Friday, April 22, 2016

Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time


It was a good idea. I had a plan. The plan required precision timing. I was picking up my dog Stella at the vet before they closed at 4:30pm. I wouldn't have time to take the dog home, so I would drop Stella off with my friend Karen in Burbank. I would then immediately drive to Sound City Studios in deepest Van Nuys to interview Ozzy Osbourne for a show I was working on. I had been to this studio twice before for the interview and Ozzy had cancelled both times. It was a tenuous situation. I needed to be there by 5:15pm. I could not be late. 

I headed over the hill from Hollywood. It was 104° in the valley and my '79 Volvo had no air conditioning. In an effort to look more professional than I was feeling, I was wearing a suit and heels. I was dripping sweat through my wool blend and sooty furnace-like wind blew through the open windows and tangled my sticky ponytail. I picked up Stella at the veterinarian in Studio City. Fifteen years-old and battling cancer, she was a frequent flier at the animal hospital. 

Stella and I were right on time and making our way down Ventura Boulevard when I smelled something akin to burning diapers coming from the backseat. I glanced into the rearview mirror and saw that my dear dog had unexpectedly relieved herself in the backseat and was slipping in liquid brown, resulting in a backseat and dog covered in awful.

I held  my hand to my face, trying to block the smell as we crawled down through the rush hour traffic on Cahuenga. The heat was causing the terribleness to bake into the car. I gagged as I drove. There was no time to stop.

When I got to Karen's she handed me an armload of towels and took Stella away to hose her off. They say dog is man's best friend. I would like to add that woman's best friend is the one who will wash the crap off of said dog.

Gagging, I got onto the freeway and headed to the recording studio. When I arrived, I waved off the valet and parked the car myself because I was kind and also mortified. When I finally made it inside the building, I met my camera crew. We spent about 45 minutes setting up the lights and equipment, just in time for Ozzy's publicist to call and let us know that the interview would have to be postponed again.

Back in the Little Volvo of Horrors, I returned to Burbank and drove into a car wash at closing time. I tried in my best Spanish, to explain to the guys that I needed and emergency interior detail. I backed it up by trying to explain, "No mi popó,  esta popó de pero." I'm not sure they believed me but they heroically shampooed the back of the car and I handed them the entire contents of my wallet.

I picked up my gal and drove my damp self and my damp dog in my damp car back home. I finally interviewed Ozzy three days later. He was charming. I left the dog at home.


To read about more "Good Ideas," check out these posts by some of my favorite bloggers:


31 comments:

  1. "No mi popó, esta popó de pero."

    I feel terrible for laughing.

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  2. This sounds so wretched, but I learned a new Spanish phrase!

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  3. Lisa, I could not have done it. Smell of fecal matter does me in. I would change the kids' diapers with a bandana tied around my face. You are strong strong strong. (I love these blog hops)

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  4. Oh. My. God.
    I think I would have abandoned the car, the suit, and the dog on the side of the highway and taken my chances with hitchhiking naked.

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  5. I will always have your back! And towels for emergencies!
    Xoxoxo

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  6. I can't get past you interviewing Ozzy. I need every detail of that, now.

    You're my hero.

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  7. I cannot imagine the smell and I'm so glad you had the presence of mind to skip the valet! Ha.

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  8. I'm laughing but also gagging at the thought of that smell in that heat.

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    1. That is the appropriate response to that shit storm. xo

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  9. Oh my goodness! I gag in solidarity with you.

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    1. Thanks, Anna. The 90s smelled bad, as a general rule.

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  10. Howling. I can picture that furnace-like wind on Cahuenga so perfectly.

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    1. It wasn't good. I still have a twenty year-old car, but at least this one has A/C. xo

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  11. Suuurrrre it's not your popo, senorita. Whatever you say!

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  12. "Woman's best friend is the one who will wash the crap off of said dog."

    Word.

    (This reminded me of the time when Jack was 18-ish months old and we had to fly to Colorado to attend my sister-in-law's wedding. Except Jack was coming down with the flu - as we later learned - and began fouling up the carseat from both ends on the drive to LAX. We arrived at the airport with no time to deal with the mess. We simply parked the car and left it there. For four days. I'll let your imagination fill in the rest. Amen.)

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  13. Oh lord have mercy. Truth be told, I was thinking this would end somehow with Ozzy inside your car and not even noticing the smell.

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  14. Poop stories are even funnier now that I have a little boy. Last night, just before he fell asleep, I told him a story I had heard last night about a family who adopted two adult Great Danes. One of the dogs, on the way home to Austin from Dallas, pooped in the back of the car and then stepped in and stamped poop prints all over the car. He and I were laughing so hard right before bed, which, come to think of it, may not have been the best good night story.

    I love your stories, and the photo of Stella is so cute I want to look at it all day. xo

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    1. Thanks, Kristin. Poop is gold. (That's not actually Miss Stella but this dog bears an uncanny resemblance.) xo

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  15. Hysterical! Loved it. And Ozzy!! Swoon. Love his music!

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