<p>Preamble: Early Sept. I’d asked S what he thought of seeing a taping of The Price is Right with the new host, Drew Carey. He loved the idea and soon we were making plans for 3 days in Hollywood before I dropped him off for his Sophomore year in Pasadena on Sept 28. We got tickets for a Sept 26 taping. We’d leave on Tuesday, the 25th.
The summer had been spent with a for sale sign in front of our house, potential buyers 3-4 times a week, sometimes more. The listing would expire Sept 30. I was not going to re-list with that agent(that is another long story). Thursday, Sept 21, I told her I was not renewing. She immediately canceled the listing. The phone started ringing early Friday morning, real estate agents. “Pick me! I can sell your houses”. In the meantime, the price on the beautiful Craftsman I’ve fall in love with & want to buy dropped $15,000. (its about $100,000 less than when I first saw it 8 months ago).<br>
S packed. I dealt with realtors continuous stream of phone calls, “Call me back Oct 1.” An investor stopped by, she loves my house. I made arrangements for an inspection on our dream house. I packed. I’d figure out a new price for our house while we were on the road. Somewhere between the phone calls, I bought new tires for the car and had it serviced. Everything looked good we were set to go.</p>
<p>Tuesday 1:30 pm. Every nook and cranny of the car is packed with S’s belongings & there’s a suitcase for me. S says good bye to the doggie girls & our kitties. Its 360 miles to our hotel in Hollywood.<br>
S and I take turns driving. We sing, talk. Somewhere along the way we watch a herd of stampeding cows. We stop in the late afternoon for a meal and gas. Soon we’re leaving Grapevine and heading up into the mountains. It won’t be long before we’re in Hollywood. The sky is turning, there are pink and purple clouds to the west. A full moon is rising in the east. Then somewhere around mile 315, the car beeps. I look down to see the temperature gauge has climbed into the red zone. We pull onto the shoulder. Wait ten minutes, hoping the engine will cool. We try again, driving on the shoulder, we top a hill. The engine cools as we move down hill. But shortly, the road climbs again. The temperature gauge pushes into the red zone. We stop on the shoulder again. S thinks we should try to make it. It can’t be far to L.A. but I’m uncertain. We could blow the engine. “One more try” S pleads. After letting the engine cool another ten minutes we try again. The temperature hits the red zone almost immediately. I pull over. Its time to call the auto club. The Northern California Auto Club transfers me to the Southern California Auto Club. We don’t really know where we are. Some where past Lake Huges. We managed to stop between two call boxes. S walks down the side of the road to get the number. I talk to the Auto Club operator and explain I’m taking S to college. “Didn’t you know you’re suppose to rent a car to take your kid to college?” she informs me. Sorry, but I’ve never seen that tip on CC. S is back with the call box number. “What county?” the operator asks. We have no idea. CHP pulls up behind us. He provides us the call box and county - Los Angeles then he leaves. The operator figures its 40 miles to a service station. We have 7 miles free tow with our membership, after that its $8.00 a mile. Wait - we’ve traveled 316 out of 360 miles. It can’t be 40 miles to service. The operator swears it is and says we could try to drive. No thanks, we’ll wait for the tow. “The truck will be there in 45 minutes, pay the driver the $264 tow charge”. The operator hangs up.<br>
Its dark. Semi’s shake the car as they pass every few seconds. I look to my son “It doesn’t look like we’ll make The Price is Right”. “We will” he is certain even though he knows that we need to be in line at 6 a.m. at CBS studios. We’re 44 miles away in a broken down car.</p>
<p>The Tow
45 minutes later the tow truck arrives. S grabs his backpack & we hop into the cab. We watch our VW Jetta get pulled on board. The driver joins us in the cab. He knows this road. Its only about 8 miles to a service station. He calls ahead - yes, they work on Jetta’s but the mechanic won’t be in until 8 a.m. Its a short drive to the service station, after cresting one hill, the ride is all down hill.<br>
The driver offers to take us to a motel after we drop the car off. Our dream of seeing a taping of The Price is Right is fading.<br>
