Irvine Train Station

I know it's just a train station 

in a city that I thought was ugly.
But sometimes 

you just have to make the most of an opportunity.

 

What ever happened to 50¢?



 

Original Pinkberry with Mangos
Dinner and a View

There were two girls who sat in front of me on the train. I was pretty tired and passing in and out of sleep, but I overheard bits and pieces of their conversation. They were from Australia, and I could tell that they were visiting Los Angeles for the first time. I was sad that I didn't talk with them until the end of the trip. They were traveling for three weeks in North America before living in Dublin, Ireland for 18 months. They were taking the MTA from Union Station up to Santa Monica that night to stay at a hostel. With two very large pink suitcases that they could barely get out the door of the train,they asked me if the bus to Santa Monica was safe. 

I've taken that route several times: it's dangerous, but only if you get off the bus. 

It's an adventure and that's what they came here for. 

They wanted advice on places to go, things to do, how to be safe... I wished I had more than two minutes to answer their questions. I wished to be a stranger who is kind.
But I had a different bus to catch.

The rest of the trip was less enjoyable.
I think I've lost my faith in the public transportation system. There were only six of us on the bus from LA to Fresno. Six people in a huge bus that can't get more than 4 MPG. I had paid for a bus ticket that almost costs the same as renting a car and filling it with gas. The A/C was stuck on the whole time. It wasn't so bad in LA but once we climbed up to the snow level on the Grapevine and down into the chilly central valley, I was freezing. We stopped in Bakersfield and had to wait on the bus for over an hour while the mechanic checked it out. They finally moved all six of us to another bus with another driver. I didn't get to Fresno until 12:30am.

I want so badly to believe in the public transportation system. It is almost dead in California.
It's not like believing in God. God is always there, always working, being God, always the same whether you believe or not.
It's more like believing in Tinker Bell.
But...

Is anybody else clapping?

Spectrum

Pomegranite Blueberry Soy Latte, Shot of Vanilla, Good Foam

Irvine, CA

I'm sittin in the railway station
Got a ticket for my destination
On a tour of one night stands
My suitcase and guitar in hand
And every stop is neatly planned
For a poet and a one man band

Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thoughts escaping
Home, where my music's playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me

Everyday's an endless stream
Of cigarettes and magazines
And each town looks the same to me
The movies and the factories
And every strangers face I see
Reminds me that I long to be

Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thoughts escaping
Home, where my music's playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me

Tonight I'll sing my songs again
I'll play the game and pretend
But all my words come back to me
In shades of mediocrity
Like emptyness in harmony
I need someone to comfort me

Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thoughts escaping
Home, where my music's playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me
Silently for me
Silently for me

~Simon & Garfunkel, Homeward Bound

Okay, so I'm not really feeling that at all right now. (Well, maybe a little bit. But, just the general feeling of longing for home that keeps my eyes fixed on Jesus and my purpose secure in the midst of a constantly changing world. Okay, there's a little bit more of a specific longing, but I'm not without joy.) I just think it's a great song that keeps running through my head, 'cause I'm sitting at a railway station, and I do have a ticket for my destination...
Humeward bound? Terrible I know, I'll stop now.

I'm in Irvine. Waiting for a train.
I missed the earlier train that would be taking me back up to Fresno with my final destination for today (at least as far as I can plan) to be Hume Lake.
I came down with the team that is putting on the Vision dinners, but just for the first two in San Diego and Escondido. They went very well, but they are the only vision dinners that I've ever seen. It was fun seeing people watch the video that I made, and it was fun reconnecting with so many friends and family that have such a rich history of involvement with Hume. I wish I could continue on the tour through SoCal to see even more friends and family.

But, I'm heading back up for a meeting tomorrow morning and a cold dive back into the next projects on my list at work.
Train to Union Station in LA, Bus over the Grapevine to Fresno. I won't arrive till 11:50pm in Fresno, and Sarah, so, as am I, used to late night schedules of work, is perfectly on schedule to drive down and pick me up. Wonderful. But, it's still going to be a long stretch of traveling ahead of me.

I learned yesterday, from my sister, that if you have a Starbucks gift card and register it, you can get two hours of free internet per day at any starbucks. So, I bought myself a gift card, then walked outside and registered the card (yes, you can do that on their network before actualy having an account to login with.)
So, I'm not actually at the railway station any more. I'm down the street at the starbucks. I still have two and a half hours before my train boards, so I'm thinking about walking over to the Irvine Spectrum (1.5 miles?).

For some reason I decided to bring home my black fedora that I've been keeping at my parents house. All I have for luggage are a backpack and a satchel, which leaves my head as the only place to keep the hat for transportation. So, I look like Indiana Jones, or... something. I'm getting looks everywhere I go. I'm not sure what to think of myself.

Nobody wears hats like this anymore.

09VisionV.1

Well. It's done.
We just have a bunch of DVDs to burn, 400 I think.

Coming to a city near you...

I went riding in October with some buddies from Hume and just found these photos on my old camera that I always keep with me in my backpack.

We found what's known around Hume as "The Donkey Engine". It actually is not a donkey engine, but rather a Willamette geared steam engine. There's some speculation about it. We did find a set of steel plates that came from the donkey engine that may have been sitting near it at one time. It was hauled out to be renovated as a museum piece some years ago, according to Chuck. This one was a fairly permanent structure, unlike the donkey engines that would drag themselves all around the forest to help out with hauling logs. It was located near camps six and seven off the Camp 7 road.

I also found this on Wikipedia:

Willamette Iron Works was a general foundry and machine business established in 1865 in Portland, Oregon, originally specializing in the manufacture of steamboat boilers and engines.^[1] In 1904, the company changed its name to Willamette Iron and Steel Works, under which name it operated continually^[2] until its close in 1990.

The works was very busy during both World Wars I and II, building small naval auxiliaries, minesweepers, patrol craft, submarine chasers, and non-self-propelled lighters. Between the wars, the shipyard concentrated on building small commercial vessels.^[3]

During the 1920s, the company manufactured a geared steam locomotive known as the "Willamette", a Shay-type locomotive for use in logging operations in Washington and Oregon. These locomotives were of a unique design and are of great interest to old train buffs.

In the early 1970s, the company manufactured the first three turbine units for the third powerhouse to be built at Grand Coulee Dam.^[4]

The company also made fire hydrants for the city of Portland in the late 19th century.^[5]

In 1945, after World War II ended, Willamette Iron and Steel continued as mostly a ship repair facility. Over the years, business dropped as larger shipyards grew, and Willamette finally closed in 1990.

Breakfast for Lunch

Egg Houses and a French Press of Stumptown Sumatra in a mug that says "Hawaii" on it.

Perfect for a late morning when there's a a foot of snow on the ground and it's pouring rain outside.

I used an old camera that seems to have lost its ability to focus. 

You should have seen it with your own eyes. 

It would have tasted and smelled less blury.

Yup, sounds about right.

"In general, salmonella symptoms begin with nausea and vomiting and progress to abdominal pains and diarrhea. Additional signs and symptoms include fever, chills and muscle pains, and can last anywhere from several days to two weeks. "

Thank you, Clif Bar!

I had a wonderful time last week.

I wish I had known sooner.