Editor’s Note: This morning’s post is from Tejicano, who really needs this time spot to be able to participate. The Old Guy is sleeping it off in!
It was 1993 and I had just finished grad school and was leaving the US for life overseas for an undetermined period of time. Japan was to be the end point of my travels but I was up for anyplace interesting where I could find work. Expecting that when I reached my end destination I would probably be returning to the life of a corporate working dog I knew that if I was ever going to see the world this would be my best chance.
The Soviet empire had just recently collapsed – this great, wide expanse of land on the map which for all of my life to that point had been beyond reach was now available to explore. Countries and cities which had only been referred to in spy movies were now becoming tourist destinations for those adventurous enough to find a way there. To me it was like the world was beckoning and I was itching to answer the call. I had travelled to China five years before and that gave me a taste for backpacking – traveling with only an outline of an itinerary and finding the way en route.
This was back in the dark ages before e-mail and the internet. Credit cards were not useful anywhere outside of the most developed countries and ATM’s were not yet connected across international borders. You carried traveler’s cheques and exchanged them for local currency when required.
Information about travel was gleaned from word-of-mouth, articles and advertisements in travel magazines, or tips from publications like Lonely Planet which was the gold standard for backpackers. International phone calls were expensive and unreliable – quite often you would end up listening to a recording in the local language which wasn’t very useful if you didn’t have some level of fluency in that language.
A friend of mine had very similar wayfaring aspirations so we determined a reasonable plan to make our way from western Europe across the Eurasian continent to the islands of north Asia. Frank would be leaving a couple months ahead of me and visiting friends he knew around the Iberian peninsula before heading to the recently reunited Germany where we would rendezvous. First, I would be driving my pick-up truck from Arizona going east across the US with stops in South Dakota and Kentucky, and then selling it when I reached the east coast.
My vehicle was a 1971 Ford F-150 which I had upgraded with a 351 Windsor V-8, headers and dual, 2” exhausts. It had an oversized radiator and three gas tanks – the main behind the seat and one on either side below the bed ahead of the rear tires. With a four-speed transmission and a stick shift it was a delight cruising the highways in it.
For this kind of solo road trip across the US I felt armament would be mandatory – so in preparation I visited a gun show where, for $150, I procured a Mossberg 12 gauge pump with an 18” barrel and a pistol grip. That would ride in a soft case behind the seat – or under the seat when I had any reason to think it might be useful during that day’s or evening’s agenda.
Figuring that I would not be back in any part of the US for a number of years I paid no attention to speed limits. I figured I would collect as many speeding tickets as possible and put them in my scrapbook for the trip. As I expected not to return before the statute of limitations on the tickets expired I saw it as a “license to speed”. As these things usually go, I wasn’t pulled over once.
I drove from Arizona to my home town, El Paso, to see family and friends there. I spent a few days catching up with friends during which I did a quick trip to Juarez mostly to pick up a case of Mexican beer to share with cousins up north. In this case my selection was Tecate mostly because it was the only beer available in cans and as I had to carry it by hand back across the border so bottles were out. Driving across the border was something few people did anymore. Car theft had become too much of a risk and I could not afford to be losing my truck at the beginning of my trip.
I pulled away from my family home early on a Summer’s morning and made my way to the highway. It took a couple days to reach relatives up in South Dakota. I had not seen many of my cousins in years so I spent the better part of a week staying with one family or another – all on my mother’s side. But the road was beckoning and I had to say my goodbyes, gas up, and find a highway.
I stopped in Minnesota to see some family on my father’s side. Once again, it had been years since I had been up there and so I spent most of a day and an evening visiting.
After the Midwest I had some friends in Kentucky to see and so I drove down through Chicago, heading south. After a short stop near Ft. Knox I headed eastward. When I hit Charlotte, I had been on the road for a couple weeks and was feeling tired. There was plenty of daylight left but I decided that I could miss my scheduled stop for that day and found a motel. After checking in I ran out for some fast food and a six-pack. I holed up in the room and just relaxed watching TV. The short break from driving was just what I needed.
As I drove through Virginia, which I considered the last zone where the presence of my 12 gauge companion might not get me into more trouble than it was worth, I pulled into a small town gun shop and sold my shotgun for $90. I figured the $60 I lost was well worth the peace of mind it had brought me along the way.
When I got to the east coast I headed to Maryland where I had family. I spent my last week of living in the US locating a few last minute items, getting information from different embassies, and selling my truck.
