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Luvcow posted:coined the term "glintz" for the little sparkles you see in pavement  I love that name
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Jul 20, 2016 00:08
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you just have to believe in yourself, there's a little skeleton inside of us all 
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Furia posted:
its perfect
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Jul 20, 2016 00:30
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My phone died twice while writing a big post about this and it didn't save either time so I'll keep it brief : San Diego is rad and redeemed California in my eyes  Hung out with a friend at the beach (sunset cliffs) and smoked joints all day. Climbed down some cliffs to get there. Walked around Ocean Beach and got lunch. In a cool airbnb private room with 2 nerdy reddit folks and it was cheaper than any hostel I've looked at so I think I'm done with hostels. Had some cataclysmic nightmares with Amtrak ticket agents in the stations. One ripped my pass, another told me that meant the pass was void and tried to take it away from me. Argued with a manager and got to keep the pass then they told me it wasn't valid for travel to/from San Diego effectively trying to strand me here. Called their support line and got it all sorted out along with an upgrade to business class for my 38 hour long trip to Seattle up the PCH starting at 6am tomorrow |
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Jul 20, 2016 06:56
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things are lookin up! |
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Jul 20, 2016 07:08
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byobbers on a train - "i'll emptyquote you if you emptyquote me" "uhhhh okay... haha i love weed" "yeah good. now repeat after me... 'i love donald trump and i want to kiss him'" |
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Jul 20, 2016 07:33
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People shouldn't be up this early on vacation |
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Jul 20, 2016 12:41
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Shakill OReal posted:People shouldn't be up this early on vacation Can I quote your most recent picture into the "take a picture every day" thread?
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Jul 20, 2016 13:36
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Yeah of course Here are about 5 minutes of the San Diego coast condensed in to 30 seconds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK28dZhVzEc |
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Jul 20, 2016 15:49
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Shakill OReal posted:Yeah of course neat
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Jul 20, 2016 15:51
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If anyone wants to follow along, Shakill should be about to depart Los Angeles on the Coast Starlight, train 14. Amtrak train schedules are here: https://www.amtrak.com/train-schedules-timetables Look for Coast Starlight in the list. I love how the schedules are still laid out the same way they were when railroads still ran their own passenger trains. Read up from the bottom, since the train runs South to North. I also looked at the schedule for the Empire Builder (Chicago - Portland / Seattle). The schedule hasn't changed since I rode that train between my hometown in Wisconsin and Seattle, back in the late 70's when I was attending law school at the Univ. of Washington. After I finished the bar exam, I took a solo bicycle trip from Seattle to Glacier N.P., then took the train back to Seattle. Fun times. . .
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Jul 20, 2016 18:19
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Finally time for the second smoke break Here's another video of the coast like the last one, but it's more interesting coastline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rOsuXRXuoY |
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Jul 20, 2016 23:47
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Shakill OReal posted:Yeah of course Shakill OReal posted:Finally time for the second smoke break these are really cool
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Jul 20, 2016 23:55
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I dozed off for a little while or else there would be some of rolling golden hills and cow farms on mountainsides at a 45 degree angle. |
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Jul 21, 2016 00:00
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Barking Gecko posted:If anyone wants to follow along, Shakill should be about to depart Los Angeles on the Coast Starlight, train 14. I'm really excited to do Seattle to GNP. There's no way I can afford lodging in GNP though so I hope I can reach it early in the morning and leave that same night on the way east or something |
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Jul 21, 2016 00:01
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i think shakill is starting to "get" california
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Jul 21, 2016 00:03
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Shakill OReal posted:Finally time for the second smoke break hey excuse me hi I know I'm not very popular and don"t have many (if any) friends here, and I'm sure you get this all the time but might as well say it again smoking is bad and you should quit (except weed) I don't mean to pry or be rude or anything, but I just feel the need to say it to people. so I'm sorry if I insulted you or offended you in any way
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Jul 21, 2016 00:11
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"Cow Farms." Hehe
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Jul 21, 2016 01:11
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Furia posted:hey excuse me hi i'm you're friend furia. you're a good person to care about shakill's health
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Jul 21, 2016 01:15
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Robot Made of Meat posted:"Cow Farms." he's from arizona. i'm not sure they have cows there
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Jul 21, 2016 01:15
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We have cows, I'm just not a cow boy. |
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Jul 21, 2016 01:29
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I should quit smoking but I like it :
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Jul 21, 2016 01:29
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I loved smoking, but I hated waking up with horrible, thick green stuff in my sinuses. I also wasn't fond of the price, or the stench. Quitting is hard as hell, but it's worth it. [/lecture]
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Jul 21, 2016 01:35
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FluffieDuckie posted:i'm you're friend furia. Shakill OReal posted:I should quit smoking but I like it : you can do it! I believe in you!
