Port of Los Angeles — Local services in Los Angeles

Lost In LA

We drove pass the same landmarks 2 times on the 405 searching for the Pacific Ocean and Venice Beach. So I figured if we pulled off and headed straight west we HAD to eventually run into the ocean... Venice Beach or any beach.

This vacation was back during the heyday of Venice Beach and before car navigation systems were available. For some reason we didn't bother to get a paper map like we would normally do when driving out of town.

Instead of driving up to a beach tho, we drove into empty canyons: Canyons of shipping containers stacked as high as mid-rise buildings. It was so eerie, this empty landscape of steel boxes stacked so neatly and so high.

But then I became frightened of the emptiness of the street and our current location: The Port of Los Angeles. I didn't want to continue driving straight ahead or even make a turn left or right. I felt I should just turn around and go back.

But just then, an Asian guy drove up in a huge white Mustang convertible. (And YES! Ford Mustangs were huge back in the day.) I asked for directions to the beach. He pointed straight ahead. He was right: We got to the beach after a short drive straight ahead.

And we left the eerie canyons of shipping containers stacked as far as the eye could see and as high as mid rise buildings.

Fast forward decades to May of 2025: There are multiple news sources reporting that the Port of Los Angeles has been emptied of a vast amount of shipping containers due to a...

When we picked up our luggage after our cruise, it was absolutely POURING rain outside. (There were flood warnings around SoCal.) We were told because it was a 'federal building,' no one could shelter inside until the rain at least abated. So, even though there was an enormous empty warehouse, we and hundreds of other passengers who had passports/id and had just returned from an international cruise were turned out into the deluge. There was NO canopy. NO overhang. NOTHING to escape the downpour. The only shelter was several hundred yards down at the other end of the building. Kids were crying. Babies and elderly people and everyone else were completely drenched. People were falling down. It was a debacle. We got soaked. Our luggage got soaked. Contents, mostly books, inside my luggage were ruined. My shoes were still wet when we arrived in Denver several hours later. Damp shoes in 20-degree weather ain't fun. We survived. We dried out. Books can be replaced. But what about the kids? The babies? The elderly and infirm? For a cruise terminal of this size in a city of this supposed stature and magnitude to have NO SHELTER outside its cruise terminal is unbelievable, unconscionable and unforgiveable. Badly done, LA! Expected much more and...

I don't know about you, but I have my heart for the Port of Los Angeles. I say we need to bump it up a couple knots because to America we are well respected, with a lot of power. I say we because I also move TEUs. I advice you to not give up vessels to any other ports because then we are going to look weak, and we are not close to weak. We need to prove to the world that we can overcome this pandemic.

So bend over backwards for the world to see that America is United States of Los Angeles Port. So come on do it fast. Do it right the first time. Let's walk out like champs.

These are my opinions, however, you know I'm right.

Let's Go Port of LA. 3/5/2021 @ 1400 hrs

Repair the wear & tear....