Morro Bay, California

Wednesday 21 July

Kia ora

Lower key day today, getting out of LA, under the landing jumbo jet one last time, through Santa Monica onto the Pacific Coast Highway

but, as usual, the Wet Coast turned on another misty, cant see too far, morning.

Took a long time to get to sleep last night, partly the body clock still out of phase

some of the others decided the best remedy was to go out and get sloshed, fall into an induced asleep, and problem fixed.

Not my room-mate.....,

on with the TV and 2 hours solid of congressional hearing on the US economy, Ben Bernanke, etc

and a tirade on how useless the Yanks were, a bunch of losers who run up debt and create nothing, and how the world's coming to a fiscal end, when that great nation China calls up its chips.
Dunno if it was chewing on that kept me awake, but when he stirrred for a pit stop at 1 am, I told him i didnt agree.
Had he noticed two stone throws down the street from the hotel a big building with "Boeing" writ across the top

had he not noticed we flew with 600 odd other souls for 12 hours in the jumbo that brought us here in its 30 year old airframe, safely

did he not notice that the email he bummed off me and my notebook, and the wifi and software that runs it, got created just over the hill in Silicon Valley

and what was it that he drooled over in Mainfreight's warehouse, those.........,

whoa there, american icon creations, chevy camaro's and shelby mustangs?

hell, he used to own a camaro years ago

and what has china created for the world?

other than fireworks, and a language thats as hard to learn as it is to write

jees.......

they even copied communism off that great human, Stalin.

Its this great melange of ethnicity that fascinates me about Nation America

and its youth, hardly any older than NZ.

There isnt any such thing as an "American", unlike african, arabian, or european races whatever

its the wellspring of creativity, proficient bilingualism the first step.

He's at it again tonight, my roomie

two hours of Bernanke in front of the congressional finance committee

America's 14 trillion down the gurgler

the next 12 months GDP wont equal that much

there's 2-3 trillion sitting unused in company balance sheets after refinancing at lower rates this year, and hanging onto improving profits

90 banks have gone under in the last 12 months

and today and yesterday, as opposed to last year, I couldnt find a gas station would accept my mastercard.

Here in Morro Bay....

the fish and chip shop down the road was still alive

a bar and grill looking over the bay, a cup of the nicest chowder I've had, a basket of shark n taties, a Coors Light, and all's well in JohnnyReb's world

but I worry about my mate

he's going to miss america in 6 weeks at this rate.

It was sheer hurly-burley in the traffic on the way up, freeway stuff at 100k's

with a diversion out of the mist to Solvang, a Danish community tourist burg, where I happily resisted lots of cakes and pastries

even went past Flag Is Up Farms CA spread, notable thoroughbred stud

then on for a quick gink at the Madonna Inn, on the Madonna family ranch, (no, not our singer lady)

and here we are in Morro Bay, a little fishing, boat marina, tourist, town

also looks like a coal-fired power station along the bay too

SanFran tomorrow.

Have to mention us NewZealanders seem even more recognised than last year

when you say NZ in response to the "your accent?" question

ah, kiwi........... is the response

Peter McKenzie told me Jemaime and Brett played to a packed 16,000 at Hollywood Bowl a month or so ago, so they would have helped the impression pioneered by Peter Jackson, Rachael Hunter, Scott Dixon, Team NZ, et al 

No pics, nothing funny enough, just a gang of bikies disappearing into the mist

and that garish Madonna Inn, but Rona and Ken got a shot of me in the gents, engaged at the Eiger face of the imitation waterfall that was the urinal!