November 2016 – The Waiting Room Project

Parking Violations Bureau

Waiting_select_398 — Parking Violations Bureau, West Los Angeles. February 2016

I met a friend in Century City to pick up a camera I was borrowing from him. With my car idling at the curb outside the Fox Studios parking structure, a very unpleasant Parking Enforcement dude gave me a ticket for parking in a red zone. I went to this office to contest the ticket as by definition I wasn’t parking, but standing, because 1.) the car was still running, and 2.) I was actively loading the equipment into the trunk of my car. I got an affidavit from my friend to this effect, went online to research the exact wording of the ordinances, and showed up with my sheaf of paperwork and supreme confidence I could convince the judge to reverse the citation.

Through that door are the offices of the examiners. They aren’t judges, but civil employees who interpret the law. Mine was very friendly, listened to my plea politely, and collected my evidence. About two weeks later, I got the letter that denied my claim on the grounds that even though the car was running and I was present, the fact that I had waited for him to walk from the structure to my car constituted parking, and I had to pay the fine.

If I had said he was waiting for me, and I pulled over to pick up the camera, I probably would have beat the ticket.

They Also Serve Who Lie and Wait

Commerce, Uncategorized

Waiting_select_334 — Bank of America, Pacific Palisades. April 2015

Saw this patient little doggy waiting for his person in the Bank of America last year. I was taking care of some old banking business and couldn’t resist. I think dogs spend a lot of their time waiting, but not in the self-aware kind in which humans wait. I don’t think they know what they are waiting for, or that they are even waiting. Like a cat who crouches under a bush waiting for a bird to land, they are simply doing. What do you think?

Back at Dr. Chen’s

Doctor's Office, Uncategorized

Dr. Chen, Santa Monica. September 2015

Dr. Chen’s, Santa Monica. February 2016

I have been wearing glasses since the 5th grade, and have been through the developing technology of contact lenses for the past 50 years. I now have extended wear disposable contacts which I love. Contrary to Dr. Chen’s recommendation and in line with the manufacturer’s, I often sleep with them in place. Dr. C wants me to take them out every night, something I did for years and years. It is a mild inconvenience which I don’t wish to impose upon myself. We have reached a compromise in that I do remove them a couple of times a week to give my eyes a little more oxygen, and have switched to a very aggressive hydrogen peroxide cleaner that bubbles and fizzes away the gunk.

I usually visit her once a year in September for my annual check up. That’s when I snapped the first photo. Clearly, this woman has had her fill of waiting for the day.

In February of this year, I developed a strange bump on one of my eyes, and off to Dr. Chen I went. It was sun damage caused by years of outdoor exposure. After some antibiotic drops and a break from my contact lenses, it subsided. While I was waiting for her, I took the second picture of a new patient filling out the first visit paperwork.