The 5, the Maxima and Turtle
Driving on the 5
For those who grew up in LA and went to school in Northern California, driving on the 5 has a special meaning. In college, despite fares being $39 in some cases and having the capability to literally get to the airport 15 minutes before a flight takes off, I like many chose the lovely option of driving to get to LA. I have ridden with true speedsters and have gotten there in 4.5 hours. I also have driven in the Thanksgiving traffic and got there in 11 hours. Good times.
To relive this fun experience, I decided to drive home for the Thanksgiving break. Driving down, especially alone, is at times a fun experience. I literally zone out while driving. The 5 is notoriously straight and to me very scenic. The open road, the desert and the monotony allows my mind to wander and reflect. The driving aspect is on autopilot. I know all the stops by heart (Santa Nella, Coalinga, Kettleman City, Lost Hills).
Because the road is so straight, speeding is to be accepted. The first time I did it, I did not know the tricks and the speed traps and as a result got a speeding ticket in Avenal, which my parents were not to pleased about. Now, I feel like I got it down to a science. I know to slow down at every onramp or overpass, as cops tend to hide there. I know to avoid the radar gun, I must speed in the slow lane and make sure there is a car covering my ass. I know that rather than looking at the road ahead of me, I spend 70% of my time looking at at rear view mirror to see whats behind me.
One of my other favorite parts of driving is that is a great chance to discover new music. While my computer is loaded with 50gb of songs, my ipod unfortunately has not been updated in years. As a result, I only have hindi songs from the mid 90s and mid 80s as well as songs from Keith Sweat, Boys2Men and some old DMB songs. Instead, I become old school and literally comb the FM band for any English music. I say English music as it feels like 75% of the stations only play Mexican music. Anyhow, I like the experience of turning the dial
.
This time I was able to make the trip in 5 hours. There were certain points where I felt I was going to fall asleep on the wheel. Like most males, I hate stopping to “rest”. I don’t like to make bathroom breaks or stop to get food. I have not gotten to the point where I will piss in a bottle, but at times I have thought about it. Stopping, whatever the reason, also ends up being at least a 20 min affair.
If you have never done the drive, I would recommend doing the 101 once and then doing the 5. People always glamorize the idea of taking the PCH down as it will be an experience. Fuck that. The idea of sitting in a car for 12 plus hours when one could make in 5 does not make sense to me. If you want to see the ocean and get great ocean views, I would recommend taking the 5, and then spending the 7 hours on Mahanttan Beach or Santa Monica beach, when you can actually feel the ocean air, taste and smell the ocean salt, and touch the freaking water.
Pimp my Ride
As many of you know my car in recent years has become an eye sore. It had gotten to the point where I had to ask my analysts to drive their car down because I was to embarrassed to take it down. And the one time I had to drive my car to the Google campus, I ended parking my car next to my MD who looked at me in disappointment. When I hit the alarm, my MD actually laughed – “You have a alarm for that piece of shit”
Anyhow, none of these comments actually bothered me. For me a car is a car. Even though I love BMWs and think x5s are super pimp, I had never had the urge to buy one. It almost an old uncle’s thinking. Why buy a new one, when the one I have works fine. My car has power windows, power locks, AC and even a hookup for the ipod. It has tint though only of the front windows is tinted and only one of the rear windows is tinted.The bad part of that line of thought is that I have a Maxima, which is known to drive fine for 200K miles.
When I finally made it home, it was my mom’s comments that actually really surprised me. I come from a modest household where value is more appreciated than brand names. You literally have to leave your ego out the door to fit in. My dad is of the opinion that even if you have $10MM in the bank, there is no justification to spend $10,000 on a TV or $200 on a shirt. Nevertheless, when my mom saw my car she called it a “katara” which literally means piece of shit. Granted half of my bumper has no paint, but I really did not expect that she would have the reaction. Instead, I thought she would be proud that her i-banking son was staying true to his roots. Instead she added “no wonder you are still single” fuck me.
So I did it. I dropped about $800 to get my ride “pimped up”. I got new brakes and a tuneup (oh did I not mention that my car schreeced everytime I hit the brakes). I then got a new paint job and got most of the dents hammered out. I then splurged and got the car fully detailed.
