bucket list

In 1999, I made a list of people I would like to meet. 26 on the list. Right now, 2 of the entrys have died. I met three and forgot they were on the list until I looked at it today.

Yesterday, I met number one on the list.

I had the chance to take my best friends to a dinner at Dodger Stadium.
I grew up a Dodger fan. The Yankees broke my heart twice and the Dodgers beat them once in 1981.

As I grew up Tommy Lasorda was a constant. Winning. Losing. Coming Back. Year after year. Tommy was always the same. Listening to his interviews on youtube. You knew, Tommy was a bad ass.

My buddies and I met up yesterday at the stadium. The dodger contact was late, so I was gripping. Was this going to happen. As we waited in the club level of the stadium, an grey haired man shuffled past. I knew immediately it was Tommy.

Like seeing a deer in the woods, I didn't want to make a noise to startle him. Seeing him in his natural surroundings he moved to the door, talked with some small kids and was surrounded by grown men softly cheering, "Tommy, it's TOMMY!", "It's an honor to meet you".

Off in a golf cart, he was gone.

Eventually, the Dodger contact met us and we made our way to the stadium club. Ten in all.

As we waited, the line of people at the door parted and Tommy came in.

He was just like I thought. Not a sweet grandfather, bouncing kids on his knee. More of a "Did you take out the trash?" Grumbling grandfather.

We sat at our table. I was in a position at the end of the table. Good maybe, bad maybe. Sitting next to your idol. What do you say? What do you do? So I held back, the other people in the group kept the conversation going and Tommy let it flow.

Tommy was careful at first.
But eventually, the goddamns and f-word came out once or twice.
This, this moment I will remember forever.

When we were getting food. Tommy when to the Tri-tip table. As we were waiting, I asked Tommy what ring he had on. It was a big championship ring. 81?88? 

Tommy looked at me and said...."Hall of Fame."

Tommy took some tri-tip and asked the lady behind the glass. What kind of peppers those were? "Habaneros". 

"Are they hot?" Tommy asked. 

"Oh, yes", the cook said. 

"Give me some...." Tommy held out his plate. (It may sound rude but the way it was said it was not at all)

She picked up a grilled habanero and put it on Tommy's plate. "Give me one more" and the lady picked up another and put it on the plate. Tommy then walked to the table.

What am I going to do?

Tri-tip with habanero. I know about the habanero so I knew the risks. I cut a small slice of chili and put it on the tri tip....not bad....for about 20 seconds.....and then the burn....

but...fuck it....

I ate it all. 

Tommy told us stories about the dodgers in the 70's and the players today. We had about 90 minutes with him. 

It was fantastic. 

Tommy was number one on that list from 1999. 

Right where he should be. 

TMI

I'm at the airport. Three hours early. I have a united club pass so I can relax before the flight.

But...

United doesn't have a lounge in this terminal so I was in the Naugahyde and metal seats, shifting and turning to get the right spot . Three hours to go. I will need the right spot.

Free wifi, do I'm good.

Until...

The dinner I had after the game. I met the owner of the cafe. Talked a bit about travel. And I told him I really like spicy good so he comped me a cup of vegetarian chili, made for me.

It was great but I knew it was one of those meals you pay for twice.

And I'm making the second payment waiting for my plane.

I bought a pair of earphones because I killed the last pair I had and I'm surrounded by stainless steel and listening to an assortment of stones, x, chuck berry and miles Davis.

The day could be worse.

At least I have some privacy .

Home soon ....

Baltimore

Dodgers stunk.
Went to the lost city cafe after the game. Great place, cool surroundings and terrific food. However, never tell the owner you REALLY like spicy food. I will pay for it tomorrow.
I'm at the motel 6 in the part of town a local called, the shit hole. Actually pretty cool. Coffeehouses, good pizza and an art school. And only one corner with hookers. This area is apparently coming back.
Got up to take a piss and saw remnants of flashing red lights in the window above the toilet.
Looked out of the door and two police crown vics pulled over a city bus. Ahh.. The city.
Moving hotels tomorrow. I doubt the right side of town will be as colorful.
Baltimore. You know how to have a good time.

power

I usually do a post after I get home from a trip. Looking back and feeling the transition. I really should have because the relaxed glow I had after the trip lasted all of 72 hours once I got back to work. 

Before I left for my trip the dealer I bought my car from called me. The sales guy told me the dealer was looking for used cars to shore up their position and wanted to know if I was interested. I was not. 

He told me he could at least tell me what my car was worth and that it would just take a few minutes and at least I would know. 

I am well aware of the psychology and manipulation that takes place on a car lot but I like cars and Scion has a new car that I was interested in driving. In my youth I would take a small amount of joy in taking a test drive in a car I could never afford by lying my ass of in a convincing manner by playing on the desperation of some sales slave. 

