Here we go again...

http://betoinsf.blogspot.com

I thought I'd never see it...

My favorite newspaper and all-around ivy-centric New York Times usually limits its coverage of college football to "The Game" and let's just say their sports department doesn't usually bring in the big awards. I was thoroughly impressed to see this one waiting in my inbox:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/sports/ncaafootball/08colleges.html?th&emc=th

Well done Coach Harbaugh. Go Stanford Football.

Yesterday...

So instead of being able to get up at the nice hour of 6:45 tomorrow, I should be on the first baby bullet to the city at 6:23am. Why is that? Oh because all my cold calling for the case has produced pretty much no results this past week, and my supervisor wants me to be in the office early to catch people on west coast time. That means in the office at 7:30am. Yuck! I only hope that I will be able to get a little bit of sleep tonight.

Ming called back today. During lunch tomorrow Darren and I will be signing a new lease for the place in Russian Hill! Woohoo! I probably still won’t sleep there since my bed will still be in storage in Mountain View. But nonetheless, I’ll have a place - within walking distance of the office – to call my own. Bad ass. I guess that means I’ll have to shut down the blog soon. Sad. Oh well, there’s still another week of hotel bumming for me. I can keep writing ‘til then.

Work Work Work...

OK, this one’s too good not to write about. So we went into the office yesterday. No big deal. Work a Sunday, chances are I’m gonna get some other day off later. Plus, I went in with jeans, a t-shirt, sandals, and my Stanford cap. The work wasn’t very rigorous; mostly figuring out our plan of action for the next week before our final presentation to the client. Since it was Sunday and we were all at work instead of at home, our team decided to have a nice dinner at a place called Roy’s on Mission. The food took way too long and cost way too much, but whatever; it was nouveau-Hawaiian fusion, so it had to take a long time and cost too much. But the bad thing is the long dinner didn’t get me out until 9:15 pm. No problem, I saw that the Caltrain schedule had a 10:00pm and 12:00am train that would take me back to PA in no time. But I didn’t read close enough. Turns out those trains only run on Saturday as marked by the ‘SAT ONLY’ marking above those two trains. Crap. So two taxis later I booked it to the hotel where two of the LA people from my case are staying: The Omni. Just to get an idea, one of them is paying half a G per night for this room. Andi was nice enough to let me crash her place with a particularly comfortable roll away. So after a quick Dewers on the rocks, I hit the hay, the two of us falling asleep to some quality “Family Guy” on late night TV. But I was still in my sandals, jeans, and t-shirt. Hardly appropriate dress for Monday at the office! So I got up a little after 5:30am to catch the 6:11am express that got me to Palo Alto at 6:56. Changed, shaved, little deodorant and cologne (“French bath” as some like to call it), tried to manually smooth-out wrinkles from my freshly washed clothes (no luck), and booked it back to the Caltrain station. And right as I got out of the car, the 7:23am baby bullet to SF was pulling up. Now I’m on schedule to be back in the city at 8:04am. I do believe that could be a world record for a round trip to Palo Alto with time to spruce up as well!
The cool thing about my insane life working in the city with no real place to call home is that it really reminds me of my days in Moscow; waking up terribly early, fighting with the public transportation system. Lightning quick changes at home, and best of all, meeting great new people in my life. I might well be exhausted by 11:00am today, but I kinda find this life exhilarating. Maybe I’m just kind of a sleep masochist like that.

Sunday 10am Caltrain to the city.

It might soon be over! Yesterday Darren and I saw two apartments that we were both pleased with and put the wheels in motion to get the second one we saw – a two bedroom two bath in Russian Hill, on the edge of North Beach. The other was a newly renovated place in SOMA that left one longing for a little more space. But on the other hand, it had a kitchen to die for. The reason we are waiting out for the slightly dated Russian Hill place is because of one major factor: the living room window looks out onto an absolutely breath-taking view of the bay. Alcatraz, fisherman’s’ wharf, it couldn't get more San Francisco! The kitchen’s a little dated and the outside smells like old people, but the view and the location make it easy to forget such things. Speaking of location, everybody and their mother would love to live in this area. The North Beach/Russian Hill area is teeming with people just like ourselves, just trying to have a good time in their post-college years. Almost as important for Darren is the variety of great Cafés – a must for any young writer. All fingers and toes are crossed that we can sign on this place on Monday. Just need the landlord Ming to come through.
As a side note: I’m on my way to the office. Luckily it’s ten in the morning, and I was able to get a great night’s sleep, but yes, it is Sunday. So funny, I told everyone that one of the great things about consulting is that we never work weekends; a vast improvement from the banker’s life. But, wouldn’t you know it, my first weekend and I’m heading into the office. Frankly I’m not too peeved or anything. Our team is heading in today so that we don’t have to pull multiple all-nighters this next week. Also, all signs point two a three-day weekend after the work on this case is done. Awesome!

Two days ago...

September 25, 2007, 10:03PM. Going home. On the CalTrain. Heading back to my sister’s place because yes, I am still homeless. And boy, is this one of the worst industries to be in while homeless. All I needs is my own personal bed to come home to, pass out on, get some awesome REM sleep, and wake up refreshed for another short walk back to the office. Instead, I am averaging about 1 hour 30 minutes to get to work or to get back home. For all my wondrous applause of the advanced public transportation system here, I’m not enjoying it particularly much. Or maybe it’s that I’ve pretty much had it with Palo Alto. Not only did it disappoint as a college town, it is now causing me commuting headaches aplenty. A boss on my case suggested that I get a hotel in the city and charge it to the firm. Not a bad idea. If only I could afford SF hotels with the available credit that I have now. When I asked him if he was serious, he said “yeah, that commute is costing me two hours of work every day.” Good to know I’m valued as an employee! But I guess our whole case team is stressed. We’re charged with a particularly tough case with a deadline that borders on absurd. We’re all stressed. The sick part is, I actually kinda love this shit. It’s exhilarating. I’m become a short-term expert in my field and working my ass off to achieve that status. Nice. I asked the same boss if I could have an hour off for lunch tomorrow to take a look at an apartment with my potential roommate. He said that that was valuable time for contacting people on the East Coast so not really. Maybe I could do it Friday, or Saturday, or Sunday, but we might be working Sunday. Haha., gotta love it.

