Chapter 15 - Ridin' the Rails

But before I get to my Great Railroad Adventure a quick aside for some of my favorite Grandkids.

Here's Quinntastic and Maximum...enjoying a little time in front of the TV.

Hey, after a tough day at school you need to decompress a bit.

OK, let's get to it, then.

I was getting ready for my super long drive from RWC (Redwood City) to LCO (Lincoln City, Oregon) tomorrow and I wanted to have sufficient, handy, cool and inexpensive refreshments available and close at hand.

So I fired up the Ol' Mini and pointed her nose towards the local Safeway for some DC (Diet Coke). Man's gotta have what a man's gotta have, y'know.

I parked in the lot and, BAM!! the first thing I heard were birds singing. I mean they were wailing and having themselves some kinda good time. Looking around for the source of the joy I quickly found these singing birds way up high in one of the trees planted around the parking lot of the store.

I'm not sure, no surprise there, of the species...I was thinking Starling but, well, I've never heard them sing like this up in LCO. I couldn't get a great shot because of the branches and the overcast and gray sky wasn't any help either. Just made them silhouettes.

Love the autofocus feature on my cameras but sometimes it can frustrate me. Oh, before you get started I'm aware there's a way to focus on your own. I know of it. And that's as far as that has gone.

If you look real hard you can see a couple of those song birds up there...making a joyful noise.

I'll have to guess but, I'm leaning toward European Starling. I'm just thinking the beak is long enough for a Starling. 

Any help? Bueller? Bueller?

While I was there I wandered over to the railroad tracks. Well, it's a railroad but it is also part of the local commuter system...CalTrain.

Fun Facts: CalTrain is 152 years old this year. And running as cost-effectively as any government transportation agency can. The system has 26 stations strung out on a line south of San Francisco. They run 20 diesel locomotives with over 73 bi-level passenger cars.

And here's the station they have for RWC. Pretty handy, really, being only one mile from Amy's place.

Anyway, to get back on track (Hahahaha, yeah, I meant to do that!!), I was wandering around and saw the train station. I mentally checked my Dance Card and confirmed that I didn't have any pressing social engagements scheduled for that afternoon so I determined that I would ride on up to Frisco...just for the fun of it.

Believe me, there is nothing in Frisco that would cause me to make an especial effort to go up there. Well, maybe the the sourdough at Boudin's on Pier 39. Yeah, I would make an effort for that. But, unfortunately, Pier 39 and Boudin's is a hearty three miles away from the train station at 4th Street. I can easily do the three miles up, it's the three miles back that would bug me. Plus the rain. The rain was also a huge factor. As you'll see.

But for now, it was Get me to the train on time!!

I went back to Amy's and grabbed my camera bag and then cajoled Amy into driving me back to the station for the 1053 train to Frisco.

(Frisco is what all the cool kids call San Francisco. Like how the cool kids call the Pacific Coast Highway the PCH.)

Hahaha, if you're cool and hip you'd already know that.

I swear I get so turned around in RWC. I always think north is south and vice-versa. I don't why this one place has me so flummoxed. Usually, I have a decent appreciation for the cardinal directions. Just not here. Even now, looking at this picture, I want to say it's wrong!!

Well, pushing against everything I knew was right, I got there, bought my day pass and then waited patiently for the train to come...on what I felt was the wrong side of the tracks.

Funny thing, the cost of a one-way ticket for old people, like me, is $2.50. So, following that line, then the cost of two, one-way tickets for an old fogey, like me, would be $5.00. Sound right!?! Yeah, I did the math and checked it a couple times. It's just $5.00 for two one-way tickets. 

Now, here's the rub. If you buy a day pass then it costs $5.25. Can you see the problem? Haha, I know, with a day pass you can ride it left and right, all day and all night (up until Midnight, anyway) for just one price. But, for me, the guy taking it up and back, then there was no benefit.

I know, get over it, but I was just thinking. 

While I was there, waiting, patiently, I saw this guy. 

Again, overcast and subdued light made for a great silhouette but no detail.

At first I thought it was a Cowbird. 

Then he started singing and...

...I saw this little flash of red on his wing.

HEY!! I know this guy!! One of the few I do know.

It's a Redwing Blackbird.

You can just see a small flash of red on his right wing. When he took off and I saw the bright red stripe on his wing I knew who he was. Well, what species he was.

Like LCO, they're big on city signs in the area south of Frisco.

Like this one, for Redwood City, which proudly proclaims:

CLIMATE BEST BY GOVERNMENT TEST!!

Now, them's some real braggin' rights!!

