Payne & The Road Whisperer

So I have a day off. Don't come too often lately. I think that for a road warrior, I am pretty mellow and stress resistant. Once I'm out the door I am pretty mellow. I mean, I am not obtuse enough to not appreciate that paying my bills, meeting my mortgage, or filling my tank is not even a passing concern.Yeah, I am still Scotsman enough to not like seeing the trivial way a lot of my pay is spent, but I suppose it says I'm comfortable enough when I figure it isn't worth the hurt feelings to bring it up.

And to this point I have been mostly, but not completely honest. I have not lied so much as left the bent perception of a strategic ommission. While I consider myself a road warrior, albiet a pretty mellow one, that is not how it begins. Mostly I begin as a road wimperer and, like I stated above, the "warrior" part starts after I am out the door. It is not uncommon for me to bleat like a sheep, a girly, whiny sheep at that, that "I don't want to go again... I just got back... I'm really tired...Blah blah bleat bleat". Ah, Grasshopper. Snatch the teardrop from my hand.

Anyway, got the day off in L.A. and a Mustang at my disposal. I think Venice Beach is just up the road. Thinking about heading there, soaking some sun and looking for some kind of quirky eatery. I went to Venice a few times when I lived in SoCal, as we called it.Southern California. Venice is a pretty funky place, where the weird, the beautiful, and the weird AND beautiful go to show off. It is quite the human carnival to experience. Of course, back in the day I was young and lean and had an easy, apparently appealing drawl when I spoke. I have stayed and partied with a couple of girls I have met there. I still have the easy drawl, although young and trim both left through the back door some time ago. And while I find my wife's concern that I might be tempted to stray kind of sweet, I don't get many second looks these days. Which is fine as I am too lazy to cheat anyway. I mean, secrecy and skuling about require a lot of effort. So funky eatery and some eyeball liberty is gonna be about it.

Eyeball liberty, in case the reference made you go, "Huh??", is old navy slang for heading to a beach (mall, downtown, etc) and watching the pretty girls walk by. It's cheap and fairly entertaining. Plus, you still get a tan just like hanging at the hotel pool. So in a way, it's like multi-tasking.

Not sure that there's much else to ramble on about. Think I'll tack on a poem. This is about Payne, the perfect little hippie chick karma probably had in mind for me. Before I pissed karma off somehow, I mean.

It is, and continues to be, our responsibility to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality , out
Ramblin' Ed

Payne

When I was down she could make me smile

'Cause she'd been lost for a while

In a small town is where she was born

But she left there, of course

She had her points and she had her faults

She had my heart...because

She was calm in the face of the world

Payne was a special girl

So what's in a name?

Can't get enough of Payne

Turning heads in a town that knows

Beauty queens come and they go

She didn't know from cause and effect

Payne was a simple chick

She drank shots and she took 'em straight

Oh my God, that woman could drink

But she had her gentle ways

I think love was her middle name

So what's in a name?

Can't get enough of Payne

She had her points and she had her faults

She had my heart...because

She was calm in the face of the world

Payne was a special girl

So what's in a name?

Can't get enough of Payne

Ed

The Caribbean