esrosedotblog

I do not understand the attraction of all these amateur living sites.

What the fuck is wrong with people? Do they think that this is a trouble free world? And international hookups too.

Airbnb Horror Story Points to Need for Precautions

Precautions? I traveled for years and always took precautions. At hotels. At motels. At training centers and other stops on my journeys.

These were all places that were in the "hospitality" business and had some reputations to maintain.

Yeh. I stayed in a couple of hovels. A hotel for train employees comes to mind. But the problem was the lack of luxury. The poor have few choices.

But then that is not true either. Brand name hotels and motels come in all levels of cost.

Why would I even want to stay in someone's home? Some stranger?

When I was a kid, I remember that someone came to our door looking for a place to sleep. A couple.

My mother invited them in.

They used my room.

I can still smell the bastards. Musty, creepy, like a swamp.

And they were loud and, I suppose, drunks. And my god what a traumatic event.

Over the years we have invited people to stay over at our place. After all, we live in a resort. And when that is the case, people want to come visit.

We learned, after awhile, to be delighted if they wanted to visit the desert and provided them with some names of good hotels.

There is nothing worse than being trapped in one's own home by the unknown defects of casual friends.

Nothing.

What are these Airbnb people thinking?

It means "bed and breakfast". Jesus.

When I lived in Plymouth MA, we had some friends who ran a charming little motel. The horror stories. Even satanic rites. Not kidding.

People can be real idiots. Beyond naive. Actually, aided by a little profit motive we could all become victims pretty fast. And I am an optimist and believe I live in a safe world. Most of the time.

Labels: travel

Fascinating account of a compulsive traveler.

Up in the Air: Meet the Man Who Flies Around the World for Free

He only knows airports and airport plane life.

What is more, he is gay and he has a boyfriend. They often fly together. Even have sex in the plane.

I love this kind of thing. Not only weird fantasies but the dedication to live them out.

I traveled for a long long time and I get some of the attractions.

All strangers, all friendly service, nice surroundings, clubs, food (although many will not agree with this but note that he flies first class most of the time).

He is probably addicted in a strange way and if you are an addict then this is not too bad a way to do it.

In any event it gets you in Rolling Stone which should abolish his anonymity. A kind of suicide pact. His free travel days might be over.

However a lot of what he does is not illegal although the airlines continue to try to head him off and make it so.

Labels: gay life, travel

I used to travel the New York New Haven Line from Boston to New York.

It is called Amtrak now. Does that date me?

I had a "remember-when" after reading this.

Amtrak Train Possibly Hit Before Wreck

Mine was a rock through the window of the seat I was sitting in.

No damage done to me.

But I did learn that there were no safe havens from the world.

That is not meant as a dark assessment of a dangerous existence. It is just a realization that nothing is immune from some kind of intrusion.

But to live a life worried about it bends to the purpose that a lot of this stuff is done. To fuck people up. This exists. Nothing new. And to think or even want otherwise is quite foolish.

But I didn't quit sitting in the window seats. I might have changed sides from time to time but mostly to see the beautiful water views and more interesting back yards along the way.

Riding the train was always better than flying the shuttle. Always.

Labels: life, travel

I always tried to take some time for touring on business trips.

Reclaiming the Age-Old Art of Getting Lost

Overseas or at home. Anywhere.

I would begin by walking, rarely took a rubberneck bus. I depended on finding what was there "by accident" or "coincidence" or "intuition". That is if someone asked.

I took a few tours here and there. Japan, for sure, in English as there is none there. Didn't we win the war? No.

Don't get me wrong, I would have a book or a guide of some sort. A plan is essential otherwise one wastes time.

But serendipity is a key ingredient of a good visit to a strange place. I would find things like graveyards. I once went to the Lamb house in England and there was cricket being played in a field below. So much for the Lambs.

Look them up.

Labels: travel

We are waiting for our daughter to get here for two weeks or so.

Of course, she is experiencing the same kind of airline nonsense that we see all the time now.

I don't suppose it has ever been different but I can say that in all my years flying I never had much problem getting to every point in this country or the world. Now people seem to have trouble way more often.

Or is this just another version of "the good old days" thinking that geezers can get into?

I don't know.

I know she is safe and will get here eventually and that my stuff is more about my expectations than any reality. If I didn't have all the high tech information I would just let it be and be happy when I see her.

Maybe I will try that.

