1.- Last night, I was sitting on the curb in front of the hotel, working and smoking a cigar. (They don’t like cigar smokers in California.) A homeless woman came up to me and stood by me, muttering. I tried to ignore her but she wasn’t going to go away. So I handed her a dollar. She took it and furiously ripped it up, threw it on the ground, and walked away.
2.- This morning, as I entered the hotel, two young Black guys who were exiting stopped me. “That’s a Richard Mille,” one said, looking at my watch. I acknowledged that it was. “How much you pay for it? A buck twenty-five?” I explained that it was a very early model and that I paid “only” thirty-five. “That’s crazy!” he said. “Can I take a photo?” “Sure,” I said. He did. “How much you want for it?” the other one said. “Oh, I don’t want to sell it,” I said. “I’ll give you eighty right now,” he said. “You know your friend was talking thousands?” I said (only later realizing how racist that was). “Hey, dude. I know watches,” he scoffed. “And I love Richard Mille. I’ll give you eighty-five thousand cash. Right now.” I looked at him. He was dead serious.What a town!