Fasolo, Mike: UNEMPLOYED: January 2006

Well, as some of you know, Saturday was my birthday. Yep. I made it through another year. My girlfriend, Karen...
...who is making her debut on the blog today, whisked me away to central California to visit Hearst Castle!

It's an awesome place to visit. If you haven't been I highly recommend you drop what you're doing and drive out to San Simeon to see it or jump online and plan a trip sometime in the near future. W.R. Hearst had more money then he knew what to do with and more land than he could possibly use so he decided to build a little something for he and his "camping" guests.

His place includes a pool which is pretty much the envy of...well...anyone who ever wanted a pool. And, in case you were wondering, yes, those are actual Roman Columns...from Rome...from Roman times. Unfortunately they won't let anyone swim in the pool on the tour.

This is a view from one of the many viewpoints all over the estate.
And when you have about 270,000 acres you get some pretty good views.

Hearst's dining room was bigger than my two bedroom apartment. The candle holders on the table were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and some of the chairs were over 400 years old!

Ahhhh...crap!! Well, Blogger has just decided that I'm not allowed to post any more pictures today. Bastards!

So I will leave things at that. Maybe tomorrow I will be able to get some more pictures up!

Laters!

For those of you who know me, you know that I arrived in California on June 1, 2004. I trecked across the country from Tuxedo, NY in my 2000 Red Chevy Blazer.

Time passed as time tends to do and while I intended to get my vehicle registered in the state of California things always seemed to get in the way - mostly sleep and sitting around the house doing nothing and watching tv - you know, the usual things.

So now it's January 2006 and I finally decided to take my long overdue trip to the DMV and get my car registered. I went to the DMV at Hollywood & Vine in Hollywood.

I'm guessing that all of you have been to a DMV at some point. Perhaps you've only been to the ones in your home states or perhaps you've traveled around the world and seen every DMV there is. I've been to a few of them and let me tell you there's NO DIFFERENCE anywhere you go. There's just lots of people standing around waiting and waiting and waiting.

I thought making an appointment would make a difference...and it did in a very small way. Instead of immediately standing in line when I got there, I went on my own line and stood there...because there was no one sitting at the appointment desk. We were all being helped by the same lady.

So I get all my paperwork and they tell me to park my car in the parking lot behind the building. What they don't tell me is that the lot behind the building is a pay lot and there's only 2 spaces reserved for DMV Inspection cars. But, in a stroke of luck, one space was free! I pulled in and waited for the Inspector. Now, what the inspector does is look at your car. That's it. They look at your car. They write down all the same information you write down on your Registration form but they sign theirs so I guess that makes it official. Once that was done I figured I'd just run back into the DMV get things stapled and signed and all that jazz then leave. And I certainly wasn't about to pay to park my car so I pulled across the street, quickly threw some money in the meter and ran back to the DMV...where I waited on line only for them to give me a number and tell me to take a seat!

Then I sit and wait for over an hour (yes, making the appointment sure helped). They finally call my number, I get all my paperwork taken care of, they make me pay an exorbitant amount of money and I'm finally done! I walk out of the DMV super late for work but I finally have my car registered in the state of California. I can legally drive now!

I stroll out to my car with a big smile on my face. But that smile soon drops off as I see this.
Great. Apparently the meter I was parked at was busted (I think the parking lot guy did it after I left cause I wouldn't pay him the $6 to park). So now I owe even more money.

Good old California!

Well, ladies and gentleman, it's January 1, 2006! The start of a brand spanking new year. So I figured I'd jump on and start a brand spanking new post for the blog. And guess where I'm writing it from? HAWAII!!

Yep. That's right. Hawaii! The land of sun, sand, surf and Don Ho. That's me out on the beach in front of the house some friends and I rented this year to ring in 2006. This is the actual house.

Let me tell you...if you ever get a chance to visit Hawaii and stay at a house right on the beach...DO NOT PASS UP THE OPPORTUNITY! It's unbelievable. In fact, I may never leave.

Here's a rundown of the trip so far. The plane trip was long. That's about all I have to say about that. The house is spectacular - 7 bedrooms, 2 floors, fully equiped kitchen, grill, jacuzzi, ping pong table, etc. And if I haven't mentioned it already, it's right on the beach. The waves roll into shore and their lovely sound wakes us up and puts us to sleep each night. Mmmmmm. Sooooo soothing.

I went to see Pearl Harbor (but couldn't get in). Saw the palace of the Hawaiian Kings and Queens.

Went swimming at a beach in Waikiki.

Went for numerous walks along the beaches and saw some fantabulous sunsets.

Plus there was lots of laying around and relaxing. Oh, and tonight I'm going to a Luau. Can't post any pictures of that cause I haven't been there yet. But if I get some good ones of fire breathers and dead pigs I'll be sure to get them up as soon as I can.

Anyway, that's about all I have time for now. I'm off to do more sitting around and relaxing to the sound of waves lapping up on the shore.

Happy New Year everyone!