Kevin Standlee (kevin_standlee) wrote,
Kevin Standlee
kevin_standlee

Riding the Rails

In a few minutes, I'll be heading off to the train station to catch the 1 o'clock Capitol train to Sacramento, where Lisa will collect me and take me on to Yuba City. I'll spend Thanksgiving with my mother's side of the family; the next day, we'll go to Oroville to visit my father (my parents divorced when I was five years old; I was mostly raised by my maternal grandparents), who I haven't seen in several years. I've tried to stay somewhat in contact, but I'm not good at writing letters, don't really like telephoning most people, and it seems like every time I get an e-mail address for Dad, it bounces, although he swears they've had the same address for a long time.

Normally, I'd plan to buy lunch on the train, but this day-before-Thanksgiving train is likely to be packed to the rafters, and (a) I don't want to lose my seat if I get up and (b) the queue in the snack bar car is apt to run the length of the train. In fact, I'm glad to be catching the train at only its third stop; there's a good chance that I'll get a seat -- maybe even one of the coveted corner singles -- whereas by the time we get to Richmond, we'll probably be SRO. So I'll need to pick something up on the way to the station; fortunately, there are lots of places to eat in the Centerville district. I'm thinking that fish and chips sounds good today.

I'm traveling really heavy for such a short trip. It seems like every trip I accumulate more equipment to carry along. CPAP machine; extension cord because the hotel outlets often don't reach the CPAP easily; laptop computer; Lisa's "spare" laptop and small hub in case she wants to play the two-player version of Locomotion; 2m radio so I can listen to the train radio; charger for same; charger for mobile phone; I could go on. Nowadays I'm carrying more equipment than clothing, it seems.
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