349. Portland trip 2019

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Portland trip

10:00pm My train hit a truck before reaching Emeryville. I am now in AMTRAK station purgatory. Going to be a long night.

Now 4:28am and the train is still in Salinas. The only good news is that we should be able to see the landscape north of Mt Shasta in the daylight. 

Twelve hours behind schedule! Now on the train in Sacramento and just called my motel to let them know I will be arriving at 4am instead of 4pm. I am tired. And I was too late to get breakfast. So now I’m waiting to get lunch (complementary) after the sleeping car people are served. My bet is that they will be out of veggie dishes and I will cry. Also thinking about finding out where they bury the guy who was driving the truck and go down and piss on his grave. (I was wrong. There was no veggie option so I had to buy something revolting in the cafe car.)

Finally had a good dining car experience for dinner. And the pasta was okay, too. We talked about RVs Tiny Houses and downsizing. Also HOAs. I am a surprisingly good dining car conversation facilitator. Who knew? 

Also was able to do most of my regular pre-bed routine in the train bathroom, so I’m more comfortable tonight.

Ran into a very pretty young woman waiting for the bus at Salesforce Tower, I was able to assure her that she was in the right place. Ran into a similarly attractive guy during our 12 hour wait for the train. He was working on his MacBook and talking to someone on his phone for most of the night, but also noticed my book and chatted me up about it. He was a little annoying but also very accomplished. Couldn’t really tell if he was gay, or bi or what. Later in the endless night he chatted up the pretty girl who responded eagerly. Court and spark, came to mind. Not sure how far that went but they were together getting on the train and she was clearly interested in him. Which I can understand based on my visceral reaction to attractive women. I was thinking better him than me, and then I recalled Nora. So REALLY better him than me since I don’t think women really want their marriages undermined. What’s that quote? I was young once and catnip to women in questionable relationships. No, I don’t think that’s quite it.

I think that interesting looking place up the river from Portland is Oregon City. Check on that. (Yes.)

Walking down the aisle just now holding my (heavy) back pack in front of me, I realized it works as a motion damper, just like the weights at the top of a skyscraper. I think it has to be a free weight you are holding in front of you. Wearing it or being a fat-fuck won’t cut it.

Were any Japanese POWs used as farm labor during WW2? Can’t find any info. Most everything is about the Japanese Americans or German and Italian POWs.

All hell breaks loose on the Coast Starlight. Apparently a passenger has gone nuts and we are waiting for the police to come. 

Finally out of lockdown. I’m back in the lounge car, but we can’t go downstairs.

I maybe should suggest Blinvy read HTCYM for the bits about treating depression. Couldn’t hurt. I guess?

The lower level of the lounge car is still off limits as we seem to be taking the problem to the police rather than have them come to us. This means they’ve manned the little station on the top, which I haven’t seen done since my first trip on the Zephyr. It’s kind of nice, unfortunately I just ate all the things in the dining car so I’m not in a position to order anything.


Upon reviewing this I see I actually wrote nothing about Portland. My visit was curtailed and there were only a couple new places I visited. Subtracting twelve hours from a forty-eight hour visit does have an effect. The fast food place way out on Hawthorn (Next Level) was good and I may give the one here a try some time if I'm ever in that neighborhood. The Petunia Bakery Cafe was also a great addition to my usual options near Powell's City of Books. 

Perhaps the best change was that I finally paid attention to how you are supposed to use the transit day passes and actually "tapped in" this time. Though I still don't understand the point of this when you have a day pass. It let's them know how often you ride transit but since you don't have to tap out, it doesn't reveal where you go.

There is now a Capital One Cafe right on Pioneer Square. And it is open on Saturday! I was able to use the WiFi there on Saturday before I caught the train home. The space is nothing to write home about, but it has the same basic features as ours. Including a Peet's. Pioneer Square is where I transfer to catch the train to Goose Hollow, so I'm there a lot. Fehrenbacher Hof is still my go-to place for breakfast. Such a great little place to hang out. Even better than the May Day in Minneapolis in some ways.