Oh, a story from California. It is worth sticking with this because there is a happy ending and a question to be answered.
It seems to me when one is not sending off bad vibrations into the world, the world holds your hand and guides you and so it was for me the last day in California. I wanted to travel from Anaheim to Orange. Orange is a small city for Los Angeles standards, about 135,000 in population. It is located about 6.5 miles south and west of Anaheim. Orange is unusual for a California city because many of the homes found in the Old Town District were built prior to 1920 and remain standing and in use today. Orange boasts of having many of its buildings listed on the National Registry. So I decided I'd catch a cab from Disneyland to check out this Old Town District.
Getting a cab in Anaheim, especially around Disneyland is no problem. All one has to do is stop by any major hotel or just wave your hand at a passing cab and you're good to go. In less than 20 minutes I found myself in Orange. However, while entering Orange I realized finding a cab to leave Orange could be a challenge so I asked for the phone number of the cab company I was using. The thought was that if this company came to Orange once, they'd come again later in the day.
While in Old Town, I checked out the antique shops and mall. There are about a dozen of them. At one point in my life I collected antiques so it was fun to revisit that interest. With the help of Yelp I was able to have lunch at a great restaurant, Rutabegorz, again easy walking distance. Then I walked around and took a few pictures of the architecture. It was great to see what California looked like in the past before it became the state it is today. After about four hours of walking I sat down in this plaza:
Since it was located in the centre of a roundabout, sitting in this mini-park made for entertaining people and traffic watching. After the rest I walked down to see one last antique shop before heading back to my motel. This final shop, Chapman Antique Mall had a nice collection of Disneyland pins and I found one of Mickey dressed like a sorcerer in Fantasia. My total purchase was $4.
As I was leaving I asked, as I had at every place I visited, if there was a suggestion of where I might be able to walk to to improve my chances of finding a cab. At all the other places I'd asked I was told, no, they had no idea where to find a cab. But the woman behind the counter at Chapman Antique Mall said, "Let me just call one for you." Wow, I was blown away. After about 5 minutes on hold, the deed was done and all I had to do was wait 15 minutes for my yellow ride to arrive.
I was offered a free bottle of water by a man, who I am assuming, owned this Mall. I sat inside in the air conditioning while he stayed outside in the heat watching for my cab. After a few minutes I went out to relieve him from his post and realized after about 20 minutes in I had just seen one cab whiz by. It occurred to me I had probably just missed my opportunity, but since I had heard how clearly the address was given on the phone, I was sure the cab would turn around and pick me up. Alas, I was wrong. We're now about 40 minutes into this adventure.
I returned inside to state I thought I saw my cab go by and the kindly gentleman offered to call again. He stayed inside while I kept watching outside. Shortly he came to tell me he had reiterated to the operator that the cab more than likely went to West Chapman instead of East Chapman and they should hurry to get another cab en route. I stayed outside so I don't really know how many phones calls were actually made to how many cab companies, I'm sure it was at least 3. After 1.5 hours my wheels finally did show up. During much of this time the apparent owner would check on me and was actually outside to flag down the cab when it arrive. He apologized to me for the delay as I profusely thanked him again and again and then was on my way.
The driver indicated to me that someone was playing the Hollywood Bowl that afternoon starting at 4 pm and that his cab business had been very, very good that afternoon. In other words, my timing was bad. And who was playing at the Bowl, you ask? Garrison Kiellor! Somehow the synchronicity of this is laughable. Lake Wobegan's creator had caused me a delay in getting a cab. (For those who don't know, I was born very close to Garrison Kiellor country and am quite fond of his radio program, A Prairie Home Companion and a 2006 movie of the same name. Kiellor program is very much like Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe of the U.S. )
So my question, what should I do for the kind people at Chapman Antique Mall to show my appreciation for the good deeds they did for me. Paul's suggestion was gift cards to Subway because a Subway can be found anywhere, but I'm sure he was joking. Any ideas? I am open to suggestions.
It seems to me when one is not sending off bad vibrations into the world, the world holds your hand and guides you and so it was for me the last day in California. I wanted to travel from Anaheim to Orange. Orange is a small city for Los Angeles standards, about 135,000 in population. It is located about 6.5 miles south and west of Anaheim. Orange is unusual for a California city because many of the homes found in the Old Town District were built prior to 1920 and remain standing and in use today. Orange boasts of having many of its buildings listed on the National Registry. So I decided I'd catch a cab from Disneyland to check out this Old Town District.
Getting a cab in Anaheim, especially around Disneyland is no problem. All one has to do is stop by any major hotel or just wave your hand at a passing cab and you're good to go. In less than 20 minutes I found myself in Orange. However, while entering Orange I realized finding a cab to leave Orange could be a challenge so I asked for the phone number of the cab company I was using. The thought was that if this company came to Orange once, they'd come again later in the day.
While in Old Town, I checked out the antique shops and mall. There are about a dozen of them. At one point in my life I collected antiques so it was fun to revisit that interest. With the help of Yelp I was able to have lunch at a great restaurant, Rutabegorz, again easy walking distance. Then I walked around and took a few pictures of the architecture. It was great to see what California looked like in the past before it became the state it is today. After about four hours of walking I sat down in this plaza:
 |
| A fountain built in 1937 |
 |
| See the white chairs near the door, I bonded with one of them! |
I was offered a free bottle of water by a man, who I am assuming, owned this Mall. I sat inside in the air conditioning while he stayed outside in the heat watching for my cab. After a few minutes I went out to relieve him from his post and realized after about 20 minutes in I had just seen one cab whiz by. It occurred to me I had probably just missed my opportunity, but since I had heard how clearly the address was given on the phone, I was sure the cab would turn around and pick me up. Alas, I was wrong. We're now about 40 minutes into this adventure.
I returned inside to state I thought I saw my cab go by and the kindly gentleman offered to call again. He stayed inside while I kept watching outside. Shortly he came to tell me he had reiterated to the operator that the cab more than likely went to West Chapman instead of East Chapman and they should hurry to get another cab en route. I stayed outside so I don't really know how many phones calls were actually made to how many cab companies, I'm sure it was at least 3. After 1.5 hours my wheels finally did show up. During much of this time the apparent owner would check on me and was actually outside to flag down the cab when it arrive. He apologized to me for the delay as I profusely thanked him again and again and then was on my way.
The driver indicated to me that someone was playing the Hollywood Bowl that afternoon starting at 4 pm and that his cab business had been very, very good that afternoon. In other words, my timing was bad. And who was playing at the Bowl, you ask? Garrison Kiellor! Somehow the synchronicity of this is laughable. Lake Wobegan's creator had caused me a delay in getting a cab. (For those who don't know, I was born very close to Garrison Kiellor country and am quite fond of his radio program, A Prairie Home Companion and a 2006 movie of the same name. Kiellor program is very much like Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe of the U.S. )
So my question, what should I do for the kind people at Chapman Antique Mall to show my appreciation for the good deeds they did for me. Paul's suggestion was gift cards to Subway because a Subway can be found anywhere, but I'm sure he was joking. Any ideas? I am open to suggestions.
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