Labels: travel, visitors

Bulletins from Italy indicate that John is having a good time with friend Gwen.

Today they are in Agrigento. Temples. I have some photos already.

Here, it is dark and rainy and much more like the old Boston weather than sunny Palm Springs.

You may recall that we welcome such weather as we have so little of it. No temples.

There is fog over the mountain and everything is quite soppy.

I will not need to water today.

I am enjoying my time alone. I am not sure how long that will last but so far so good.

We do spend a lot of time together. A break can be conducive. John got his turn a few weeks ago when I went to Boston, London and Toronto.

I am keeping about the same hours. Gym and a Meeting. Then the morning nap. The after lunch movie.

I might go out to eat tonight. The frozen entrees are a bit old after four days.

Otherwise, same same.

I will shop tomorrow and meet with a friend in the morning.

I guess it is fair game to show a picture from where they are. It is better than showing a rainy day photo in Palm Springs. Well, maybe not. Why not both!

Contrasts.

Labels: travel, weather

I heard from John today.

He and friend Gwen are in their third day of touring.

That means they are in Palermo where they have been since they arrived Wednesday.

I have two pictures so far. A church and a bus ride.

Palermo is the center for several days touring.

In the meantime, I am doing pretty well. It is hard to set a new routine with elements of the routine being redundant or unnecessary.

I did go to the store this morning which is a regular thing for Friday. I will soon watch a movie as I do most days.

There is the internet to pay attention to.

And it is summer still so seasonal activities are still curtailed.

I talked to a neighbor this morning about the resumption of the normal business of the condo association. Board meetings are off for the summer but we are back with regular meetings September 20. Two weeks.

She is the head of the landscape committee. So far so good on the new company that is doing the daily work. Lawns, pruning, cleaning up and so on. The summer is a time of low level maintenance and soon the hard stuff will happen

In the meantime they are getting their rhythm down. Lawns need mowing, raking, blowing of leaves This is a big deal here, you should see it.

Back east the leaves fall where they may. Here they all get cleaned away on an almost daily basis.

It is funny how differently the two parts of the world react to nature. Here it is all freshening up all the time. There it was just a matter of keeping ahead of the next cycle of the seasons. We don't do seasons much here. Just primping.

Water, blow, cleanup, blow, rake, blow some more.

Paradise is hard to maintain.

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Labels: condo, landscaping, travel

A text from John to say that he had made it to Palermo. Sicily. Not Italy. I think they like to make the distinction.

This is the departure point for his fifth Italian tour. This time he is with our friend Gwen.

His flight was on time. I followed it across. Sort of pushing it with my fingers on the keys.

He will be there almost three weeks.

That means that I have an "arrival" too.

I arrived, this morning, at self sufficiency and aloneness.

A state that I relish almost as much as being part of a happy couple.

I can't explain that. If you know what I mean you get it. If not, OK.

Labels: travel

I just left John off at Enterprise car rental.

He is driving to LA where he is taking a flight to somewhere on his trip to Italy.

Jeez. I just looked. Palermo. One hop to Italy.

I haven't been paying attention. It is a long flight but he is the man for it.

We had a nice ride to the airport and I surprised myself by getting all emotional about it.

But we did not linger.

The best way to say goodbye is to say it and get the fuck out of the way.

It is our default. The only one that works.

There is a lot to say to each other but we have already said it and the rest of it is all heart language anyway.

I met him in 1975 or 1976. I still struggle with the date.

The first few years were a struggle. Both of us were newly out and thought we had to do more "work" to find a relationship with another man.

Not knowing we already had one.

Anyway, he is off. I am glad for it. I need some space.

That will probably wear off in a few days. But for now, I can do what I want whenever I want to and not worry about bothering anyone.

Of course, I already have that anyway. We haven't been in each other's way for so long it seems second nature.

Labels: marriage, travel

I know it is boring.

I am home and on the family hearth and all. What the hell.

In this day and age, with everyone else running all around, with the world changing every minute?

Imagine how it feels to have gone thousands of miles and back in just over a week and to have so many fine things to keep in my heart. Then, home.

The big thing for me today was to get up and have my yogurt and fruit and grainy cereal breakfast then go to the super market for the Friday shopping and then lie down for the morning nap. Home, sweet home.

Hey, I did get up at 4 AM but that is a bit late for me on the usual basis. It happens that jet lag helped me drop right into my normal schedule here.