Quick Review

Alright so I’m still technically a vagabond even tough I’ve been living very nice recently. On Sunday night I flew out to LA (I’ve always driven) for my first week of training in the LA office. It was great. They put me up in a “boutique” hotel that was only a couple miles away from the LA office (very important in LA for the purposes of traffic). There were many a handshake, many a power point presentation, and many a meal taken care of by the firm. Nice.
Thursday Night
Since Monday, the orientation people kept referring to Thursday night. Really got up our expectations about it, considering they wouldn’t let us know exactly what was going to happen that night. “Oh, you’ll find out.” ??? Turns out only the associates (the ones that are coming straight out of undergrad) were invited to out Thursday night event. The consultants (the ones with PhDs and MBAs) were doing something else that night, but apparently it wasn’t going to be nearly the same, whatever it in fact was. Slowly but surely more and more information was leaked about Thursday night as the time approached. “limo” and “lots of alcohol” came up multiple times.
Come Thursday day, we were let out at the very generous hour of 3pm and we were told to “go home and come back in a taxi.” Since home for the SF associates was the hotel, we did as we were told and went home. I changed, took a short nap, and returned to the office at 6:30pm. When we got up to the twenty first floor, there were many white plastic bags, and first and second year associates looking pumped. Back down on the first floor we waited around outside as a stretch Ford Expedition pulled up and we climbed in. Must have been a good twenty of us in there. Champagne was passed around and a toast to LEK was given. Then other beverages were promptly consumed. I really don’t have to good of an idea of the rest of the night. But it went something like two amazingly nice cocktail lounges on the beach of Santa Monica, yummy yummy tacos at “Tito’s Taco’s” (I’ve never seen such ravenous consultants), and some swank Hollywood club that I probably wouldn’t have been able to get into otherwise. Nice. I think even our BYU associate appreciated it.
Back and Forth
I might have been hurting a little on Friday, ain’t gonna lie. But the day was short and the food was plentiful (which my stomach greatly appreciated). At 5pm the San Franciscans boarded a flight back to the bay. It was nice to get back to our area of town. I met up with Stan, Aditi, and Fish for the first time after the whole summer and we did some mad Malibu mini-golfing. A well-deserved rest and up bright and early to go meet up with Darren for another Saturday of apartment hunting in the city. The first place I saw in Potrero was going to be a little out of our price range, so Darren didn’t come, but I went my own anyway to see the unit. It was gorgeous. I kind of fell in love with the place. Frankly none of the other three places we saw that day even came close. So I called the manager. Asked to see it again. No answer. Tried again a couple of hours later nothing. Four calls two messages, and two e-mails later I still haven’t heard from this guy. I’m worried the unit is probably gone by now. Damn, it was so nice and spacious. Fingers crossed that something like that can be worked out for us. But for now I still live homeless. Yuck.
Off again
Now I’m half-way through my flight to Boston and I’m remembering how much I hate flying eastward. Tomorrow our first meeting is at 8pm, Boston time. They must hate the west coast over here or something, cause that’s just cruel. I guess I am being flown to Boston and put up in the Hilton and I’m also writing this entry on a 12-inch Dell that actually has more than 20 minutes of battery life (imagine that!). That’s all very kind of them. But couldn’t they push things back an hour or two for us Californians? Suppose not. Here’s to a very early night tonight.

Guess who's apartment hunting tomorrow?

Me! I am! Along with my prospective roomy Mr. Darren Franich. An actual place that Beto can call home? Impossible!

Written on 9-5-07

Denver Airport…

Hour-long layover between Austin and SFO. I have no idea what to feel right now. I’m not ecstatic at the prospect of starting my new life in San Francisco, although I probably should be. I’m also not terribly sad that I’m leaving Texas; as I’ve said for so long, my opportunities don’t lie there at this moment. I’m just kind bleh. Trying to find the right feeling. I think overall I’m extremely grateful for my vagabond summer that wouldn’t have been possible without the help of so many great family and friends that were ready to take me in and invite me into their homes. Thanks so much to all of you.

My entire last day was spent finally finishing the most important part of my car-project: the painting. I got up super-early to go to the paint shop that makes custom matching paint and I was ready to apply my first coat in Norma’s garage by 11:00am (a very early hour for me!). I sanded down the primer, washed the leftovers, did eight coats of paint; all like I was supposed to do! But when it came time to apply the clear coat, things just didn’t tie together! The paint maintained its matted quality and never glossed up! Even after six coats of clear coat. If none of this makes any sense to y’all, just know that I was extremely frustrated after such a hard day of labor. At 8pm I tried my last coat of clear coat, but to no avail. The job looked like crap. Now I have to try to sell a less-than-stellar car from a different city (many thanks to Tio David and Tia Gloria for having the car at their house). So annoying! But you know what, it’s only damn appropriate when it comes to that car. Whether it’s the air conditioning, or the inch of dust, or the insufficient funds to renovate, this project car has been the most annoying thing ever! On the other hand, I got a lot of good experience with fixing this and that. I feel a lot more confident that I can sell of Olga and get me something a little nicer to fix up. Thank God I don’t require air conditioning in San Francisco!

This morning...

After waking up from a wonderful sleep in my cousin's bed (haha, he's off to college!) I was relishing my lack of work ethic as I laid in bed, with no particular deadline or assignment for the day. I finally decided to get up around 11:30am to relieve my bladder which was giving me an urgent assignment due first thing in the morning. So I was rubbing my eyes on my way to the bathroom and BOOM! I ran forehead-first in to a small post by the bathroom and at the top of the stairs of my aunt and uncle's place. What a welcome. Now I got a nice little red mark at my hairline to go with my immense scars on my right-hand. This has not been a good summer for Beto's body. The worse part is, I've actually lived in this house. For about three months straight actually, a couple of years ago. Guess I wasn't used to going to bathroom from that particular angle. Should have slept on the sofa that I had grown so accustomed to.

Good luck at Pitzer Patricio, I know you're gonna love it.

More South Town

I'm back to my fav spot in San Antonio: Mad Hatters. I just had a pretty epic study sesh, so I'm ready to close down after this blog entry. The three cups of coffee sure are kicking through my veins right now.

I had a realization after posting pics from the weekend right after my pissy entry yesterday: this life ain't too bad. Even though I'm dirt poor at the moment, things could be a lot worse. I was able to go to Flug Tag, have a few beers and experience the craziness of 6th street when UT is actually in session, and got to see great friends from high school and college. The past weekend also reinforced what a great support network I have here in TX, and how I'd be so lost without everyone.

I went to the freshman send-off party for Stanford yesterday. I saw three MBA's there (two that I already know). Gave me a little faith that even if I don't end up going to grad school in TX, I can still end up back here. SA is not too bad of town to call home and raise a family. The three others seemed to think so at least. Whoa, family talk? What's wrong with me? Gotta lay off that caffeine.

Martin covets another man's ride at the Westin.

Oh yes, school is back in session.

Some new horns are still learning how to cheer.

The view of the platform from our 1st St. vantage point.

Creative naming abound...

The gigantic screen ended up being about the best view we could get.

I wonder who sponsored this event?

Jess and the crew heading to Flug Tag.

