Another day in Los Angeles, a new library card and the complicated visa to France

21/7 - I made the trek to Los Angeles yesterday to take the test for the Public Information Officer position with the Los Angeles Community College District. The office was in the heart of downtown LA, which would be a cool place to work.

This was my first time in the heart of downtown Los Angeles among the skyscrapers of the vast, smoggy metropolis. And just like every other time I find myself walking near buildings this huge, I found myself in awe. I'm a city kid, but not like this.

Since a school within the district will enjoy its 50th anniversary in January, the 2.5-hour test consisted of us writing two press releases about the event, writing a script for a video that would target high school students interested in attending that school and outlining the marketing and promotional plan for the anniversary celebration. I honestly have no idea how I did, but I'm glad to have finished. The first 30 seconds or so, my mind exploded and was empty of ideas. But, ideas began sprouting up here and there, and eventually the exercise became fun.

There were nine other people taking the test, all of whom were wearing nice clothes. And then there I was in a T-shirt with sweaty pits, denim jeans with dust and dirt from a recent hike and dirty Chuck Taylors. This is because, upon my early arrival to LA, I got the sudden and spontaneous idea to hike the hills near the giant and iconic Hollywood sign. I ended up at the Griffith Observatory after a two-mile round-trip hike, dripping with sweat but energized from going into the little amount of nature found in a cement jungle.

After taking the test, I ended up in the downtown library, another unplanned event. I exited the library with a library card and several beginning French language lessons on CD so I could be productive while battling traffic on my way out of LA. It was a brilliant yet spontaneous idea. That library is amazing, one that puts the one in Porterville to complete shame. There are more than six floors of knowledge there, though I didn't immediately find a couple of the books on the recommended reading list for the FSO test in October.

It was a short trip to one of the United States' greatest cities, but the day was filled with unplanned joys which makes for a great story.

In other news, it appears securing a long-stay visa for France will not be as straightforward as I thought. I need to apply in person at the LA consulate, which will be a month from now. Along with the application form, passport, money and photos, I will need what sounds like an invitation letter from my friend in Cherbourg, bank statements from the past two months, traveler insurance, and a letter promising I won't engage in any commercial or economic activity. I'm wondering how that will affect my online job with Bleacher Report.

And speaking of Bleacher Report, I learned earlier this week that the company will not pay me through a French bank account because of different tax laws and liability reasons. I'm thinking I will just keep my American bank account and use a credit card while over there.

All of this seems overwhelming, but I want to do this right. I've sent an email with all of my questions to the consulate which should be answered within three business days. I think everything will work out, though the process just got a bit more complicated. No worries. I enjoy the challenge.

The eve of Chicago, a sunrise and a herd of cattle

22/3 - It has been a few weeks since I last wrote anything for the blog, but there hasn't been a shortage of funny and memorable stories.

These include hiking to the midpoint of a large hill that overlooks Porterville in the evening with the sun setting, and on the way down getting confronted by a herd of cattle just curious about a person in their pasture. But at the time I thought the cows were coming to attack, so you can imagine the adrenaline I felt.

I recently went to the wedding of Sara, one of my drinking buddies, above Springville. The location was on a ranch next to the Tule River and on the base of a large hill, just outside the Sequoia National Forest. She looked very happy to be getting married, and she and Wes skipped away (literally) after being declared husband and wife. Sara was then grateful to spend a couple of minutes with me, someone she's familiar with after meeting countless unknown relatives and friends of Wes' side of the family. I even had the responsibility of working the pinata thrust upon my shoulders.

On Friday after I finished a 5:30 a.m. CrossFit workout, I decided to hike Louis Hill before sunrise. This hill is on the edge of Porterville and just a few miles from my house. It's not a long hike, but it's straight up with no break. On a clear day, one can see the whole Valley, even the mountains that border Bakersfield.

When I reached the top I had about 15 minutes before the sun reached the summit of the mountains to the east. The rays of the approaching sun grew more and more pronounced. And when the sun finally did peak over the mountains, it was like the light of a subway train getting closer and closer to the platform. While getting a look at the day's first golden light, I felt a chill quite unrelated to the cool, gentle breeze on top of the hill. Unfortunately, I did not have a camera with me. This was one of those simple pleasures in life, and it made me giggle to myself because it was such an awesome experience. It's also one of those things we don't see very often, oddly enough, even though it happens every day.

But most importantly, I'm two days away from my trip to Chicago. Suddenly, the prospect of going seems a lot more real now than it did two days ago, but I'm very excited to go. You can't go wrong with traveling!

One of the biggest hurdles for me was figuring out how I'd get to Los Angeles for my flight, which leaves at 11 a.m. on Thursday. There are no buses at that time, and I couldn't find a friend who could watch my car and give me a ride to the airport. It will also cost $56 to park my car at the Hilton LAX for three days. But I solved my own problem this morning.

I will drive to Los Angeles on my own and leave the car with FlightCar, a company that offers me free parking if I list my own car to be rented out by other people during my trip. If it gets rented, I will get paid around $70, the car will be washed and its oil changed. The idea of someone else driving my car sounded blasphemous at first, but it seems like a good deal. It sounds cheap, stress-free and profitable on my part, so I'm going to give that a try.

23/3 - It's the eve of my trip to Chicago, and I'm getting excited again. That anxious, giddy feeling of embarking on a trip to a new place is in full effect, and I've been rushing around getting things prepared. The prospect of fresh travel has given me a burst of purpose.

This morning I hiked to the top of Louis Hill again, but this time with a GoPro camera. I made it up the hill in great time, only stopping once, but the sun rose over the mountains to the east before I had gotten to the very top. I did get video footage of it, and it was beautiful. It was a great way to wake up and start the day. I was disappointed, however, that the full moon had disappeared completely into the west before I had a chance to capture it on film. I will just have to wake up earlier in a month.

So ask yourself: When was the last time you watched a sunrise?

Finally, a shoutout to Sara, my drinking buddy who got married over the weekend. As a wedding gift, she and her husband were given flights to Lucern, Switzerland. Since she has never seriously been out of the state of California, this will be the biggest adventure of her life. I am stoked for her! While we had a drink yesterday, she had that cute, childlike grin on her face; I could tell she was bursting with excitement. I'm excited for her because she'll get to do something she wanted to do in the first place: travel. And Lucern is in an incredible area. It's a city that borders a lake which is surrounded by the Swiss Alps.