Popping back up this morning from beautiful Southern California, we are officially in “Arnold Country” now. Got in late last night and of course, with the convention in full swingy, 7,000 wacky ESL eccentrics swarming over this small city, there were no rooms at the inn.
Drove around til we found a dive, with a “Vacancy” sign semi-lit outside. Not the same as the pictured one, but close enough. The ammenities were limited to a single Pepsi machine groaning forelornly under a stairwell. In the bathroom they had flimsy plastic cups actually wrapped in plastic bags. Mondo hygenic. Took our medicine dry and checked out before 7.
The Blogging presentation this morning was hectic but energized. ESL teachers are incapable of listening to anything without constantly asking questions. Since people were free to come and go during the session, we had to answer the question “What is a Blog” about 27 times. Here’s hoping our enthusiasm and personal magnatism compensated for lack of sleep and occasional incoherence.
Turns out the “complete” wi-fi access here at the Convention Center costs $5.95 an hour (Visa and Mastercard accepted, of course). Rumor has it that the city itself has some kind of free municiple wi-fi access downtown, which we will try to find later. As a dyed it the wool northeasterner, the Dowbrigade doubts Californian cities even HAVE downtowns…..
I love Long Beach! I have a website about Long Beach and California Beach Vacations. Come check it out some time!