I will!! I will have a valid CalTrain ticket before I board.

And they checked, too!!

I'll be honest, I had been totally ignorant of the fact that the SuperBowl is going to be played here in Frisco. 

Duh. Not a clue.

But everyone around here is keenly aware of it. And ready to take advantage and make a little profit from the Big Event!!

KA-CHING!! 

Making money, Honey!!

Hear that lonesome whippoorwill,

He sounds too blue to fly.

The midnight train is whining low,

I'm so lonesome I could cry.

                                                             Hank Williams  "(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle"

Thanks, Hank.

It might not be a Midnight Train, but I do hear it's whining coming down the track. And, usually, they  don't come in backwards. But this is CalTrain.

'Nuff said.

Other than being backwards, everything else looked just like a real railroad.

And a double-decker, too!!

When I first boarded, I grabbed a seat on the lower level. After we'd gone a bit, I realized I could easily go to the upper level...up these stairs.

Why not!?!

On this car, the layout was different than any railroad car I've ever seen. There's one row of seats on either side with a luggage rack in the center and an open area down to the lower level just below the luggage rack.

In this picture you can see the folks sitting on the lower level.

This gives you a better view of the layout on the upper level.

One thing I learned, this upper is not necessarily made for people with some heft on them. Like me. That aisle is even smaller than an airplane aisle.

But I was up there and I'd have plenty of time to get off because I was ridin' this baby to the end of the line. Even if I got wedged in I'd still have time to get help. Hahaha, always lookin' on the bright side, I am.

One of the 12 stations that this local train stopped at on the way up to Frisco.

That's a lot of stations.

Hahahaha, anything selling for a $1 gets my attention. 

Somehow I get the feeling that would be a very short trip on a bus for just $1. Oh, and always, always, pay close attention to the 'asterisk'. 

Nothing good ever comes from ignoring the asterisks.

We made it in a stream-lined 55 minutes. Not bad. Not particularly good but, hey, I didn't have to wrestle with the traffic nor fight for a parking space so 55 minutes is OK by me.

Here you can get an idea of the challenge I was facing in getting off. Fortunately, everyone else got off before me so I didn't have to wrangle my way around folks like I did getting on.

Narrow!!

And they sure as hell didn't bust the bank on the size of the stairwell either. That's one Slim Jim there, Buddy!!

I went down, shall we say, gingerly. A stumble here would have been catastrophic!

A tragedy of epic proportions!!

And painful, too.

Since I was the last one off, I stopped for a picture of the lower level. You can see up into the upper level a bit. 

Pretty nice, eh? Certainly more comfortable than the Link in Seattle. But this is a real railroad car, though.

And, judging from all electronic devices everyone had their nose stuck in, it must have wi-fi, too.

Nicely done, CalTrain. A smooth ride.

And, hey, you got me to Frisco!!

End of the line!!

On the outside, it looks like a railroad station. Plenty of rails and cars and engines.

Looks kinda European to me. 

I really hate the modern architecture. I know it's cheaper to substitute glass for real walls and I appreciate a well-lit and sunny waiting area but, c'mon, this just looks tacky. And cheap.

Once you get past the tacky exterior you come into...the bus station.

I'm sorry, that's what it reminds me off. A bus station. A clean bus station but, c'mon, it's still looking a bit cheesy.

I've been inside a couple of the old Train Stations and this one, well, this one doesn't hold a candle to any of them. It was cleaner than I expected. That's a plus.

My main goal was simply to ride the rails. 

Hahaha, yeah, I know. Sounds dorky to me even now but, there it is. I just really wanted to ride on up to Frisco. I'd checked the maps and everything I might marginally be interested in, which was, as I've mentioned, the Boudin Sourdough over at Pier 39, was too far away for me and my feet. And, other than the Sourdough Place, Meh!!

I also knew there wasn't much I wanted to see around this station on 4th Street. There is the baseball stadium down the street and a bunch of restaurants. Again, meh!!

Plus, it was raining!!

Regardless, I didn't feel I could ride all the way up here and not see something so I set off down the street towards the stadium.

Fortunately, it wasn't much of a rain. A misting drizzle, a mizzle.

Enough to be irritating and, eventually, get my shirts damp.

So I walked up The Embarcadero to 3rd Street and then up that and back towards the station along Townsend. And it was on this street where I passed by this architectural beauty. 

Isn't this a cool building!?!

I can imagine the joy, the pride and the happiness when this building was completed and the owner opened his business here. 

And now? 

Now it's a parking lot.