There was a company called Airhitch which had advertisements in travel magazines. They offered extremely low-priced transportation to and from Europe. My recollection isn’t clear but I believe I paid $175 for a one-way leg from the US east coast to a city in Europe. The way it worked was you paid them the set fee for a voucher to travel on an aircraft leaving from the US east coast to Europe – the locations were not fixed. When Airhitch got your payment they mailed a letter to you with your voucher and a number to call. You called the phone number, told them your name and your code from the voucher, and they would tell you which origin-destination options were available on which days. For instance, they might have seats on a Newark to London flight on Tuesday, WDC to Vienna on Thursday, and Boston to Frankfort on Friday. You pick the option that works best for you. In my case they had a JFK to Paris flight close to the day I wanted to be going so I opted for that. They gave me the gate number, departure time, airline, and flight number. Of course, on departure day when I arrived at the airport there was no flight scheduled from that gate but there were a half-dozen Airhitch flyers like me and we eventually got the company on the phone and found out where to go. The airline was an African-based company which I had not heard of before but I had a seat on it and that’s all that mattered.
I arrived in Paris on the morning of a perfect Summer day. I wanted to get to Germany as quickly as possible but needed to maximize my funds so I booked an overnight train with a sleeping car – as it was cheaper than riding the train to Berlin during the day and then paying for somewhere to sleep that night. It also gave me a day to see a little of Paris.
I bought a small lunch from a bread shop, found an empty bench on a charming little street, and sat down to enjoy my day. My backpack was an Army surplus ALICE pack and with all my gear it weighed a bit more than 50 lbs. I spent the day nibbling on my lunch, checking my plans and making some notes, and reading a book. As evening came on I packed up and headed back to the train station. On the way I stopped to pick up something to eat on the train. I had no problem finding the platform and boarded my train when it arrived.
The train arrived in Berlin at 07:00 AM. I started looking for a place to stay and began calling three phone numbers Frank gave me. By this point in time Frank had expected to be staying with any one of three friends he had in Germany and I was to call them to find him. It turned out that none of his friends were at home during the daytime – and I wasn’t finding much success contacting anybody. I got a bed at a youth hostel – hotels were way out of my budget – and did some looking around the city.
On the morning of the third day in Berlin I reached Frank at his friend’s house in a small city in southeast Germany. His friends invited me to stay there so I got my backpack, bought a train ticket, and headed south.
After a couple days with his friends, Frank and I were back in Berlin. Frank had a small two-person tent which helped us keep our costs down – although campgrounds in Germany proved to be only a little cheaper than youth hostels. The Summer of 1993 was unseasonably cold – and packing in Arizona in June gave me no concept that I would need a sweater any time soon. I had to find a camping store to buy a fleece jacket and a sleeping pad for insulation from the cold ground.
Crossing the line where the border between east and west Berlin used to be was still obvious – not only were the buildings and construction starkly different in case you didn’t recognize that there was a tripod constructed of three BMP’s (Soviet Fighting Vehicles) painted in bright graffiti stacked upright along the side of the tracks as you entered former East Berlin.
After a few days of seeing the sights we took a train down to Prague were my friend Jack was living – working for a Dutch company. Jack had an apartment and a car and had offered to put us up while we were there. We hung out and were introduced to Jack’s social circle – a group of various expats of many nationalities. Jack, being a proper polyglot, had a wide social circle spanning a few languages but most of his acquaintances spoke English as well.
Jack introduced us to Sonia who was a Russian researcher who had recently returned from 3 years working in Japan. She had a boy, Vadim, who was in grade-school and was fluent in Russian, Czech, and Japanese. She also had a van which she had brought back from Japan which she needed to get to her hometown, Saint Petersburg, where she know it would be worth several times what she had paid to purchase and ship it to Europe. As Frank and I were heading in the same direction she agreed to help arrange our transit visas and procure tickets for the Siberian Railway through Russia and we agreed to drive her and her son to Saint Petersburg. She said she wasn’t a very good driver and needed help from somebody who could handle the long drive.
With our path to the East decided, Frank and I had only to prepare our visas and wait while Sonia got her affairs in order. This gave us a number of days to enjoy Prague.
Comments
206 responses to “Paris to Hong Kong : Chapter One – Leaving America”
This is awesome and I miss having the freedom to travel like this. Thanks for sharing.
Ah, the 90s. A pivotal time for me as well.
Thanks for the wonderful travelogue
The Summer of 1993 was unseasonably cold – and packing in Arizona in June gave me no concept that I would need a sweater any time soon.
The first time my German relatives came over to visit, Dad marveled at how they went from wearing sweaters at much higher temperatures than we would to being boiling hot one or two degrees higher but still at a temperature we’d consider moderate. (I think it was low 70s F versus mid 70s.)
Why do Germans think it is a virtue to wear the same damned shirt/sweater as many consecutive days as possible before a wash???
War is over, dude. Crank up the central heat and air, and wear some clean clothes.
https://invidio.us/watch?v=QHZR9SA5pOg
What an adventure! Can’t wait to read part two!
Interestingly, by 1996 I was booking travel online. It was crazy how fast things changed in the ’90s.
