Yesterday I didn’t get out of California until nearly 6 pm. So it was going to be a late night already, but it got worse. There were a bunch of thunderstorms mulling around Eastern Kansas all night, so the last 30 minutes of the flight were pretty choppy. Coming in to land, it got much worse. Bad enough that I got motion sick during the landing. I didn’t like it at all. It takes a lot to get me motion sick on a plane. Guess that was the case. On top of it all, the flight was late, so by the time I got my bike and took the shuttle to the car it was nearly 1:45am.
It was raining like crazy for the 80 mile drive home. I decided to stop at a Waffle House to eat a waffle and get some hot tea, thinking it might calm my stomach. Plus, sitting out the storm for a little bit wasn’t a bad idea either. There were two guys and a girl that worked there, standing outside under a awning, smoking, watching the storm. No one was inside. I said hi as I walked in and they all followed. I told the all I needed was a waffle and hot tea.
One of the guys asks me about the my van and if it came diesel standard. I told him yes. We talked about the van for a little bit and then he went back and made the waffle. The three of them were talking about just lots of different stuff. They started about their hours and how none of them planned to work the next night, but all of them thought they might have to. Then it was about brothers and sisters. They had talked a little bit when the guy that was making the waffle says he has 6 brothers and 5 sisters. The other two didn’t really say anything about his comment. I was thinking, “Wow, how could you pass up a comment on that?”
Anyway, when I left, I asked the guy if he really had 11 siblings. He said yes. That is why he was so interested in the van. He said they all drove around in one, but a bigger one with 4 rows of long seats. I wished the 3 of them a good night and then thought most of the way back upon my 15 minutes at Waffle House. Those guys were working all night for 7 something an hour. The one guy grew up in a family of 14. I felt a lot better after eating. But I think I felt better because I got a stark reality check on what it is like to have a hard day/life. Their situation made my life seem enchanted. Even with the shitty landing.
I ate lunch at the Torrey Pines Glider Port yesterday.
Here's Sue at the Glider Port.
I finally made it to my favorite bakery, Thyme in the Ranch, at Rancho Santa Fe.
I got a cinimmon roll, which was great.
I love Waffle House waffles. Especially at 2:30 am in a thunderstorm.
On a sadder note, the artist Leroy Neiman died yesterday. He was most famous as the artist of the Olympic Games, even though he did much work for Playboy magazine. He was 91, so he lived a long, productive life.
yeah I was kind of wondering if you were flying through that storm, it was pretty dramatic here on the ground in Topeka, drove home from Lawrence just before it got going in earnest about 11:30pm. Oddly enough, no branches down that I can see.
Maybe the guy was working nights for $7/hr. so he could buy a new Shimano wheelset and some custom Shimano shoes.
Mmmm Waffle House waffles. Grew to love those when I brought my son out to KC for cross nats. No Waffle Houses in Seattle.
I was watching those storms last night, hoping they’d make it to the Chicago area and cool us down a bit. It was a solid line from the U.P. to southern Kansas. I thought about what it must be like to fly through them. I’m always anxious when I know I have to fly across the country anytime in the summer after 2pm and before 6am . There’s almost bound to be a line of storms somewhere. You just hope it’s at a point in the flight that you’re still at cruising altitude and the plane is still moving fast enough to get through the turbulence quickly.
And in many cases the all night Waffle House gig might just be job #1 out of two or three….
That Neiman painting looks like Merckx and Sercu…
Maybe if when he was younger he worked harder at cycling, became a pro and won races, maybe became a world champ, maybe he could have made a lot of friends in cycling so when he was an old fuck he would be able to go racing and training when and where he wanted to,maybe those friends could give him wheels or frames or shoes or at least good deals
mike your snide asinine comments belittle you ,grow up pal.
Yeah, Mike – Those first two lines of your comment are HARD AS SHIT. How well have you done. How many worlds have you won?
Why would people bash Steve for feeling thankful for his life? Some have more than others that’s life. Some live their dreams others don’t.
Choices.
A dozen siblings or so and the guy works long and hard at a Waffle house to make a living.
Next guy changes brakelines and radiator on his 300,000 mile van, rebuilds fences and rides a bike (long and hard hours) to make a living.
Just choices.
The comments weren’t directed at Steve they were directed at “No kidding”who was directing his comments at one of Steve’s last sentences about living an enchanted life