Had my 'rite of passage' last night, as a light tremor hit Northern Cali.

Actually, I was in California during the Quake of '89, but I was a little too young to remember that one clearly.

It was a pretty interesting experience. Just typing at my computer, feeling the rumble of a passing truck. It took me a few moments to realize there WAS no passing truck. I probably should have headed for a doorway, but the rocking was so slight a part of me just sat there wondering if it was going to get worse, and a part of me just sat there thinking of that 'Earthquake' Ride/Simulator at Universal Studios that I went on in Florida, which was set in SF. How ironic.

Eesh, a new month already. Time waits for no one.

Not much happening, really. I think I'm part cyborg, as the dentist installed a titanium post in my head today, to support a crown to be added sometime at the end of the year. Now if only I could get an RFID chip put in too so I can pay for stuff by kissing the scanner.

A girl dropped from the sky at the hotel, 'Ana' (though her real name is much more beautiful), offering her housekeeping experience in a 'Work for Housing' exchange arrangement. A 'purty girl in her late twenties, who I seem to kind of get along with.

I'm thinking about inviting her to dinner sometime. And so, the Cycle of Heartbreak begins anew...

Obviously, it doesn't help my chances if that's the attitude I start off with, but what can I say- a lifetime of experience has left me bitter and cynical. Maybe I should wear extra make-up to cover all that up.

Ahhhh. It feels good to be able to say, once again, "Oh, this? This is my newest invention!" Of course the effects only complete if I add a slightly mad twitch to my eye during the delivery.

One thing I miss about some of my old boy shirts are those shirt pockets for holding my tech crap. I've never been much of a 'purse' person- for some reason I always think I look weird carrying one.

So I repurposed a velcro armband from an old MP3 player. I put some velcro stickers on my gadgets and just stuck em' onto the band, along with some loops for my glasses, mini-screwdrivers, pens, etc.

My box of Camels posed a problem though because the velcro stickies didn't stick very well on a cardboard box. So I made a cigarette case from an old altoids tin.

Ok, yeah, it's not going to change the world anytime soon. But I still think it's cool having all that stuff strapped to my arm. Much less silly than carrying a purse around. (In my strange worldview, anyway.)

Oh, by the way...

FUCK YES!

Nikola Tesla teaming up with Mark Twain to fight evil in turn of the century New York?

FUCK YES! Look at Tesla weilding those Resonant Coil Guns. If any aliens reading want to transport me to an alternate universe, please let it be that one.

So as you can see, I made it back safely.

My return to the city wasn't exactly filled with fanfare. It's like I had jumped out of the oven and into the cool-to-the-touch fryer. It wasn't scorching, but SF was uncomfortably warm, by my standards.

Damn global warming, making me sweat. I hate that.

I had also found that the BART (subway) wasn't $4.95 like I remembered, but $5.15, so I bought a ticket that was 15 cents short. The vegen I work with constantly brags about how she 'shoves it to the man' by not paying for BART or MUNI, so I figured I could get away with skipping out on the few pennies.

Of course, the second I try to sneak out the gate I'm stopped by the ticket box person. I tried explaing the situation, asking for a break, since it was just 15 cents. Acting like she didn't hear a word I said, she said she was going to bill me and asked for my ID.

Fine, whatever, I thought. Just let me out of here so I can go to bed. I handed her my passport, the only form of ID I had, and she practically threw it back at me, saying I needed something with my address. I explained I didn't have one, since I don't drive and never really found a need for a license, so she said she was tired of dealing with me and was going to call BART police.

'Jesus christ' I said, taking two seconds to stop a hipster looking guy walking by and asking him if I could bum a quarter. I handed it to the lady and told her to keep the change and hightailed it outta there.

I didn' t stress out too much over it. Though I think she overreacted, I was technically in the wrong, afterall. Eesh, give some people just the smallest amount of authority or power...

But anyway, enough about that. I've been feeling pretty good. Still haven't heard back from 'Staci' about the friendship offer, but I really didn't think she'd actually go for it. I'm sure she was just being polite about the whole enjoying my company thing.

I've been spending my time back focusing on me, letting my freak flag fly. I've been feeling really creative, filling my notebook up with little mini-projects. A part of me loves being the 'eccentric', and I've taken to wearing three 'gizmo' watches and altering some of my clothing to hold my various gadgets.

Next step, modifying my glasses to have those little rotating magnifying and scope lenses that you see geeks wearing in movies.

So, what went wrong after my last entry?

Well, the Florida Storms came in, delaying my flight by two hours, which would make me miss my connecting flight in Phoenix to SF. So I stood in line for an hour and a half to get a new boarding pass printed up, putting me on a later flight out.

Fast Forward a few hours later, after my arrival in Phoenix. I take a nice break at the airport bar, have a couple of smokes, and than I go to the gate, where I find the flight to SF has been cancelled due to mechanical problems.

I'm not upset or stressed over it, really. At least they caught in on the ground, plus they put me up in a nice hotel. I should get some pictures of this place. Very nice.

I'll have to wake up early. My flight is supposed to leave around 7am.

Phoenix. Eesh. When I first came here on my way to Tampa, it was 8am and already 95 degrees. Here it is 10pm and it's 110. And I thought Tampa was hot.

Well in other news, I heard back from the "Cold Fish". I've gotta stop calling her that. Maybe 'Staci'. There we go.

So 'Staci' said I didn't screw up, I just wasn't her type, which is what I figured, but she said she enjoyed my company. So I offered the olive branch of friendship. I said I enjoyed her company too, and that even though we didn't have a lot in common we should still hang out occasionaly because I enjoyed her company too.

Heh, we'll see where THAT goes. Probably nowhere fast, but I need to 'widen my network', so to speak. Any extra nodes have got to be a good thing.

K, ta ta for now.