No staying in the house that Mick Jagger lived in, no bedroom window looking down on the Thames, boats, water, joggers. No dining al fresco in the suburbs of Plymouth County, no talking the talk at an out of town Meeting (as here, when you are a visitor, you are red meat to lead and speak, not the same old mashed potatoes warmed over).

No visit with one of my life's best friends with the inevitable walk through Toronto to see new and wonderful sights still left on his list of notable places I should see. I know there are more for next time.

No sitting in a tubular box car with strangers and strained conversation flying at 35,000 feet.

I did have a fine ride back with a woman who loaned me her blanket (I was fucking freezing, so desertized) and we had a nice talk about nothing much. Companionship without a lot of blather. The best kind.

Not one delay.

Not one serious encounter with the border police. I was thoroughly rumbled for having a tooth paste tube which was way too big. It is technically liquid. The fucker took it. And something else too just to show me. And a bit of a lecture which one must endure with a smile. Faint.

I am good at the straight face, "yessir" attitude that gets one by these things but the TSA is a formidable group of commissars in the making and I want nothing to do with them anytime soon.

The Brits could show the Americans something about beneficent bureaucratism.

Give a Yank a little power and he is all over himself with what we like to think are Prussian ways.

But that was all coming home.

Going over was lovely.

I had first met with family in Scituate MA where the high point was a cookout with every available kid and some grandkids attending. Even the far flung Australian resident was in town!

Not a lot of time to sit and bobble the grandchildren on my knee but they are all too grown up for that and I am not a knee man.

They are well and I am very proud of each and every one. They all have that look in their eye that tells me they are on the beam.

What have I left out here? A lot probably.

My friend Dennis who is just new to retirement. Only a few months. Boy did I have things to tell him about this life. He is starting well though. I asked what his plan was and he said "to develop a plan" and in the meantime enjoy the freedom of not working in the world of publishing where he spent so many years. Business side which, believe me, ain't arty. Hard as nails those publishing people.

This is a severely disorganized account of my trip. It was glorious. And it is over. And the last words off the plane in Palm Springs with the gorgeous mountains and beautiful plain are "that is the last time I am doing this". I had a great time and I never, ever have to do it again.

Well, no one forced me to do this. I wanted to do it and I loved doing it and I enjoyed every minute of it (really) and I never want to do it again, thank you.

My husband was out front of the airport in the Volvo convertible, lurking just off the premises. When I got to the lobby I called him, he was there in a minute or two and I was away, away back home.

My god, what a wonderful place to live.

And it was hot and it was dry and it was just at sunset.

Home.

Labels: family, Palm Springs, travel

I have a number of stories, all nice, about the trip.

The last and best was my rather quiet but wonderful seat mate in the waiting room who actually gave me TWO blankets. I was sooooo cold. Do they have to have it that cold???? I am desertized. The thermostat now set at a nice 75 minimum temp as “cool”. Well, 72.

The house has had (gasp) changes but then what would we expect. The bedroom is a wonderfully dark dark grey, very dark, very restful. There is some suspiciously new looking art but that might just be the new setting. You know how I notice every subtle visual thing (hardly at all unless it is on my desk).

I can also say that if you cry upon the prospect and reality of meeting your man in an airport especially as he picks you up right out of the baggage claim in a Volvo convertible, kissing long enough to earn a honking rebuke from other drivers (I think meaning get out of the way, here every male kisses other males sort of) there is still a spark, a flame, a fire of love. The mountains were lovely coming in and now on the ground. The air is cool this morning at 80F/27C just as God meant it to be.

I had such a slew of email. A sample: “Hi it’s Jolene, wanna be my fuckbuddy?” (do straight people have “fuckbuddies”? Everything “the gays” do gets appropriated. Bloody hell. See? I picked up a “bloody”).

That is it. Sunrise soon.

I am up early as you can see. That is to be expected. I like it. It is 2 AM and my usual time is 3 so I am “right on time”.

Labels: home, travel

I am headed east for a whirlwind trip.

I will be touching base with people who I have not seen for awhile and may not be able to see again. I know. That is morbid. But probably more realistic.

My taste for travel waned and waned and then hit a bare minimum. So I have stayed here.

But I miss people. And I will go to them because for one reason or another it is hard or impossible for them to come see me.

I will go to Boston first and, of course, see family that is there but also some friends who are important and with whom I need a look in the eye. A touch of the hand. A soulful exchange.

After a couple of days there, I will head to London for another visit. Same thing. Long time no see. In either direction.

