One of the Many Reasons Why I Don't Go Out Much

Last night I picked up Jake for a little dinner and some quality bonding time. Before dinner, we were going to go by this townhouse to check out as a possible new domicile. We arrive and its completely dark but I decide to go up to it to see if we can see inside a bit. Jake, the scaredy cat, is against it of course and tells me that I shouldn't go because "he doesn't want me to get into trouble" but you know me, I go anyways and he tags along. I try to look inside but there is some tint on the window that restricts my view. I notice there isn't any tint on the top of the window so I pick Jake up to look into the townhouse to see how it looks inside. He peers in and says "Wow it looks really nice! Its a good size and has a pretty rug." "Rug? Don't you mean carpet?" I ask. "No, the rug next to the sofa." Jake replies. Holy shit- its not the empty apartment! So I put him down and tell him to do that only thing I can think of - run back to the car. We get inside and have a good laugh about it and head to dinner.

Now Jake has become a fan of places where you cook your own food, specifically Shabu Shabu. I really don't know what the thrill is for him but he likes it and its a blast. So we end up going to Korean BBQ and check how out how that is. With Shabu Shabu, you basically get a pot of water that you boil and cook your food in and with Korean BBQ, you sit at a table with a grill and cook your food that way. Let me say that Jake about lost his shit when he saw that it was a grill he was going to be doing the cooking on. After getting our food, we sit down and I really pay attention to the other patrons in the restaurant. In the booth behind Jake there are two women eating. The one who is facing me is wearing and eye patch over her eyebrow. Yes, you read that correctly. It was like she moved it to read something and never put it back. I found it terribly distracting and really wished that I had my camera to "take a fake picture of Jake but really take a picture of the weird person behind him" so I could share it but it was not to be. Now, behind me was a couple watching some basketball game and well, I dont know how to put this...they looked and acted like they were having some affair because everytime I looked over at them they were making out. And not even "a little kissy face" making out, I'm talking "tongue down each other's throat" making out - which prompted me to believe that the show Cheaters was going to walk through the front door at any time.

After going to Toys R Us, so Jake could redeem a gift card he received for his birthday, I dropped him off at his dad's for the night and headed home. If you look at the handy map below, purple is the route I usually take and red is the route I had to take due to some freeway construction.

I can roll with the punches of detours and pride myself on having a great sense of direction but for some reason all that failed on this trip home.

I was following some cars and a lot of cars started to turn left and so I assumed that they were going that way to get on the 710, which is where I needed to go. I made a mental note and followed the signs for the detour. I get to a major street and decided that I had had enough of the street driving and opted to get on the freeway. So I make a left and I drive...and drive...and I'm wondering 1) Where is the freeway and 2) Where the hell am I.

I look up in one of the intersections to get the street name and have two thoughts rather simutaneously 1) Holy Shit-I'm in Compton! and 2) My, Compton is not at all what I thought it would look like, because I was near a strip mall and I guess City Hall. When I got the Metro Blue Line, I figured that the best thing for me was to turn my ass around and get back on the street I was on and follow the signs to the 105. And thats exactly what I did.

As I was driving, I kind of laughed at myself for the 2nd reaction to being in Compton and thought how upsetting it must be to always get categorized as this haven for gang bangers and crime. Driving up Long Beach Blvd, I see a helicopter with a spotlight flying around. I notice that its coming towards me and getting lower. I finally get up to the area where its searching and see not one or two police cars but five cars blocking five different streets as a perimeter for the search. Always speaking too soon I guess.