Another hot day, and I squandered the entire morning at Starbucks, under the A/C, just about the only place, probably in the great State of Texas in where I could have my coffee and drink it too (that iced coffee crap couldn't cure me).
When I got out on the road to head downtown, as I had planned to hit South Congress this time to check out all the watering holes, and, perhaps, hang out by the river, I realized that the horrendous Austin traffic would ramp up soon. Then I realized that even if I got downtown, irrespective of the traffic, I might be putting myself in an inconvenient place from which back tracking to the dinner would be trying.
So, although it meant getting to that area early, and although that area was not at all that interesting, I went ahead and moseyed around where we'd have dinner. I went to Petsmart to check out some animals... hung out with a volunteer, along with some puppies she had put out on display for adoption. I eventually helped her load her truck with the pups, along with their water and bags of food on my way out of the store.
From there, as I headed to my car to drive to the Land and Cattle Steak House, some kid kept yelling at me about how he was standing in front of "The Children's Place", again, and again, he demanded I take notice... so I obliged him with a reply, "yes," I said, "that is the Children's Place, young man", he seemed satisfied with my answer enough to leave me alone.
I entered in the address of the Land and Cattle Steak House into my GPS, not expecting the kind of ride I was going to be in for. Developed by the military, GPS uses a triangulating system, via satellites, to accurately pin-point targets within inches, according to Wikipedia, and two feet or less, according to the Discovery Channel, or so I remember. My GPS, however, in locating a big ol' Texas Steak House out on the great, wide, open planes of East Jesus decided to get stupid. It kept putting me around some block that was far removed from where I was supposed to end up. I passed the same guy holding the Cross on which his Jesus died for my sins at least a dozen times. He was a big, imposing presence whose plantation on that corner screamed louder than the cross he carried on his back. With each passing, he reminded me of how sisyphean my simple quest in getting from point a to b had become. With each passing, he reminded me of how I was on a plight to damnation because I lived a hypocritical, and sinful life as the douche bag I was. With each passing, he reminded of how I was not in "San Fran." any more--and how I was now in God's Country. With the lady in-front of me braking for no good reason, on my last passing he reminded me of how I should keep my eyes on the road, and not get so caught up with distractions like him, after I nearly hit her on one of her random ADHD braking tics.
After all that, I finally made it, albeit late. It turned out, however, I was still in good timing, because as I arrived, so did everyone else. I sat with David's friends, co-workers, and roommate, and former roommate. We talked about everything, and with each downed margarita,the conversation got more lively. The steak I had been served was the best I had in any recent memory... just thinking of it now makes my mouth water! We were eventually joined by David's father who made the round to our table, and although I had made the observation before, Gabriel blurted out to him, "hey, you look like the guy from the world's most interesting man commercials," pointing to the big screen, he implored him, "see, that guy, you're him." The table erupted, because it was true, David's dad, an older, suave latin guy with a full head of white Sean Connery locks did look like him. His dad was not moved by the comment, he only replied, very cool, "no, my friend, he looks like me," we all laughed, including him this time....
I wound up the night by going downtown, near the river by which I planned to hang out earlier on South Congress. But now, as the night life was peaking, parking had become an issue. I got a call from David's friend, Christian, who just flew in from JFK about hanging out... or going home, depending on parking and a bunch of other variables. I spoke to the kid on the phone earlier, and we'd tentatively talked about doing something. When I met him downtown, we just had a few drinks at some nice (expensive) bar on the fringes of the UT campus, watched highlights of the NBA playoffs, which I cared for more than he did, before each of us agreed that our presence amongst Austin's party goers along 6th Street would only serve to cramp their style... we were tired, him especially.
When we made it to the house, David dropping by at about the same time from wherever he came from, he gave Christian the tour of the place, and its grounds.... When they went out back to David's big ass back yard, there was some kind of prowler or something. The two of them said they heard some dude out in the grasses. The Austin police were called, because according to David, we were in one of the nicest, safest neighborhoods in Austin, and from what they heard, at 1:00a, it was out of place. David kept complaining about how he should have brought his firearm (remember Californians, this is Texas, every house has one). The Austin Police left after doing a search of the grounds, and called us later reporting that they had found some suspicious car in the area, but with no one in it... whatever the whole story, I don't know, as I left the situation to go to bed.
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