Oh, what a day.

So here was the plan. I'd fly to LA to see the new Simpsons ride at Universal Studios on Sunday. On Monday, Vegas. Tuesday...back home.

But Sunday...man, just bad luck all day long.

It started very early. 2 am to be exact. My sister's been a car accident. Idiot. Ran into a stone wall and totalled the car. She wasn't hurt (in fact, it seems like she forgot that it even happened). But by the time I picked her up and brought her back, it was time for me to get on a flight to LA.

9 am. We're making our final approach into LAX. The pilot comes on: "those of you on the left-hand side of the plane will see smoke coming from a building. That's Universal Studios."

Hmmm, that's where I wanted to go today. Steves picks me up and we go to his workplace (Code Monkeys on G4) to check the news. The park opens at noon. Ok, let's go. We get there. The park is still closed. In the end, it wouldn't open at all that day.

So we head down to UCSD to see Alex and have dinner. There are some great garlic fries to be eaten down there. Steves drops me back at my hotel so that I can rest up for the early morning flight to Vegas. I'm waiting at the elevator with a guy who had just checked in. We get in the elevator and I ask what floor. He replies 6. That's where I am. We walk out and we both head for the same room! They double-booked the room! My stuff is already in there so this room was mine, but man, what if I got there a minute too late?

The rest of the trip was better. Some quick hits:

It was weird to see two Amish couples flying in an airplane.

Lawry's the Prime Rib place is the original prime rib place, as our waitress insisted, not the rumored "Prime Rib House" (sic) in San Francisco.

I won $120 at the tables.

I'll be back in LA in a couple of weeks.