Can I take your order?

So on my way home today, my dad and I decided to stop at BJ's for dinner. Curbside takeout really makes it easy to be lazy while they make my pizza. Halfway into the twenty minute wait though, we realize we forgot our wallets at home! Although dinner was a little later, it was still good!

If the shoe fits. . .

I found the shop a couple of weeks ago. "Shoe repair and alterations" on Old River School Road. It was time to repair the items that have taken up space in my "to-be-repaired pile" in my closet. It seems like a lost endeavor to get shoes repaired in our of use-and-replace world.

The shop has a "hole-in-the-wall" feel. There's a big, heavy-duty sewing machine, spools of thread, and customers' bagged shoes lined up. But, what caught my attention were the hanging wooden shoe stretchers. They were so interesting, worn with use, like they have a history. What stories could they tell?

Another new place to eat in Downey

Tacos El Gavalan opened last week in the old Mega Shoe Factory building on the corner of Florence and Paramount. According to their Facebook page, they were so busy on the first day that they had to limit their menu in order to keep the wait to an acceptable length. Sounds like the perfect place for a late-night taco — they promise to stay open "as late as our last customer that comes in."

Progress at Porto's Bakery

The last time I walked past the Porto's Bakery construction site (see my January 11th post), the foundation was barely there. Now the building has two stories, with walls and stairs and windows. These lights at the end of the work day reminded me of the Motel 6 ad, "We'll leave the lights on for you."

One man's junk is another man's treasure

Perhaps it was a good thing for my already cluttered life that I missed the garage sale, but it was funny to me to come across the "everything free" signs with just one chair left behind.

I love the idea that nothing is truly junk or trash. Unfortunately, this belief makes it hard for me to actually throw something away. I always think I can find another use for it.  And you never know when that one very thing will come in handy. On second thought, maybe I should have taken the chair. . .

At the car wash

Driving home this evening, I saw a fire truck parked in Papa John's Car Wash. This struck me as funny, and by the time I made my U-turn and got back, a second truck was parked nearby. I asked the firemen, "Are you going to get your trucks washed?" "No," he said, "the city makes us wash our own trucks. We're going across the street to get some pizza at Pina's Pizza House."

No bad press here

Well, Pam, Joan, Erinna and I went to Acapulco tonight as the start of our visits to all the different restaurants. I forgot how good the food is there. I had the steak fajitas and couldn't stop eating even after I was full. We all had a little more of a waddle to our step while walking out.

Now open!

Just another reminder that there are way too many restaurants I haven't checked out in my own city.