The Docks

Here we are at the Port of Los Angeles. These docks are for American President Lines (note "APL" on many of the containers, when you click on the picture).

It was a slow day for some reason - all those trucks are usually flying around moving the containers from the ships to the yard. Then the containers are placed onto rail cars or other trucks for transport offsite (these trucks never leave the yard - they just move the containers around).

Interesting note: Each container has a transponder, and can be tracked in real time as it moves from place to place around the yard.  The highest object in this photo is one of the antennae.

Another interesting note...  If you see the term "intermodal transport" you're looking at it.  Intermodal means you can take the very same container and put it on three modes - a boat, a rail car, or a truck.  

Cocktail Time!

I just liked this sign, so I took a pic of it.  I have a thing for vintage signs, I guess.  I have a thing for cocktails, too.

Downtown Floor

Here is a closeup view of the 10 freeway - we are looking north.  The truck with the orange crane thing on it is heading east.  You can see City Hall off in the distance, toward the left.

The local traffic reporters call this part of the 10 the "downtown floor."  The 110 (a mile or so west of here) between this freeway and the 101 a couple miles north of here is called the "downtown slot."

Now ya know.

Big-Ass Network

Welcome to the Triunfo Pass Earth Station in Malibu.  This is part of ComSat.  

I left this picture at full resolution - this thing is BIG.  If you will be watching the Beijing Olympics, all of the HD video feeds will be coming to the US through this dish, and getting distributed from this station.  Along with a metric shitload of other data. 

 

Although there are gears, the dish doesn't really rotate.  They are there only to correct for slight planetary wobbles.  

The Crapper Cam!

I occasionally have to go through some high-security areas, but this was a bit ridiculous.

:-)

Downtown LA

This is looking south on Grand Avenue.  The 1st Business Bank building appears to date from the late 30s, with a later addition stuck on the front of it.  

You can see a bit of the Hilton, which was the Checkers Hotel.  I've been through that building too.  I believe it was built in the mid 1920s.  

The closest intersection you can see, toward the bottom of the pic, is 5th Street.

Long before LADWP...

...there was Municipal Light Water and Power.

I love this old stuff.  This is on the sidewalk in North Hollywood.  History right under our feet.

Timer

I see an awful lot of different control systems and timers and such like - the Getty Museum's modern digital climate controls maintain +/- 1.5 degrees F and 3% relative humidity, whether the room is empty or 100 people suddenly walk into it.  Theirs is the best system at any price.  

This one is *not* the Getty Museum's :-)

Party

Aye, now *that* was a party!

Doomed Building

Ah! I found it.


This place is no longer. It was in Long Beach, off Ocean Avenue. They strip these places down pretty thoroughly before they drop them, as you can see here.


I couldn't find out when they were gonna blast it, otherwise I'd have got a shot of that too. Oh well.

BBQ

I'm catching up a little - three posts in one day.  I'm still trying to find the pic of the about-to-be-demolished building that I mentioned earlier.  I'll find it, I promise.

This is a cool sign in South Pasadena - Gus's BBQ.  It's on Fair Oaks, IIRC.  I wish I had some video of it with the lights switched on - the neon pigs and chickens are a nice touch.

Juice

34,500 volts.  Don't let your fingers wander!  This is a DWP vault below downtown Los Angeles.  This powers at least one entire office building.

BTW, the security to get into one of these is stifling.  This is part of The Grid.  You must be escorted at all times.  The switches you are looking at are behind yet another locked cage (after you get through the armored vault door).  Can you imagine the havoc you could cause, throwing that big switch?  At least one entire office building would shut down and evacuate, and the ripple would be felt on the stock exchange.  Seriously.

Luckily, I am an upright citizen, and can get by a background check in order to bring this photo to you :-)

Sometimes, my job is interesting.  Hmmm... I'll have to dig up a coupla pics of some AT&T vaults I've been in.  

  

Changes

Ah, it seems like this blog doesn't display the full-size pic the way it used to (see earlier posts).  Now you can click on the pic to see the full-size one.  That's better, really.  So click on the pics.  

Cripes it looks like it's been a couple years since I put anything here.  'twas a dead blog!  It's back now.  

Cracked Safe

I guess somebody lost the key...