Stan’s Obligatory Blog

In today’s obituaries, John Barry has died. He was the CEO of the WD-40 company. Back some 30-mumble years ago, I used to work summers in a bicycle shop. And WD-40 was what I used daily on every stuck bolt or rusted chain that came my way. It worked miracles, and I’ve long been a big believer in it.

Barry’s business genius during three decades at the company was in emphasizing brand loyalty for a lubricant that fights rust and eliminates squeaks. He preached the value of staying focused on your product and your market, and not being distracted.

“He had a saying: ‘Don’t be like a blind dog in a meat house,’ ” said Garry O. Ridge, WD-40 Co.’s current president and chief executive officer.

Once again, let’s take a moment to recognize those who have done something to change the world and make it a better place.

The short version of my story from this past weekend:

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And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go to?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right? Am I wrong?
And you may say to yourself
My God! What have I done?

Everyone who knows me remembers that I spent quite literally years ranting about how much I hated living in Texas. So it comes as a great surprise, and I think it very deeply weird to find that the 1,476 days I spent living there have turned out to be the single best thing that ever happened to me. So this weekend, I made what amounted to a spiritual pilgrimage back to Austin for the 16th anniversary party for the social club I started* when I was living there. It’s my association with that group and my notoriety for starting it that came back into my life last year and turned everything around. Amid all the sturm und drang of the divorce, it made me a minor celebrity in some circles, and it led to many, many good things happening in my life. Hence the pilgrimage.

I flew out on JetBlue just like last year, and it was a very pleasant trip. Leslie was planning on accompanying me, but her father had a stroke just a few days before the trip, so she had to cancel. There was an empty seat next to me on the flights both ways. But even though I was traveling alone, I still had a good time.

When I got to Austin, I could feel the heat through the airplane window. I’d heard that it had been exceptionally hot and dry there recently, and it was over 100 degrees when I arrived. My friend Paul came to the airport to pick me up, and we went to the hotel where the event was being held. After getting installed in the hotel, we headed down to Pok-E-Jo’s BBQ for dinner. I’d announced a “Founders’ Dinner” for Friday night. This was not an official part of the event, but I thought it would be nice to see some of the ‘old-timers’ to start things off. Only about three people said that they were coming, so I thought it was going to be a small turnout, but when we got there, there was a long table full of people. I got my usual brisket sandwich and fried okra. And all was right with the world.

The official start of the event was a social and mixer held at the Chain Drive, which is the local gay leather bar near downtown Austin. There was a good crowd there, which was nice. The place also had a broken air conditioner, which was not so nice. July in Texas is a very bad time to have the AC break down. Still, it was a very fun time. I got my official event registration packet, T-shirt, and a new pin for my vest. I saw lots of old friends, and made several new ones. It was good fun.

Saturday was the main event. The hotel monitors showed the day’s events, which included four rooms with seminars that ran from 10:00AM to 5:00PM, a vendors area in the ballroom, and a buffet luncheon. At the luncheon, I got to get up and speak to the group for a few minutes. I told them about how seeing the event they’d put on made me feel like George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. It’s just so good to see something I created doing well and doing good things for the community. Then I introduced the keynote speaker, who is an old friend, and he gave a very entertaining and interesting talk.

At the end of the afternoon events, they tallied the results of the silent auction. I bid on and won a couple of items, including a mummified alligator claw on a stick. I have no idea what to use it for, if anything. I just thought it was so deliciously weird that I had to bid on it.

The main event Saturday night was a party, held at an old-style Texas dance hall out in the country. On the way out there, we went to the dinner for the presenters and other VIPs at the Catfish Parlour. Fried food all the way. Then it was out to the party. I didn’t plan on doing anything at the party, aside from just milling about schmoozing and holding court. I saw even more old friends from many years ago, and it was just great seeing everyone enjoying themselves there.

On Sunday morning, I had breakfast with my old college friend Mike. We traded stories of our adventures since last year. His included trips to San Francisco, New York, and London. Apparently his bicycle shop had a very good year last year. Something to do with gas being $4 a gallon or some such. Go figure.

Sunday’s event was a picnic at Recreation Plantation out in the country, near Dripping Springs. The directions to get there included going several miles down some very narrow country roads before turning off onto a dirt driveway that turned out to be over a mile long. To say it was secluded just doesn’t do it justice. It was in a little hollow by a creek, surrounded by low limestone hills. Sounds we made there would echo off the hills, which was actually a nice effect. Fortunately, the heat wave sort of broke on Sunday, so it was not too brutally hot. Also, they had a pool there, so I spent the latter part of the afternoon in the water. It was a very nice time.

After the picnic, I bummed a ride back to town to my friend Leona’s house. I had dinner there and told Leona and John about the adventures of the weekend and the past year.

I stayed over Sunday night in order to not have to leave the picnic early on Sunday, and also to have time to visit with my friend Stu on Monday. He picked me up at the hotel and we went to the Yellow Rose. Austin has the best topless bars I’ve seen anywhere, and I learned a lot about how that business works back in 1992-93 when Cathy worked there. So I like to go back there whenever I get the chance.

After Stu dropped me off at the airport, I got some food to take on the plane, as well as a souvenir for Lucinda. Walking around the airport and seeing all the Texas tchotchkes in the gift shops, I saw lots of things for Keep Austin Weird. I like to think that I’ve done my part in that. I felt so incredibly fortunate to have had the experience of being there and contributing to the community.