This little number is courtesy of my Hyundai last Monday afternoon.

On my way down to San Antone...

This could be one of my last visits. Once I finish up these last three days of work at the district office, I don't know if I will heading back before my flight for SFO leaves on Sept. 5 from Austin. Kinda weird to think about.

It is getting about that time for me to head off, though. UT and A&M start school tomorrow, James left to Mongolia yesterday, my finances have hit the fan, and I'm ready to not care about a broken air conditioner in my car again. There are 10 days left and much to take care of, but SF is calling, and I'm not going to ignore that fair city on the bay.

I just ate McDonald's for the first time in at least a year because I'm running low on the finances. My stomach hates me. Never doing that again.

All potential profits

From me fixing up my car have all been washed away: bad alternator. You don't wanna know how much it cost me. Let's just say that I now have a line of credit with Firestone Auto Repair. Dammit. One of those annoying situations where everything electronic starts to fade and eventually you have no radio, no speedometer, and you're calling your aunt and uncle to come help rescue you and you have to miss your expensive GMAT class. Major props to the Ku's. I'd be dead these past two days without them. I also got to hang out a little with my cousin before he heads off to college. Def reminded me of my summer fours years ago: epic hanging out with good friends and good people. We made a promise to hit up Coachella together next April. Should be bad-ass. Okay, now to get to the studying that I've been putting off these past couple of days.

True Vagrancy

Ok, so this night I experience what it means to truly be a vagabond… sort of. After a great night out with some of my best friends from high school(and one of those friend’s fiancé and his crew) I was kind of on a high – experiencing one of those great nights that make me not regret my decision to stay in TX for the summer. The only thing was, my usual companion, Miles, was missing. He was at dinner and didn’t get back to me until we were about to leave our final bar destination at around 12:30. No worries, I have our good family friend, Norma, I said to myself. I can always crash with her if needs be. So I went by her place. She was clearly there (her car was there) but she hadn’t responded to my messages asking her if I could stay with her that night. Miles’ place seemed to be empty. All I know is that he’s leaving early in the morning for college station, and I’m not even sure that I would want to stay with him if I have to be out of the house by 8am.

Anyway, what this all equals is me now chilling at a local park with the windows down, the radio in the background, and me writing one of the most depressing blog entries so far this summer.

How is it that I can be so lost in this town I call home? Oh well, I guess even the best of us has spent a night curled up in a car, waiting for the light of day to rescue them from their misery. Whoa is me.

Morning Update: The cops came at 5:15 in the morning. They shined that really bright light in my face and asked me what I was doing. I told them I was sleeping. That seemed to suffice and they left me alone. I woke up for good two hours later.

It’s now 9:22am on a Sunday morning and I’m on my 3^rd activity of the day: more studying at my new fav coffee house on I-10 and Huebner, It’s a Grind Coffee House. Let’s hope that the copious amounts of coffee from breakfast earlier and the coffeehouse right now allow me to stay productive.

Since I'm trying to give you a little idea...

of what exactly it is I'm up to this summer, I feel it is essential to share with you some of my summer reading. I absolutely love the summer for reading. Great weather, new materials, and zero academic texts mean many a summer-time reading sesh. My first choice this summer was Jack Kerouac's "On the Road." A great read for a self-induced summer of vagabond status. I was introduced to Kerouac by my friend Emily in high school. From that young of an age, she had a great appreciation for beat culture and she was well-read in the great beat literature. I think I asked to borrow "On the Road" at the end of senior year and it had been acquiring dust until this summer. I'm both happy and sad to report that the book is no longer with me; I lost it at Spider House in Austin, a hippie haven where I'm sure it will be put to good literary use.

Just saw this "review" on the NYTimes website, so I thought I should share it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/books/review/Sante2-t-1.html?8bu&emc=bu
Has some good trivia on how Kerouac produced the first draft of his great narrative. Also be sure to take a look at the "foreign versions" slide show of the translated novel's foreign covers - very interesting social commentary on perception of 1950's beat America.

I know I've been bad with pics...

on this blog, but I can change, I swear! The following are from a skeet shooting excursion that James and his dad were nice enough to take me and a couple of others on. That was a terrible sentence. Oh well, too tired to change it. Enjoy the pics!

The journey begins.

The boys get out their big guns.

The master gives instruction to the novice. Love Charles' appropriately sized shirts for the occasion.

A little 100 degree chillin'

My future political career is saved!

Only one of us was able to hit 2 out of 3 birds. Let's just say he was the only one at the whole range to be wearing Birkenstocks while shooting.

This station was pretty tough.

I actually hit this one. I think.

The boys and their guns. Love Ryan's enthusiasm.

The two teachers.

Today has sucked!

I should have known after last saturday when I didn't eat breakfast and I could barely finish the GMAT diagnostic that my body simply doesn't function without food in the morning. Well, of course I was running late to work this morning and so I skipped the cereal. Then I could barely lift the boxes of books that had to be loaded into my co-worker's car to be delivered to schools and shelters. After driving around for about 40miles in San Antonio (no joke - I was lost) it was time to call it quits at the office and start my studying at Mad Hatters. Of course, as luck would have it, I left my wallet in the car that I was delivering books in and I had exactly $7.64 in my pocket and a ravenous hunger. Every lunch at Mad Hatters is $7.99 without tax. Eight miles back to the office and the other resident Stanford student summer worker was off in the same car doing more deliveries. I called his cell and he found the wallet in about to seconds. Got cheap and fattening lunch; feeling better. I didn't feel like driving all the way back to Southtown, so I looked up a few places by Miles' house that have free wi-fi. First and second place: after I doctored my computer last, the wifi has been really weak; no signal. Third place: closes at 5; it was 5:13. No luck and I find myself back at Miles house using their wifi and trying not to be a complete and total burden. Props to my host families this summer.

I was just remembering...

...back to this amazing performance I saw when I was in San Francisco and I always that I had to share this guys work with others. The dude's name is Owen Pallett and his "band" (its mostly just him) is called Final Fantasy. He opened for the Bloc Party show that I saw. If you know bloc party then you definitely know "This Modern Love," one of the more powerful songs on Silent Alarm. Here's the song if you don't know it, or need to be introduced for the first time. Try not to be distracted by the drummer's moobs.

Now take a look at Owen Pallett's version.

I remember everyone had the same initial reaction of this nerd with his violin attempting to cover bloc party. We all thought it was a joke. But damn. I very rarely say that covers are better than the original, but this is definitely a candidate. Be sure to watch the video the entire way through.

A Lazy Sunday...

