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orange county First thing in the morning, Dan took me to the car rental place to pick up my car. When I approached the desk, they asked me if I wouldn't mind having the convertible out back for the same price. Over the phone I had been told that I would get either an Altima or Sentra. Instead they gave me a Chrysler Sebring convertible. I didn't have any objections to driving that car and drove away from the place feeling a little silly. Did the convertible make me look more like a tourist or did I blend in better with it? Now that I had a vehicle, I had to get out of the house and go somewhere. As good of a friend Dan is to me, it felt good to be my own driver once again. I was able to move about on my own and my first destination was Laguna Niguel to see my cousin. Dan pointed me toward the highway onramp and I was on my way. I loved driving in Los Angeles with its five lanes and it was a straight shot through Los Angeles to get to Laguna Niguel. Rick and his wife have the model California house complete with Spanish tile roof and a hot tub surrounded by lemon trees in the backyard. Its located in a gated community amongst other houses that look just like it. I'm not trying to be insulting, but their place was quite the contrast to the version of California that Dan had presented to me. When I called on Monday, Rick had offered to take me on a tour of where he worked and it sounded like a good idea to me. He is an Orange County Deputy Sherrif and works in a jail. As Rick walked me through the complex, I knew that was as close as I wanted to be to wearing a gold jumpsuit. I found the whole place to be immensely depressing. Oh, I know that jail isn't supposed to be camp, but to be surrounded by these people everyday would depress me to no end. These are some of the saddest parts of society. These are people who can't follow the rules and don't care either. I just couldn't do it. Rick mentioned to me the tattoo that is common amongst gang members. Its a rendition of the drama masks symbolizing the phrase smile today and cry about it later. Rick explained to me that each inmate feels that they don't deserve to be there. They feel that it isn't their fault that they are in jail. In the matter of a day, I went from the ruined remains of the world of Hollywood to where the underbelly of America ends up. I went from seeing where struggling actors and actresses live to having gang members walking by in gold jumpsuits. It was probably five years since I last saw Rick in person so it was good to see him. He is only four years older than me, but he is at a completely different stage in life. First of all he has been married for the past nine years. Not only is he married, but owns a house that I certainly couldn't afford. It was good to talk with him. After my tour of the jail, we went to Dana Point, which was my first look at the ocean since I arrived in California. Then when we got back to the house Rick and Joann spoiled me with a nice dinner. Dan and I had been eating food like burgers and stuff, which isn't bad, but the home cooked meal was a nice change of pace. Tomorrow I leave for Fresno to meet Trish.
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