Then Canada, the same. Toronto.

There is not much to say about it. There are people I love who are scattered across the earth and I can get to see some of them on this run.

I will not be blogging.

I will not be taking my computer. Maybe.

I am still undecided. The iPad is ready in case. But I might just leave it at home. Bare naked travel. Take in the sights. See the people.

As I type that, it feels especially good to say.

I will take the Kindle to read and read. A lot of plane time. Sitting. Waiting.

Otherwise just me.

I will be gone for a week and so you will have to wait and hear how the trip went.

Labels: travel

John Waters just finished hitchhiking cross country and wrote a book about it.

This is a happy little video about a guy who never lacks for doing the surprising thing.

One of his friends, having just heard about it, left a phone message saying that he would pick him up anywhere and take him where he wanted to go. The friend thought he had dementia and was being nice.

Labels: films, travel

The power is being shut off and on and off and on today from about 11 AM to 4 PM.

Some mumbo jumbo about improving our service.

"A small sacrifice". Well, they didn't actually say that but it amounts to the same thing.

I am turning off the computers to avoid surge problems and we are taking off for the day to the mountains for lunch and a bit of a run around. We haven't done that for awhile.

When I was a kid, of a Sunday afternoon, my Dad would announce that we were going to take "a ride". We never knew where and what we would encounter. Well, maybe he did but I don't think so.

In those days pre television and all the other stuff this is one thing that passed for entertainment. A little gas, a little sight seeing. Home in a few hours. These were nice times. An occasion where there seemed to be a truce between my parents and my Dad was allowed to steer and decide without criticism and bickering. Or worse, pouting.

Me in the back seat doing my fantasy stuff as we went along.

I inherited this bug for driving aimlessly. I began when I was first allowed to drive. They had no idea where I went. I had some money so unless my Dad checked the milage they couldn't tell because of gas.

I was a lonely kid and this was a way to be busy alone. I didn't want or need company. A born isolator.

I don't do the ride thing anymore. Not for a long time. The urge went away I guess as business and personal stuff sent me running all around the world.

But today, we will take a ride to avoid the lights off/on thing. Idyllwild, on to the 10 over the mountain and then maybe up the other mountain to the little towns along the ridge we look at from our house. Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley, 29 Palms. Dinner out since I "won't have time" to make it when we get home. Well, I will have other things to do.

Labels: automobiles, electric power, travel

It has been a long time since I stepped onto an airplane.

Longer still since I have been overseas.

Not to be morbid, but I am running out of time. I don't want to become one of those "never" guys. And, as it turns out, if I don't get on a plane I may never see a few of my friends again. My family usually comes to me but for once, I will go to them. I can come and go as I please.

So I balance the costs. Putting up with the "flying experience" against never seeing some important people again. Email doesn't do it in some cases.

So this summer, July, I am going to fly to London and stop in Boston on the way. Then, after London I will go to Toronto and then back home.

I do not plan to spend any time during this trip to see the sights although my friend Lynda has mentioned the big ferris wheel in London. And I love to walk the streets of Toronto. No. It is to see people. I have seen enough sights.

Now that sounds like a curmudgeon but it is more or less true. I live in one of the most beautiful, if waterless, places in the world. What more could there be? Well, a lot and I have seen a lot of it.

With me it is "OK, there it is. Let's go to the next stop".

My wonder machine ran down somewhere.

I am excited about seeing the people though and while it is probably going to be arduous I will somehow perversely like being in airports and doing all that shit again. After all, I traveled almost every week of my work life. My first flight was on an Allegheny DC3 from Boston to Scranton in 1955.

I sort of miss the lousy food, the factory atmosphere of a large transportation system, the impersonality and fabricated friendliness of the people who will serve me.

I miss the time in hotels. Perhaps this most of all.

One of the nicest things about going to San Diego each year is staying by myself in a hotel and being in a room where nothing happens unless I want it to. Well, almost nothing. No chores, no obligations, no hours to keep. I do not even watch the television. I can just sit.

In San Diego I am just a few feet from a marina and water and seagulls and boats, boats boats. That is part of my room.

I will stay in someone else's home on this trip and that is something to look forward to as well. It has been so long since I stayed in someone else's house I cannot tell you. And while this does not offer the anonymity of a hotel stay it does offer the novelty of snooping into other peoples stuff and checking out how they live.

So I am going. Doing something I had decided I would probably not do ever again.