Well, lazy in the sense of my insane sleeping habits lately. From starting a 3-day a week job that gets going at 9 am, to a 2-day a week that starts at 9 pm, my body is generally very, very confused. So today I woke up at the royal hour of 12 pm. It was great. Got a little bit of cereal, a quick chat with Mrs. Vaughan, and I now find myself at JP's Java (close to UT campus on San Jacinto) trying to get myself motivated for GMAT. It's working with moderate success. Nevertheless, their exist way too many great distractions on the internet. One of which is Craig's List. I'm starting to really look forward to my move to San Francisco. I really love that town but I really don't love the rental rates. Oh well, I suppose it's true what Stan says: living in the city is a luxury good and thus sells at a premium. Damn you econ!

Listen to "Lazy Eye" on http://www.myspace.com/silversunpickups.

Tonight James and I attend a big birthday bash for one of his good friends from high school, Ali Smith. She's very good people, so we couldn't pass this one up. Only problem is James has a big meeting tomorrow at ten and I have to be in work in San Antonio by 9am. Looks like I'm really going to need that extra sleep I just got.

Oh man!

This has been a crazy week again! From chilling out in one city (Austin) for almost a full week and a half, I have again begun to move back and forth between these two fine towns seemingly on a whim. I also have this new part-time gig with my old boss, Joaquin Castro, that is in San Antonio from Mon thru Wed. Did I forget to tell this blog about this? Well, it isn't a huge deal, but it is some much needed cash. Plus, I get to see a lot of the great people I used to work with in the office. Everyone seems to be doing great, by the way.

After I showed up to my GMAT course half-an-hour late on Wednesday (why does it hurt so much when you know you've paid out of your own pocket?) I was able to chill a little with James, and I must say our Mongolian vocabulary is progressing nicely. James is headed to said country at the end of the month and he's determined to get some of the local language down. Since it's always better to learn with someone else, I'm helping him out. It also helps to have someone who knows cyrillic. Anyway, James and my hope is that in a week or two, we will be able to talk about people in front of them in Mongolian. Seeing as I can still hardly manage to do so in Russian, I think we're aiming a bit high. But now worries - it's good motivation for studying.

Now I'm back at Mad Hatters in San Antonio after a not-so-successful attempt at gathering the troops for a Thursday night out. It's cool, should be a good weekend for going out anyway.

Alright, I have to concentrate on pulling my hair out from GMAT homework now. Wish me luck.

I'm soooo freaking close to getting the air conditioner working in my car. Why does it hate me so?

Listen to this one:

http://www.myspace.com/muse

Put it on the track called "Starlight." Can't tell you how many times I've listened to this one track in the past 48 hours. Usually I never do the one-track-repeat thing, but this one is so good. So glad I found it again on my iTunes.

So after my entry yesterday, I had a great day and I've been feeling much better since then. After leaving Mad Hatters I joined Miles family at their church. I had never been to an Episcopalian service, and I must say, if they hadn't told me it was one, I wouldn't have known the difference. Almost the exact same as a Roman Catholic mass. Maybe this was "mass streamlined." No music and a concise and intriguing sermon got us all out of there in 40 minutes and smiles on our faces. We then headed to the Stallings residence for Mr. Rowton's goodbye party. It was an overwhelming success. There were ISA grads from the first class ('98?) all the way to just graduated seniors. Oh yeah and MUNSA (our beloved high school conference) is coming up on its twelfth year. I participated in MUNSA V and was a chair for MUNSA VII. Talk about making you feel old! Many teachers are leaving my old high school and the asshole they called a replacement for Dr. A has now "moved on." Rumor is he was forced out. Bad ass. Gotta rep my high school with only the most devoted educators. Russell is heading to LA and we're going to meet up when I'm doing my training there in September. I also got to see so many classmates that I probably wouldn't have seen any other way. The Stallings were great hosts and I talked politics with Billy's parents for awhile. We're determined to kick that damn Frank Corte out of his damn entrenched seat soon. The best part about the party was, as Ms. Moore put it, it was "the party that facebook made possible." I knew I liked that company for one reason or another.

I'm sorry if this entire last paragraph was extremely esoteric, but I was very happy to see some of my best friends and teachers from high school last night. Now I'm back at Mad Hatters and about to go through a couple of lessons. Bring on the frowns:(

In Mad Hatters...

and I'm kinda pissed off. I've been studying fairly hard on this GMAT stuff and so far my scores on the quizzes do not seem to be improving. The data sufficiency stuff in particular is just killing me. These are the questions that a have question stem, then they give you two statements, and you are supposed to respond with the following choices:
A)Statement 1 alone is sufficient to answer the question.
B)Statement 2 alone is sufficient to answer the question.
C)Both statements taken together are sufficient to answer the question.
D)Either statement on its own is sufficient to answer the question.
E)Statement 1 and statement 2 taken together are not sufficient to answer the question.

The hardest part about these is that you could solve the given problem without dripping any sweat, but evaluating the data sufficiency in relation to the question stem is a bitch! I just got a 65% on this last quiz. The Stanford student in me wants me to lock myself in the library, but I really don't like this stuff, so even that is hard to do. I'm done for today, but I'll be getting back to this stuff tomorrow.


Ok, I'm off to Miles' place to take a shower and get ready for Mr. Rowton's going away party. Can't wait to see my old government and Model UN teacher. I owe him a lot, and I hope I get to tell him that before he leaves.

After being so wonderfully productive yesterday...

Today has been one of those nothing days. I couldn't even get my homework done in time for my first GMAT class. No worries, it can be done after. But my mind could simply not deal with numbers today after the random big night out that Jess and I had last night.

After running around all day doing car errands (my favorite kind of errands), I decided I could use a break. It all started with happy hour at Koma Grill at a new shopping complex called the Dominion at MoPac and 183. The shopping area is trying to be Rodeo drive and it succeeds in boasting some big brand names and that type of shopper that loves to get dressed up to go out. I was a little bit shabby with my wife-beater and d-bag shorts (that plaid ones that sigma chi's are so fond of) with some dirty cross trainers. But the food was good, the margaritas were half-off, and like everywhere else in Austin, they really don't care what you're wearing. After being introduced to my first episode of Law and Order, Jess and I decided to make a night of it and we hit up downtown. I got my first comped drink at the bar I work at, which was a vodka martini that didn't bother with the vermouth. It was really good. Then we heard that our favorite singer/sogwriter coverman, the incomparable Ben Burgess was playing at the Blind Pig Pub. Good times all around.

Today I woke up at 1:40 pm. Late for even my standards. I've been slowly working at getting rid of this headache, but I think sleep will be my only medicine. Side note: I really like my GMAT teacher, and the class seems pretty cool. Now I have to put in the time to get my score up. A 630 on my diagnostic. Def needs to improve.

Midnight showing of the Simpsons movie tomorrow!

Oh, I got's me a ride!