I even went to my old tint shop from my high school days to get all my windows tinted. I tried reminding the owner, who I recognized, who I was and that I used to visit his shop a lot when I was in high school and tried to have a wannabe rice rocket. He instead looked at me blankly and said I was prolly a lot thinner and looked a lot different in high school – fair enough. Then I told him yeah, its been awhile since I live in SF now.
The next comments out of his mouth shocked me. He said despite all these gays living in SF, he thought the city was beautiful. Maybe it’s the fact that with all this Prop 8 bullshit, Ireally don’t identify SF as being gay. Sure we do have the Castro, but that does not define SF – there is much more to this city. In retrospect, I am surprised how much I defended SF. I have always thought of myself as an LA boy. Anyhow, as I tried to explain why SF is more of a real city and people are a little more laidback, I unconsciously tried to mention I was not gay. What?? As if you would not do the same thing.
So yeah my car is pimped out. Suprisingly, I do have a little more pride in my car. Even though it is 98 max.
Amazing
Entourage finally ended its season. In case you did not see it, one of the story lines is that Turtle is dating Meadow of the Sopranos. That in itself its pretty unbelievable, given how hot Meadow is now – she has the hot “girl next door” look. In any case, what really blew my mind, is that this storyline has some truth in it. According to my reading (usweekly, tmz, etc), Turtle is dating Meadow in real life.
There is hope for us all yet.
Bombay
There are no words to describe how I feel what went down in Bombay. I was with my family during this time as we watched the events unfold on CNN, my Dad somehow resorted to his BJP roots. This was the topic of choice during the wedding I attended over the weekend, and all the uncles echoed the opinion.
This blog was never meant to discuss my political beliefs or what I feel the right response is for this unspeakable act. All I got to say is that the attackers, wherever they are, are complete cowards and in my mind are a complete disgrace to Islam. I have a lot of Muslim friends and they all agree – nothing in the Koran justifies this.
I am sure you sure all feel the same way and if any of you have some ideas of how we as NRIs can make a difference, please let me know.
(Btw, I agree with T. This blog is a great avenue for me to write and vent. So yeah Im back. So much for retirement)
For those who grew up in LA and went to school in Northern California, driving on the 5 has a special meaning. In college, despite fares being $39 in some cases and having the capability to literally get to the airport 15 minutes before a flight takes off, I like many chose the lovely option of driving to get to LA. I have ridden with true speedsters and have gotten there in 4.5 hours. I also have driven in the Thanksgiving traffic and got there in 11 hours. Good times.
To relive this fun experience, I decided to drive home for the Thanksgiving break. Driving down, especially alone, is at times a fun experience. I literally zone out while driving. The 5 is notoriously straight and to me very scenic. The open road, the desert and the monotony allows my mind to wander and reflect. The driving aspect is on autopilot. I know all the stops by heart (Santa Nella, Coalinga, Kettleman City, Lost Hills).
Because the road is so straight, speeding is to be accepted. The first time I did it, I did not know the tricks and the speed traps and as a result got a speeding ticket in Avenal, which my parents were not to pleased about. Now, I feel like I got it down to a science. I know to slow down at every onramp or overpass, as cops tend to hide there. I know to avoid the radar gun, I must speed in the slow lane and make sure there is a car covering my ass. I know that rather than looking at the road ahead of me, I spend 70% of my time looking at at rear view mirror to see whats behind me.
One of my other favorite parts of driving is that is a great chance to discover new music. While my computer is loaded with 50gb of songs, my ipod unfortunately has not been updated in years. As a result, I only have hindi songs from the mid 90s and mid 80s as well as songs from Keith Sweat, Boys2Men and some old DMB songs. Instead, I become old school and literally comb the FM band for any English music. I say English music as it feels like 75% of the stations only play Mexican music. Anyhow, I like the experience of turning the dial
.
This time I was able to make the trip in 5 hours. There were certain points where I felt I was going to fall asleep on the wheel. Like most males, I hate stopping to “rest”. I don’t like to make bathroom breaks or stop to get food. I have not gotten to the point where I will piss in a bottle, but at times I have thought about it. Stopping, whatever the reason, also ends up being at least a 20 min affair.
