9 - Happy 80th Birthday, Pop !! - Twee Pwocent

The title of this blog is an inside joke known only to Gail and Voytek, my old colleagues from the print shop that I used to work at in LA.  I asked Gail if she would be willing to meet me in DTLA at the Intercontinental Hotel on the 70th floor.  She asked if she could bring Voytek.  That was a crazy question, I thought.  I would have been rather bummed if he didn't come along.  I just didn't know that he was still in town.  They both came and I was thrilled.  

I left at about 9 in the morning from my parent's house.  My mom drove me to the train station in Oceanside and nearly 3 hours later I was getting off of the metro right in front of the hotel.  Gail and Voytek were chugging along on foot from the bus stop that they got off at.  The main frustration of it all, is that it was somewhere around 100° F / 37° C

It didn't go as I had planned.  When Carlos took me to the hotel back in February, it was at the end of sunset.  The lobby had all kinds of colorful lighting, and the atmosphere was very swank.  The lights all over the city could be seen for a very special effect.   But here it was at 2 in the afternoon and somewhat hazy.  The bar didn't open until 4.   So, we went to California Kitchen just across the street from the hotel and got a pizza and we talked up a storm.  It has been years since I have seen Gail and even longer since I have seen Voytek.  To my surprise, they had brought me a b-day present.  It was either a late or early birthday gift, but any time is the right time to receive a b-day gift.  Thank you, Gail and Voytek!  It's a beautiful fancy leather wallet.  If only I had some cash to put in it.  We had great fun.  

When we were finished with the pizza, we went back to the lobby on the 70th floor and got a colorful cocktail to match our clothing and continued on with our visit.  We had so much to catch up on.  But eventually we all had to get back on public transport before pumpkin time.

Side note:

On the ground floor is the front door to the skyscraper and the back door to the parking lot.  I didn't know if Gail and Voytek were coming by metro or by car (they came by bus) so I was luckily able to sit and wait between both sets of doors in the foyer and keep an eye out for their arrival.  Just off to the side was the "powered room" which I really needed to use.  This work of art was just before the restroom doors.

Above - is a close up of what is on the entire huge wall - below