Don't it always seem to go,

That you don't know what you've got

'Til it's gone.

They pave paradise

And put up a parking lot.

                                                 Joni Mitchell  Big Yellow Taxi

This time they didn't exactly pave it, but, still, they put up that doggone parking lot

Argh!!

Quick enough, I was back at the station and ready to take the train back to RWC. There just wasn't anything there that I wanted to see bad enough that I was willing to get wet over.

And I was lucky. I got back to the station about 1202 and after looking and finally asking someone, I found, at the very far end of the station, the one train that was leaving at 1207 back towards RWC. I had, literally, 3 minutes after I finished talking to the fellow lounging around the station to board the train.

I hustled and was lucky to find a seat. Everyone had taken every seat and I had to do a share. Fair enough, I can share. And I didn't have to wait until the 1307 train to get back.

Another one of the stations. This one has a lot of lockers you can rent to store your bike in while you take the train.

Some of the diesels used for this commuter run. It's gotta be tough on these engines what with all the start and stopping they must do.

I went up to the upper level again but this car was laid out quite differently than the first one I rode in.  This one was more like the lower level. There wasn't an open area down the middle with a luggage rack on top of it.

This trip only took 52 minutes and then I was back in RWC. 

Looking at the train I rode with the rent-a-bike racks in front. It's not a bad idea but they ask way too much to rent their bikes.

Adios, Senor Train.

And some more bikes. These belong to somebody. I find it amazing, after living in El Paso and Seattle, that someone can actually lock up a bike and expect it to be whole when they get back after work. 

Amazing.

I really like this sign. Hahaha, what a thing to boast about but, y'know, it sets the city apart. Who could forget the city with the climate that is the best by government test.

Who!!?!!

Looking east down Broadway Street. They've got a lot of restaurants and specialty shops along this street. 

Plus they had this sign.

I don't agree.

Change in and of itself is sometimes painful. 

I hate to correct the Big Guy, but Budda blew this one.

They have a German Specialty Store on this street. German chocolate and knick-knacks plus a German restaurant. 

I went in for a look see at the restaurant...too noisy for me. 

While I didn't eat there, I was sorely tempted by the chocolate.

Looking back to the west and a wee bit north towards the sign. It's really a nice looking and busy city. Plus the city has a lot of activities going on.

Oh, I don't know about that. 

California is definitely a thing but as for being a 'real' thing I'm gonna hold my judgement for now. I do know that right now, it is nothing like the California I grew up in. I feel like I was exceedingly lucky and I grew up in the Golden Era of California, the early 60s.

After the train ride, I walked on back to Amy's place. I took my time and went down El Camino Real and passed the local American Legion Hall. Looking good, Legionnaires. They got the bar open again and they have it open on Fridays and Saturdays.

What a good day. Taking care of business and then riding the rails to Frisco. 

Life is good when you get off your duff and try things out. 

          Hooah!!          

Chapter 14 - FaceBook

Facebook, man!! The last time I visited Amy she was working for Google and now, well, now she's working away at Facebook. And both of them are beyond belief. I mean, I'd consider coming out of retirement to work in one of these places.

Fun Facts: Facebook is an online social networking service headquartered in Menlo Park, California. It's website was launched on February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg with his Harvard College roommates and fellow students, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. 

The founders had initially limited the website's membership to Harvard students, but later expanded it to colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It gradually added support for students at various other universities and later to high-school students. Since 2006, anyone who is at least 13 years old was allowed to become a registered user of the website, though the age requirement may be higher depending on applicable local laws. 

The name comes from the face book directories often given to American university students.

There it is!! 1 Hacker Way.

I never associated the 'Hacker' name with Facebook but Ol' Mark does. 

And I wasn't about to argue. Hey, I'm getting a free lunch so I'll agree to most anything.

Oh, and if I haven't said this before, Thank you, Mark. It's really nice of you to let guys like me in to enjoy my favorite kind of lunch - free.

But first, I had to log myself in and then identify who was sponsoring me. That meant picking out Amy's name and then sending her a note to come and get me!!

Fortunately, I had Quinnie the Pooh with me and she showed me where to go. Building 14. Hahaha, seems I could have gone in Building 10, where Amy works. But, hey, we got in so I figure it was a win-win for me.

Once I had my badge, I was in!! Oh, and my escort, too. 

They have some strict rules about who can come in and what they can take pictures of. As I learned. Gotta stay with your escort and, be a little careful about where you point the camera. 

Hahaha, I can understand the need for security however, when I consider how much tech stuff I could steal I have to laugh. I'm still trying to figure out my stupid phone!!