The last time I was on a car lot, it was a struggle and I didn't make a perfect play but I did better than I had done in, well, ever. 

I felt like after you win a bit in a casino... and you want to go back...just to see.... just to see what would happen. 

So car guy calls today. My day off. I'm watching a movie. He wants to know if I'm free. I either do my laundry or test drive a new car. I don't care what I smell like (today) so I meet up at 4:00PM.

I take the drive in the new car. Very nice. Low to the ground. Nice power but automatic and no sunroof. This car was $28,000, plus tax and etc. Nice to look at but I'm enjoying being out of debt. 

A new replacement for my car would be about $22,000. HA! for me to go for that I would have to get $18,000 for my car when I paid about $20K for it 3 years ago. 

So, I'm in the little room. Sales guy takes my reg and my keys to get my estimate and the work starts. What would it take to get you to buy today? You like the car, right? Your car is old this one is new....we all know the drill. 

I ask sales guy how much he thinks my car is worth.

Brow furls.

He taps his pen on a pad.

6? 8?

In my mind....*8! $8000!!!

In the little plastic chair, I turn up my lip but I don't move. He's doing his job trying to get me to give away my car and screw me as hard as he can with a new one. No harm, no foul. We are all adults I know how this is supposed to go and I'm not interested in a new car anyway. 

8, no. I say. 

What were you thinking of?

Hmm, I slumped in the little plastic chair and relaxed my butt cheeks so I could think. 

15 or 16, I say.

In my mind, to come up with $6K for a new car that has more power and set up better might, MIGHT, be a decent compromise to make, but I am not interested in a new car. 

So, I say 15 or 16 and I'm pretty sure by the expression on car guys face he suffered a momentary urination event. 

He says, as they always do....Let me get the manager on this. 

So I sit, alone, in the little room, in the plastic chair, five minutes longer than my patience should allow when sales guy and manager guy come in the room. 

Manager guy is slick, cocky. So I hear you want to trade your car for a new one. 

No, I say. And I explained the path that led me here. 

Well, he says, you're here. You've already made the decision. 

Now, when people tell me what I'm thinking and what I'm going to do it pisses me off. So he's working  from a bad spot now. 

In fact, He continued, statistics say that when someone comes on a car lot within three days they buy a car. 

This statistic sounded like bullshit to me but to reenforce my position I was sure not to buy a car because of my long history of dragging down the curve. 

Then, it starts....

If I gave you $11,000 today would you make a deal....

No I say...

11.5

No I say...

12

12.5

No I say...

14...

$14000! In this moment I remembered because he was looking at me every time he wrote a number. He was watching my reaction. 

This is the same guy that tried to juke me on my last car when I traded it in. Oh fuck, this was going to be good. 

Numbers were clicking slowly higher...

I will spare the intermediate steps. 

The duel ended when I refused.....

$17,000!

He got up an said, You're not ready... in polite disgust. 

Oh fuck, what a moment. 

I might have gotten up to $18,000 but then another manager would have came up to try and bring it down and who has that kind of time. 

I'm kind of exhausted. My car is running fine. Dirty but ok and I'm going to keep it but fuck I got to drive a new car and ruin a sales managers day. 

I'm having a black lemonade and relaxing. 

Laundry can wait. 

Paris

Landed yesterday. Walked around but the day was shot.
Days like today I'm glad I came by myself. Shit happens and I don't know how to handle it bit if I had to behave around someone else might be a problem.
I found a lady to do some work on my journal so I had to leave it with her. I'm never with out it and I'm finding stuff everywhere to paste in it or write about and now its out of my hands so I feel off balance.
Went to the museum. Very cool place but full, full, full of people.
Picked up my bag to change hotels. I'm tired, hungry and the iPod is running out of juice. Directions say its just off of the metro station.
Cool except the us consulate is just off the metro station.
Then it starts to rain. Then the strap on my bag breaks and I'm looking in the lonely planet for the hotel .
Half of me is pissed but the other half loves this shit. The worse it gets the better I feel when it's over. Getting to the other side is satisfying. Most people want to relax on vacation, I don't mind a turd on the lawn on occasion.
I'm beat.
Pick up the journal tomorrow and get ready for the plane.
This trip is almost done