Thanks for sharing your stories, T!
There are actually two more chapters coming up – whenever TPTB decide to publish
Even better!
Wonderful. It makes me fell old, but bring it on.
What was the name of small town in southeast Germany? I’ve lived and worked in Garmisch, Berchtesgaden, and Oberammergau. (I had a mother who wore combat boots)
That was my neck of the wald. I lived and worked for a bit over three years in Bad Tolz.
Cool. I think my mom did leadership school there.
I remember “racing” my dad home from a SAAB garage there after he had it overhauled. We discovered the top speed of the SAAB was 124 mph, while my mom’s car was good for 137. Good times.
I remember being in school, totally buried in final exams or something, and when I slept to recover and finally popped out of it, the Berlin Wall was being torn down.
This Cold War baby who grew up on the likes of the Ipcress Files was floored.
We must be the same age. I was in college as well and it was pretty exciting to watch.
Probably so.
The references to lack of cell phone, expensive international calling, etc. were also a flashback.
When I went to Sweden as a student for Spring Break, I had to go to a travel agent!!
Hell, for years into the early 2000s, we had paper airline tickets!
Oh, and I studied in Saint Petersburg for a semester in 1992. I remember one of the other students wanting to go into a dodgy storefront claiming to sell international calls.
I had just been to the wall and East Germany the year before. It was a bit of a surprise.
I remember my German uncle visiting my mother in Florida after the wall fell. He lived in Berlin where my mother’s family was from. He was yelling and complaining about how the East German were no longer German, they were damned Russians. He said everything was going shit and they should just put the wall back up.
Middle school for me, but still amazing. It was like watching the Nazis defeated before my eyes. People were getting freed right on tv. And then the Soviet republics breaking away in defiance of Moscow.
I was visiting my relatives in West Germany (Passau area) in the summer of 1989. One of the main stories on the news every night was the tent city on the grounds of the West German embassy in Prague.
For those who don’t remember the story, what happened is that earlier in 1989, Hungary and Austria opened up a new border checkpoint, and a bunch of East German tourists stormed the opening ceremony to escape west to Austria. So the East Germans stopped issuing exit visas to Hungary. East Germans could still get to Czechoslovakia, so they went there and more or less invaded the grounds of the West German embassy there.
I first enlisted into the Marines a few months after Saigon fell and expected to be fighting either the Soviets, the Chinese, or their proxies somewhere. A little over ten years later (1988) I traveled to China as soon as they allowed individual visas – as opposed to group-tour visas. It was bizarre to see the world change so much, so fast.
I was a freshman in college as well when the wall fell.
Got into one of my first experiences with irrational politics. Jewish gal who was convinced a reunited German was once again figuratively start the ovens up once again.
Given the current state of affairs it seems quaint by comparison.
My son was born in the spring of ’89, so he grew up without the thing that had dominated my childhood/youth. Just another one of those cultural divides.
I didn’t get to East Germany, but did go into Communist Czechoslovakia without a visa.
It’s actually not much of a story. There’s a place called Dreisesselberg near the border of Germany/Czech Republic/Austria where the top of the mountain has a quirk of the border being a very narrow U shape no more than about 10 feet wide that the Communists obviously couldn’t fortify.
I’m not certain exactly where the webcam is.
Looking forward to reading this later. I love travel writing. Thanks.
It’s a good read, and I agree on the travel writing. I’m a bit of a homebody, and we’re not in a place to travel right now, so I live vicariously through the travelers.
Sorry to go OT so soon but I have to cram this one in before I go to sleep. It fits perfectly with what I was talking about in the PM slot https://youtu.be/xsK_gajxeSE
Excellent. Difficult to face but true.
“Second wave feminism is not pro-woman—it’s anti man.”
Sadly true.
Great video.
The only thing he missed is the systematic drugging of the poor little fuckers who don’t tow the lion.
Thanks for linking.
A pleasant early surprise! Thanks. Good Morning from this side of the world.
When I was younger the thought of traveling where I couldn’t speak the language scared the heck out of me. I did travel all over the US however.
Today with smartphone and the internet not so much of an issue. Although even with my language skills and the internet Japan can still be a bit of a PITA. Lots of the phone maps and the like are all in kanji and sometimes I can’t figure out the readings. That said almost everyone is helpful if you ask for help.
When I was in Germany, everybody seemed amazed that a 17-year-old American kid had a reasonably passable command of German.
When I studied in Russia, people must have thought I looked Russian because I had several occasions of people coming up to me and randomly asking for information in Russian. It helped that I went out by myself a lot instead of hanging with the other, more obviously American, students.
But did you get the punctuation right?
/snark
I did before the fucking neue Falschschreibung.
I was often stopped by locals in Germany and Russia and asked – directions I guess?