If you have never done the drive, I would recommend doing the 101 once and then doing the 5. People always glamorize the idea of taking the PCH down as it will be an experience. Fuck that. The idea of sitting in a car for 12 plus hours when one could make in 5 does not make sense to me. If you want to see the ocean and get great ocean views, I would recommend taking the 5, and then spending the 7 hours on Mahanttan Beach or Santa Monica beach, when you can actually feel the ocean air, taste and smell the ocean salt, and touch the freaking water.
Pimp my Ride
As many of you know my car in recent years has become an eye sore. It had gotten to the point where I had to ask my analysts to drive their car down because I was to embarrassed to take it down. And the one time I had to drive my car to the Google campus, I ended parking my car next to my MD who looked at me in disappointment. When I hit the alarm, my MD actually laughed – “You have a alarm for that piece of shit”
Anyhow, none of these comments actually bothered me. For me a car is a car. Even though I love BMWs and think x5s are super pimp, I had never had the urge to buy one. It almost an old uncle’s thinking. Why buy a new one, when the one I have works fine. My car has power windows, power locks, AC and even a hookup for the ipod. It has tint though only of the front windows is tinted and only one of the rear windows is tinted.The bad part of that line of thought is that I have a Maxima, which is known to drive fine for 200K miles.
When I finally made it home, it was my mom’s comments that actually really surprised me. I come from a modest household where value is more appreciated than brand names. You literally have to leave your ego out the door to fit in. My dad is of the opinion that even if you have $10MM in the bank, there is no justification to spend $10,000 on a TV or $200 on a shirt. Nevertheless, when my mom saw my car she called it a “katara” which literally means piece of shit. Granted half of my bumper has no paint, but I really did not expect that she would have the reaction. Instead, I thought she would be proud that her i-banking son was staying true to his roots. Instead she added “no wonder you are still single” fuck me.
So I did it. I dropped about $800 to get my ride “pimped up”. I got new brakes and a tuneup (oh did I not mention that my car schreeced everytime I hit the brakes). I then got a new paint job and got most of the dents hammered out. I then splurged and got the car fully detailed.
I even went to my old tint shop from my high school days to get all my windows tinted. I tried reminding the owner, who I recognized, who I was and that I used to visit his shop a lot when I was in high school and tried to have a wannabe rice rocket. He instead looked at me blankly and said I was prolly a lot thinner and looked a lot different in high school – fair enough. Then I told him yeah, its been awhile since I live in SF now.
The next comments out of his mouth shocked me. He said despite all these gays living in SF, he thought the city was beautiful. Maybe it’s the fact that with all this Prop 8 bullshit, Ireally don’t identify SF as being gay. Sure we do have the Castro, but that does not define SF – there is much more to this city. In retrospect, I am surprised how much I defended SF. I have always thought of myself as an LA boy. Anyhow, as I tried to explain why SF is more of a real city and people are a little more laidback, I unconsciously tried to mention I was not gay. What?? As if you would not do the same thing.
So yeah my car is pimped out. Suprisingly, I do have a little more pride in my car. Even though it is 98 max.
Amazing
Entourage finally ended its season. In case you did not see it, one of the story lines is that Turtle is dating Meadow of the Sopranos. That in itself its pretty unbelievable, given how hot Meadow is now – she has the hot “girl next door” look. In any case, what really blew my mind, is that this storyline has some truth in it. According to my reading (usweekly, tmz, etc), Turtle is dating Meadow in real life.
There is hope for us all yet.
Bombay
There are no words to describe how I feel what went down in Bombay. I was with my family during this time as we watched the events unfold on CNN, my Dad somehow resorted to his BJP roots. This was the topic of choice during the wedding I attended over the weekend, and all the uncles echoed the opinion.
This blog was never meant to discuss my political beliefs or what I feel the right response is for this unspeakable act. All I got to say is that the attackers, wherever they are, are complete cowards and in my mind are a complete disgrace to Islam. I have a lot of Muslim friends and they all agree – nothing in the Koran justifies this.
I am sure you sure all feel the same way and if any of you have some ideas of how we as NRIs can make a difference, please let me know.
(Btw, I agree with T. This blog is a great avenue for me to write and vent. So yeah Im back. So much for retirement)
posted by G at
4:29 PM
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