GET AWAY EARLY

  This is my last night in San Francisco. After nearly three weeks on the road I am running out of reasons to keep on with the nomad thing. My house back in the midwest has been suffering through subzero temperatures high winds and heavy snow and I feel some responsibility to be there; bad things happen when temperature looses its way, either way. I have a good crew checking for leaks but the urge to go on the road has been satisfied and I need to get real again. Day before yesterday the sky turned clear and sunny here so we drove up on top of Twin Peaks; The only Twin Peaks I ever heard of was a TV series from the last century but this one the view is breathtaking. San Francisco is spread out below like butter on bread and you can see the entire bay from the Golden Gate to San Jose, Oakland across the way, Alcatraz and all the ships coming and going. 
It rained later, I got all wet and came down with some kind of a bug, sinus, dry cough and suffered all day yesterday. The Covid test came out negative along with all the flu bugs and I woke up today sounding like a bull frog but feeling pretty good: better by the hour. When you are literally living in the moment it comes as a surprise when the hour comes for you to move on. That hour will be tomorrow morning and I will head south. My host in Cupertino is a long held, treasured friend and I hadn’t seen my cousin out in the valley for a dozen years and I thought at my age I should touch those bases; you never know. So I’ll pack before I go to bed and get away early.  

Maybe I should have posted the short beginning when I put it aside for the night. By now three days plus have gone by and I can’t tell if I am leading the way or being dragged along behind. The saying, ‘Just when things can’t get worse, they get worse.’ maybe it should be (PIA) pain in ass distractions more so than things getting worse. I left an expensive, necessary computer device & cable in San-Fran - went to a Best Buy store in Palmdale, CA, bought its generic equal. At motel discover the Best Buy thing didn’t work. Motel fiasco needs a full page to deconstruct so I’ll come back to that train wreck another day. On way out of town next morning I return the Best Buy dud and still need the thing to charge my computer. Slept in car at truck stop in Quartzite, AZ; saved a motel bill so I can pay for the cable & charger at Apple Store in Phoenix next day and up the road to Flagstaff, AZ, make a right turn. Had a bucket list event: stood on corner in Winslow, AZ, such a find sight to see but no girl in flatbed Ford checkin’ me out and I didn’t let the sound of my own wheels drive me crazy (Winslow is a railroad town, lots of trains). Drove late (dark) and I don’t like that but long road, no place to land. Then: Red Roof Inn (Gallup, NM) and the world slowed down. I slept good and am in the waiting room at a Dodge dealer in Albuquerque while my transportation (Fargo) gets new oil and filter. I have no plan, no destination, just a direction, east. My head is breathing clear, both nostrils drawing air but still hack a little dry cough once in a while. Covid tested negative before leaving SanFran. My computer is running on free wifi at the customer waiting area and fully charged with new Apple charger.
An extremely dissatisfied customer just stood in the front lobby and delivered a civil but loud (screaming) disclaimer. a fusillade of insults against the dealership and employees. She was really, really loud and it echoed with effects I would think only professional sound system gurus can produce. It went on and on, again and again for over a minute, maybe 90 sec. That’s a long time in public, in the place of business. Shortly after she left, employees began cruising, looking for the source but I don’t think they actually wanted to find her, only satisfy the company security policy. I always wanted to stand and scream insults in a place of business, without profanity, just really, really loud, well framed and purpose pointed against the people who lie to us and charge too much after not fixing their broken product. Seems my family just went through that and my son took care of the service manager in person. I wanted to tag along but he wouldn’t let me go inside with him. The dealership did the fix for no charge.
This oil change is taking a long time. Not enough for me to yell and raise a ruckus but time is money I’m told; and if you don’t have the one it’s good if you have the other.