Which was going to be presentation style bullet points from the airport. But I get a little long-winded at times.
5) Happens a lot these days, as I slipped my boots off for the metal detector, “Nice boots,” comment from the guard. My reply? “Handmade in El Paso, Texas.”
4) CapMetro, Austin’s frequently maligned public transportation just flat works well. I walked, more like trundled because I was toting my roller-carry-on full of show stuff, out of the apartment office at 5:00 PM sharp. Caught the elusive 5 PM bus downtown, picked up a cup of coffee at the Hideout, served perfectly by a Virgo, and stepped over to the “Airport flyer” bus stop, literally around the corner. Three minutes later, #100 pulled up, and 20 minutes after that, I was in line to check my bag. Elapsed time? Less than 45 minutes. Cost? Retail value was 50 cents. I have a monthly bus pass. Last time I took cab in the evening, from East Austin, it took over an hour for the cab to show up and I barely made it to the flight on time. Cost me $25, too. I’m starting to think that the Cap Metro route is far superior.
3) I don’t normally respond posts at work, but I couldn’t resist. One of the tenants posted here, and just as I was hitting the “submit” button, he walked in the door. Freaked me out.
2) Which reminded me about the time I figured the airport shut down its wireless network after, like say, maybe 8 PM. But not so – from unverified reports – in downtown Austin. “I was checking my e-mail, at 6th & Congress, at 11 at night.”
1) Funniest thing I read all day, at least, so far: “Nothing is more senseless than applying Rogaine to a receding mohawk.” (New York Times Review of Books, Feb 9, 2003, p. 6).
0) After a fill of Salt Lick BBQ, I stepped outside one last time, into the cooling evening air. Almost direct overhead, I couldn’t stop gazing, Jupiter was almost directly lined up with the moon.
-1) When I was ordering that BBQ, the woman working the block was obviously of Hispanic origin, and the guy taking the order said something in Spanish, to which the black man assisting her, said something back. I could follow the Spanish, it was something along the lines of, “Aren’t you done with that yet, (expletive).” The Latino pointed at the African-American, “Yeah, he speaks better Spanish than I do.” And they all laughed. I replied, “Sure, it’s an Austin thing.”
-2) I was not in a “hair metal band” in the 1980’s. Stop asking. Nor was it a heavy metal band. I wasn’t in any band, especially not a metal band, in the 1980’s!
-3) Time for that song again, “Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?” Damn flight made a stop in Dallas.
-4) Blame it on the BBQ.