Destination Daly City

Okay, so it might not be the most glamorous of locales, the fog – shrouded city southwest of San Francisco, but it’s on the line, and since I have to head downtown at the ungodly hour of 430am, it seems to work best for me. Not one to hop into a car to make the commute (gas, parking, bridge toll, insurance), the BART train seems the most efficient form of transportation. Not only that, but it’s kind of fun as well. I can sleep or read, (two of my favorite pursuits in life) or I can gaze out the window and ponder the meaning of my existence. Now, “ponder the meaning of my existence” might not be as in-depth as you might be think – it could be something like: “man, I’m really hungry” or “I wonder if it’s going to rain today”, heavy topics such as that.

All this brings me to this post – I thought it might be fun to bring my laptop with me on the train. Change my habits. Make my mind think a bit more in the morning. I have an oldish IBM Thinkpad that I use at home. I usually just plug it into the wall, log into the wireless network, and I’m good to go. Then I thought: “Why not get a good battery, and take this show on the road?” After all, the laptop itself isn’t really much heavier than some books that I’ve lugged around for a few months, and I can work on making myself a little more productive on the rides to and from work. Not to mention being able to post items for my invisible readers more frequently.

Guess what? I did, and I have. I received my sparkly new battery Saturday (USPS – hooray!) and now I have freedom of movement with this thing. Yesterday being a holiday, I was forced to drive, so today is the first real run through. Postings will now abound! Mobile computing shall reign supreme!

We’ll see how long it lasts…

I was reading a column written by a gentleman in a daily newspaper here. He spoke of how after many years of writing 700 words on a daily basis there have been changes made in the layout of the page in which his work is displayed. As a result, his column word count has now increased, and he is finding it difficult to change. The key was not so much his struggle to find more words (although for anyone who writes this can be a huge challenge) but that he wrote 700 words every day. Seemed pretty amazing to me – I mean, wouldn’t you run out of stuff to write about after a while? Sitting down every single day to put together coherent thoughts, then transfer them to paper (or computer) and have people read what you have written – whew! Don’t think I could do it, which of course makes me want to try, stupid man that I am…

As my word count approaches 500, and my train time is coming to an end for this morning, I run into a deadline of sorts myself. Can I get the requisite number of words written? Will the ride end before I can type something profound and meaningful?

Probably not.

Maybe, just maybe, though, I’ll get into the habit of it – be able to have the words connect in my brain, transmit themselves down my arms to my fingers, and type them out into a 700 word essay that might be fun to read. Or boring. One never knows.

On the stretch run now. Entering into the transbay tube (great name for a tunnel under the bay) and increasing speed to fly through it as quickly as possible, arriving underground in my fair city to begin yet another workday. Ah, what promise the new day will bring! Of course, that’s only if I can keep my eyes open to see it…

Wow, just checked my word count, was 653 when I started this paragraph… seems getting to 700 is somewhat easy. Of course, making sense to someone who is reading it, and doing so every day, is the struggle, the challenge. Wish me luck, invisible reader, here we go.

Why I love San Francisco - Part 1

Seems I was chided recently by a not so invisible reader that I should post more often...

So I'm standing in line for the movie, in my own little world - reading the sign over the self serve ticket machine perhaps - when I feel the presence of a human behind me... I slowly turn my head and into my field of vision enter two piles of gray hair on top of tiny bodies... two ladies in their mid 70's, quite a bit less than five feet in height, checking out the big board to confirm their movie selection... as I take this all in, a patch of bright catches my eye and I take in the visage of a large man, dressed all in white, from his hat to his shoes, solo run for him as well it appears, gazing at the big board... think to myself what a great city...

J seems to have changed a bit, things have smoothed out quite nicely...

Today was beautiful... wispy clouds against the blue sky, first warm day in about six weeks, spring time feel, was really nice...

Tired now, IRs... shall bid you all the happiness you can stand...

So here I am again

After a brief respite... Seems as though whenever something is goofy in a relationship of mine, I run to post something, anything, that will help me work it out in my head. I try to be into it with J, I really do - I try to be upbeat and have fun when we are together - I try to engage in witty conversation, speak on intelligent topics, listen to what is being communicated to me and respond in kind - active listening, if you will...

So tell me this, invisible reader, you're seeing someone for about 4 months, you've dated, spent time together, been intimate on occasion, and although there are a few bumps (what relationship doesn't have them?) and you go out for about 4 hours... first stop, dinner... good eats, not great service, but have fun tasting the different type of food... then to the movies... watching Finding Neverland, a real tear jerker, and during the movie I put my arm on her leg - reassuring touch... about three minutes of that and she's lifting my arm and moving it away from her - later explained as "crowding" her... we get out of the movie and get into the truck - leaving the theatre, she's yawning like every 30 seconds... so being the nice guy, I offer to have her drop me off so she can go home and rest... it's only 930! We drive to the station and on the way she adds a stomach ache to her tiredness, so there'll be no romance... I cannot see that this lady is in any way, shape, or form "into me". Sure, now you'll probably say I'm being insensitive, that it's my fault - I should be compassionate and understanding, but look - I haven't seen the lady since Sunday, and only talked to her a few times during the week - Thursday night at about 830p I was wondering if we were even going to see each other on Friday - I had to call her to see if she would even be interested in going out with me...

