In LA, but no poker

Well, I'm finally in Los Angeles. What a trip. The Continental flight was great. In fact, the new Guayaquil International lobby is very nice. The new Olmedo Passenger Terminal is well done, attractive and very comfortable. It will be an istallation Guayaquil and Ecuador can be proud of.

Anyway, It was one of the newer, more comfortable planes, a Boeng 767. Plus it was only about 1/4 full, so I had all three seats in my row to myself. I did my normal - can't-sleep-on-the-plane so I was getting pretty dozy when we landed about 9:30. But the customs and stuff went very smooth, since there weren't any lines to speak of at this time of the morning. I hustled over to my gate for my LA connection and got there in lots of time, but I found the Lima-Houston flight, which was the originating flight for my LA leg, was late. No worry about too short of a layover today.

The flight finally came in and we loaded up. Then the fun began. After we settled and were ready, I noticed we were sitting, waiting to go, but nothing was happening. Several times they announced "We can't leave until all passengers are seated with their safety belts fastened and all seats and tray-tables in their upright and locked position." After the fourth time, you'd think we'd understand that. Then they announced we needed to get our personal belongings and leave the plane!

It seems that when the tug attached itself to our plane to push it back the tow bar broke and they were afraid that there might have been some damage to the landing gear. They weren't sure, but to be sure and to follow FAA guidelines they needed the passengers off the plane so they could run the checks. Well, after about 90 minutes we were back on the plane and winging our way West. It was like the earlier flight. It was sparsely passengered and again I had a row of three seats all to myself. I finally managed an hour's sleep, laying across the three seats. It was after one when I emerged from the airport, with only 1 hour of sleep in the last 20, so I was really happy nothing was scheduled for Sunday.

So I checked into a hotel near the airport, the Rennaissance which is one of my favorites. I hit Burger King and went to my room and turned on football. I fell asleep almost immediately and didn't wake up until the room alarm went off at 5:00 AM. I'm still a bit punch-drunk but I feel much better. I'm going to take my time this morning, get cleaned up, have some coffee and breakfast before I head to get my meetings and errands done.

So, unfortunately, no poker last night. After a couple meetings I head to Palm Springs, so I'll be sitting either at the Casino Morongo or Agua Caliente poker rooms tonite for some lengthy sessions.

I'll update you then?

Hot decks and loose tables!