At the service station, the tow truck driver slides our car in behind the garage. We go inside to talk to the gas station attendant. I fill out paper work and hand over my car key. As we walk out, the gas station attendant says “oh, the mechanic doesn’t work saturday”. Its Tuesday night. What do we care that the mechanic doesn’t work saturday? We grab our small suitcases from our car- the ones that have our Price is Right t-shirts, hop back in the tow truck for a ride to a motel.</p>
<p>We check into the motel. Its clean, two beds. Its all we need but nothing like the Hollywood hotel I’d booked on line - which needed to be canceled two days ago or we’d have to pay for the room. First order of business, call the Hollywood hotel and let them know we’re not coming. I explain our predicament. “No problem, we’ll push your reservation back a day - no charge!”<br>
Now we need food. I’d grabbed a flyer from the lobby. Vinny’s delivers pizza all day according to the flyer. The desk clerk suggested Domino’s “the number is on the key card”. I call Vinny’s. Order a cheese pizza for delivery. Vinny asks for a phone number, I give him my cell number. “I need a landline number”. No where on the hotel phone is the telephone number, S and I search the room. No phone number. We call the front desk get the number and give it to Vinny. Then Vinny says “for pick up.” Me, “no, delivery”. We exchange our lines 3 times: pick up/delivery. Finally Vinny says “We don’t deliver this late” (its 8:30 pm). So much for “All Day Delivery”. I cancel the order and call Dominos using the number on the motel key card. Yes, they’ll deliver, but they need the address of the Motel. The address of the motel is no where in the room. Castaic, the town we’re stuck in, is small. The motel is visible from the freeway. S calls the front desk again. Now we have the address. Pizza will arrive in 20 minutes. As I hang up, S asks “So, how are we getting to The Price is Right?” I grab the phone book. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I call rental car companies. They don’t open til 8 a.m. we need to be at CBS studios at 6 a.m. Ah, Limo companies. Its worth a try. S and I discuss how much its worth. I have no idea how much it would cost. The first limo company I call doesn’t have any cars available. The guy who answered the phone gives me the number of “a friend” who might be able to drive us. I call the number, wondering just how crazy I am. Who am I calling? A man answers, …Limo Company. He has a car available. He can have someone pick us up and drive us to Hollywood. How much? He needs our address including zip code. (of course the zip code is no where in the room - another call to the front desk). He tells me we’re 38 miles from CBS studios. It will cost $97 - one way. Ok. We’ll do it. The limo guy suggests they pick us up at 3 a.m. if we want to be there by 6 a.m. - but its only 38 miles…how about 5 a.m. He doesn’t think that’s enough time. We compromise - how about 4:30 a.m. He doesn’t even want a credit card to confirm, “just pay the driver”. O.k. We’ve got a ride to The Price is Right!<br>
Pizza arrives around 9 p.m. We eat and go to bed. I set the alarm for 3:45 a.m. S wants me to wake him at 4. Maybe we will get to see The Price is Right…</p>
<p>Go on, Oaklandmom!!! What happened next??!!</p>
<p>Oh the suspense!</p>
<p>We’re all waiting with baited breath…</p>
<p>Did You Win???</p>
<p>Maybe they won… A CAR! :D</p>
<p>Oaklandmom!!! Come on, I’m waiting here.</p>
<p>The lady knows how to tell a story 
.</p>
<p>Tuesday 4:30 a.m.
We’re dressed in our homemade Price is Right t-shirts: Bright orange(Caltech’s color), On the front of mine: Plinko please & on the back: Please help pay my son’s tuition at Caltech(I’ve learned from CC that any income will just be factored into our finaid - so any winnings would just go to Caltech). S’s t-shirt has a math problem on the front which equals “Drew Carey” & on the back: 10% of people think this statistic is made up. My cell rings, its the limo driver, he’s out front. We take only our I.D.'s, social security cards, a credit card, atm cards, room key & cash in our pockets & of course our Price is Right tickets. We leave our cell phones in the motel room. The Price is Right has strick rules: No cell phones or electronic equipment allowed. Since we don’t have a car to leave our stuff in, we take only what we really need. We have yet to plan how we’ll get home - this is an adventure and we’ll figure it o ut as we go. & I’m sure I can find a pay phone somewhere so I can call and check on our car.