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Jul 21, 2016 01:51
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I actually quit smoking once but started again when a crazy girl faked a terminal illness to cover up cheating on me. |
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Jul 21, 2016 02:06
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Shakill OReal posted:I actually quit smoking once but started again when a crazy girl faked a terminal illness to cover up cheating on me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ8nN6hTnmM how tf does someone fake a terminal illness? ---------------- |
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Jul 21, 2016 04:46
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We had been on again off again for like a year but it never worked, I wasn't in to her I was just lonely, and she was emotionally abusive. One day she started to scale back on talking to me and apologized saying she just wasn't feeling well. As the days went on she would talk to me less and say she was feeling increasingly worse until eventually it was more like "hey I'm sorry I haven't talked to you in a week I'm in the hospital and they're trying to figure out what it is." I started to freak out and got really worried but she refused to tell me what hospital she was at, she'd just say they sent her home, then she'd mysteriously be back with the illness being worse the next day. Eventually she had chosen an illness with a high mortality rate and told me they diagnosed her with it and it was getting worse and blah blah blah, she basically tried to break up with me by saying she was going to die and I should move on and find someone else and forget about her. I wasn't having any of that and kept asking what hospital she was at and she kept refusing to tell me so I called her mom and asked and found out the whole thing was a lie. She called me months later to apologize and tell me that she had met someone else and spun a yarn about how she just really liked me and didn't want to break my heart by telling me she met someone else. It's all as ridiculous as it sounds and the dude dumped her like a week later and she was trying to get back with me but I told her to gently caress off and we haven't talked since |
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Jul 21, 2016 05:10
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I've literally never had a 'normal ' relationship in my life until the girl I'm seeing now and it's only because of her support and encouragement that I'm even on this trip so things are finally coming up milhouse |
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Jul 21, 2016 05:15
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After spending all day on this train and reflecting I'm cutting my trip short. I really can't imagine a worse way to travel than Amtrak. I've had one singular thought through every waking moment on the train and it's this : I've been in jails that were more pleasant than Amtrak Business Class. Frankly I'm pretty shocked that Amtrak offers residencies to writers. Everyone I've talked to on the train shared a similar story. They all hate it, they all only do it because they have to. I just can't imagine someone taking a trip on one of these trains and writing something about it that could be used promotionally. Half of the poo poo on the trains doesn't work. Bathrooms are all hosed up and sinks will shoot water all over and flood the room. Most of the power outlets don't work. The food is bad (it's literally just microwaved frozen burgers, pizzas etc that they charge about 4x supermarket price on). There are all kinds of delays. I haven't had a good experience with any of the ticket agents in the station and only one good experience with them on the phone. I've now ridden four separate trains and tried business class and they all had these same problems. Being in the cities is fun and I got to hang out with a few friends but the idea of any more time on the train is giving me a panic attack, which sucks because their schedules and routes are sparse enough that getting home is going to mandate 3+ more straight days on a train. I wanted to do this because I thought it would be more fun than an office job but I would have rather been at work than doing what I've spent most of my time so far on this vacation doing. As much as I want to keep checking out cool places in the US it's not worth it if I have to do it on the train. I'm probably going to pay out the rear end to fly home from Seattle just to avoid another 38 hour train ride followed by a 12 hour train ride to get home. The experience was still good and I'm glad I went. Since the whole trip was sort of inspired by Paulo Coelho I will end this post by paraphrasing him; what I've learned is that this is not my Pesonal Legend, which is an incredibly valuable, if costly, lesson. My Personal Legend is back at home in the arms of someone I want to be with. |
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Jul 21, 2016 09:28
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Thank you for sharing, Shakill. Good riddance to her. My brother got back together with one of his exes that was cheating on him a few months ago... smdh. Anyway I'm glad San Diego and other parts of Southern California's scenery changed your mind about the golden state and that you've got a supporting and loving girlfriend. I urge you to check out some of the local museums along the way. ---------------- |
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Jul 21, 2016 09:49
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I'm sad to hear all the bad news (and non news), friend maybe talk it out with the pillow and see if this is the right decision for you, and think how doing one thing or the other will affect you whatever happens, I hope you find happiness in your decision
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Jul 21, 2016 14:06