Labels: travel

John got back home from Italy last night.

Booker and I went to pick him up.

We had a nice reunion. I think maybe Booker figured that he would have to deal with only one dad for the rest of his life. He was quite relieved to find this was not true.

I was relieved too.

I had done pretty well until last Friday when I got "aimless". A euphemism, I think, for lonely. Or missing my love. In any case, I just let the feelings roll and sat and read and read and sat and then somehow that phase got over and I was into anticipation and excitement.

The flights were faultless and we picked him up just as expected.

In the new car which he had never seen.

It passed muster. He has it out there now.

We had a short tutorial this morning but there is not that much that is new or unusual and what there is, as in all properly designed devices, is easy to figure out by simple trial and error and intuitive action.

I can't say things are back to normal yet. I made meat loaf today so that it could age into tomorrow and also be enough for six times.

Tonight, without thinking, I set up for American Chop Suey. Pasta. What was I thinking?

Not that he had any of that while he was away.

He seems happy about it.

It is different.

American, after all.

Labels: Booker, food, home, travel, Volvo

We just returned from the Airport departure door, United.

Booker and I. We came home without John.

He is off to Italy via Boston.

He will arrive in Boston, stay over with an old college chum (he still has one left), lunch with a grandson at his work and then tomorrow night off to Munich.

He is going to Deutschland so he can take a train through the alps going to Bologna.

Then to Ferrara, Parma, Modena, Ravenna, Padua and Venice where he will stay five days until he goes back through the Alps (night train no sights) to Munich and finally home.

It sounds like the Cole Porter Kiss Me Kate song "We open in Venice and then play Verona then off etc until they open in Venice.

We, on the other hand, are staying in Palm Springs and while doing nothing really special, hope to be able to pack in a couple of different things.

For one, on Thursday, taking advantage of the absence, we are getting the whole house cleaned top to bottom by professionals. It has been three years of our own cleaning and there are a few dust fuzzies hidden under the sofa and so on.

To kill time, we don't want to stay here with four or five guys moving furniture, lifting rugs, scrubbing all the tile, Booker and I are going to buy a car.

We have a date with the Volvo guy to sign up for a '14 XC70 which will be as close to the '08 as possible. Of course there will be doodads which we will not really want like the map thing and bluetooth talking with which no one can understand what you are saying to say nothing of the fact that hands free talking has now proven to be as dangerous as holding the phone.

I am not sure if we will leave with a new car, we had not planned to but yesterday when I talked to the Volvo guy he said he already had four of next year's models on the floor. They are always a step ahead and trying to push the "now" over the "wait".

We decided to set it up now because there is a double bonus discount and we do not mind waiting. Which we will probably do as we have a rather specific color (white sparkles although they don't call it that I think it is crystal something) and a more or less stripped down, I think the middle range, set of options. Beige interior and so on. Leather seats.

If we wait it will be 14 weeks but if he has the very specific thing we want, I will take it on Thursday.

What else are we going to do to fill in the other Dad husband's absence? Not much. I have a trip to In and Out Hamburger in mind on Thursday if we need even more time while the cleaners are doing their thing.

I will, of course, have to answer the usual questions about why I am not going with him.

I try to keep it simple "I do not want to go to Italy" but that is rarely enough. The second explanation is that I do not want to stand around in churches and museums looking at old shit. (gasp) Then, usually we have to go to the long term advantages of de-coupling some of our life together so that each of us has an independent existence and achieve some level of person-hood. The "person-hood" always stops them cold. That is a handy verbal artifact from the "human potential movement". I never used it then but now it is a handy conversation stopper.

You cannot explain this to some people. Many get it, nod and grin. They are doing the same thing with their partner or want to.

Others? Stymied. What? How can that be? They signed up for the Kool-Aid. Yes. I know they are still in love, that they do not want to be separated from their mate, they are happiest with them than they are anywhere and so on. Good luck with that, mate.

I still remember the year that my mother, who loved the Jersey shore, did her annual nagging of my Dad to go with her. After I had grown up he never went back. Never.

In frustration, this time, she said that if he didn't go, she would go by herself. And she did.

The world did not cave in. She had a good time and actually took a friend, Harriet, along. He did what he wanted for a week. They could afford it and it relieved the daily pressure of people pleasing alternating with silent scorn or actual fighting that was normal around that house.

