Fire on the Mountain

There was a fire up in the Hollywood Hills yesterday and you could see the large cloud of billowing smoke and helicopters from our offices. It looked a lot more serious than it actually was, at least according to the news reports I've read.

When I got home I walked my clothes over to the laundromat (high rents here don't guarantee a washer and dryer), and I passed a couple of guys getting into a brawl on the corner across from where I live. Several weeks ago I saw an older man get sideswiped by a car on that same corner. A couple of blocks down from there I once passed a homeless guy sleeping on the front porch of a very nice house.

For a nice area, this neighborhood is pretty eventful.

Also, when I was working in Westwood, I was in line at Whole Foods one afternoon and a man was escorted out by security guards, kicking and screaming the whole way. Apparently he had inappropriately touched a woman in Aisle 3.

As I deal with all of my personal stress, these events run in the background.