Oh yeah baby, screw the bus! Got me a beat-up '99 Hyundai Sonata for hella cheap! There are plenty of things wrong, and I can't really afford it, but who cares? Today was a crazy car day get everythin in order, and I've accomplished almost nothing significant today besides getting me an overpriced insurance policy. Bummer. Actually, the bigger bummer is the broken A/C in the TX summer. Bring on the rain! Pics soon.

This is too good...

Sometimes I really miss Moscow. This is an excerpt from The Moscow Times' coverage of the Harry Potter release which occurred at 3AM Moscow time in order to coincide with the midnight release in London. Since I'm right in the good part of the novel myself, I clicked on the article to see how the Russkis were celebrating the event. This little charmer was in the middle of the story:

"Some residents living above the bookstore did not share in the revelers' celebration and began splashing buckets of water on noisy fans outside at around 3:30 a.m."


So good! Here's the full story if you feel like taking a look: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/07/23/015.html

Today is a a day of new things....

...because two new events for the summer will be starting. First off, my first GMAT class is today. Unfortunately, the first class is simply a diagnostic, or practice, test where Kaplan strives to test you, stress you, and not teach you anything before they and you know where you stand as a test-taker. I've been boning up a little bit on my GMAT stuff, but probably not enough to get me much higher than the terrible score I posted a few months back when I had no idea what the test entailed. Regardless of what score I get today, I'm excited at the opportunity to really study hard for this test and do well. The last time I did one of these courses was for the SAT in high school, and because I didn't have much time to devote to the course, I don't think I improved as much as I could have. Now I really have no excuse for that.

The other new thing is the new job. The new job that I'm kinda starting to regret taking. I got offered the "door man/bar back" position at Brown bar located at 8th and Colorado in downtown Austin. Friday and Saturday are my first nights. Looks like the hours will be 9PM to 3AM every Friday and Saturday. Prime socializing time. Hopefully this is a good gig. Otherwise I could be quitting fairly soon.

Well, here's to new ventures during vagabond summers.

Studying, or trying to…

…in Dave and David’s apartment. No, they’re not that cute gay couple you know, they’re Dave Cotrell and David Rodriguez two people I knew in high school that somehow ended up living together. I’ve spent the past day and a half chilling with David. An odd event as we were very close in high school, however our dual tendency not to keep up has meant that we don’t really know what the other is up to these days. He seems to be doing alright, with just one more semester to go at St. Mary’s and a guaranteed job with his dad as soon as he graduates. Trouble is, he doesn’t really like what his dad does and isn’t sure he wants to get into his business. Or much any business for that matter. I can empathize. It’s tough to be lost at a time when everyone expects you to have your entire life worked out. It makes me really appreciate the opportunity given to me to have a job right out of graduation. But at the same time, what if I really don’t like it? I mean, I never had that hard-core consulting internship, so I can’t really tell. I think things will turn out alright in the end, I’m just getting a bit ancy about everything.

I've been away for awhile...

So I got into the bad habit of not updating again. I hear repeat complaints of my last blog. So let me try to review what the hell it is that I’ve been doing in the past week.

After James’ and my Thursday adventure we went home for the night and I was ready to head back to SA. My parents were in town and it was time to spend some time with the crew. I forget exactly what Miles and I did on Friday night, but it wasn’t very crazy, and we prepared for the next day as James had invited us to his family’s house in Port Aransas. Oh yeah, we hang out with some old friends that night! Emma, Britney, Trevor, and Kim Gates, to pull out a few memories from the ol’ memory banks.

I know, Port A! The couple of times of that I’ve been to Port A I’ve had a ridiculously good time and this past Saturday was no exception. The ride down threatened rain the entire way, and we got the bulk of a huge thunderstom just past Corpus Christi as we were about to cross over to Mustang Island. But alas, the weather would not ruin my weekend getaway! The storm broke and we pulled up James’ choice place right smack in the middle of Port A. Instead of an expensive meal out, we hit up the local grocery store, got some fajitas, some beer, and we had ourselves an authentic TX bbq. A few beers and a shot of Tito’s handmade vodka later, we were ready to hit the town. But Port A isn’t exactly the kind of town that can be painted red. The closest thing they have to a club is this place called Bernie’s which advertises itself as “Port Aransas’ Night Spot.” You mean to tell me there’s only one? Anyway, the three of us split our time between Bernie’s and this other local bar with outdoor seating and a guy covering all of your favorite country hits. Quick aside: out of all the vehicles on Mustang Island, we estimate that only 3 of 10 are not trucks or SUVs. Seriously, we took a survey. But anyway, the night was fun, the dancing mediocre, and the beers flowed. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I thought I had a bad hangover the previous Thursday, but the one on Sunday gave it a run for its money. Cleaning with a headache is never particularly fun. But we got that place cleared up nice so that we might be able to return soon.

I spent the rest of Sunday and Monday in SA and took it easy with Miles and the fam. My sister also got in town, but I hadn’t seen her at all as she had her own social obligations to attend to.

My dad was flying back to Denver on Tuesday, but the cheaper flight came from Austin, so this, naturally presented an opportunity to get back to that city where I have so much fun. After saying goodbye to my dad, I had my mom drop me off downtown so I could get some work done and figure out of my life. Oh yeah, so at some point I had decided that I really like TX and I don’t want to leave so soon. So I transferred my GMAT course to the Austin location and paid off the rest of my balance to Kaplan. “Muy oucho,” said my bank account. But I’m glad to have a little more of a plan than previously. So anyway, since I’m going to be spending every Wednesday night in Austin anyway, I thought it might be a good idea to pick up a part time job help with the beer tab. I applied at three different places. The Parish, on 6^th, handed me an application and told me to come back on Thursday when they were having interviews. Fadó, on 4^th, gave me an interview on the spot and told me that since I was the first to come in about the ad, they could probably use me. Finally Brown Bar (hehe, that’s really the name) on 8^th and Colorado let me fill out an application and told me they would get back to me soon. I held out the most hope for the Irish pub, where I would be a “doorman” (aka “bouncer”) on Friday and Saturday nights. So I finished up my official business and had Jessica pick me up to go hit up happy hour at a place called “Baby Acapulco.” In the middle of my purple margarita my phone rang with a 512 area code – Austin. Now if anyone has ever had a purple margarita at Baby Acapulco, they would know that it sure as hell ain’t tequila in those margaritas, so I was a little apprehensive to pick up the phone. But since my inhibition was gone anyway, I picked up. Brown Bar wanted an interview the next day. Great! The latest on that is that I was just called 30 min ago to come in for another interview with the general manager, after they two managers gave me a recommendation from our first interview. I know! LEK only made me two interviews and these guys want two as well! I’ll happily oblige so long as I get paid!