Boy did I learn from that. And, later, when, like everyone else, Harriet got worn out by my Mom's self centeredness Mom went by herself.

They both loved it although they continued to do the "he never goes with me but I have a good time anyway" bullshit but that was their life and normal.

Needless to say, we do not do that. He goes, I stay, we both have a good time.

I get my time alone in San Diego (went in August) and all is well. Booker even makes out well. Each of us overcompensates for his being alone so he gets more petting, longer walks, sweeter treats and so on. I am not sure he is pleased by this incidentally.

The one reaction that is hard which is when they ask John how he could leave and go somewhere without me. This is a slightly different spin on the ball and would be the hetero sexism if it wasn't two men. We just let them figure it out. There is no explaining.

So here we are. We just got home. On the short drive from the airport I worried that he might have forgotten his ticket and then because I knew better I worried that he would get his luggage stolen from his car in Boston while he was having lunch with our grandson.

And then, given nothing to worry about, I had sweet tears. This is the culmination of a long year of planning for him. It is his hobby and fascination. He has planned the footsteps at each site and made the necessary elimination of the better and the not. He will have a great time. It is alos a good thing that he will not be renting a car there this year. Always a concern for me. Wild Italians on the road. He will do all trains. Good.

Other than that we are pleased to see him happy with his pursuit, now his fifth (?) trip to Italy. Maybe four. It seems like five because while he is planning it seems like he is there at the time.

This is the first thing I did back in the house. Now. On to breakfast and the first morning dog walk of the two weeks. I am the sole Dad now and I have to get myself into gear.

Labels: life, travel, Volvo

I drove over the mountain this morning from San Diego.

It was beautiful. The sky was very clear and, for the first time this "fall", I saw Orion rising in the east.

It was about 5AM.

I had left at about 3AM. No matter what I do or how I do it, the drive takes three full hours.

Today, I stopped once to get a coffee at a Jack (the new name of Jack in the Box) for an iced coffee then once more in Anza at a K to take a pee. I should have done both at one spot but I didn't have to pee when I wanted the iced coffee.

Fast Food iced coffee is pre-made with a whitener and sweetener. Take it or leave it. I asked to take the whitener shit out (nicer than that) and they did. She told me it was very strong that way. She had that right. I was flying over the hills to Anza where I dumped it and made my own at the K. Where, incidentally, they have no public toilet but I used my charm to get into the employees lousy, dirty facility. Some employee relations. Some public relations. But it was Anza. Population 1000 and maybe that is big.

There was a guy in there who qualified as the resident geezer and we talked a little about life and the coffee and Anza. He was pretty good to bs with for a few minutes. Like a lot of older guys when I grew up. Resident wits in a half wit town. Didn't get out, had to stay, ironic and funny in a healthy way. I could be that guy.

I had a very good time at San Diego. Shelter Island. BayClub Hotel.

I got a room sort of over the pool so I could ogle nicely and still have a good balcony with some sun. If I really craned out to the right I could see the city skyline.

The place is the same under new ownership. Some corners have been cut. Nothing serious. Portion control at the buffet breakfast which used to be included with the room. It is a big layout. Now, I notice that it has become "complimentary". Next year I may have to pay. I now pay for the parking. Five bucks not bad.

The seal and the pelicans were still there along with the guys putting their boats in the water. A lot of lookers.

I also discovered the ice cream machine at the boat ramp. They have the old "nutty buddy" for two dollars. If you put in five dollars you get dollar coins out. They are small now. Worth the fun.

I got up and walked to one end of the island every day by 5AM, back for the "complimentary breakfast" by 630, a shower, into my room until the early makeup when I went for a walk up the other side of the island. It is a lot more walking than I am used to and I take it at a good clip. I have the shin splints some by the third day of it. Back to the bike tomorrow.

The show next door at the outside concert place was The Monkees on Monday. Keerist. The Monkees. I know for a fact that one of them is dead. The seventies.

I am in bed before the concerts start and the place is great for it. Pull the slider, pull the heavy curtains and I use ear plugs anyway and I never hear it.

I do listen to the sound check in the afternoon which is very interesting. In the Monkees case, the band running through the arrangements, one or two, without the singers. It is quite something. Stirring in a way. "Last train to Clarksville" with a really jazzy arrrangment. The pauses for the verses are there and so it goes and then stops and goes again. I first heard this with the band for Hall and Oates years ago and learned to listen closely. It is very good stuff, this music. And these musicians.

