UCLA Day with the Dodgers!

The Sunday after classes started, there was UCLA Day with the Dodgers, which meant UCLA students, faculty and staff got discounted tickets to the All You Can Eat Pavilion at Dodgers Stadium. In the past two years, baseball has been a sport that has grown on me- partially due to the incredibly cheap minor league seats I could get with the Greensboro Hoppers. So, the opportunity to see a MLB game was not one I was going to pass by. A girl in my cohort is a huge Dodgers fan, so she organized getting the tickets and who was going; it ended up being three of us from the cohort and friends/significant others (Cameron unfortunately couldn't make it as he had to work)

The game was against the Colorado Rockies and, unfortunately, the Dodgers weren't fairing too well. It was cool experience, but it was super hot that day (90 some odd degrees) and we were sitting in full sun. I got a great farmer's tan within an hour of being there. I'd like to go to another game and see if cooler weather makes it more fun, but it's nice to have a MLB team right in our backyard! 

My embarrassing story of the game is I forgot to print out the ticket, so the people I was carpooling with were gracious enough to help find a Kinkos. I knew I was forgetting someting when I walked out the door! I felt terrible making us late to the game, but they assured me it was no problem. We did drive through Little Tokyo in downtown LA, which was a fun detour. I was told, "Arrive late and leave early, that's the LA way." I suppose that's true when trying to avoid traffic. 

A not so clear photo of the Welcome to Dodger Stadium sign

That's a full stadium!

UCLA Day at the LA Fair

When the LA fair was running, UCLA offered free admission and $10 for guests to attend the fair. Cameron had the night off last minute, and I was already going with some of my cohort, so we all hoofed out to Pomona, CA, which is about an hour drive away (we carpooled, which I try to do as much as possible). I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I got to the fair, maybe something different from the NC State fairs I usually go to every year or so. It really wasn't that much different.

They had this cool gondola ride to see the fair from above!

So many ribs!

There was a truck that pulled this trailer with a live band on it. Cool idea, not so good for traffic.

My favorite part of the fair was the petting zoo, though the book exhibit was a fun second. You know you're from the country when you hear someone say, "What is that? Is that a cow?" and you don't know how to react to that question (and yes, I did overhear that). I always like looking at the animals, and there were a bunch of piglets! No llamas though. I feel like every fair needs at least one llama.

Babies!

Snack time!

Their tails were a-wagging and it was definitely super cute!

The book exhibit wasn't really about physical books, more so about what kids thought when reading them. They had some cool displays around; I liked their Wizard of Oz one.

I loved this!

I left the fair sans funnel cake, a decision I still regret to this day. Always get a funnel cake! There were a few food trucks at the fair and Cam and I ate at one called Calbi- a Korean fusion truck. My tacos were ok, but I think Cameron liked his burrito a lot. You live and learn with these food trucks for sure!

UCLA vs. Cal

Y'all, I'm three for three on home games at UCLA. Talk about a monumental event. I originally was going to skip the Cal game to get ahead on some readings, but one of my cohort members mentioned that she was going and so we started to chat about it. So, I was under the impression that the Cal game was against a CSU or a smaller university. Apparently not. Cal, in Californian lingo, is what UC Berkeley is commonly known as. I didn't know that. Needless to say, I changed my mind about missing that game.

I was able to carpool with a girl from my cohort and her fiancé, which is nice to split the $25 parking fee. We tailgated a bit before moseying into the stadium. Holy cannoli were there a lot of people there. Usually, we get through the gate quite quickly and we can go straight into the student section. Not this time. We kept getting routed from the usual sections because there were so many people trying to find seats. While we should have gotten there by the start of the game, by the time we were able to sit down, it was the start of the second quarter. 

And, not going to lie, it was a bit chilly. Chilly as in what I was wearing (jeans and a hoodie) had to be supplemented by a fleece blanket that was in my friend's car. This desert weather can be tricky where it's quite warm in the day, but it gets rather brisk at night. Some people wore down jackets, which I thought was a little extreme, but Ugg boots and a warmer fleece jacket would probably not go amiss next time. 

Cameron had to work, so he's only been to the first game with me. Hopefully, he'll get a Saturday night off soon and we can see another one. I bought a ticket for the BIG UCLA vs. USC game over Thanksgiving Break-- think UNC vs Duke rivalry-- but I couldn't buy guest tickets so hopefully I can snag another so we can see this cross town rivalry!

This game was packed! 

Gambit & Manners

Ever since Cameron and I relocated, it has been an on-going battle with Gambit and walks. He has bad habits to say the least; he pulls, lunges at both people and other dogs, and sometimes acts out aggressively to dogs, which worried us quite a bit. For a few weeks, he was getting better with these behaviors, but that was short lived and actually got worse. My theory is he has become comfortable with our area and is getting a bit territorial. In the past few weeks, it's been rather difficult controlling him on walks, especially when another dog comes our way. Cameron and I talked about maybe getting a trainer involved, but ultimately decided trying out a gentle leader leash/collar before we went that route. When I had to order some books off Amazon, we decided to go ahead and get it one and also purchased a pheromone spray that helps deter bad behaviors.

We got the gentle leader and the spray yesterday, and holy crap, do they work well! After about four sprays, Gambit just has to see the bottle and he stops that behavior. In case you're worried, the spray isn't harmful to him (it smells like hairspray to me). You simply spray near him and it makes him stop dead in his tracks. The first time I sprayed it at him, he immediately stopped and gave me a look of "what was that? I don't like that at all." Cameron used it on his walk today and said that after he barked at a dog and was sprayed, he didn't bark again. On my walk with him this evening, he sat quietly while other dogs passed him on the sidewalk.

I can't express how night/day this change in behavior is, and I'm so grateful that it was a simple and relatively inexpensive solution. We're really hoping that the leader and spray will work and that Gamby's behavior will improve for the long haul. Maybe we'll start feeling more comfortable introducing him to other dogs and he can start making friends!

Since he had a very good walk, Gambit got a doggie ice cream treat (which he's a fan of, cardboard cup and all).

To continue the Gambit post, here are some other fun photos.

This is how I see him in the morning before I go to campus if he's in his chair: 

 

But, if he's not, this is usually how he looks: 

 He's a fan when I do this (foot bellyrubs):

We need to buy more Gambit-proof toys. I picked this football/raccoon thing up for him and an hour later...

It's like he know's he did that too quickly.

And even when we're just watching TV, he's got to be in the action too.

What a cutie!

The Intermission is Soon Over!

My apologies for the intermission! Since my last post, I finished out my Summer Quarter classes and then had a two week break from school and then started my Fall Quarter classes this Monday. I'm working on some posts that hopefully should go up in the next few days!