To whom it may concern.

I’m heading out to San Antonio soon, so I need to fill the void here at LTG before I leave. I’m pretty sure I won’t be in any condition to write when I return this evening. So, here’s the lowdown since my previous post.

I checked into my room at The Pub Hotel. I’ve stayed here on previous occasions when I was enduring an extended power or water outage at home.

Anyway, I got what I came for at The Pub–a shower, a toilet I can flush, and a good night’s sleep. I did have some issues with the wifi. I was on the third floor, accessible only by stairs. I didn’t ask about the password when I checked in, so I had to go back to the lobby. The receptionist said it was on the room key fob. It wasn’t, so she handed me a slip of paper. When I got back to the room later that night, the password didn’t work. So, it was back to the lobby once more. The same receptionist said to try it with a five or a seven (the password contained a 6) so, I went back upstairs, and still a no-go. Fuck it. I wasn’t going to stay all night without internet access (my phone wouldn’t make a mobile hotspot for some reason, either). I packed up my laptop (planning to come back to shower in the morning, I left everything else in the room) and went back downstairs. There was a male receptionist this time, and I told him how disappointed I was with a hotel that didn’t provide working wifi. He apologized and said, “Let me help you with that, sir,” so we headed upstairs once more. It took a few minutes, but he was successful in getting both my phone and my laptop connected to the wifi. Woo-hoo, I got to sleep in the room I paid for, after all!

After my shower, I dressed and prepared to attend the SOB event at Queen Victoria. I had time to grab some dinner, so I ordered fish and chips at the Outback pool bar.

While I was dining, a woman greeted me by name as she passed and went to talk with the bar manager. When she left, the manager asked me how I knew her, and I honestly responded damned if I know. It turns out she used to work at Mugshots bar, and I guess I met her there. She was applying for work at Outback, and I gave her a recommendation. I mean, if she remembered my name after a brief one-time visit to Mugshots, she’s got what it takes to make customers feel at home.

Queen Victoria is right across the highway from Outback, and I successfully managed a crossing of the busy road without getting squashed. The SOB was entertaining, and I had a good tablemate to chat with. Whiskey Girl finished first, and all the bars placed where I had voted them, so I must have judged correctly. No pictures to share, sorry!

During a break in the show, one of the guys sitting behind me asked about the Hash and whether he could attend. I told him everyone was welcome and where and when we meet. He thanked me, and I asked him how he knew I was a Hasher. “I read your blog.” After all these years, it still astounds me to run into a complete stranger (this guy lives in Malaysia) that knows all about me from the diary of my life that is Long Time Gone.

After the SOB, I decided to continue on the path to drunkenness with a visit to Sloppy Joe’s. And I’ll be damned if it didn’t happen again–another encounter with a stranger who follows LTG. Now, remember that I only get about 200 unique visitors a day, so it’s not like I’m famous or anything like that guy who writes Big Hominids Hairy Chasms. To meet two of my readers in a single night in a little backwater town like Barretto must be astronomically against all odds. So much for the safety of anonymity.

Anyway, there were some real-life acquaintances at Sloppy Joes’s, including a Hash friend, Dave, who will be participating in today’s chili cookoff. Good luck and see you there. It was also another Hasher’s birthday, and Dave was buying everyone drinks in her honor. After downing a couple of shots of something, I knew I’d best be getting back to the hotel while I still could. (I already told the part where I almost had to leave the hotel in pursuit of internet access. It turns out I’d rather be home with no water than trapped without the comfort of the world wide web at my fingertips. Anyway, all’s well that ends well.)

This morning on my way to breakfast, I ran into Dave loading his car with supplies for the trip to San Antonio and the chili cookoff.

About that breakfast.

And then this photo popped up in my Facebook memories today:

Just a song before I go
A lesson to be learned
Traveling twice the speed of sound
It's easy to get burned

Update: My water has been restored! Yay!