Part of a series from the travelog of my trip to Seattle in October 2022.
Up and packed. Checked out. Eating at Oddfellows again. Funny how quickly default places set in. The staff here is beautiful, and the food is good. So very good.
Off to waste time until 2pm, when I’ll board the #1 train to SEATAC for 6pm boarding. Gotta ship my new pocket knives by UPS. Thanks, TSA.
UPS guy doesn’t understand how UPS computers work. Monkey-fucked it enough to ship my stuff to my home by Friday [it arrived Monday, ed]. $19 to ship $35 of steel; kinda negates the discount I got at the sporting goods store. Oh well. Souvenirs.
That woman at Oddfellows. Majestic. Still sticks in my mind. Even in a service job, she had poise and class. Guess that’s what Oddfellows is about. She lit up when I thanked her and the staff for letting me hang out for a few mornings throughout the week, and that I’m flying back to Austin. People treat you different if you look homeless. They breathe a sigh of relief when they realize you’re traveling on vacation. No wonder men shave and wear bright colors in big cities — it’s to distance themselves from vagabonds. Maybe I should do the same — Austin doesn’t suffer from that so much; beards are fashion here.
Fuckin’ Austin. Fuckin’ Seattle.
Bummed around the Cap Hill Farmer’s Market for a bit, scrolling until the call of nature started ringing. Doubled back to the Oddfellows building because I bothered to write down the day’s bathroom access code. Best dump of the weekend.
Back to Farmer’s Market. Checked out Cal Anderson for a bit, saw some public art. Got to play a favorite game “Name That Log: Man or Dog”.
Leaned on a wall and scrolled until 2pm, then downstairs to the #1 platform — took the back way this time, no escalators – ugh. More walking. Hips & knees & ankles & heels hurt. Got on the train and dropped my baggage in the seat. Ahh.
South Seattle is a dragged-down dump. Obviously some policy decisions were made here. Nuggets of pyrite scattered amongst burnt trash piles, empty lots, closed shops, tagged warehouses. Damp valley streets. Clapboard box houses. Felt like Arkansas. Othello was the worst of it. Gets even more industrial south of there. The two consecutive airport stops — Tukwilla and SEATAC — were confusing. Went by the signs, my memory of the stop, and the fact that so many people were getting off the train.
Slogged solo across the skybridges this time. Found the ticket kiosk. Printed ticket, Gate D4. TSA lines were fucked. Line 5, closest to Concourse D, was sending everyone to Line 2, way up by Concourse A. So much walking. Gave me time to reapportion my bag contents. 12 minute line became 24 just after I queued. Buh. And some Typhoid Matt was croup coughing open-mouthed a few people ahead of me in line while his girlfriend looked on in sympathy. Double-mask time. Ugh. TSA selected my carry-on for secondary screening. Another Ugh. Talk about scared. Some dude nearby was getting publicly groped because he apparently had a weapon in his bag. Damn, dude. Damn.
Walked all the way back to Concourse D. Found my gate, found food, ate, and waited.
Flight back, the milkfed farmboy next to me in seat E had no knowledge of how much space he occupied, kept bumping and nudging me. Left-handed. Dominated the armrest. Some people. Was doing his calculus homework — smart people are just physically dumb sometimes.
Hard landing. Down safe. Quick taxi to skybridge, hurriedly did my day’s Duolingo lesson before midnight while waiting to deplane (phone jumped ahead 2 timezones when I turned off airplane mode), long walk from gate 2 to exit at 22. Back to parking bus, D-4-25. Car undisturbed and still functional. Started, paid $90 to exit parking, then toll road.
I’m home.
Unpacked, put house together, had a drink, and chilled.
I’m home. Fucking Austin.