emptyroom – Page 3 – The Waiting Room Project

Quality Tire and Brake

Quality Tire, Culver City. May 2013

Quality Tire, Culver City. August 2014

Finding a good auto mechanic is a blessing. We discovered Isaac at Quality Tire in Culver City through our synagogue, The Marina Shul. He is Israeli, a fast talker and honest. He doesn’t actually do the work, but he has a couple of great mechanics who know their stuff. He has been servicing our autos for more than five years now, and always gives us a fair price and stands by his work. The irony is that he doesn’t sell many tires in spite of the name. Nearby Costco has a better selection and cheaper, and in fact, he usually recommends his customers go there. He’ll do the alignment once your car has its new shoes.

There is a curious bleakness about all automotive service waiting areas, and Isaac’s is no exception. It is unique in that is it an expression of his personality, with posters of Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein, Clint Eastwood, and the Beatles adorning the walls, and stacks of National Geographic, Rolling Stone, and Business magazines piled on the credenza. The TV is always tuned to an Israeli news station, an old movie or a soccer game. The couches are vastly uncomfortable, but if I come at lunch time, he will order a Pitfire pizza and a salad for me from across the street. Come on Friday afternoon, and there might be a little shot of tequila or arak on offer. He is within walking distance from my house, and I have made the trip on foot many times, although he will drive me home if I wish. All in all, a very satisfactory place to take our cars to be fixed.

A Symmetry of Chairs

Doctor's Office, Waiting for Jake

Waiting_select_053 — Doctor’s Office, Pacific Palisades. May 2013

This is the waiting room of the doctor who Jake was seeing, down the hall from the previous post. Aside from my new-found preoccupation with waiting rooms, the absolute symmetry of this room demanded a photo. Since I was the only one in the room, I had the luxury of taking several pictures until I achieved the perfect framing. The room was brightly lit and the chairs were uncomfortable. I guess this doctor had better time management so his patients wouldn’t have to wait too long. Good thing. They were so uncomfortable, I got up and wandered the halls discovering the photo in the previous post. They could go as a set, I suppose.

Pediatrician’s Office

Doctor's Office, Waiting for Jake

Waiting_select_052 — Doctor’s Office, Pacific Palisades. May 2013

Waiting with children poses unique challenges. As a rule, they don’t really want to wait for anything; their mantra is usually ‘now’. Most certainly they don’t want to wait for the doctor who may poke them and prod them, put a flat piece of wood in their mouths and make them say “aaahh”, or even worse, stick them with a sharp needle. This well-mannered office provides a child-sized table with some reading material and some games to keep the kiddies occupied. While Jake was in with a new doctor in the office down the hall, I kept myself busy checking out all the other offices in the building. This one was right next door, and seemed worthy of a photo.

USC in Beverly Hills

Doctor's Office, Waiting for Jake

USC Medical Office, Beverly Hills. March 2013

USC Medical Office, Beverly Hills. May 2013

This is the waiting room of the doctor who performed the spinal injections for Jake. The actual procedure happened at the downtown hospital, but we went to visit the doc here in the fashionable USC medical building on Wilshire in Beverly Hills. Or rather on the edge of Los Angeles that abuts Beverly Hills. Two views of the same office, one looking east one looking west. The left-hand photo is the east view, with the large window on the right. It was part of the group of the first photos as I was finding my way with the concept. I particularly liked the light and the ‘living room’ feel of this area. The frosted glass door in the right-hand west view photo led into the offices proper. What was unusual is that every time we visited there was never anyone else in the waiting room.

Back to UCLA

Doctor's Office, Waiting for Jake

Waiting_select_034 — UCLA Medical Office, Santa Monica. May 2013

This is the waiting room at the UCLA Santa Monica medical center pictured in the 12 Chairs post. This room was so large, it had 4 or 5 different areas with different decors and furnishings in the same room. There was something about the shapes and arrangement of these chairs that inspired me to shoot a second photo of the same room two months apart. There was an area with a coffee and tea maker, microwave oven, and a soda machine; I guess the powers that be at UCLA knew you might have to camp out for a while when they set up the room. At other times when we visited, there were families with children picnicking at the tables, people working on computers, doing their homework, a regular mecca of activity. This was in the “empty room” phase so I had to work to get a picture without people. We would visit a few more times before Jake decided to abandon the UCLA system in favor of USC. As a former Bruin UES elementary student, I was aghast, but he preferred the doctor.