48

Tie, shoes, slacks.
Couldn't sleep waiting for the table to open.
Got to the casino and roulette and blackjack were full. The crap table, empty, dark on the outside near the back corner . Pit boss says the table will open at ten, on five minutes .
I sit at the slots watching for the crew to get there. Out of the back a door opens and a dozen starched white shirts with legs empty into the room.
The actual casino room is divided into two. One room mainly slots and the main room for tables with some slots to absorb some of the space.
The roulette etc, the main tables are under canopy of eight crystal chandeliers. Vaulted ceiling in gold and green. A classic of what I would imagine a European reception room would be but better because it's a casino.
Three white shirts and a suit make it to the table and set up.
I'm worried there will be a crowd of douchebags ( I purposely leave myself out of this count ) or a bad crew. So many things can fuck up the table for me but it's Just me. No one. No one is interested on the table except me.
The crew is curious about the game they are calling but not into it.
I'm very lucky! They speak English . I had been practicing French for the numbers and le gran rouge but I'm glad I didn't have to break it out.
The stick guy is six foot something with stubble for hair. He pushed the dice. Amber dice on green felt. I pick two, roll 3 and 2. Bet. And I hit my five. Payouts are the same as Vegas but single odds back.
Dice out. Point is six. I make it. I make a five and I'm out.
The stick is calling six when I roll a five. He's calling seven out when it's the come out. His head is not on the game but it's just me so I help him. And I'm talk Ing with the dealers about payouts and odds. It's cool. The dice turn but it's ok.
Two college guys come up. One is a player his buddy knows nothing so we teach the rules to the buddy.
Dice are up and down. I'm putting winnings in my pocket and I feel some in there but I have to keep digging to keep the game going.
Eventually it's me and the player. And the dice cool off. Not cold but cool.
The player leaves.
I keep going.
Five. Make it.
Six. Make it.
Six. Make it.
I'm betting minimum. I could be winning. I'm up.
So I think. What did I come here for?
I rolled. I won.i played my game and won.
Over the arch is a gold blue and white enamel faced clock.
At 10:52pm, I walked out up 93 euro.
I'm having coffee in the lounge with my winnings.
Not a bad birthday.

Arles

I watched "Lust for Life" with Kirk Douglas years ago. It's still a favorite of mine. Watch it if you have the time.
Parts of it were shot in Arles at the van gogh sites. Now I'm here.
I wandered the streets. I meant to hit all the van gogh sites but I just wandered. Two days. Narrow streets. Wooden shutters and stone streets. Roman theaters and tiny cafes. I forgot why I really came and sank into this place.
It's off season so there are no crowds for anything.
The thing I knew would be here but wasn't prepared for was the wind. It feels like a giant is standing over the land and swiping past everything. It shoots through the streets. It blasts through the squares. It's like a person that keeps turning up around every corner.
I have to come back. Arles is small and could be done in a day but to feel it, really, it needs more.
Bullfights in the roman arena. That must be something.
Booked my train for tomorrow.
48 is coming, and I'm ready.

South

The snow turned to ice on the sidewalks overnight. Checked out of the hotel and checked my steps slowly to the metro station.

My sneakers were a bad choice. Feet wet and three times I was nearly ass over teakettle in the street.

Two stops on the metro and I'm at the station. The wrong station. Through the snow...slush...ice...feet wet ... I get to the right station.

Agent gets me on the first train south.

Two hours in the sun hits me for the first time in weeks.fuuuuuucccckkk...how I missed it.

I have music on random. French countryside with zeppelin, muddy waters and chuck berry in my head. I'm nearly embarrassed how good these moment is.

Nearing Avignon....

Cold

I left Copenhagen as it started to turn cold and it's catching up to me here.
I looked our of the window and it rained overnight.
My nose is stuffed and my eyes hurt. I had a bowl of onion soup yesterday but it was not enough to ward off the cold.
I walked all day yesterday from my hotel to the louve to cafes and the subway.
The size of the city is amazing again in contrast with Copenhagen terrific.
Changing hotels again. See a different part of the city.
Tomorrow moving on.

Here to there...

Left Copenhagen yesterday. I kind of miss it. The city and the people have a slow friendly pulse.
On the plane I got jacked 3euro for a diet coke. Airplane austerity...
The book said airport to the city was straight forward but work on the subway meant otherwise. Copenhagen to paris flight-90 minutes. Cdg to main station . 2.5 hrs. By the time I got to the hotel I was wiped out. I lost the evening in Paris.
20 euro for wifi so I would not post.
Sleep.
Up early .
Arc de truimphe, champs des élysées ...louve. Walking .
This is much different than Copenhagen . Big. It's a city. Harder but elegant just the same.
People are friendly. I think the rude local to tourist idea is dying. May not be dead but I think with the times and our sensitivity to each other there is more slack allowed.
No louve today. Maybe for this trip. Have to budget time.
Fog has obscured the Eiffel so I may have to wait for that moment until I come back around. Weather is supposed to get cold.
Throat is sore. Nose running. I'm fighting it. Cup o noodles yesterday. Helped. Onion soup today is on the agenda.
But fuck, even if I get sick. I'm in Paris. Who could bitch about that.
Later...

