In Vernon v. Great Western Bank (1996) 51 Cal.App.4th 1007, the court found no abuse of discretion in dismissing an action where, "at the pretrial stage, the plaintiff did little if anything to prosecute her action." ( Id. at p. 1011.) At the trial stage, "time and time again, the plaintiff and her lawyer requested continuances and, when they were denied, simply failed to appear." ( Id. at p. 1012.) The Court upheld the trial court's order of dismissal where the plaintiff failed to appear at trial because "the failure to appear at trial was just another variation of Vernon's plaintiff's established theme - a total failure to diligently prosecute her case . . . . ." (Id. at pp. 1012-1013.) The plaintiff in Vernon also demonstrated "a total disregard of the court's orders." (Id. at p. 1010.)