USC Downtown

Medical, Waiting for Jake

USC Medical Center, Downtown LA. April 2013

This is where Jake received treatments for his back. The USC Spine Center east of Downtown LA. We were there for his first treatment early in the morning of April 15. There wasn’t a soul in the huge waiting room. It was kinda eerie. While he was getting treated with an injection to his spine, I took these photos and several more. There are dozens of little waiting areas scattered throughout hospital along with larger rooms. When you go to USC, plan to wait for a while, wherever you are. If you look closely at the TV on the wall, notice it is reporting on the Boston Marathon bombing that had happened just hours earlier. Odd how one can capture a bit of history inadvertently. We went back several times for more treatments, but the waiting area was always teeming with people. In these photos, the space waits expectantly for the rush of people that will fill it in just a few moments.

Auto Repair

Automotive

Buerge Chrysler, West Los Angeles. April 2013

Who doesn’t love getting their car fixed? These three shots were taken at a Chrysler dealership that is no longer there. We took T.’s 300 to have a new radiator installed. The old one blew out on the freeway, but with our extended service contract, it was all covered. It is a great car, aside from the persistent rattles in the dashboard, great for touring. We bought it in 2005 after renting one for two summer’s worth of family vacations on Kauai. We had a chance to really put it through its paces, and we liked the car, so when it came time to replace her Acura Legend, the Chrysler was a natural choice. We opted for the V-8 hemi. Yeah, I know, not fuel efficient, but what a blast to drive. While waiting for the service rep, I discovered several waiting areas. I guess Buerge Chrysler-Ford expected that you would be waiting a while for your car, no matter where you were on the lot. Like most car dealers, they have coffee and drinks for you and plenty of reading material in the waiting room. They provided a rental car for the two days it took, and the repair went off without a hitch. She still has the car. 11 years old and it looks and drives like new.

Two Chairs

Doctor's Office

Waiting_select_015 — Doctor’s Office, Santa Monica. April 2013

This is one of my personal favorites. Something about the minimalist decor and the expectant angle of the chairs. Taken during the first month of the project. Another doctor’s office, this time my cardiologist for a regular check-up. I have been coming here since before my bypass surgery nearly 15 years ago. That adventure is a story unto itself, suffice to say the operation was a success. Dr. Fallon is one of the best in town, and has referred us to many extraordinary doctors over the years. Both my wife and I literally owe our lives to her.

Hsien Ma

Doctor's Office

Waiting_select_010 — Acupuncturist’s Office, Marina Del Rey. April 2013

Over the years I have sought acupuncture treatment for a variety of ailments. While not a waiting room per se, this chair in the doctor’s office is specifically for a patient to wait in while the doctor is with another patient. The office has a tranquil atmosphere, each treatment always started with a cup of tea, and Dr. Hsien has a very calming and reassuring air. You can see the doctor’s desk in the corner with another chair for the patient to sit in while talking to the doctor. This chair is only for waiting. To the left of the chair is a doorway with a beaded curtain that leads to the treatment area. I was getting treated for hip and back issues. At the time Jake was living at home and we both saw the doctor once or twice a week for many of the same things. Like father, like son. Jake primarily for his back pain and to help with anxiety. In addition to the traditional needles and hot cupping, Dr. Hsien would attach electric wires to the needles for deep muscle stimulation. I had never experienced anything like it before. Overall, his treatments were very effective, we always emerged calmer and more relaxed. While I no longer see Dr. Hsien, he is still there in his small two-room office in the Marina.

Empress Pavilion

Dining

Waiting_select_007 — Empress Pavilion, Downtown. April 3, 2013

This is the waiting area next to the bar at the Empress Pavilion, what was once our go-to Dim Sum restaurant. We would often go there with Jake on a Sunday for lunch. It is a huge place with a cavernous dining room that was packed with noisy diners nearly every day. On a busy Sunday, you might wait an hour for your table. Red-jacketed ladies pushed steaming carts, laden with towers of gleaming silver steamers filled with translucent dumplings, to and fro between the tables. Har Gow, Chicken with Pine Nuts, Gai Bao, Rice Noodle with Fish, Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf, Chicken Pies, Fun Quor, these were some of our favorites. Many of our best times with Jake revolved around food and eating.

In our family, food is more than just something to eat. It is a creative expression, an act of love. We cooked with Jake from the earliest age, and there are some wonderful stories that involve Jake and the kitchen. He ended up going to culinary school and worked in some of the best restaurants in Venice for a while. Sadly, the Empress closed a couple of years ago due to rising overhead. It has re-opened recently but is only a shadow of its former glory. Its closing propelled us on a quest to find a replacement. We traversed the LA area from Redondo Beach to the San Gabriel Valley, and finally found our new favorite, Ocean Seafood right down the street from the Empress in downtown L.A.