We hop into the limo(hoping there will be coffee & donuts but no such luck) and we’re off to Hollywood. I-5 is filled with semis even at 4:30 a.m. The full moon is just about to tuck beneath the horizon. We slip past Magic Mountain, the corkscrew turns of its roller coasters lit in reds, yellows & greens. Soon we’re passing the Hollywood Bowl & Ford’s Theater. We have made it to Hollywood.
5:20 a.m. Our limo pulls up at CBS Studios. A line has already formed. People sit in lawn chairs with blankets wrapped around their shoulders. I pay the driver and we pop out of our limo like stars to join the crowd.</p>
<p>I’m in suspense… (& feel so sorry for all the problems and extra expense).</p>
<p>Where are the Coward Awards when we need them? :rolleyes:</p>
<p><em>for those who weren’t around at the time, we used to have a thread for College Confidential Writing Awards; I think I’ll just head off to resurrect it. We may have a Lifetime Achievement on our hands here</em></p>
<p>Looking forward to the next installment… and I love the image of you two leaping out of the limo!</p>
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<p>wow, how did you squeeze all that on the back of a tshirt? :D</p>
<p>did you sell your house? wherebouts in oakland (i guess) is it? </p>
<p>we used to live near lake Merritt.</p>
<p>A ticket to The Price is Right does not guarantee one will get in to the studio. It simply gives you the privilege of lining up outside CBS studio to hope for an “order of arrival number” which is handed out at 6 a.m. for either the 1 pm or 4 pm taping. CBS hands out more tickets than seats available in the studio. So if you plan on going, planning on getting there early. We were lucky, the line wasn’t too long so we head across the street to a gas station with mini mart for breakfast. I get coffee and frosted flakes. S decides on a smoothie (you can tell who eats better in our house). Soon we’re back in line introducing ourselves to the people nearest too us.<br>
6 a.m. CBS Pages in red jackets appear. “Order of Arrival” passes are handed out. We’re numbers 19 & 20. The Pages suggest we get breakfast but we must return by 7:30 if we want to get a “Priority Number” S & I head across the street. There’s a bagel shop advertising “the best coffee in town”. Chained to the telephone poll in front of the bagel shop: plastic lawn chairs for rent $5. a day. S gets a bagel and I get a latte - the worst cup of coffee I’ve ever had. We also get an L.A. times to keep us occupied.
7:30 a.m. we’re back in line. The Pages line us up according to our “order of arrival” numbers which are then exchanged for “priority numbers” And we’re told be back by 8:45. S and I wander over to the L.A. Farmer’s Market (a great to place to stop if you’re in L.A.) I grab a banana to eat and then we head back to CBS studios.
8:15 a.m. S and I settle down on one of the many long benches they have for waiting outside the studio. We grab some sugar packets from the snack bar at CBS for entertainment: We play tic tac toe & Nim using the sugar packets(Never play these games with a mathematician, though I occasionally can win borderless tic tac toe, I still haven’t figured out the strategy for nim, so S spends much of our waiting time trying to teach me how to win at nim. my only consolation is we play “The Game” so every time I say “I lost” S has to say it too even though he’s’ won the game). We tear the L.A. Times into squares and fold origami cranes which sale into the recycling bin when the pages ask us to line up again in order of our priority numbers. Its 8:45 a.m. and I’ve forgotten I needed to call the mechanic. The Pages warn if we step out of line, we may not get to see TPIR.</p>
<p>NJ - the shirt only had “Please help pay my son’s tuition at Caltech” on the back. Sorry for the confusion - we used iron on letters.<br>
I’m in Maxwell Park (near Mills College). Our house hasn’t sold. No buyer yet but the investor is interested…but that is later in the story…</p>
<p>oaklandmom - My son was living right near the Farmer’s Market in L.A. until recently when he moved to San Francisco. However, when I visited him, I didn’t attempt to see any TV shows. I second your recommendation - the Farmer’s Market is a great place to get all kinds of wonderful foods!</p>
<p>C’mon, oaklandmom, keep typing!! ;)</p>