We don’t see this very often in Alabama.

We were driving somewhere around in Beverly Hills and came upon an outlook looking over what I assume is Bel Air. The haze had mostly cleared out from what it was earlier in the day, but you can see some remnants of the smog.

One night we ended up going to Hollywood and walk down the walk of fame. We of course drove by famous landmarks such as the Roosevelt Hotel, and the Capital Records building. The picture above is of the Chinese Mann Theater at night.

The above photos are some of my favorite of the trip, and are of Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier. The pier offered a few larger rides, such as a roller coaster and ferris wheel in addition to an arcade. There were also various street venders alongside people fishing right off the dock.

This is the end; the end of Route 66.

You can see more photos of my trip in my flickr photo stream.

I had a great time in LA, as the weather did not go above 80°F and was much lower in humidity. I also got to drive along the coast to Malibu and San Diego, which is a very different experience than I’m used to on the Gulf coast. There’s not hotels lining the shore every 20 feet, and towns have a much smaller, less flashy sort of feel. There’s not that much appeal to LA, but outside of LA southern California is definitely somewhere I would like to visit again.

Six years later, things have changed. Information that I could originally fine tune is now made public by default with no options to make it private other than to remove the information. The tool I found useful for communication has become more cumbersome and frustrating as my personal data is made open and shared freely with other 3rd parties.

I already rarely use Facebook, so I’ve long thought of deleting my Facebook account. However, I dislike the thought of having a disconnect with too many people if I need to be reached. It may soon come to a point where “enough is enough” as I get tired of removing information that I feel should remain under my control.

For those of you who do read this through Facebook, my blog is my main outing to the internet and should I find the need to eventually delete my Facebook account it will be my main point of contact outside of email and phone. Future activity will also be available on Twitter and Flickr as I deem necessary. Let this serve as a warning should you no longer find me on Facebook in future.

The front bedroom will fulfill that purpose. Young children once filled this room, but those times of adolescence will be no more as the room will be directly injected with testosterone. The room ashamed me so much during its early stages that I could not bear to take a picture of its pitifulness. However, I was able to scourer a picture from the depths of the internet that will give you a slight glimpse into the past.

Step 1 – Cleanse Impurities

Step 2 – The Dark Ages

Step 3 – Bask in its Glory

I think that would be a somewhat accurate description.

It feels good to be able to cross the biggest task off my to-do list, and having finished it I took it easy by watching a movie last night. It was very refreshing after a week of hard work just to sit down and relax for once.

After having all the tile down on the floor and set, I’m glad I went with what I did. It provides a nice contrast to the walls and still looks good with the natural colors of the cabinets.

In addition to having everything cut and set, I was happy to begin with the grout as seen with the above picture. It’s been difficult to wait for the tile/grout to set, as I’m waiting to place my appliances so I can “officially” start living here without having to eat out so frequently. It’s great to know that I’m essentially in the home stretch, just have to wait it out just a little bit longer…

Was finally able to start to lay down the backer board in the early afternoon:

This was/will be the kitchen:

After a long day’s work I have about 2/3 of the kitchen backer boarded and glued, so hopefully tomorrow I can finish and maybe begin to lay some tile. It’s a grueling process but I know that the tile will look good in the end.

I’ll try and put up some other pictures later, but in the meantime I’ve started work on the kitchen:

Needless to say, I’m having second thoughts of tearing up the linoleum. I was planning to pull up the linoleum to place down tile, but I’m having second thoughts given the strong attraction the linoleum has to the floor. I’m considering just leveling out the portions that have been removed and then placing the tile directly over that. A good nights sleep should help me decide one way or the other.