Updates from March, 2011 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Danny Dawson 4:13 pm on Saturday, March 26, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: japan, korean air, osaka, unedited iphone notes   

    On an incomprehensible time shift 

    All times are in US/Pacific unless noted. We start on Korean Air flight KE002 LAX to Tokyo.

    12:53pm: just finished a delicious bibimbop, spicy Korean pickles, clear seaweed soup, and orange wedges. Used all the gochujong. Soo good! Two glasses of red wine in so far, and having some genmaicha. There’s both a regular outlet and a USB outlet, handily can charge two things at once, especially now that most devices charge via USB anyway. Movie selection is awesome, includes current Oscar winners the kings speech, true grit, black swan. Watching Never Let Me Go first.

    1:17pm: just discovered disposable slippers and single use toothbrush/paste. Shoes are off now, seat is back, nicely wined and dined, pillow behind my back, blanket so soft, movie on…I may never fly another airline again.

    4:35pm: just had two hot tasty beef buns. More than halfway through The King’s Speech.starting to get confused by time. It’s eternal night within the plane, but opening a window reveals eternal day. 6hrs, 35mins to destination.

    12:20am: Starbucks at airport. Have cash and jr pass. Use citibank ATM.

    1:24am: been on the train a little bit now, passing Sakura. Need to transfer at second stop past Tokyo. Sun is finally starting to set and turn golden. The breeze is cool when the train doors open. When they close, there’s a cool whirring sound followed by lots of squeaking as the train picks up speed. We’ve been passing what look like fallow drained rice paddies punctuated by small hills topped with bamboo and pine groves. The giant towers holding up the powerlines out here are reminiscent of the Oakland port cranes or the windmills in the east bay hills; they look like they could lift their feet out of the ground and go for a walk if they so pleased. I can’t imagine watching them sway in an earthquake.

    3:30am: caught the hikari 485 to shin-Osaka. The lady back at Narita JR service desk was nice enough to reserve us seats on this one, which just means we’re in an emptier car – really, this car is more than two thirds empty. If there’s a rush from Tokyo to Osaka going on now, I can’t see it. These seats lean waay back, which is good, because I probably won’t be able to stay awake for the entire three hour trip to Osaka. Once we get there, I think we have to transfer to a local subway and then do a little walking to Hotel Dotonbori. It’ll be around 7:30 or 8am SF time, or around midnight local time before we’re checked in. That makes it something like 26 hours door to door today. I’m pooped. Set a prophylactic alarm so we don’t miss our stop. Thankful this train has most of the amenities of most planes, unlike the subway-like train that made up our last leg. All those dried squid snacks are gonna send me to the bathroom, I’m sure. It’s quite cold out. We both put on second layers and I pulled out my new gloves. Glad for them.

    7:46am Sunday Osaka: it’s 3:46pm Saturday in SF, but I need to try to run on local time. I’m waking up with a headache after five hours of sleep. Drank some delicious barley shochu last night from the corner store to help me sleep, since my body thought it was 10/11am. Had my first real Japanese takoyaki and ramen last night. Showered in our miniature bathroom – when I stand on the balls of my feet, my head hits the ceiling. Ok, time to get up. There’s so much to see and eat out there.

     
  • Danny Dawson 3:51 pm on Friday, June 11, 2004 Permalink | Reply  

    Spontaneity 

    For better or worse, I made a change today. My prior plans included me waiting until the 21st of this month to fly out to California, find myself a job, and then fly back home, collect my things, return to CA and start my life there, couch-hopping with friends until I can find and afford a place of my own. This morning, I got tired of the waiting and anticipation, and I quit. I quit my job. I quit waiting. I quit living each day waiting for another day to come.

    Now, I pack. This weekend I go with my mother to my cousin’s wedding in Daytona (congrats Nikki and Ray), and when I return from that excursion there will be a final packing of my bags and boxes. Then, California. I’ll leave most of my stuff with my mom in easy-to-ship boxes ready to meet me at whatever beautiful new apartment or hole-in-the-wall warehouse studio I find.

    Am I excited? Yes. Am I nervous? Yes. Am I a fool? Yes.

    The sky is bright and blue and I am free to go.

     
    • michele 5:08 pm on Friday, June 11, 2004 Permalink

      whoopee!

      p.s. the jesus post is there twice, did you know?

    • Danny Dawson 5:11 pm on Friday, June 11, 2004 Permalink

      Nope. I didn’t know. Fixed now.