But then I have been stopped three times in Tokyo but locals asking for directions – which I was able to give them. I have no idea why they assumed I could not only speak Japanese but would know where they needed to go. Probably they were too embarrassed to ask another Japanese?
One evening I was coming back to NJ from NYC on a mostly empty train. Seating is 3 and 2 for 5 seats across.
I’m in the window of the three seater. Usually that will leave the middle seat empty, but I had to get the loving couple who didn’t want to split up. Annoying, but part of the whole commuting thing and the couple was both polite and quiet. White guy and Asian woman. Mid way through the ride I look over at the woman’s phone. The OS is all English, but all the names in her address book are Japanese.
My stop comes up and I apologized, and asked her to move and thanked her. However, I did so all in Japanese. She replied to me automatically in Japanese and it wasn’t until she had gotten up and looked at me that she realized what just happened – old white dude was speaking Nihongo. Her face was priceless!
Let Silicone Saturday check your bulbocavernosus reflex.
http://archive.li/jReky
I’ve been extremely fortunate to have traveled extensively for a variety of reasons; research, work and some pleasure. However, I’ve never had a situation like this in which I’m leaving for an extended period with no set destination or timeline. I’ve always thought that would be fun. However, I was always way too (((career driven))) and couldn’t justify deviating from my “plan” (even though plans never seem to work out).
Another observation: out of the few “furriners” and expats we have on here, Nippon is definitely overrepresented. I wonder what it is about Japan that appeals to Glibs?
I have also traveled on the corporate dime as well as the military. This was the one chance I saw when I could just hit the road and see how it went. My buddy “Frank” and I had actually considered the idea of buying an old VW and fixing it up to drive across the continent – but the lack of information about roads was a major impediment.
I’ve traveled a lot, as well, but never had the balls to attempt such a trip when I was young. I always like to know where I’m going. And I’ve gotten too used to creature comforts!
I admire those who explore.
I think it’s only Tejicano and I left. Rapha went back and Mustang may be around, but he’s got a serious job.
Wife and I are considering an open-ended road trip down the Pan American highway to kick off retirement.
TJ is from El Paso….
Hmm….
Beto?
No, TJ is not emasculated so he’s no Beta.
No white guys from my primarily Hispanic neighborhood would use a Hispanic nickname unless everybody in the school called him that – and it would have to be something like “Gordo” (fatty) and not derivative of your real name. It would be uncomfortable regardless of how good your Spanish was.
That’s why the whole “Beto” thing is so funny. Being from Albuquerque myself I fully understand how absurd it all is; I believe 100% that he gave himself that nickname for political purposes.
Robert Francis O’Rourke? Gimme a break. The only whiter name I can think of is Garrett Bradley Campbell III.
You forgot to include a Chadwick in that.
Nigel Tuffnell
Aristocracy or porn star? You decide.
(Do I need to say it?)
Why not both?
No love for Copperbottom?
pronounced Smith
So you understand how stupid his persona sounds to Hispanics. Yeah, he can roll out the language and get ideas across but the name’s just a little patronizing.
ABQ is actually my current home in the US when I get back there.
His alter ego is a masculine, gun-slinging Mexican?
Good stuff Tejicano. Looking forward to the next installment.
The early 90s was a great time to be alive.
Obligatory – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MznHdJReoeo
Bizarre – the very last frame in that video is on the subway platform in a well known station in Tokyo
My two bizarre experiences with videos was watching a music video (Jpop) and realizing I recognized the office building and neighborhood park in it. My company has offices there and I ate lunch in the park. Second was a JAV and realizing I knew which hotel it had been shot in by the furnishings & room layout.
https://youtu.be/xUTPCLoxtjA
GO BACK TO – oh, wait. Never mind.
Letters to the Local Rag: Missing The Obvious Conclusion
The government makes something artificially more expensive but it is greed of corporate America. . .
in a few years he will be complaining that the store he shops in (with the few remaining cashiers) are more expensive. Because of corporate greed.
Its corporate greed all the way down.
Letters to the Local Rag: The Prison Industry Agrees
What do these fuckers think rent control and the housing projects claim to be doing?
They’ve got ideas. Just go along.
I forgot which one of the clowns already has a plan for government to take over the housing market – probably “I was a Republican for 40 years” Warren.
Gotta love the term mainstream.
Kill it with fire!
HAWT
?
Thanks for sharing, Tejicano! I look forward to the rest.
The Skin-Suiting Of Medicine
I’ Not seeing how any of that is even tangentially related to treating illness.
That’s complete bullshit and such a gross misrepresentation of Lave and Wenger’s theory that Wenger should sue for libel. A community of practice requires experts who have individually mastered crucial information, that way they can induct novices into the community of the profession through the sharing of knowledge and best practices.
Goldfarb is just being a curmudgeon, talking out of his ass in reaction to something he doesn’t understand.