I think it's time I stepped out of this relationship... Oh, there's more... we can't go to her place any more because D always works late at night now - I suggest a hotel, we can get a room, but she says no, that she has to get up early in the morning! I have to be at work at 530am, so I guess she means that she needs to get up earlier than that, I dunno...

Instead of getting closer we seem to be moving further apart, not a good thing...

Will keep you posted, invisible reader...

You might think...

...that at age 48 I would have this relationship thing worked out... or at least be able to handle or deal with it... I'm trying to figure out me and J - haven't heard from her in a while... so I'm gonna be cool and hang out - but when I type those words, why does my stomach get all tight and I lose my train of thought?... drifting off to contemplate and create scenarios for her... using all the what if's and wheres that I can conjure... geez I sound like a teenager... guess I'll change the subject, if I can...

enough

I wonder what would happen...

...if slowly,

I was going to write something profound, but now it's gone... just tried to call J - for the first time, she didn't answer... dunno where she is on a Monday - contemplating calling her cell, but don't want to bug her... maybe now I'll wait until she calls me... Is that a game? I hate playing games in relationships... we had fun on Friday and Saturday, so maybe she needs a break... won't bug her, but will mention the next time we talk...

I can't write anymore

Brain Dump

J says I should do a brain dump... write down everything that comes to mind... so we will, sports fans... a new tack, so to speak...

A tried to contact me again today... she must be cycling... that woman is amazing, the way she completely changes... attacks and attacks, like a bull dog... it's all good, though, needed the time at work to really work, get the ticket thing up and running, make some cash for the company... now it's time for me to press the compensation issue... gotta get in while I can, let them know I think I deserve something out of this, which I do...

I had to change my communication patterns at work, less time on the IM thing... I was WAY too much into that, but at the time, it made sense, since things were slow, and I had a lot more free time... amazing to think about the time I would spend talking to A2 (there have been a few A's in my life, so I have to number them... so sue me) via the IM thing... man, that was a hot relationship, I severely lusted after that girl... took me a long time to get over her, just now coming out of it... hopefully J can benefit... she's just about perfect for me - we share the same disposition, likes and dislikes... some things freak me out a bit, like she's the first lady - why do I always want to write chick?

Damn, AC/DC on the player right now... tough to concentrate, just kind of unconciously lapse into bobble - headedness... Is this normal for a 48 year old guy?... sheesh

Where was I? Oh yeah, J... she's by far the coolest chi.., I mean woman, that I have ever met... she loves to hang out, just talk, smoke and drink a bit... beautiful face... it glows with warmth and compassion... and that smile just melts me... and have I mentioned her incredible body?...

I was just wondering how much the total would be if you took all the money in the world and added it all together... I mean, I'm on the treadmill at the local torture palace, plugged into cable, and I hear in the span of the next 30 or so minutes stories about companies that are valued in the billions of dollars... billions... and this is only like, maybe eight companies, and they add together to like 34 billion dollars... I open the paper to the stock tables, and i see thousands of companies... you gotta figure these companies are worth at least, what... ten million each on the average... and this is just the stock market, where you can legally and illegally, to a few, gamble... don't get me started on the Lotto, the schools are going broke, we can't pay teachers enough, and yet the twice weekly Lotto donates millions of dollars to "schools" - I've been wondering for a while where all the money goes... how can it be that weekly the schools get millions of dollars and are still having financial problems? Boggles the mind... Best check into it...

Ah, man... Stevie Nicks and the Mac on the player, now... had a serious crush on her, way back when... still do, truth be told... Landslide is a serious work, should definitely be included in road trip music...

Hope to get down to the beach with J in February... would be worth a solid G to pay for the place... just have to be wise with the cash... check out the Crosby, show her how stunning the visuals are... wonder if she'll enjoy it...

tired now, sports fans... think I'll play a spot of hold 'em then hit the sack...

I started to write down all the names...

...of the women I have had the pleasure of enjoying sexually, and the sad thing was there were two on the list that I did not remember... oh I don't mean that, what I mean is I remember my time with them, I just forgot their names for a bit... finally remembered though, which is a good thing...

Halo 2 is everything they say it is...

Check out ESPN's Tim Keown - especially his "This Week's List" column... great stuff - funny and insightful...

Ladies, if you want to keep your man (particularly if you are married) do your best to stay the same size as the day you were when you fit into that wedding gown... step back from the foods that get you fat (you know the ones) or alter your excercise/diet to keep the weight off... you do this for two reasons... one is to keep the man you have (if you want) and two, if you stay the same size, and your hubby strays, you'll be a hot middle aged woman with you having the pick of the litter... you just can't lose...

Yeah, Yeah, having kids... makes it tough to keep the weight off... so what? Just do it, baby, whatever it takes... trust me on this...

J is ill, R is too... gotta work to dodge this one...

Gonna go play a bit of Hold 'Em...

Adeus