The next two days I chilled with Jess and I got to meet her mom and her very cute 11 year-old triplet brothers. I also got to see Jared, from July 4, again. The three of us hit up 6^th street again this Wednesday night, however with not quite so much vigor. Yesterday (Thursday) Jess and I drove down to SA. She’s currently meeting up with her sister and her parents-in-law who live in San Antonio. There is a possibility of meeting up with Jess and her sister for some tubing tomorrow, but that is highly dependant on if the Gudalaupe is open yet. If you remember me telling you about all that crazy rain that we’ve had lately, it’s all bee dumping into the rivers, and they’re not exactly what the officials like to call “safe” at the moment.

Finally, last night I met up with Emma, Jessica Cave, Britney, and Trevor at Mama Margies (glorified Taco Cabana) for some Margaritas. I rolled up Miiles, Rink, and Miles girlfriend Meghan, who had just come down from Arkansas to visit. The Donnelly crew pooped out real early, but I was able to stay and chat with the others for awhile. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the best part of the night: my ride. Last night I was rolling in my great-grandfather’s 1978 Buick. My great granddaddy ain’t around anymore, but his car is still runnin’ real strong. I hauled ass from Potranco and 1604, me and the Buick, all the way down to Trinity University to play some tennis with Elise and Miles. I was running, really, really late, but the Buick was quite the champion and performed admirably. Unfortunately I had to leave the girl at my aunt and uncle’s place when I left today. I look forward to more rides and more stares from the people passing by.

Right now I am sitting in a Greyhound bus on my way back to Austin. I know, I just can’t avoid this city! My good friend Sarah Norris is throwing a little shindig up here I simply could not avoid an opportunity to hang out with my favorite Austinite and ISA graduate. But seriously, Sarah has been such a great friend after high school, and I would never miss an opportunity to hang out with her. My sister is sitting across the aisle as she’s coming up to visit Arturo (an ex of hers) who now works in Austin. His company is have happy hour and I might just tag along to that while I wait for the night to arrive. I’m lucky as this is the first time I’ve had to take the bus to get between cities, but somehow I foresee a few more trips on the blue beast before my time here in TX is up.

Wish me luck on my first class that starts on Wednesday. I’m pretty sure the first session is almost always a diagnostic test. Yuck. Looks like I’m going to have to start buckling down again. Boo! Better enjoy this weekend comin’ up here!

Last Night...

...was an interesting night for James and myself. Let me set the mood a bit. As anyone who has been in the US for the past two years already knows, immigration is sort of the issue du jour. Almost everyone feels strongly on the issue one way or the other. I tend to take a liberalist/economist point of view on the issue, all the while keeping in mind that except for a very few of us in this nation, all of our families made the same journey to this land. But I still feel a little detached. Today there was a New York Times article about corridos (sort of Folk Songs from the North and Central American Spanish-speaking countries) that were being made north of the US border. All I could think while listening to these songs was 'I think this would sound better to Mariachi.' You see while I share a common heritage and language with most of the immigrants coming from the South, it is very easy to separate myself from their story, their plight. It's almost the same feeling of American pride I gained while living in Mexico - it didn't come from a feeling of superiority but rather a feeling of actual difference between our cultures; Mexican/Latino and American. A difference that, at the very least should be respected.

So I don't actually know many immigrants. Many of my friends at Stanford are second or third generation Americans; undoubtedly a tribute to the hard-working nature of immigrant families. But the Mexicanos and Latinos I know in the US usually come from a somewhat privileged background with American roots just as deep as mine. Yesterday my parents and James' parents met up for dinner and we had a great time and we covered a range of political topics (as usually happens when you get at least two lawyers together) and we all came to the same progressive conclusions on issues including immigration.

Once James and I were able to ditch the parents and head out to 6th street for the night, we ran into the immigration issue head-on. Outside of our parking garage a shoddy-looking character, about 5'3" in heights spotted us and managed to utter, "disculpame"to me and James, hoping that one of us spoke Spanish. We both do. The man was dirty and slurring his speech, so I immediately assumed he was like one of the many homeless in Austin looking for some change from the college students going out on 6th street. But he was different from the others. His teeth were brushed, his hair combed, and instead of the handout, he was looking for any work that could be done at night in Austin. We told him we didn't know of any and he started directly into his story when we gave him our attention.

He came from Honduras. He had spent 30 straight days on the road, paying various people a total of $8,000 for transport - a sum that he and his family had been saving for a long time. He took mostly trains and had lost his shoes crossing the river. There he also lost his traveling buddy to the border patrol. He said that there are six main crossing points where you can walk through the river, but these points were heavily guarded, and a certain percentage of people are expected not to make it across. In Laredo someone donated a pair of leather cowboy boots to complete his journey. I can recall a few politicians who are fond of these types of boots. He asked that if we didn't know of any work, if we knew where he could eat. There are plenty of cheap food options in downtown Austin at night, so we headed to the nearest pizza parlor and he whaled down two big pieces of pepperoni and juice as he continued his story. He was broke at this point in his journey and he didn't know a single soul in this city. He vowed he would learn English, but only knew the phrase "Yeah." His only life-line are some family members that live in Houston, but at this point he no way of reaching them. He said that the Bible said that "God will take care of you." He had sinned in the past, but he put his faith in God to make this journey safely, and in that faith he felt secure.

Now that he had gotten some food in his stomach, he needed a place to crash for the night. I also noticed that he speech was no longer slurred, meaning that the guy was actually very hungry at the time he found us. James flirted with the idea of having him over at his house, but I said that while we might be able to do a lot for this guy, we still needed to practice a certain amount of discretion. So we learned of a shelter a couple of blocks away and led him there. It was closed by that point and the worst of Austin's homeless population seemed to be up to no particular good outside of the place. There were druggies, she-men, dead-beats and the like. Probably around 40 total homeless people. James and I were in our nicest jeans and button-down shirts and definitely putting our necks on the line. But the person most scared at this point was our friend. He didn't like these people, and refused to talk to a man I found who spoke Spanish. The only time he swore the entire night was when he demanded to leave the place. I couldn't blame him. Even though he had no money, that is not the situation he wanted to be in. A crowd of homeless started to form around us and we left immediately.

We were out of luck. He asked if he could at least accompany us to the bar, but I knew that without any ID, nobody gets in to any Austin bar. A quick call to James parents advised us that a cheap motel on Austin's east side was probably the best bet for our new friend. We walked back to our car and told him that we would find a place for him to stay. He greatly appreciated the ride in the car and moved the umbrella and phone book in the back seat to the trunk to assure us that he wouldn't steal anything. He also appreciated La Ley radio station that we put on as our ride began. He told us of Honduras and its many beautiful beaches that foreign tourists constantly visit. But the country's people are starving, he said. His family that he lived with was a total of 25 people. They lived an agrarian lifestyle and desperately needed the money that he's expected to earn in the US. We finally found a Motel 8. I ordered the room as if for myself and James and I showed him how to work the lock that worked with a plastic card instead of a traditional key. We told him that many people in East Austin speak Spanish and to avoid the police and a certain type of old-school Texan that we tried our best to describe. He said he understood.

