Happy Palindrome Day
Today is 01-02-2010, which are the same numbers forwards as they are in reverse, so Happy Palindrome Day, at least here in the United States. Most of the world will celebrate it on 1st February, 2010.
So I find myself back in Orange County, as the gateway sign along the 5 in Buena Park (pictured) let the whole world know, though something’s very different about today. The traffic is still rather light, only taking me roughly 30 minutes to get to Anaheim. Oh yeah, I almost found myself turning on the air conditioner. Yep, it was in the upper 70s today. Ah…
Back On The Train Gang
I was back for the Great Train Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center – a place I’ll get to see a lot of this month. I couldn’t muster the ability to get up early to help set up at 7 a.m. and instead got there at about 1 p.m. But when I ran into one of my fellow helpers at the Wig-Wag Trains booth, he told me that he showed up at 7 a.m. and wasn’t needed. So I was glad to get the extra sleep. I only spent $40 at the show, buying a couple model buildings, a piggyback flatcar and a bunch of trailer van kits for my N-scale layout. Actually, stupid me, I was supposed to spend $30, but a miscalculation from the booth salesman told me it was $40 and without thinking about it I agreed to the price, thinking it was a bargain anyway (it still was, but dang, that’s $10 right there…).
The rest of the time was enjoying the show, looking at the train layouts on display. There were train layouts of different scale sizes, there were elderly greying men, there were families with children, and there were train enthusiasts of various ethnicities and all ages in between there. Comforting to know for a hobby which is demographically dominated by white men over 50. But then again, this is a Southern California crowd, and we take all kinds here.
I did get to meet a fellow named John (pictured) from Riverside, who responded to my post on an Internet forum for N-scale model railroaders, who told me his modular club layout, the N-Land Pacific modular railroad club. It was my first time meeting someone from those forums in person, which was cool. I normally have problems matching names with faces with people I initially meet, but this dude bore a resemblance to another John – John Travolta – so it was easy to remember.
After the show I headed down Harbor Blvd and had me a Lee’s Sandwiches banh mi in nearby Garden Grove. It’s cheap, it’s quick, and my whole meal cost me less than $5…
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