people when I get to hear what they have to say. Some of you would be interested in knowing about the Napoleon Dynamite convo; let’s just say that people either love,love, love the movie, or they hate, hate, hate it. The Monsons definitely hate it. Lol



Afterwards, a group of us went to visit what was formerly known as Ambassador College in Pasadena. I’m not one to gush over architecture and landscaping, but the grounds were absolutely stunning in their beauty. I took a few pix, but the outdoor ones didn’t turn out too well. Desiree does a fine job describing our detour inside Ambassador auditorium. It was… in a word… surreal. Apparently we walked into the end of the Saturday night portion of Harvest Rock Church’s Catch the Fire conference. I kept waiting for a zombie-like participant to point at us and screech “Intruder!” at us before the masses assimilated us into the collective. After extricating ourselves from the Borg, we strolled across the campus until 10:00 or so, and then security informed us that the campus was closing.


I got back to my hotel around 12:30 and watched a little TV. By a little I mean until 5:30 a.m. I’ve got to stop doing that. Needless to say, I did not make it to the lab in Shafter until the afternoon.

Ah, the lab. Smack dab in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by lush fields of cotton and dirt. My work the last two days has looked like crap, and my boss here has (strongly) hinted that I might need to come back for a couple of weeks in December. *sigh* At least I got a new hat out of the deal – I purchased a straw hat to protect me from the blazing sun as I start my field work Thursday. Unfortunately, they sprayed the fields with insecticide the day I got here so I haven’t begun the fieldwork portion of my visit.

So much for watching what I eat. I’ve had pretty much nothing but McDonald’s, Jack-in-the-Box, and Carl’s Jr. (Hardee’s for you southerners). Oh yeah, and plenty of Mexican. For lunch today I had a quesadilla lengua – that’s a “cow-tongue case-a-dee-ya” for my non-habla espanoling readers. It was actually really good!

I found out last night that I’m not the one you want to call if something’s wrong in the middle of the night. Noah’s got another ear infection, and the M.R.S. called me around 3 .a.m. Pacific time to let me know, and to ease her frazzled nerves. Apparently she decided I wasn’t much help when I started making random comments about the forest fire. “What forest fire?” might you ask? I don’t know. I have no recollection of said statements. I was a little more coherent when she called again at 5:58 a.m. And what was up with the wrong number call on the cell phone @ 7 a.m.???

Anyway, I’m out. Peace.