Don’t you love it when someone misrepresents source material?
Years ago, I was reading Parameters and came across an article talking about the need for educating military officers and quoted someone’s Korean War POW reminiscing as a general call for education. Except that it was something I had actually read and it wasn’t. The original author posited there were three types of POWs, dumb hicks who remained patriotic no matter what, well educated types that could see the commies shading of the truth & rejected their conclusions, and finally ones who had a bit of education and were susceptible to the commies’ logic techniques.
That’s basically 3 types of “people”!
The more I think about it, the stupider Goldfarb’s criticisms are. Lave and Wenger developed their theory after studying apprenticeships to become a electrician. Who the fuck do you think you apprentice to if not an ‘individual master of crucial information’?
Great story, TJ. Though I spent a number of years (about 10) overseas it was totally different than your experiences. Pretty much my life abroad was just an extension of life in the US, only with cheaper liquor.
I can’t picture farm boy Fourscore attempting what you’ve already outlined. Bring it on, I’m looking forward to what I missed. Thanks
Thanks Mr. “4#”. I hope breaking it up into three pieces was the right thing to do. It was becoming a short novel and I did leave out a few things for brevity.
And I thought I might bring up the fact that all names have been changed as well as a few details – in some cases I will omit exact place names – so as to avoid doxing anybody.
Thanks TJ. I skimmed the post real quick, and look forward to reading the full thing tonight at work
https://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2019/09/14/tick-tock-florida-aoc-says-miami-will-be-gone-in-a-few-years-unless-the-green-new-deal-gets-passed/
Honk honk.
Feature, not a bug
She went from 12 years, to 10 years, to a few years. Stand by for next month.
Broken wrists were all the rage back then
https://www.alloutdoor.com/2019/09/13/defiance-shotgun-pistol-made-san-francisco/
No need to go back in time. You can order this one to your door right now! And this one is no where as big and bulky as the one you linked to:
https://americanguncraft.com/product-category/diablo-12-gauge-pistol/
Neat and straight to your door with no FFL. How is that legal?
Black powder only.
It is supposedly a pre-1889 design so all legal. Same as a muzzle-loading gun.
Is it a practical weapon? Now there’s another bucket of worms…
When I did grad school in Sweden, I’d go once a month to the American Express office and write them a personal check from the First National Bank of bumfuck, Oklahoma, and they’d fork over the cash equivalent in Kroners.
I bet that would not even fly these days.
I remember my mom mailing me Travellers Checks to cash at the post office in Germany. It sounds like something out of the nineteenth century rather than 1986.
Scintillating.
Prague was truly a gem of a place and I was blessed to have a close friend who lived there and allowed us to stay in his apartment and drive his car (even in his absence!).
One side note: we met a small group of Czechs who had permits to carry concealed handguns. They were all carrying CZ-75’s of course. We had a few discussions on the ins-and-outs of firearms ownership/freedom/etc. It was quite interesting to meet people like that (like me!) not only in Europe but in the former Soviet empire.
For sure. I really enjoyed the story and I am looking forward to the rest. I’m much, much, much, much, much younger than you and I do appreciate the insight into what it was like traveling during that time.
Czech whorehouses, best whorehouses!
Assuming he was providing illicit services, you would think he would have invested in a furnace. Jesus.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/remains-of-more-than-2200-fetuses-found-at-home-of-deceased-abortion-doctor-reports
Can’t have sex with a pile of ash.
“The remains of more than 2,200 unborn children have been found at the Illinois home of a former Indiana abortion doctor who died earlier this month, according to reports.”
So Indiana is responsible for dead babies AND guns ?
Can we just go ahead and designate the AMA as a domestic terrorist organization?
San Francisco awards this guy a posthumous Key to the City.
Was the Kremlin mole honeytrapped by his WIFE to spy for the CIA? Ex-husband says she sexted her boss who ‘spied on Putin’ – and that she wanted ‘money, comfort and luxury’
Rampant speculation = the truth imho
JFC are they ever going to give this shit up?
No.
Never gonna give shit up
Never gonna let shit down
Analysis: True.
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/beto-is-a-disaster-for-the-gun-control-movement/
It is somewhat satisfying to watch him and AOC destroy the party.
He just said what they are all thinking. And, yes, that soundbite will be used extensively. But there is not a lack of similar bits. Gun-grabbers are openly advocating for the confiscation of ALL semi-autos. After that it will be anything that repeats. Then it will be whatever remains. Do not give an inch. In fact, we need to push back and acknowledge the NFA’s for what they are, i.e. unconstitutional.
Like Booker’s idea to make all gun owners be licensed is much further than this? Hell, wasn’t it Pelosi who came out with “Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them in” back in the day?
The only difference is the speed with which the internet can tell them when they’ve stepped on their collective dick and need to pull back.
“Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them in”
That was DiFi
Assault rifles.
Semi-autos.
Sniper rifles.
Concealable weapons (remember Saturday night specials?).
Revolvers (shoot every time you pull the trigger just like illegal semi-autos).
The order may vary, but they want to ban them all. We are probably two elections away. This is battlespace prep, moving the Overton window.
Don’t overlook “sawed-off shotguns” – and any shotgun which could be chopped down to an illegal length with hand tools.
Sounds ludicrous? The PRK banned the SKS (semi-auto with a FIXED 10 round magazine – kinda like the Soviet M1 Garand) outright because it was POSSIBLE to replace the fixed magazine with 30 round magazines which were already illegal there.
Good catch.
Hell, the original Assault Weapon Ban included the FN-49 because it had a “detachable magazine”. The truth was that the magazine only held 10 rounds and didn’t have feed lips – if you detached a loaded magazine it spewed its contents all over the countryside. There was no way to carry loaded magazines for this rifle but because it was semi-auto and the magazines could be detached it was “EVIL”.
Well shit, look at what they did with the bullet button, a legal means to deal with their previous legislating.
Thanks for this, Teji! (May I call you Teji?) Looking forward to the upcoming installments. The full extent of my non-U.S. travel has been a few hours in southern Ontario when I was a kid – driving from Sarnia down to Leamington to catch the Pelee Island Ferry across Lake Erie. I regret not taking the initiative to travel more. Previous Mr. GT had a brother and SIL who lived in Paris, but by the time we would have been in a position to visit them, I was mentally (and soon physically) checking out of that marriage.
No real international travel prospects in the foreseeable future, so I’ll enjoy reading of your adventures.
I grew up on the Mexican border where Spanish was spoken as normal as English – with a heavy interest in Asia. So I guess I was predestined to want to see the world. And now I’ve lived most of my adult life outside the US – at times going weeks without speaking English. Even during my career in the Army Reserves I never set foot in the continental US while in uniform.
A meeting with Jeffrey Epstein led to a gift — and, now, regrets
Neri Oxman, who once dated Brad Pitt, spending time with Jeffery Epstein? Epistein’s reach had no boundaries.
Look out “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”, there’s a new game in town.
$150
Seems like business class RFK CDG was about $800 in those days.
‘Alright, We’ll Call It A Draw,’ Concedes Joe Biden After Final Limb Falls Off
“None shall pass me in the polls,” he declared early on, confident in his ability to keep himself together, literally. Despite his opponents warning him that they weren’t going to go easy, he wouldn’t back down. Finally, after he was asked about healthcare, the duct tape gave way and Joe Biden’s left arm tumbled to the floor.
“Stand aside, Joe,” said Elizabeth Warren. But Biden continued to fight, and several moments later his right arm fell off.
“Victory is mine!” said Pete Buttigieg. But as he began to pray, thanking God for allowing a good Christian man such as himself to triumph, Biden started kicking him.
“Had enough, eh?” said Biden. The other candidates urged him to give up, but he insisted that it was “just a flesh wound.”
“What are you doing to do, bleed on me?” asked Kamala Harris, which she regretted after Joe’s eye exploded in a spurt of blood all over her nice dress suit.
Of course, his other two limbs soon followed, and Biden sat there, a stump on the stage. “Alright, we’ll call it a draw,” Biden conceded. He then began taunting his opponents, saying they were too scared to face a strong, intimidating candidate such as himself.
“I’ll bite your legs off!”
I’d love to see someone here do a Glibertarians Bee or Funion or whatever you wanna call it.
Sounds like you just volunteered.
Beto threatens to confiscate all first born males
It’s just a flesh wound!
You’re an easy guy to get along with, TJ. I imagine that served you well as navigated the myriad people you came in contact with. Need some Summer of 69 playing in the background as I read this. Very fun stuff.
Thanks Straff!
If you wanna watch something illuminating and depressing check out “Out of Mind, Out of Sight” on Amazon Prime. It’s a documentary in which they spent a year and a half filming in a Canadian hospital for the criminally insane. Very sad people with very sad stories.
New ‘SNL’ cast member Shane Gillis referred to Andrew Yang as a ‘Jew ch–k’
“Unearthed.” Rummaging through podcasts which consist of idiot comedians intentionally acting like idiots is some job. For context – and I encourage all of you to watch at least 5 seconds of this – here is a video intrepid journalist who was the first to unearth Mr. Gillis’ shameful words performing Spoken Bird Poetry.
WATCH IT RIGHT NOW! Trust me it will shock you and you will hate every second of it.
Not entirely unrelated.
I want to kill you right now.
Actionable threat? Nah.
It’s okay FBI – I’m safe!
My threats should be more subtle.
Jew chick? Huh.