All he needed was a small amount to buy a phone card to contact his family and Houston, and the most difficult part of his journey would be behind him. We gladly handed him $10 and finally gave formal introductions. Jose Luis, as it turned out was his name, was very grateful. He should just be leaving the motel room now and hopefully be getting in contact with his family. James and I will probably never see Jose Luis ever again. "Good luck," was the last advice we gave him.

He is one of millions. Good luck to Jose Luis and every other.

James and Dan debate the truly important decisions

Written in the rain today...

I don’t quite want to die right now, but I’m not sure how to otherwise gain any relief. Why’s that? Well, let’s just say that I celebrated America’s birthday last night a lot more than I have celebrated any of my birthdays. Oh wait, maybe not this last one. But you get the point.

Yesterday started off great. All my dad’s side of the family met up in San Marcos. I had invited both Jessica and James to come along with me since my mom told me to invite some people. James decided he needed to spend some quality time with the family (a valid excuse) so it was only me and Jess with the entire family. Funny. I think she was being sized up the entire time as a potential suitor would be presented before the royal family. Jess knows how to roll with the punches though and we were able to laugh about it later. Fajitas, pinto beans, and fresh flour tortillas are the shit! Also great to spend some quality time with the family; especially those who weren’t able to make it to my graduation.

Later we went to Jess’ place to drink a couple beers and get ready to head out. We were joined by Travis, his brother Jared, and their friend Todd. All fine gentlemen who paid for way too many of my drinks that might be responsible for my current state. I don’t remember the last time we were able to get in that many bars in a bar-hopping adventure. If anyone is in Cheers bar on 6^th, request the “Blue Wave.” I promise it’s the best shot you’ll ever have.

The previous night was also an adventure in Austin. We met up with some of James’ high school friends. There was a much better ratio this night, as at one point, James and I were accompanied by seven lovely ladies. We went to a very typical UT party (at least what I think is typical) which consisted of a cover-charge for guys, one keg, some liquor for the ladies, and one very crowded apartment. They ran out of everything by midnight! Amateurs. So we headed it back to James’ friends apartment and had our own party. There was def some craziness going on. I’ll leave it at that, and ask James for details if you see him.

That’s all the writing that’s in me at the moment. In a couple of hours James’ and my parents are meeting up and we’re all going out to dinner. Tomorrow probably finds me back in SA to celebrate my first First Friday in awhile. It’s contemporary art month. Sweet.

My trusty steed:

Last Night:

I am currently sitting in James’ room back in Austin. I know: how the hell did I get back here? I’ll get to that later. Currently James is having an intense debate with his high school buddy Dan as to the best first date idea for a girl that the guy just met. Some past suggestions have been star-gazing (a favorite of James’), smores at a private club (one from Dan’s girlfriend) and going to see the new movie Transformers. I personally could not vouch for this one. I think the final vote is “Ocean’s 13” at Alamo Drafthouse. I still haven’t been to this place, but apparently it’s amazing. It’s kinda like a chill Austin joint where you can have a dinner, have a beer, and mack with your girl. But of course the last part is up to you. Or rather, up to James…

My computer is working again because I am the soldering king. Not really. I just put a whole bunch of that metal stuff all over my make-shift wires and prayed that my computer would turn on when I plugged it in. It did. Praise the lord, the Toshiba lives! Too bad there is a massive bump on the top-left of my computer that I now can’t get rid of. Oh well, I can deal with it given my newly refreshed batteries!

My family is freaking awesome. Today I got back to Austin using my Tia Gloria’s really new (I’m not really sure of the year) Toyota Corolla. Meanwhile she’s driving a late 70’s or early 80’s Buick that used to belong to my great-grandfather. Ok, it’s not as bad as it seems when she and my Tio David got in contact me with me, they offered to let me borrow the old Buick for awhile because they know how hard it is to get around San Antonio without a car. I had to accept. After we both went to mass today (I forgot that my Parish mass started at 12:15 instead of 12:00; sort of awkward), I mentioned that I wanted to head back up to Austin today. Since I was traveling a bit far, they insisted that I take the Toyota instead of the Buick. Sweet. I’m returning it soon. I’m not that bad!

Ok, enough for now. James wasn’t able to get to his lady tonight. Hopefully she calls tomorrow so I can get all the good dirt soon.

My poor computer!

It's in pieces! Well I sort of did it on purpose. It seems that the positive jack on my DC power supply is loose, so I'm currently learning the basics of soldering and hoping that my computer doesn't blow up when I put it all back together again tomorrow. Meanwhile this is probably the worst updating I've ever done. No pictures and even less updates. Sorry.

Miles and his family have been sooo nice in letting me crash at his place almost every day. I also think that I am pushing Miles to his limits as I'm dragging him out almost every night, but the poor guy also has to get up Mon-Fri for his summer research gig.

I just met up with Emma Holliday and Britanny Derby for drinks tonight and it was great to see those girls for the first time in so long. Emma is happily engaged to a great guy named Omar who she coincidentally dated when she was in middle school at Ike. They met again a few years later and I'm happy to report they're very freakin' adorable together. Can't wait for more engagements. I love going to weddings!

Quick Post

Damn you Toshiba! See my face? I'm not amused. You always seem to thwart me at the worst times! First it was the pooping of the screen during finals winter quarter and now it is your damned DC Power Supply that prevents me from having more than 20 minutes at a time with my laptop!

Apologies if the first few posts come in a bit random. I need to get this laptop fixed soon.

Oh my...

It’s time for another blog. My last blog entry on http://eurobeto.blogspot .com apparently did not appease the masses as it ended quite abruptly. This is understandable given my incredibly somber mood when I finished the blog and my year in Europe simultaneously. This blog finds me much in the same mood, for much the same reason. I have unfortunately just endured a break up in the longest relationship I’ve ever had. But I’m not writing here to vent or even discuss this matter. That is for more private venues. This blog, rather, will track the vagabond summer that I have planned before I start working at L.E.K. consulting in San Francisco beginning September 10, 2007.

