Ice Escapades

My In-Laws took one of those all-expense paid guided tours to see the US ice skating championships in LA over the weekend. It was an interesting experience.

People on the west coast have probably seen the Carl’s Jr commercial with the obnoxious people singing "Happy Birthday" in a restaurant. The heavy-set girl singing opera in the ad was the tour guide for this trip.

The Dallas Doubletree has nothing on their hotel, the Wilshire GrandWhen they got to the hotel, they checked in, dropped their stuff in their room, and left. When they returned, their key didn’t work anymore. They went down to the desk to discover that the hotel had rented their room to someone else while they were gone. They luggage had been packed up and brought down to the desk. So they were given a different room. When they returned from dinner, their key didn’t work anymore. Once again, the hotel had rented out their room and packed up their bags. So they were given a different room. The air conditioning didn’t work, but the hotel couldn’t (or wouldn’t) move them to a different room. So my mother-in-law asks for a fan to be sent up. They brought a refrigerator instead. Other people in their groups had problems as well, including sewage backing up into their shower.

On they way home, California’s governor, Gray Davis, was on their flight on Southwest Airlines. Southwest is about the cheapest way to fly from LA to Sacramento, so I guess after Davis blew $20 billion he figured he’d better start saving money.