Pretend it's 10/22, cause that's when I actually wrote it

Today I made my first visit to the UCLA emergency room. The doctors were very nice, and they told me exactly what I already knew: that what I had was probably a spider bite and that the streak mark creeping up to my heart meant blood poisoning. A week of 2 butt-kicking antibiotics and an anti-fungal cream (just in case -- bite is 'satellite-y' and a little shiny) should do the trick. The hitch? Now I gotta wonder if the 8-legged fiend is camped out in my cushy brown chair or in some other item I had in storage and shipped. Believe it or not, this is the THIRD time this exact thing has happened to me in the past 3 years. Bite, streaks, emergency antibiotics. I'm beginning to think I must have really ticked off some arachnid along the way, cause the whole lot seems to have it in for me.

Other than the 2 vampire-like punctures in my epidermis, things are going great. I finally have a mattress for my bed, so no more camping on the floor in a sleeping bag. Yay! I bought a plant and some of that dried bamboo roll stuff for a little privacy on my balcony. The apartments here are so crammed together. With over 10 million people all living in the Los Angeles metro area, it's inevitable. Yet, it's very lovely here, because there's so much greenery throughout the city. They really love their landscaping out here, and I do too.

Now, imagine over 10 million people all driving cars at the same time. It's unbelievable. I took the bus to work the first few days, but quickly determined we just weren't meant to be -- I can't read in moving vehicles, and being a despiser of inefficiency (perfectionist alert!), I decided to try riding my bike. I would at least get my exercise in during the commute. Just under 5 miles by bicycle doesn't seem like much, but throw in the California hills and the fact that UCLA sits at the foothills of some mountains (the ride IN to work is at a constant incline), and that spells YOWSA!! It really is uphill both ways. I'm gonna try to keep it up as long as I can, and I'm hoping it gets easier over time (update: It's Thursday, and I've decided to take the bus in to work but bring my bike so that I can have it on campus with me and bike home. So, I avoid the agonizing incline but still get some exercise and have a way to run quick errands. Brilliant, eh?). Oh, and thank-you Jeff Lutjens for the idea of attaching a plastic crate to the back of the bike. It's a life-saver!

Overall, I'm really enjoying L.A. I love it that you can walk a few blocks or so and find just about anything you might need AND food from all over the globe. MMMmmm... Like food... The only down sides so far, are that I really miss the on-line DVD/video checkout system of the UCity Library, and that I can't find toasted ravioli anywhere.