Overall, it was a Most Excellent Weekend.

* I could have made a link to it here, but I’m not going to, since it’s sort of NSFW. If you really want to find it, it’s not hard. The Google is your friend.

I had another free evening today. And since I’m not going to be able to ride this coming weekend due to taking a trip out of town, I went for a ride now, since I had the chance. I rode down to South Pasadena and then up to the water tower on top of the big hill. Then up to the Rose Bowl. Noodled around the Bowl a few times before heading home by way of Altadena. It was a nice little evening ride.

36 miles.
cycling

Today’s bike club ride was the “Glendale Hills” route. This one goes up and over through La Cañada into Glendale, up into the Verdugo Hills, and then down into Burbank. The snack stop was at Paradise Bakery in Glendale, and the route home was back up and over Chevy Chase and Lida into Pasadena. It was a nice day, albeit a bit on the hot side.

We started out from the park and headed up Altadena Dr to the top, riding across Altadena and then past JPL into La Cañada. Then up the hill into Glendale, where we got a nice view of downtown Los Angeles that showed a low inversion layer trapping the smog at about the 1,500 foot level. Then we went down the somewhat terrifying Mountain St. Crossing Verdugo Blvd, we headed up the other side into the Verdugo Hills. That was where we saw the coyote trotting around on the suburban streets. We rode up and down along the south side of the hills before dropping down and riding into Burbank. We took a quick vote about taking a small detour to see the pirate ship in Burbank. The “Arrr”s won, and we took a short side trip up Angeleo St to see the backyard pirate ship. Then we continued on to Paradise Bakery, where we got eclairs and Gatorade.

The trip back was fairly direct, with just the Chevy Chase/Linda Vista/Lida hill in the way. Then we rode past the Rose Bowl and back to Orange Grove. Then we rode back to the park. Don’s fancy bike computer said that we’d done a total of 3,400 feet of climbing, which is not bad for a ride that didn’t go up into any real mountains.

It was a nice ride.

40 miles.
cycling

Today I had a rare free evening. No kid, no activities planned, no date, just free time. So I went for a bike ride. I rode down through San Marino and South Pasadena. I rode up the hill on Via Del Rey to pass the South Pasadena water tower. Then I headed up Arroyo to the Rose Bowl. I’d planned on just riding once around it and then heading up Lida St, but when I got there, the pack ride was just beginning. They were going slow, so I thought I’d just tag along while they did their warm-up. But like a frog in a pot of water, I didn’t even notice that the speed was ramping up. Until we were going 30mph. It was fun, and it brought back memories from 30 years ago when I was a Category 2 racer, and riding in huge racing packs was just a normal thing in my life.

I stayed with the pack for one full lap. Then I decided I’d had enough, and I didn’t want to push my luck. After all, the last time I did the pack ride, I got knocked down by a novice rider and ended up spending the night in the hospital with broken ribs and a collapsed lung. So one lap was enough. I dropped off the back and just rode at a leisurely pace. And then I found Michael, who used to do the regular Sunday club ride a few years ago. So we rode around several more laps while talking and generally catching up on things. Then I turned off and headed home by way of Altadena. By then, the shadows were getting long, and I was getting hungry. It was a very nice little evening ride.

36 miles.
cycling

I’m going on a trip next week. Back to visit Texas and see all my friends there. This will be the first time I’m flying anywhere since last year’s trip to Texas. And I fully expect that there will be nothing like this. It’s going to be Great Fun.

I can’t remember how life was even possible before Google. On Saturday night when we went to the fireworks show, Lucinda’s friend noticed that the left-side back door of my car would not open from the inside. So this evening, I went searching on the Net and found this:

http://www.impalaforums.com/chevy-impala-7th-gen-discussion/232967-2005-impala-rear-door-child-safety-locks.html

And that was it. It was about five minutes total time for searching and then going outside to look at the door and turning the little lock thingy. So easy, but without the Net, I might never have found it. I am again in awe.

You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by.

And when two lovers woo
They still say, “I love you.”
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by.

Today’s bike ride was another cultural history grave tour. Today we went to pay respects to Dooley Wilson, who is remembered best as Sam the piano man in “Casablanca“. Since one of the themes of that story is that of great unrequited love, it’s something that I and almost everyone else can certainly relate to.

It was a perfect day for riding. It promised to get hot later in the day, but it never did get very hot. So it was very nice.

We rode directly to downtown Los Angeles and then all the way through to the south end of downtown before turning west on Washington Blvd to get to the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery. We found Dooley’s grave near the entrance. I brought a shot glass along so as to be able to down some shots of Gatorade while reflecting on Wilson’s role as a cultural touchstone for our generation.

After leaving the cemetery, we rode north to Larchmont, where we stopped at Noah’s Bagels. Then we continued on north through Hollywood to Franklin Ave, where we turned east. Then I got a flat. So Jon took the obligatory picture before we continued on. The rest of the route was the most direct way home, up Eagle Rock Blvd and then across on Yosemite and then up the Colorado St hill into Pasadena.

It was a very nice ride.

40 miles.
cycling

On Saturday night, I took Lucinda and her friend Alisha to see a fireworks show for the 4th of July. As with last year, we went to South Pasadena, since they have a nice show. We found a spot on the football field right underneath where the fireworks were going to be going off. And it was a fun time.