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In case anyone was wagering on it, the first place I went in San Diego was Callahan’s. It’s been more than a year since the last time I was in here, so it was no surprise that I didn’t recognize the girl who seated me, or the guy who is waiting on me. Or the other waitress. I recognize one of the bartenders, but I’m not certain of her name anymore. It’s not Travis, and , more significantly, it is not Rose. No worries, she used to work weekdays anyway.

Jocelyn – that’s the name of the girl I recognize. She hasn’t recognized me yet, but that’s not surprising. I considered waiting until I was less scruffy to come in, but who knows how long that will be?

I checked the board and was happy to see that Bernardo Bitter (my favorite, but the quality is not consistent and they don’t have it on tap very often) was available. “It’s like you knew I was coming,” I quipped to my noncomprehending waiter. Joe Byrne was playing on the Juke Box. I settled in, ordered my jalapeƱo beer cheese soup, and whipped out the ol’ laptop.

My eyes strayed back to the chalkboard to see which other beers were up right now, and my heart sank when I saw Hopnotic IPA. I like a good hoppy IPA, but that used to be called Rose’s IPA. I checked the printed beer list, and there’s no mention of Rose’s IPA there, either. I have a bad feeling about this. Perhaps this is all an elaborate Road Trip Eve prank (three years ago, I celebrated the very first road trip eve sitting at the bar on a quiet night, counting down the minutes until midnight. I did not say “elevator ocelot rutabaga” at the appointed hour (that tradition came later), instead I said, “Wish me a happy birthday.” I completed my 4th decade in quiet conversation with my favorite bartender ever, then drove away to a life of adventure (or at least uncertainty) the next afternoon.

It’s not fair, of course, for me to ask a place to stay the same just so I can stumble into it every now and then and feel like I never left. That’s what I want, though. And now who’s going to tell Rose she rocks?

* * *

Good news! Rose is still working here. Now I can sleep.

26 thoughts on “Home

  1. I haven’t even read this entry yet, but I feel compelled to beat Bob-Bills-Bro to the punch….
    Happy founders Day everybody!!
    and a happy bday to Jer (rhymes with America’s next great novelist).

    now to read the blog. hmm mmm mmm

  2. Damn Jess, y’all beat me to the punch!

    SJ wishes y’all a Happy Flounders Day and a Fruhe Geburtstag to Jerry Beary!

    Now, I’m going back to read the blog.

  3. Hi Jer,
    Happy founders/road trip/birth/baseball opening day to you. (I sure the above is not a complete list of all the great things that happen on April the Twoth.)

    Hi Jesse,
    Curse your Eastern Daylight Timedness.

  4. Happy Birthday ….I really did know it was today but I keep writing 3/30/7 on all my work…so I am behind the times.

  5. I dunno Bob. They were bought in ’81 for $20.5 Mil. They expect them to sell this fall for upwards of $600 Mil. Don’t look like a bad investment from my perch.

  6. Mr. joe, the sports station that I was watching today reported 8.2 billion to Sam Zell. I turned to the guy on the next barstool and said, “I hope they get WGN with that.”

    Further reflection just made me more sure that the tv guys had it wrong, but the little tickertape thingie was resolute in its reportage.

  7. That’s 8.2 billion for the Tribune Co. (which owns the Chicago Tribune, TV station, LA Times, among other entities. They are “spinning off” the Cubbies which they expect to get a mere $600 Mil. That is what I understand. Working for the gov’t, I have plenty of, er ahem, research time.

    /For that you get the privilege of handing Al Soriano $132 Mil additional for his contract.

  8. Hi SJ,

    If we are on a time machine back to 1981, then you can buy the Cubs and I’ll buy Microsoft stock.

    The get poor amazingly fast scheme referred to buying the Cubbies in 2007 where, for the mere sum of 1/2 a billion dollars, you could be the #1 Lovable Loser in America.

  9. That makes a lot more sense than what the tv scroller thingie was saying. I found an article that said that he would buy the Tribune company for 8.2 Gigabucks, and the company’s debt as a result would go from 5GB to 13.4 GB, meaning Zell is borrowing 8.4 billion against the company to buy it for 8.2 billion.

    I’m no banker, but that seems like a purty sweet deal.

  10. It may not matter if the Cubs are losers if people love them so much that licensed merchandise flies off the shelves – tho I have no idea if that is the case. In fact it would be funny if the Yankees are so reviled that despite winning records they don’t sell as much licensed stuff as other teams. Tho I wouldn’t be surprised if fans in NYC alone could account for huge profits on merchandise.

  11. Jesse, please. The Cubs are non-winners, not l*sers.

    BTW, did you see my first place Padres whipping up on them bay-area boys?

  12. The Cubs have played exactly 1 game and are now 1.5 games back.

    They aren’t the only team to have accomplished such a feat, and they are not yet in last place in their division, but it looks like they are already in their mid-season non-winning form.

    Go Mariners!

  13. Let’s see … I think that I might have finally overridden the firewall controls that have been keeping me from making comments …

    I’m glad to hear that Callahan’s is still standing. I plan to get there the next time I’m in San Diego, although current financial constraints mean I don’t know when that will be.

  14. F-G-F, I lived in Detroit for 6 years and saw some of those brands. Went into a bar to meet up with friends and shoot pool. Was a combination gang cop hang out *yeah Detroit’s finest* and asked for a gin and tonic. Bartender wanted to know what gin to use. I quipped off some known varieties nothing obscure and she says, “We have 5 o’clock gin will that do?”

    My reply was a polite no and I mentioned I didn’t want my gin telling me the time but some stuffy british guy on the front.

    I had bad beer instead.

  15. Get me the Irish Stuff, I’ve already had my fill of the rest. If I have to choose more than one, make it the Irish Rose and and Mad Dog. Be sure to label the package “Flammable” and “Toxic” when you send it. Don’t want to kill any postal workers if we can avoid it.

  16. Jerk,

    To channel a little Ted Knight…

    “You’ll get nothing and like it!”

    In Chi-town, the Wild Irish was referred to as a “brick o richards” due to the rectangular bottle.

    /we also tied onions to our belts cause that was the style at the time. But that’s another story.

  17. Yo Squirty Joe,

    Talk to the Funk Master, he was the one offering me a gift. Nothing, from you, is exactly what I expect.

    Jerk

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