Wednesday night was Lyle Lovett who has a big band with him this year and has switched to a kind of straight on jazz band kind of pieces. The band was really great with a hot trumpeter. Lyle himself tried the stage out later and he was pretty good. He is so weird looking that somehow his artistry gets diverted. For me.

It was a good trip. I am really glad that I do this and I am glad that it is over.

Labels: travel, vacation

Today is the 16th anniversary of our arrival in Palm Springs.

1997.

We drove cross country from Boston to Niagara to Indiana to somewhere in South Dakota. Wyoming.

We had planned to stop at the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone but had called the moving company and found they were ahead of schedule.

Not 070997 (see the numerology? It looks better as 7-9-97 but I don't write my dates that way) but 070797. Oh Oh.

Skipped Yellowstone dropped down to Utah, Ogden and then Salt Lake, on to Las Vegas and then Palm Springs. Home.

The trip was great. The first and last X=country ride. Once was great, not twice.

We had the new Cherokee and did a stop over at various places, taking time to see stuff that people don't normally look at as well as the old standards.

Niagara Falls. Great. Awesome.

Indiana to see friends, the nearly last stay in someone else's home. Not forever, actually. We tried it one more time on our first trip back east. Sucked.

I just can't do that. I lived off motels all my life so that is not a problem but I can't deal with home-i-ness that is not mine.

On to the Plains. No cities, the plan was to hit half Inter-State and go off the track, no blue roads, but not the super highway. 300-500 miles a day with stops for sights.

We saw sights. Looked and looked. Flat. Flat. Flat. Then not.

We stopped at an old fashioned amusement park, visited a prairie dog city, saw the Badlands, stopped at Wall's Drugstore and stayed overnight in a national park in that required group seating for meals. Awful experience.

The next morning we drove out and went through a tunnel where a mountain goat family were spending the night. They let us through.

And so on.

If I turn on the slide player in my head, scene after scene rolls through.

The foothills before the Rockies.

I don't mean to flash it by you so quickly but it is like anyone else's slides. A fast shuffle, in and out.

When we got here it was hot of course. We had kind of planned it that way. Start with the heat and then it is all down hill.

We didn't go back east for over a year.

These were two rules that we made for ourselves for a variety of reasons, one being that we wanted to get the desert thermostat hooked up, but the other was to insure that we got clearly that we were here.

It is one of the best moves I have ever made. Which is not saying much as I have not moved that often, unlike my husband who has many towns and houses in his life's wake.

I lived in two houses on the same street as a kid.

Then MIT. Three different rooms, same floor in one dorm then another. And so on.

Then the early career stuff in Germantown outside Philadelphia, up to Lower Bucks County the first house I sort of owned. Then four houses in Plymouth MA and then three places in Boston. But none of these involved big travel. Coming here was big big travel.

When you get to my age one realizes that there are "once in a lifetime" experiences even if I didn't plan it that way.

The great western move was one of those. We took the time and the trouble to see as much as possible. Did I mention both sides of the Grand Canyon, North and South?

Oh beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain.

I had seen Europe, Japan, the usual winter resort places. But the US of A? Not until then.

Indelible.

Inspiring.

Wonderful.

The American West. Huge. Unending. Forever. A life spent in the cramped Northeast, a great place and a great time, cannot prepare for the going and arriving WEST.

Labels: California, travel

NO ID

This actually happened to me in the St. Regis hotel in NYC.

Everything now is covered by security cams.

Two differences. One was that I was sort of sleep walking. I awoke pretty fast when the door shut.

Two was that I found an old telephone at a table in the hall and called down.

A house detective came and let me in the room.

He told me that the phone I used was not supposed to work.

He thought it was pretty funny. I did not.

Once I was in the room, he came and knocked to see if everything was OK. A way of checking that there was no one else in there.

Then he/they called me a few minutes later. "Is everything all right?". I think that is when they asked my name. A final check whether it was really me. As if someone would be walking the halls balls naked pretending to be someone who didn't live in the hotel. Well, maybe.

That was the end of it.

Don't finish work, on an empty stomach, and have two or maybe three black russians before you go to bed.

And they wonder why I quit drinking. This was just one of those kind of stories.

I laughed a lot in watching this poor guy. He doesn't look drunk but it is pretty foolhardy to do what he did none-the-less. Or stupid. So maybe he was. Drunk.

I identified almost completely.

Labels: alcohol, embarrassing moments, travel