At Hollywood

The week is winding down and today Town Hall Week travels to Hollywood. I was a bit concerned at first because I got an email saying we were going to meet 15 minutes earlier than usual. 8:15? I'm barely dropping Johnnie off and getting on the freeway by 8 AM! Still if worse comes to worse, I'm not really speaking until almost near the end anyway. So I have at least that much of a buffer to get to Hollywood. You'd think it was the easiest place to get to. I mean I started working at QueensCare with my office across the street. That drive through Sunset Blvd was a daily occurrence. But now I'm coming all the way from the Southwest side of LA. Which means when I get off the freeway on Vermont, there would be where the most traffic was. And so I didn't. I got off on Normandie. And I was actually wondering whether that was a real good idea at first. When I did get to the Hollywood Health Center it was already close to 8:30. And when I zipped inside, they were just barely starting. Whew. I got there on time after all. Worries over. When the talks got going, it was clear that this group brought a lot of energy. They were engaged, they were interactive, and when I did MY talk, I felt energized actually. Nothing like a LIVE audience. I asked them if they knew who I was. The Filipino nurses said i was "the boss". Funny. I do think we're getting better at this as a group as we go along and clearly, today was our best Town Hall yet. I mean the Hollywood group can be a contentious group. But they were pretty good today. And so today being a Thursday and all, I did my IS Team Meeting right from the patio and cut it short after 15 minutes. Headed on home and made it by 10:30, walked the dog and then did MY EHR Team Meeting at 11 AM> Wam-bam-bam kind of day. But after that, by lunchtime, it was all over. And I could breathe out. Except... I had to make a stop at Target. I was missing 2 gift cards for tomorrow's Town Hall. After that, THEN I could breathe out. 

The rest of the afternoon I knew I would spend on the couch. If I had somehow given myself the impression that what I do is easy, then think again I say. Funny how I've spoken in public or led a presentation for quite a bit for the last 3 weeks now. I'm still thinking THAT in itself is practice for something bigger in the future. Something different. There is one more Town Hall tomorrow morning, and then there is the FRB Birthday party early afternoon. But there is also the opening day for the latest Marvel movie: The ETERNALS. And going to see it right after the FRB thing is definitely on the table. But this afternoon really the only thing I wanted to do was chill out until it was time to pick up Johnnie. When I did pick him up there his energy was a little more chill too. And when I suggested that we go to Mitsuwa to go get udon for dinner he simply went along with it without other suggestions. He did want to eat there though and to our surprise, they were actually checking for vaccinations. Oh yeah... that LA citywide ordinance took effect today didn't it? You now have to show proof of vaccination when doing practically anything indoors at a public facility. I can hear the conservatives with their outrage now. I didn't give a shit. I was vaccinated. All I had to do was get on the Cal website, dig up my QR code for my card and we were in. We were even given a green wristband (see pic). I proudly wore mine. HEY I'm VACCINATED you know!! Anyway we had a nice dinner at Mitsuwa Johnnie and I. He had his udon, I had my katsu. And to my surprise, he wanted to eat and actually liked a couple of pieces of tempura shrimp. I bought it for me but I was glad to give it to Johnnie considering the narrow range of food this kid eats! I even bought him some more at the grocery and to my next surprise he said he was saving a couple for his mom to eat later on when she picks him up. Awww. Lisa had better feel how fortunate she is to have her son think of her all the time like that. At least instead of whining over what did or didn't happen at her office today. As it was, Lisa called to pick him up around 8 PM. I had already given him his milk and he was practically bed ready. I guess this would be the latest trend on Thursdays is how late Lisa comes to pick him up. At least she wasn't bugging about something. It's her birthday coming up on Monday and I'm sure she's getting pinged about that. That's a good thing. I don't have to worry about her moods since people are paying her some attention.  And so she picked him up, I went back in and got ready for the last day of Town Hall week tomorrow...