Guardian of the Non Sequitur

I noticed that I was placed on the link of the train that had several small children, and unfortunately the two closest to me were ill behaved.

I had several flashbacks to the final M*A*S*H episode where someone strangled a small crying baby. My sleep deprivation due to them enforced this.

The last third of the trip was even worse, with a woman who reeked of port-a-let rolled in baby powder. She also spoke loudly from 2-6am. When you get on a train full of sleeping people in the dark, STFU!

The one bright spot of the trip was the British couple I ate dinner with. I forgot to get their names. They were bussing and training America. They were impressed by Houston even though they missed so much of it.

They were mostly staying in Hostels, though had a hotel in Houston. They took a sleeper car on the train out of Houston and didn’t feel it was worth it (noisy and small). Next stop for them was San Diego. They had no plans in particular.

I arrived in Los Angeles in the morning, took the 25¢ DASH B to the Millennium Biltmore and was checked in by 10:00a.

I cleaned up and the DASH A took me to Japan Town, where I had a nice sushi lunch from a grocer/deli. Then a few block walk to the Wurstküche, a relatively new sausage and beer bar. Upscale on both accounts. The beer selection on tap was fabulous. It’s in the art district and has a German industrial vibe. They looked set up for evening DJs, which could perhaps get annoying if it’s overplayed.

I took the DASH A, back to the hotel, scoping out a nearby bar: Library. I never made it out, enjoying the comfort of the hotel room instead.

Bret and I spent most of two days just hanging out. He had his hip replaced for the second time the Friday before I arrived.

His parents were staying with him and he and they were a little stir crazy.

Bret commented when they picked me up that he’d never picked up any friend at a train station… in the US.

We went to Jaxon’s brew pub several times, Brew sports pub (which doesn’t brew), the Sunset Brewery (which is a pizzeria, not a brewery), and King’s X (which had only recently reopened).

They dropped me again at the train station on Thusday evening. The train had arrived a little early, but left a little late. I was soon headed west again.

I gathered all my stuff, packing my bag that already seems tighter, and taking a shower at Padre’s. David gave me a ride to Alpine and we grabbed lunch at Talgar’s, just across the tracks from the train station. A nice Azteca Soup and fish tacos.

I hauled my stuff to the waiting room after lunch. David hung out for a little while, then took off on his daily errands. Not too much later cowboy Ty showed up in the waiting room, there to pick someone up. The train rolled into the station just about on time. I was not surprised to see a very attractive girl in cowboy hat hop off the train and greet Ty.

I wasn’t assigned a seat, so I just got on the train and found some empty seats and claimed them. I tried to nap, still being tired. I noticed i still tasted of cigar.

I must have dozed off because it wasn’t long until we were there. Bret and his parents were there to pick me up. Bret on crutched, 5 days post-op from his second hip replacement. He said this one was much smoother than the last. Bret commented that this was the first time he’d met a friend at a train station in the US.

We stopped for a beer at Jaxon’s brew pub, then to Avila’s for a Mexican dinner and home to lounge about.

After I got out of bed it was sometime after noon. I made it down to Padre’s to use their internet and plumbing. David, Doug, and Father Bill were having a meeting. Upon checking my email I realized that I had left my hiking boots at the late-night party the night before. They had all left by noon, but left my boot with local James Scott.

It was about 4pm by the time their meeting was over and David and I walked to a few closed restaurants before going to the Paisano Hotel at Jett’s Grill. We chatted for quite a while with the bartender Carlos, and then were joined by random locals. We retired to the courtyard and chatted there all evening. James showed up carrying my boots.

Jett’s closed up about 10pm, and we joined some others at Cochineal, a very nice restaurant. I had some potato/leek soup and several tasted of deserts that the table ordered: plum pudding, chocolate soufflé. They were very good.

After that David and I went to the closed Padre’s and played shuffleboard for several hours, jamming to the jukebox in the back room. And against better judgement, smoking a cigar. There was also a quite strong storm while we were there. It was fully over by the time we left. The shuffleboard competition was fairly competitive.

We ran into Tina Rose the next morning. She had been in a trailer at El Cosmico (near David’s) with her three fearful dogs. She said the lighting with it was impressive as well.

I woke up just after dawn to hike to the rest room. Went immediately back to bed and woke after 11am.

Sunday was the benediction and gospel brunch for Padre’s. I got there a little late, and sat in the back yard for a while with Ty. He was reading a Blackbook article Claudia had read the night before right before she walked into the bar to find Ty standing in front of her.

David was slaving away on breakfast tacos in the kitchen, and the bar got slammed after the service. I spent most of the afternoon hanging out on the patio and chatting with various people. Talked for quite a while with Claudia who is from Houston and a long-time friend of David’s.

One of the local’s took us on a community bike ride all about town. I used David’s old bike. We ended up on a hill out of town on Pinto Canyon Road watching the sun set. We all stood in silence for the last several minutes, then headed past the closed army base south of town.

After that we went to the house that Claudia and her friends were staying at, we partied there, I left about 11pm and went to Padres where Element was playing. Great old funky R&B. That was the end of the music for the weekend, and most of the out of towners were leaving on Monday.

I got to bed about 3:00a the night before, was woken a few times because I was slightly cold, but got out of bed by about 9:30a. I started to make my way to Padre’s, but the previous day’s rain had cleared for a scattered clouds day, and decided to return to get my hat.

Just about then, Tina Rose poked her head out and yelled over to me, offering coffee. I took her up on some tea instead and we sat on the patio outside her trailer and had a nice morning conversation, her aging dogs mostly lounging about.

After tea I walked over to Padre’s, found John prepping the kitchen, and soon Yvonne (and Avery) arrived. She had some breakfast with her, and offered me some. Some omelet, french bread toast, and waffle. A very nice addition to the Dr Pepper I was already having.

At 11:30 the doors opened and people started pouring in. It was a steady stream of people coming for lunch. The investors of course wanting to be here as much as possible. Enjoying some food and the patio outside.

I hung out a while, then borrowed Yvonne’s bike to ride around town. I only got a few blocks before I overtorqued her superglued crank and had to walk the bike back to Padre’s.

James offered me his bike and I took it back to the trailer for a short nap before heading back for my 3pm training in the kitchen.

I have never worked in a kitchen and after telling me a hundred things I needed to know, David disappeared on an errand. Undercooking burger number two was the only real problem. I made a few orders incorrectly and remade them before sending them out.

But I cooked till after 11:30, and was there till after 2am cleaning. It was almost 4am by the time I walked home.