Better Than Hollywood.

Nicole and I met with our soon to be pediatrician today. She was recommended to us by Nicole's OB/GYN. They are all part of the Cedars-Sinai Medical system, so it would make sense the recommendation. Dr. Pang is pretty cool. Nicole was a little worried at the thought of a female doctor with our soon to be teenage son. Would he be comfortable with her? I told her not to worry. If in 13 years, we're still in the L.A. basin, something has gone terribly wrong.

It's not that I hate L.A.. The city itself is all right. There is lots to do and see. I'm just not a big fan of the people. Nicole and I have been lucky to meet and hang out with lots of really cool people, but they are few and far between compared to the mountains of egocentric boobs that dominate the landscape. I HATE driving in L.A. Hate, hate, hate, hate it. Just getting to the doctors office for me was a chore. But getting back was just as bad, compounded by the fact that Nicole was hungry.

If there's one thing I've learned since being home with a pregnant wife, never deny her food. And more specifically, never deny her the food that she's craving. On the way back from the doctor, Nicole had a hunger for a burger. But not just any burger, a Johnny Rockets burger. The first location she thought of was at the Farmers Market in Hollywood.

The Farmers Market is really cool. One of the fun places to come if you are ever in Hollywood. It's right next door to The Groove, which is sort of a themed outdoor shopping mall. I am not a fan of The Groove. There are no stores there that I absolutely must go too. You have to pay for parking and it's always full of people. I was not looking forward to pulling into The Groove parking and then making our way to Johnny Rockets.

As we got closer, we discovered the Farmers Market has it's own parking, so we pulled in. But alas, the parking lot was full of cars and boobs trying to find parking.

If ever there was a physical representation of the general attitude of Los Angeles, it's people trying to park in a crowded parking lot. If they see a space that is opening up, they will stop their car and attempt to back up. Then stop again right in the middle of the aisle so people behind can't sneak past and look for other spaces. Sometimes, they will not have backed up far enough, so the person coming out of the space has to do a 37 point turn to get out, or they will wait for the person waiting for the space to back up some more. By then, someone will have pulled up bumper to bumper behind the guy trying to get into the space, thus making it impossible for them to back up. And then the stand off and horn honking begins. Nothing moves. Dead stop. Now, one of two things will happen. The person in the parking space will pull forward back into the space and refuse to move, so the person who was waiting, must drive away and the person behind get the space. But that's backing down, and no one backs down. So the more likely scenario is the 37 point turn which takes twice as long.

But I digress...

With a parking lot full of boobs, I decided I wanted out. My palms were sweaty, my knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel too hard. Claustrophobia was setting in. So we zoomed to the nearest exit gate and got back on the streets. I needed out of Hollywood.

But I also needed to get Nicole a Johnny Rockets burger. We racked our brains trying to think of the next closest restaurant. The only one that came to mind was past our house in the Santa Anita shopping mall. Only a few days prior had we gone there for a burger on the way back from a shopping expedition. I'm assuming this is where Nicole got the craving.

Then like a bolt of lighting, it hit Nicole. There is a Johnny Rockets in Old Town Pasadena. Hollywood, and all it's boobs melted away at the thought of Old Town Pasadena.

Old Town Pasadena is better than Hollywood. Granted there are still a fair amount of L.A. boobs walking around. But it's only a few streets and not as congested. In the words of Jake Blues, from the movie, The Blue Brothers, as they tore around the shopping mall, "Man, this place has everything." And they do, Old Town Pasadena has everything. Good shopping, a Mac store, movie theaters, gelato, and lots of nice restaurants, including the newly opened Roy's. I don't see why I ever have to go to Hollywood for anything ever again.

Generally, Pasadena has everything we may need. I like Pasadena. I remember living in Hollywood and not wanting to drive to Pasadena for anything. Now, it's reversed and I've seen the light. If you've not been, come check it out. Pasadena has everything.

We got Nicole her burger and she was satisfied. That's really the most important thing.

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