    • Jenny Quinn 12:08 am on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 Permalink

      Hey Danny, I just checked out your site because I saw your comment on Metafilter and wanted you to link me to the cactus site if you could. :) I live and work in LA and love it. I’m originally from — Daytona Beach, FL — coincidence? If you have any questions about California living drop me a line. And best of luck! –Jenny

  • Danny Dawson 1:23 am on Sunday, June 6, 2004 Permalink | Reply  

    Screw Florida 

    From an email I wrote tonight to Kim:

    $14 on a Friday night is ridiculous. So’s $20 on a Saturday night. I’m coming home.

    Those numbers refer to tips only. Florida has no minimum wage, so we follow the federal law here. My employer is required to provide me with $2.13 an hour as a “base pay” rate, and if my weekly average pay (including tips) drops below $5.15 an hour (the federal minimum wage, compared with $6.75 in California), my employer must make up the difference. So I should see a small pay check for this week (most of it is taxed — tip jobs [waiter, bartender, etc.] tend to have slightly high rates of taxation). Oh, wait, no, I take that back. Tonight I made a total of $29.585 when you include my hourly wage, and last night I made $23.585. My employer is only required to provide me with extra cash if my total for each of those nights had dipped below $23.175. You gotta love the federal minimum wage Florida.

    Were you aware that the federal minimum wage hasn’t been raised in about 7 years? It was set to $5.15 on September 1, 1997. Assuming a 40-hour work week and 50 work weeks a year, that amounts to a yearly wage of $10,300. In the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area in 2004, $10,300 has the same buying power that $8,886.27 did in 1997 when the minimum wage was set, which seems to mean that workers making the federal minimum wage nowadays can afford about 86.3% of what they could back in 1997. In San Francisco, where the minimum wage was raised to $8.50 an hour this year, workers working the same amount make $17,000 a year, which is equivalent to about $13,764.77 in 1997 dollars. In SF in 1997, minimum wage workers made $10,300 a year (same as in Florida), which shows a quality of living increase for minimum wage workers in SF of 33.6% between 1997 and 2004, compared to the 13.7% decrease of QOL for minimum wage workers in the FLL/MIA area. Note that through all this, the federal Health and Human Services poverty guidelines have been raised 18.0% over that same time period. Sounds like Mi Ami has been fucked and forgotten. Which is one of the reasons I’m moving to California.

    Keep in mind that I know nothing of economics. The subject has always mystified me.

    Maintaining the same QOL in Emeryville, CA that I do here in Hallandale, FL requires about a 38.6% increase in my income. By my most conservative guesstimates, I made at least 50% more working at Venus in Berkeley (a short bus ride from Emeryville) than I currently do at Tuna’s in North Miami Beach (a bitch of a bus ride from my house in Hallandale, or more often, an inconvenient hitch with one of my coworkers). I say at least, because I’m comparing a very low guesstimate of my average income at Venus with a high guesstimate of my average income at Tuna’s. More likely, I made about 80-100% more, which is what I’d need to maintain the same QOL in the City of SF. However, if I choose to live in SF, I will surely shop around for the nicest cheap apartment I can find and I’ll get some job in the city, where the minimum wage is 25.9% higher than it is in Berkeley.

    Again a disclaimer: this is probably all based on some seriously fuzzy math.

    Resources:
    Minimum Wage Laws by State
    Cost-of-Living Calculator over time by Metropolitan Area
    Relative Salaries City to City (in current dollars)
    History of CA Minimum Wage
    HHS Poverty Guidelines over time

    Further Reading:
    Hope for Florida?

     
  • Danny Dawson 1:02 pm on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 Permalink | Reply  

    The Caesar Salad is Mexican 

    Last few days:

    • Friday – was driven around in LA by Carlos’ brother. Crashed on the couch at 6:30. Woke up at 4am next day.
    • Saturday – Walked around the neighborhood at sunrise. Took a long walk later around the city looking for wifi access. Outside the Flynt Publications building found four advertised networks. All used protection. Carlos came down from the Bay Area and we went out on Sunset Blvd with Melissa and her brother. Also went to “Barney’s Beanery – the sloppy joe house slash nightlife with an incredibly attractive waitstaff.”
    • Sunday – Jared’s wedding. Drove up to the BA with C-los and Yuwynn.
    • Monday – Triumphant return to Berkeley with tail between legs. Breakfast at Venus. Helped Alissa move out of Theta. Watched the Cal Math graduation. Had a pint for my homies at Thalassa. Walked by Jupiter. Had pizza and coke for lunch. Joined Kristen, Michele, and Kim at the Castro apartment. Had pizza and Prosecco for dinner. Took BART back to MacArthur. Decided to walk back to C-los’ apartment. Had no idea where to go. Visited the Oakland Army Reserve Base. Visited the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Not open for tours at 1am. Found my way back to the apartment after only having walked 5.6 miles (3.5 unnecessary) out of my way through some of the shadiest parts of West Oakland carrying at least $1500 worth of electronics. Found myself locked out. Knocked on a few windows. Made it inside and passed out.
    • Tuesday – Spent the largest part of the day relaxing in the apartment. Had Spinach and Dal curry for lunch. Went with C-los, Christina, Lauren, and Jen to Thalassa. Ran into Ellen, Todd, and Skye. Received two marriage proposals. One subsequently retracted. Considering having a first wife.
    • Wednesday – Sitting in Berkeley Espresso. Soy Chai and Bagel with Lox for breakfast. Free wireless internet. Found someone’s Day Planner with a SWA trip itinerary inside. E-mailed her and got a response. Here she is. Just gave it back to her. Turns out she was in front of me in line. Have a nice time in Portland, Oregon on June 12, Mrs. Carol Sparks of CDHS.
     