MIT professor says Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre was ‘entirely willing’: report
I think it’s time to not only cancel MIT, but every arrogant scientist and engineer. You’re all on notice, nerds. You had your run but your times up.
She “presented herself”. Like a baboon’s ass?
No, “presented” the way doctors describe diseases.
Also, rms is a bearded commie who, while affiliated with CSAIL, isn’t a MIT professor unless I’m mistaken.
Patently ridiculous. Everyone knows these nerds are terrified of women.
Hence why she had to present herself. Those nerds aren’t running around grabbing gold-digging beauty contestants.
Yeah, stick to software, dude.
Hey, I get it. I earned my bones in an early internet that was populated by cypherpunks, but when you combine that with pedo advocacy…..
Man admits to having drunken sex with traffic cone in train station lift
Some friends.
Ok, but the question is big end or little end?
If you’re in the mood for a laugh and a cry, here’s an animated clip from 2006 made by a student.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sdUUx5FdySs
<a href="https://www.apnews.com/d20f80188e3543bfb36d512df7777cd4"Yemen rebels claim drone attacks on major Saudi oil sites
This is what happens when you get rid of Bolton.
White House says bin Laden son killed in US operation
How fun.
I’m sure there’ll be no repercussions. /sarc
Blenheim Palace closed after £1 million gold toilet stolen
Now you’re just taking the piss!
The dumbest thing? They hooked it up to the plumbing.
Always put a shut off valve next to the terlet
Someone is playing with his laser pointer again.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1172853679642333185
You’re actually a big fucking dumbass. THANK YOU!
This person is free to say this to the president without government retribution but Trump is totally a fascist.
Our geniuses are the most stable! The best!
Man becomes first to lose guns under New York’s ‘red flag’ law
It begins.
“King said something about hurting himself,”
That’s some god policing there.
Somebody is always doing something in NY.
All of that could have been done sans red flag laws.
That was my thinking too. Are we supposed to believe the same outcome would not have happened before? Yeah, right.
Thanks for the fun travelogue Tejicano. Traveling like that is awesome, I really miss it. Before the internet and atms it was such a different experience.
Thank you for the reply.
Back in the day I had one of those little passport pouches in a thin strap that were intended to be worn over the shoulder under your clothes. I had mine looped on my belt and down one leg of my jeans with the pouch tucked into a sock. No way those Gypsy pickpockets would get that one.
Yeah my German ex had one of those under the shirt close body hugging passport pouch as well as a money belt.
I wondered what kind of untrusting hellhole the world outside Oklahoma was.
We met a couple of young Brits who had been backpacking through Europe. They went to sleep in a train station in France with their backpacks in front of them, tightly holding the straps while they slept. They woke up still holding the straps – which had been cut off the missing backpacks.
I had a money belt stuffed full of traveler’s checks and passport, and a wallet that you could strap to your leg or arm under your clothes for quicker access to local cash.
New Radar System Alerts Politicians When People Are Enjoying Something So They Can Ban It
The advanced fun detection system has already found hundreds of new things that politicians in Washington weren’t aware people were enjoying. Every day, the lawmakers and executives are provided with a list of fun stuff people are doing and then immediately get to work on stopping this fun.
“Welp, looks like it’s vapes today,” said one advisor in the White House as he checked the charts. “People are having a lot of fun with them. A very small percentage of people are dying of them. So, we’ve got to ban them.”
“Also they look stupid.”
Radar reports people have been enjoying drones, fireworks, video games, plastic straws, saturated fats, milk, rain water, hunting rifles, free speech, the Second Amendment, plastic bags, and feeding homeless people. These and many other dangerous freedoms were quickly targeted by lawmakers.
“It’s amazing when I look at this printout every morning and notice how much freedom there still is out there despite our best efforts,” said one congressman. “There is much work to be done.”
Oh man. That is spot on.
I wonder how many DC staffers are going to get assigned to find out how to clue their congresscritter employer into this fun detection system?
“Jennifer, I need to get connected into this system. I need these printouts!”
thicc?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7462743/Demi-Rose-showcases-ample-cleavage-skimpy-bejewelled-bikini.html
If she about 60-70% of that ass/hip fat she’d be perfect.
My life in sex: the happily celibate woman
I’ve always liked men. If anything, I’ve liked them too much. I was unfaithful during my first marriage, and as a single woman I had the morals of an alley cat. It’s just the way I am – I don’t know why.
Somehow I don’t see a connection between “My Life in Sex” and “celibate woman”.
I think it all boils down to “LOOK AT ME! I AM EDGY AND DANGEROUS! LOOK AT MEEEEEE!!!
I was married to a woman who preferred to engage in celibacy. That’s why I refer to her as “my ex”.
I met a guy once who said he filed for divorce shortly after watching a nature show about elephants that only mate once every two years. It suddenly struck him that those elephants were getting laid more often than he was.