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I'm glad you came to a decision and i wish you well but man my experience with Amtrak is so much the opposite i love it, i guess it's not for everyone |
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Jul 21, 2016 14:33
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as an old person i can tell you that life is all about learning things about yourself. for example i at some point learned that jumping on a train and wandering the country with not a lot of things specifically planned and questionable places to sleep is Not My Thing now you know that too
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Jul 21, 2016 14:37
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Yeah if I am doing this again it would be a road trip. There's something profoundly insulting about being dragged through these beautiful mountains and forests and not being able to stop for a minute to explore a path or smell the flowers. Being on a train makes me feel like I'm on a trip that's being dictated by someone else and I have no freedom, there's no sense of joy or wonder or accomplishment from it. It ends up feeling so spiritless and manufactured. That's not even considering how drat uncomfortable it is. I've slept barebacked on rocks and stones before and had a better night's sleep. I'm going to fly back from Seattle because I would rather shoot myself than spend 50 more hours on a train. I got what I needed out of the trip; I got a story to tell and I learned about myself. |
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Jul 21, 2016 16:02
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The train is getting held up for an hour and a half in Klamath Falls and I couldn't be happier to get off this thing for a while |
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Jul 21, 2016 16:21
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Win a car in a game of chance and drive back. Stop at every Taco Bell on the way back.
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Jul 21, 2016 16:23
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alnilam posted:I'm glad you came to a decision and i wish you well but man my experience with Amtrak is so much the opposite i love it, i guess it's not for everyone Yeah, my one experience was great (at least the parts actually on the train). But I had a roomette, so sleeping was better and the food was quite decent. I'd love to have the chance to train around the country again (and normally I HATE travel). Sorry it didn't turn out the way you'd hoped, Shakill.
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Jul 21, 2016 16:34
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i guess it helps to be a good anywhere-sleeper... i've had just as good of a time riding 6 hours sitting on a vinyl-covered bench like a diner booth on a junky old train in hungary, as i have in a comfy-rear end chair in coach class of amtrak sure as hell beats the bus in either case. probably the worst was riding 6 hours in a small bus on dirt roads with my legs up to my chest and my backpack sort of tucked in between because everyone's bags were on the floor in this tiny bus, praying it wouldn't rain because everyone said if it did we would get stuck in mud and have to get out and push, but even that was kind of a cool adventure
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Jul 21, 2016 16:42
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I think instead of flying back I'm going to continue on to Glacier National Park and try to get a short seasonal job at a lodge. |
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Jul 21, 2016 18:41
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The sleeping situation makes it rough, yeah. I can't sleep on this train without murdering my back and neck, my blanket is too small and it's freezing, etc. A sleeper car would be a big help. Even still, I feel like I was kind of lead in the wrong direction with this trip. Amtrak made it sound so adventurous, like I'd be able to get off at each station and explore the town around it. It's not turning out to be the great sojourn I expected. It's more like window shopping. I still don't like the train in the daytime but I don't hate it like I do at night. At night there are no smoke breaks and sleeping is uncomfortable, it's too dark to see anything out the window because they leave too many lights on in the train. You're just sitting in a metal box with nothing but your thoughts and the clack clack clack of train tracks. At Klamath Falls I met two people who are doing the exact same thing as me. We sat around and chain smoked cigarettes and discussed The Alchemist and reflected our lives as the Baker or the Crystalware shopkeeper. People who have been held back from learning their personal legend by forces of complacency. I can say a lot of bad things about the train, but the trip itself has been been a real splendor. Having those hours of solidarity was exactly what I needed to clear my mind and helped me look at what I'm doing as less 'crazy' and more 'deeply spiritual', though another thing I've learned is that these two are the same beast by different names. I got what I wanted out of it either way, but what I wanted wasn't what I expected it to be. My Fatima is back home and my Pyramids ahead, I don't really see a reason to stop now, and I've come to terms with the fact that I don't need to continue on the train. I don't want to be complacent in the comforts it does offer. I can disembark at any time and it won't be the end of the world. My boy Nick Drake just sang me through the Klamath Marshes, and that was nice too. 
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Jul 21, 2016 19:12
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 16:05 |
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Also this is my Power Song right now  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oT2YZSVdic |
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Jul 21, 2016 19:24
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