Town Hall Week Day 2 Echo Park

And so today is Day 2 of Town Hall Week and I will say that I have a different appreciation for this event than I did prior to yesterday. At first I thought this was a huge waste of time. And certainly a lot of effort to do on our parts (us leaders participating anyway). Not that I had a huge role... I only speak for 5 minutes anyway. Try to sneak a laugh or two out of these guys. Me being the ham that I am <something I do need to acknowledge that I do... the attention thing> Still I hadn't driven this much already in more than a year and it's only Day 2!!! Not to mention I hadn't worn my dress blues in that time as well. Gonna have a few more things to wash this week I guess. Still I lollygagged to get there this morning and didn't realize it started at 8:30... but I still got there in time, Starbucks in hand. And like yesterday, it turned out ok pretty much. They asked different questions this time and I guess THAT is the point. Every health center has its own vibe, and has its own issues and concerns. The personality of this health center is that they eat a lot and that the providers are very vocal and ask lots of questions. That's a good thing I think. Today I hung out after the Town Hall (a) to take pictures since I wasn't in the picture yesterday and (b) because the Business Continuity meeting started right after the Town Hall and so we all went to the Conference Room to participate. And so I got home this morning even later than yesterday. Close to 11:30 already since there was so much traffic on the 10 freeway heading west. Claire was chillin' when I got home so that was a good thing. And like yesterday we immediately headed out so she can poop and pee and roll around the grass outside. I had pretty good sleep last night so I was not nearly as tired as I was yesterday. So this time I took advantage of having more energy and walked to El Pollo Loco for lunch and had a double chicken tostada salad. Killed two birds with one stone with that one... got me some food AND tacked on almost 5000 steps. Not going to be a problem finishing with the routine 11000 steps today.

Which I thought about only because tonight, Eloisa lined up a dinner with all the leaders that participated in the Town Hall. Since at least 3 people are spending the week at hotels downtown, I think she thought she had to at least get everyone together once. And that was ok. The HUGE surprise was the place someone picked. Bacari West Adams. I saw the address and thought it seemed familiar. On Google Maps it pointed to 23rd and Hoover near USC. And then it hit me. This was where that Italian restaurant used to be that Lisa and I used to go to WAY BACK IN THE DAY when we were first dating. When she was barely out of dental school. It used to be one of our favorite places. We frequented the place so much we got to know the owner and we were even invited to the wedding of their son since we were such a "cute couple" back then. Man is that 15 years ago? It was hard not to acknowledge the emotional tug of this location even as I thought about how Lisa and Johnnie are doing in Maui today. And as it was we did have a nice sit-down dinner all of us. It was mostly tapas and I myself had chicken tacos and mac and cheese. But I was surely very full afterwards since I tried pretty much something from someone else's plate. It was good to try to get to know my team on a other-than-work basis. I mean there is no substitution for creating relationships in-person and when you are having a meal with someone. Bonds got forged when we would have lunch at the FRB. Every day. This was a one-time thing. But I thought it was a good thing. Anyway it was still barely 8:30 when I got home and immediately I thought about Claire and how she was doing. We took a nice walk outside before going to be that's how she was doing. And by then I was already at 11,000+ steps. Thank you for the dinner Eloisa. I was glad I came.