    • michele 5:48 pm on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 Permalink

      lost in oakland, no! i feel so much worse now than i did when i couldn’t find any contact solution in my bag so you could spend the night at kristen’s. argh. then again, you do have a built in weapon on your arm.

      p.s. did you notice the things we wanted to write on your cast, two posts down?

    • Danny Dawson 6:01 pm on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 Permalink

      When I was walking I saw a screwdriver on the ground, which I considered picking up for defense, but the anti-violence side of me said no. I then understood the suspicions I’ve always had about not living to see 30. I chose that walk.

      I was also going through all the mental motions of cast-as-weapon.

      I noticed them. You should’ve taken out the wite-out.

    • michele 1:55 pm on Friday, May 28, 2004 Permalink

      sunday, baby.

  • Danny Dawson 6:15 am on Friday, May 21, 2004 Permalink | Reply  

    As Pretty as an Airport 

    As I write this, I am sitting in FLL’s Terminal 1, Concourse B, Gate B3 waiting to board Flight 299 to LAX via MSY, departing at 7:50am EDT. I have boarding pass number 4 and a pretty blue preboarding pass because of my arm mom. I’m drinking a free can of orange juice, plugged into a free outlet in this column next to me, on the free “Guest” wireless network, waiting for my free flight across the country where I’ll reside with a great friend who has told me not to worry about the cost of food, or lodging, or transportation. And I’m blogging this.

    If networking isn’t important in today’s society, what the hell am I doing here?

    This is the cat’s pajamas.

    Sunrise at the airport

    Update: That was the best flight experience I ever had. Free Bloody Marys, a window seat that I never had to move from, and a row to myself for the second (longer) leg of the trip. When I got off the plane, I went to the bathroom to put my contacts in, walked to the carousel right as my luggage was disgorged from the depths, and walked outside right as Steve (Carlos’ brother) pulled up in front of me. We then grabbed some quick fast food and cruised the PCH and Sunset Blvd. Nice beginning to my trip so far.

     
    • Oi! 9:02 am on Monday, May 24, 2004 Permalink

      You lucky, lucky bastard. Have a good time

    • Danny Dawson 4:51 pm on Monday, May 24, 2004 Permalink

      I’m having a great time. Pictures of Jared’s wedding are up, and when I get the chance I’ll put up other pictures of the trip.

      I owe a lot to Carlos and his family for putting me up and being incredibly hospitable to me. I love you guys. Thank you.

    • Mom 7:56 pm on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 Permalink

      Danny, I’m so glad you went out to California and got to spend time with your friends. I know that is where your heart is. We miss you back here at home. Love ya, Mom

  • Danny Dawson 8:05 pm on Thursday, May 20, 2004 Permalink | Reply  

    California 

    Website workings will be on hold for awhile. I’ve got posts in draft form that I’ll post later. I’m going back out to California until at least next Tuesday, and I’m too excited to attempt concentration on this. Jared‘s getting married to Vicki on Sunday in LA, and then I’ll be driving up to the Bay Area with Carlos and Yuwynn for a few days before flying back in to FLL.

    I got my Robocop-appendage removed yesterday and posted the pictures today (the pins in my wrist are still there). I’m in a cast now for another week; when I get back from CA the cast is coming off and the pins are coming out. I’m looking forward to a painful recovery.

    In the meantime, though, I’m looking forward to finding my heart back in San Francisco.

     
    • michele 1:57 am on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 Permalink

      hello.

      things which should be written on your cast in white-out (blast this black cast nonsense!)

      “broke your arm? what a pisser!” (courtesy of erica)
      “urine a cast!” (courtesy of jason)

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