Not sure which I should do first – wince in pain or chuckle.
I was talking to one of my old college buddies ( we three were inseparable) in our annual “what’s up” phone call.
He casually dropped that his wife Belinda (whom I also know) had matter of factly informed him that’s they wouldn’t be having sex again. Ever.
He worships the ground she walks on, and when they were dating in college I could tell she knew that and intended to use it to her advantage.
What a cunte. Couldn’t say anything at the time of course – not my place.
I could be wrong, but refusal of sex is grounds for divorce.
Now, in certain religious traditions, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity being examples, an older married couple voluntarily choosing to live their lives in married celibacy, so they can focus on and support each other in spiritual attainment, is seen as praiseworthy.
This doesn’t sound like that.
When it has been 6 years and counting and you live in a culture where fidelity is an imported concept you adapt to a cultural understanding.
I was a total whore my whole life but once I got old and crusty and lost all interest in sex I quit having it. File under most uninteresting story ever.
Sometimes when my spouse is baked and I am tipsy (I can’t partake of the Devil’s Weed myself as a fed contractor) we say silly shit and the spouse writes it down to see if it is still funny the next day.
This morning I see that what he scribbled on the whiteboard was quoting me. It simply says: “Misgendered Penguin.”
I lol’d
I sometimes wonder about the conflicting instincts of some penguin species; balancing the deep desire to pop one off with the Mrs. – versus – the requirement to huddle tight with a bunch of dudes for a few months in sub-zero weather to keep from freezing to death while holding an egg on top of your feet. If they had hands they would have gone extinct.
My roommate and I used to keep a notebook for such occasions too.
Any opinions on best NCAAF game today?
And really, why *does* Rice play Texas?
They’ve played a hundred times . . . Since sports were just club affairs.
I am certain Rice makes a lot of money from that game.
That’s exactly why. Big bucks to be a scrimmage team. It’s a no brainer.
There’s also the Rocky factor. Like when Appalachian State beat Michigan. Those kids will tell their grandkids that story. Those upsets are rare but they do happen.
My alma mater, U of Mary Hardin-Baylor, wants to get in on some of that UTX money
For the sadistic, probably my alma mater, Miami of OH, getting their butts kicked by the Bearcats. Or Buckeyes kicking Hoosier butt. For real athletic competition? Dunno.
Buckeyes should easily handle the Hoosiers, however Indiana’s defense is supposed to be decent. They also supposedly have a pretty good passing game and the Buckeyes secondary really hasn’t been tested yet. So could get interesting.
Today, in shit that totally happened
https://twitter.com/recklessrita/status/1172146645083070471
Other shit that didn’t happen- the local edition.
How do you spel Samsonite?
Aw, someone wants attention!
Is it just me, or does that spell “sobmite” ?
I was about to say…
Fake incident leads to lawsuit leads to out of court settlement plus incidental public accolades. It’s quite the collection of incentives for unscrupulous jackasses.
an Army surplus ALICE pack
Medium without the frame?
“Mountain” with the three extra pockets across the top and with the frame. Much better than the tiny ones (shit they brought back from Vietnam and sewed up the holes) we were issued when I was on active duty. No way I would hump an ALICE pack with no frame.
Ahh, we had those (large ALICE) rucks when I was in. Basic had the mediums, which could have the straps directly attached to the pack without the frame. Finally threw my old ruck away last year after it rotted away in the garage and outside. I guess if I don’t use it for 15+ years, I’m probably not going to? Backpacking across Europe with one of those things… especially in 1993 without the later nicer aftermarket padded belts and straps… wow! I’m impressed.
Sheeyaat.. the first issue ALICE pack which was all we had back in the day had no waist straps. you hung that MoFo on your shoulders and moved out. It was better than the 1941 Haversack they gave me before so I didn’t complain.
We’d tape the waist belts out of the way. The issue ones were little more than webbing to keep the bottoms from swaying I think. A popular mod was to cut up the OD foam sleeping mats and use them for padding against the metal frame.
Later, and the ruck I kept, I sent in one to one of the shops near Ft Lewis to have it upgraded, pockets added, fastex buckles, seams reinforced. That thing was like a dream to carry compared to a stock one.
Like this?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ST1JHQ3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_VKqFDbN2QVYRY
Yup, like that but not so pretty. It had been “broken in” but that was no problem for me.
Despite the name, the picture looks off. It should be a bit more squatish and not so elongated even when new.
http://soldiersystems.net/blog1/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/large_alice_pack.jpg
OK glibs and gliberinas. It’s past midnight here and I have duties to perform in 7 hours or so.
As usual, it has been a gas and I appreciate all your input.
CYa!
I’m catching up and late to the party. I like this and look forward to the next installment.