Extremely active day today spent throughout San Diego. Picked up my friend at the airport this morning, remembering the last time I was there, just before July 4th, 2008 (Health Insurers National Conference). The airport here is situated between downtown and the harbour, it is both convenient and beautiful.
My friend, who is a displaced local, then showed me all around the city and made countless introductions (jobs, housing, etc) on my behalf. We hit a tucked away Mexican spot downtown, then a Target in Mission Valley where I was boggled by the site of an escalator exclusive to shopping carts. When we came out of target, there was brush fire in a nearby canyon billowing smoke into the sky, as a fire relief helicopter did its best to douse the flames. Moments earlier, a bolt of lightning had struck the hill and set it ablaze.
Today started out brilliantly sunny, but in the afternoon storm clouds rolled through, preceded by the aforementioned lightning. Extricating ourselves from traffic, we moved on to Pacific Beach and Hillcrest.
After that, we were back downtown to attend the orientation briefing for Stand Down. My friend is here specifically for the event this weekend, which she has worked for all the previous years she studied here for her doctorate. The event expects to house and provide services for 1000 homeless veterans this weekend, up from 900 or so last year. The site is on the ground of San Diego High School, which is right at the top corner of downtown. As we stood listening to the orientation, raindrops began to fall. It was raining in San Diego. On the other side of the fence, over 40 men and women had lined up waiting for registration to begin tomorrow at 5:30am. They had been waiting for days.
From here, we were back in Mission Valley so I could make a few hotel industry contacts, and I bumped into a few people I had already met the week before. I drove around today without the aid of the GPS. I got to play with a friend’s huge dog (90 lb pit bull/mastiff mix). And, later in the evening, a few locals told me, “you seem to be right in your element here in San Diego.” I took that as a great compliment.
Please check out the site below for more information on Stand Down. Exposure for the 23 year old event is spreading quickly. And the even has spread to cities throughout the country. After a New York Times piece last year, 60 Minutes is here documenting the weekend in San Diego.
http://www.vvsd.net/standdown.htm
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