Allow me to set the scene. For a few weeks now, since the end of my senior year at Stanford, one of my good buddies, Johnny Hwin, has let me borrow a particularly good album called “So This is Goodbye” by the Junior Boys. If you do not know this group, please check them out; especially if you’re a fan of The Postal Service or Stars and the like. The electronic influence and smooth vocals are perfectly blended in this album. This isn’t the happiest of music, but I find it puts me in a very introspective mood, and thus good for blog entries. I’m listening to this album in a Barnes and Nobles not too far from my old house in San Antonio.

I arrived in Texas last Tuesday night for the first time in almost two years. Anybody who knows me or any Texan knows it’s tough to go that long without being home. My parents’ recent move to Denver, Colorado has made coming back here a real challenge. Even though last Tuesday night I was barely in El Paso, TX and still nine hours away from home, it felt good to be back. My road-trip companion James Vaughan was also happy to be back and we went for a brief night on the town in El Paso. Well, “night on the town” might be a little exaggerated, but we sure did hit that tiny bar district in El Paso. The very next day we did the entire journey to Austin, TX, where James lives and is working this summer. Granted, Austin isn’t home for me, but I still feel a certain comfort there. I lived in Austin for three months during Sophomore year. I arrived then during another particularly difficult time at Stanford. The time away from school was amazing and it invigorated me to go back to school, do the best I could in classes, and get in shape. Now I don’t know if I can credit all this to the city of Austin, but something about living and working in that environment really helped me put things in perspective and enjoy where I was in life.

I now find myself trying to recapture that feeling. After my weekend in Austin (and a couple of great nights on Sixth Street and a couple of intense sessions at James’ gym) I met up with two very good high school friends – Miles Donnelly and Ariel Rosen – to hang out on Saturday night. Amazingly, these two are the only people I can easily get in touch with! Even my best friend from high school seems to be completely MIA. The two came up to Austin to visit and I bummed a ride back to San Antonio that same night. I tried briefly to contact my aunt who lives in San Antonio to see if I could stay with her, but after I realized that she lives very, very far (next to Sea World, if anybody knows San Antonio), I gave up on that and contacted Norma Cantu, a good friend who has known our family since before I was born. She lives about half a mile from my old house and has way too nice in inviting me into her home an making me feel entirely at home. She’s a professor at UT Law School, so she’s not working full-time now, but of course she’s still fairly busy.

The best part about staying with Norma is that she set me up with an old Peugot road bike that she picked up from a garage sale. It was in a bit of a state when I first got it, but after a few quick adjustments, it’s riding like a beauty. Now, I know what you’re probably thinking: “but Beto, nobody rides a bike in San Antonio!” You’re right no one really does outside of their neighborhoods. And I can see why. These are some of the most biker un-friendly roads I’ve ever encountered. No bike lane. Decrepit sidewalks. Constant construction. It’s tough to get around this way! But I do give city-planners some credit. Along the newer stretches of access roads, it is fairly easy to fly up and down the new sidewalks with entry ramps at every curb. All the Via buses are also now equipped with bike racks on the front of the buses. But besides that, let me just say it ain’t no Palo Alto. But I make do.

Yesterday I biked to San Pedro and Hildebrand and caught a bus downtown. There I parked my bike along the river and rediscovered the famed Riverwalk, where I worked exactly four years ago at a local restaurant, Zuni Grill. I visited the place and recognized a couple of the waiters, but I’m sure they didn’t recognize me. I put in an order for our world-famous viper margaritas (rated number one in the nation by Food Network) and set to work doing some stuff for SELA that still needs to get done. If you don’t know what SELA is, I’ll get to that later. Right when I was sitting outside, enjoying my margarita and working on a revision of chapter guidelines, it began to thunder, then rain, then pour. It was not surprised as it has happened every day since I arrived in this area of TX! Speaking of which, looking at the clouds outside right now, my guess is it will begin to pour soon here – again. These thunderstorms aren’t the worse things. They bring down warm rain (as opposed to freezing bay-area rain) and impressive thunder. And they rarely last past fifteen minutes. I moved inside and ordered another margarita. After that I strolled the Riverwalk a little more and began to really feel my two vipers. So I headed a joint called Durty Nelly’s – a famous Irish pub here that I had always heard of when I was working downtown. I heard that there were always good times there and absolutely no minors allowed. Well, this was my first time back in SA and over the age of 21, so I went in for a couple of pints. They didn’t even card me! The Guinness was good, even if they didn’t pour it right. The entertainment was even better with old-timey piano players that sing all the hits you only know the chorus to and absolutely have to sing along to. I will be def heading back soon. A wandered around a bit more and when it got dark, I caught a bus back home.

My computer is about to die, so I’ll have to finish this later.

And I’m back. Whoa, this is kinda weird. I’m in the Jim’s at 410 and Blanco. But then again, I must be dreaming or something. It’s totally different. I’m sitting in front of a beer/wine/coffee bar, everything’s retro-chic/ and the restaurant has pretty much been cut in half to make room for, among other things, a Matress Firm store. I’m not so sure I like it. I literally cannot remember how many memories, many good and many bad, that I had at this old Jim’s. But not this Jim’s. The one before all this modern bullshit was put in. There’s a flat screen with CNN that I’m staring at for crying out loud! Okay, it might not be that bad: there’s a lot more window light now, they got rid of the smoking section (I know some friends that might be disappointed), and Mr. Stevie Wonder is welcoming me to the new place with some good jams. Whoa, and this is a first: the salad tastes like it has actual fresh ingredients! Must be the extra dollar or two they added to all the items on the menu.

Everywhere here seems to have gone through the same changes. Was I away for that long? Almost every strip mall here has been whisked away, changed stores, or turned into a mega mall with the latest designs. I guess I shouldn’t complain though. I’ve never been one to advocate stagnation and I shouldn’t begin now. Especially when it seems like so much investment has poured into this city (although not nearly the amount that has gone into Austin). But sometimes you want to sit down in that same old booth, order your $1.29 cup of endless coffee, and cough and rub your eyes from the smoking section that seems to permeate the entire place. I guess not here, not now.

One thing that seems to have not caught on in SA yet is wireless hotspots. Jim’s marks the fourth place I’ve tried in two days to get wireless at. No luck. My closest hit was a random signal in Durty Nelly’s that I found briefly. But I don’t think that the pub is the best place to collaborate on documents and check e-mail. Darn. Anyway, in my pursuit for the internet, I have accidentally spent a lot of money. I say accidentally because I needed every item, but I didn’t need every item. Included were: a memory card for my new slim digital camera (thanks Marisa!), “Times of Romance” by The Lovemakers (for only $10, def a steal!), a bike helmet (to protect my family’s newly minted $160k investment) and some athletic socks (damn you EBF dryer, eater of all my socks!).

Well, I suppose I’m really starting to ramble on now, so I’ll stop here, but be sure to check in for more rambling, more pictures, and (hopefully) more adventures of my vagabond summer.