The L.A. Report – Part 37
01-14-2026
My 4-month contract with UCLA did indeed end after 4 months. Usually my contracts get extended, but apparently they’re being very tight-fisted with budgets these days so they couldn’t get it extended this time. The mainframe team is very small and the two programmers who worked on the system for decades and knew everything about it, retired a month later so I imagine it’s been a challenge for the two remaining programmers – one being a contractor and the other brand new – handling support of the system. They’re both very sharp but without the breadth of knowledge of the two retired programmers, they’re in for a huge challenge. I’m not sure I would have even wanted to be extended! It ended May 30th and I still haven’t found a new one. Luckily, I had saved a lot of money from my last two contracts.
I’m not quite ready to retire because I still enjoy it and a little more money would be nice, too. I could retire and collect my full Social Security, but if I wait until I’m 70 (three more years), the payments will be about 28% higher.
So what am I doing in my time off? Besides maintaining my running and upper body workouts, I keep my neighborhood free of litter (almost a fulltime job in itself!), and I golf about once a week. I’m also still contra dancing, but also, more and more, doing English Country dancing (the kind you see in Bridgerton or Jane Austen movies). I used to just wear a tux, but I recently broke down and bought a costume. The company is in England, but it was shipped from China, so I suspect they outsource a lot of their work! Here’s a picture of me and my dance friend Penelope from the St. Nicholas Ball last month:
In my last report, I gave you a link to my very first starring film role – The Pitch. Here’s another one I did a couple years after that – Half a Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QpAgDuU9Xo – 17:47
I only did 6 auditions in 2025 (and didn’t book any roles). You can see my auditions here: https://www.jayblake.actor/videos/auditions.html
I’m not much of a couch potato, but I bought DVDs of two of my all-time favorite TV shows – Columbo (all 69 episodes) and The Rockford Files (all 122 episodes). I’m enjoying them so much. I have a permanent smile on my face as I’m watching them, for so many reasons. They fill me with nostalgia, it’s fun to see the old cars, clothing styles, and technology, they’re incredibly well-written and acted, there are so many famous actors in them (most of whom are also gone), and now that I live in L.A., it’s fun to see all the places I recognize.
I mentioned the catastrophic fires in my last report. Last month we had heavy rains that cause mudslides from the burn scars. The good news, though, is that for the first time in 25 years, California is entirely drought free!
The other big news, not only in California, but the rest of the country as well, is the disgusting – and sometimes fatal – ICE raids. I don’t need to tell you any more about that – I’m sure you’ve seen the news – on both that issue and all the other horrible things the Trump “administration” is bestowing upon us!
One of L.A.’s local TV stations is KCAL9. On their news program, they periodically feature a segment called Look At This, in which their news helicopter pilot flies over something interesting in L.A. and tells a little history about it. I wrote to him about a unique house called The “Chemosphere” House and a few months later, he featured it in Look At This. He thanks me at the end, although it sounds more like “Jay Blank” than “Jay Blake”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSCOt-OhX_c
Unless you have a lot of important or sensitive things on your phone, not having a lock on it can really come in handy. Six months ago or so, I found a phone on the sidewalk. Luckily it was an Android so knew where to find his contacts. I found one for “Mom” and one for “Dad”, so I called Mom, but it didn't ring for some reason. Then I called Dad and he answered. He wasn't very close by, though, so he called his granddaughter (who was also in the guy's contact list) and she came and picked it up! Yes, there are other ways, like Find My Device, etc., but this way is really simple!
A couple months later, I was walking to pick up some dinner and picking up litter on the sidewalk as I went (as I usually do). I got to the same corner where I had found that phone a couple months before, and this guy in his 50's (I'm guessing) rides up on a bike, looks at me, and says, "are you the guy who found my phone a couple months ago?" I was flabbergasted. "Yes, that was me!" We were both astonished at the remote odds that we would meet up like that, and that he would have any hint that he should ask me if I was the one who found his phone! Maybe he thought anyone conscientious enough to pick up litter must be somewhat of a generous sort. He shook my hand and was INCREDIBLY grateful, and had been going through some major turmoil in his life. He had had a grand mal seizure about a month before, which is why he was riding a bike. His mom's house burned down in one of the fires, and he's helping her with some things, etc., etc., etc. We talked for about 5 minutes, shook hands again and went our separate ways.
Hope you’re having a Happy New Year!
Jay