Cope

I have never been a morning person but when I travel I try and make the most of my time.
I've been getting up at about 5am to walk the city, get some coffee and write. Trouble is Copenhagen opens at about 9am.
I went to mcdonalds yesterday at 6am for breakfast and the kid behind the counter looked confused. I asked and he said no breakfast until 7. Shit
Out today at 6am and still nothing was open. I picked up coffee at 7-11 and sat on a bench eating a scone and watching the sun come up. Brutal. My fingers were sore and red from the cold.
The radisson royal is ok. The design is modern and a bit cold. Renovated some of the human touches were excerised in favor of meeting spaces. Touring the landmark room 606 before I check out.
Plane at 5pm.
Paris tonight.

Thunder

Out of stupidity, after I finished getting the house ready for my departure, I decided to start my vacation by running to the 7-11 at midnight and picking up a coke and some chips like I did in college.
When faced with my options of Doritos and funyons (neither could never occur in nature) I decided to keep with the college theme and I picked...BOTH!

Fast forward. Palace hotel, Copenhagen.
After a nice plane ride, I got out of the airport. Got lost. No free wifi so I had to ask a local for help. Stumbled, bumbled and eventually found my hotel.
The palace is a great historic building on the main square. The rooms and decor are modern and comfortable but walking the streets you can feel the age of this place. There is a feeling of stability confidence and humility in the way the city is put together.
I've stayed near the square so I haven't seen a lot but I did not notice any seventy story high rises that scream at the eye. Brick and wood and glass and steel sit together respectfully.

The plane and dragging my bags around took a lot our of me. The strap on my backpack has been broken for weeks so the chore is more difficult getting here to there. So I hit the bed and stayed.

This morning I looked outside. No snow but the residents were bundled so I had breakfast in the hotel. Meat, local breads, coffee and veg. Mostly healthy but off the diet I've been trying to keep.
I wrote but mostly in a fowl mood since the plane.
Finished two cups of coffee with breakfast headed to the room. Hit the button in the elevator and a twisting searing pain hit me in my gut held me for ten seconds or so. I'm guessing ten seconds. It felt like a minute but searing pain tends go play with the imagination. I had to get to the room.
Fast walk. Agh! I know what this is!
You know in moments like this how the universe with fuck with you. My room key needed three swipes to work...one...beep beep beep...two...beep beep beep....three..beep beep...green light.
Got to the room to unleash a thunderous barrage of Doritos funyon apocalypse which reminded me that in college I was an idiot.
I was in a better mood afterward.
Walked to the museum, hard rock and a seamstress fixed my bag.
Moving hotels tomorrow.
Things are good.

Found on Facebook

Ha....

set

about 2 weeks to go...
received my train tickets....reservations are set for most of the trip.
birthday 48 is just over the horizon.

talking with someone the other day. I mentioned by birthday coming up and the standard, ugh....i'm getting old...i hate my birthday...it reminds me of how old i'm getting.

first thing, i hate people that bitch about mundane shit. after about five, you know your birthday is coming, get used to it...

there are a lot of things i like about myself but the birthday tradition is near the top. I may shelve the travel part eventually, which isn't the main focus of the tradition, the main focus is to be where you want to be and reflect on where you've been in the last year and ready myself for the year coming up.

my twenties and some of my thirties washed past me before i realized how much had left. the birthday tradition helps me keep all of that in hand, holding on the that time, with value attached to it.

time here will be gone soon enough.

work is wearing my out. this trip is coming just in time.

counting down....

the week...

Ever have a week where the universe keeps punching you in the nuts and just keeps it coming.
Yea...one of those.
It wasn't the worst week. I will survive but I was definitely going to enjoy the end.

Today, I feel better.
I booked my ticket for my birthday and the hotel where I will be on my birthday.
I scaled back from past years. I've been blowing it out and I'm going to hit many things during the year so I'm not depriving myself.
I'm still luckier than I could have imagined I would be ....Ha!
Here is a sign that things are turing around.
On my new years trip I we stopped by philadelphia. My favorite sandwich of all time, the italian roast pork sandwich with spicy hot peppers. AMAZING!
I loved it like I did the first time I had it.

This morning, I get a message on face book. My friend, Paul Caballero, who lives in New York. He's going to philadelphia but I get the message to late because of the time difference. I tell him he should stop by the Reading Market for the Dinic's pork sandwich.

I get a message a few minutes later...He's on his way with his family...he heard about it on travel channel.

Even if I'm having a bad week over here .....my doppelgänger in new york is on the right track....
That is all...