But, I respect their concerns and so I asked before I shot.

This was shortly after we had to give up our walk because Quinnifer had a small melt down. She still wasn't feeling the Ol' Papa. I was OK to walk with but no hand-holding or sitting next to me. Gosh, she's only four but already acting like a teenager!!

Haha, she'll come to love me. Who wouldn't!?!

I wonder where she was when I caught this picture.

And, while we were waiting, there was a little time for watching some TV.

And taking some pictures. 

One of the lamp shades. 

Ah, what the heck, I like it.

Now I want you to understand that I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Facebook. 

I was constantly astounded at the all the perks (?)  these folks have working here at Facebook (FB). What at kick it was just to be there and see all the kings they have for their employees.

First off, they've made an effort to give them a nice place to work. They've made a huge effort to make the place pleasant and even whimsical. They even put a two-lane highway down the center of the complex. Hahaha, no cars, but a lot of people and a couple of bikes.

This is the barbecue restaurant. And it's all free!!!

Hahaha, I was like a kid in a toy store.

Down the way, down where the red and white canopies are? That's the Ice Cream Parlor. More on this later.

Another side of the barbecue joint.

Lunch time it gets pretty busy. Ah, ratz, I'm trying to remember what that building with the colorful border is for. 

It's tough. They've got restaurants, arcades, dentists, doctors, an atm, a post office and, well, there's a counseling center where you can get help finding a home or, whatever. It's a kick in the pants!! Hahaha, if I got a job there I'd work until I die. Which, given all the free food I would be privy to, wouldn't be all that long after I started work.

A-MAZ-ING!!!

The pink door? That's the entry way to the Pop-Up Shop. They invite vendors in to sell their wares, whatever they might be.

And plenty of places to relax. If you don't like the adirondack chair bare, there's bins with cushions for you to use. 

Un.Be.Liv.Able!!!

Quinnita posed for a picture in 'jessie, the pacer'.

'jessie the pacer was used as a promotion for the launch of #instagram.

They drove this pacer across the Nation in two weeks and chronicled their adventures on Instagram.

And now you can have your picture taken with jessie...and posted on FB.

Yeah, it's a giant screen and they do show movies here in the quad. 

Oh, look at the ground...kind of looks like a maze laid out on the ground in gray and while. Let's take a look at it from a different angle via our old friend, Google...

Thanks, Google Maps. Here's a view from above.

They do like that term, 'Hack'.

But Ol' Smilin' Jack was feeling a bit peckish and so off we went to one of the many restaurants they have there.

Uh, Mmmmmmmmmm.....

Quinnlisheous has been there before and knew exactly what she wanted.

Bread and cheese. Here she is making a cheese sandwich in which you wrap a piece of cheese between a piece of cheese and...enjoy.

Me? I opted for some turkey, roast beef and some cheese and prosciutto. 

Ahhhhh, Nirvana!!

Plus you get DCs and whatever else you might want to drink. I went back for Round Two and followed Quinnuine's lead...I went for the cheese and bread.

Hahaha, I don't know what these were set up for but Quinnevive sure enough did.

She made herself right at home.

It's a tough life, right!?!

This is the entrance to the restaurant we ate in.

They don't half-step around FB.

Amy asked me which one I liked best that I visited, Google or FB. My first response was a slight tip to Google simply because it was less crowded.

Amy pointed out that it was less crowded because it is a much larger 'campus'. She's right. I have since changed my mind.

FB is the better of the two Fantasylands!!

Hands down!!

Here's the burger joint we ate at on my third visit to FB.

Polish Sausage and Onion Rings. Hahaha, they had burgers and milkshakes and fries and, ah, you get the idea.

See the brightly colored building to the right of the Burger Shack?

Yeah, that's right. It's an arcade.

IT'S AN ARCADE, BRAH!!!

Yeah, that's right. They've got an arcade there with all kinds of games. I was immediately drawn to the FREE pinball machines.

Specifically, to this one. 

And, evidently, I am pretty damn good at it!!

They wouldn't rig the machines to let you rack up great scores, would they?

Ah, who cares, I rocked!!

And, true to my roots, I looked small, too. Hahaha, again, I don't know what this is but, heck, it was photogenic.

Don't get the idea this was a small place. There's around 6,000 folks working there. Along with Amy.

We did go up a flight of stairs to get an overview of the quad.

And here it is. Can you see the word "Hack?"

Who wouldn't want to work here!?!

Plus, Quinnelope was feeling better and gave me another pose.

Sunny Quinn!!

Hahaha, I was on a roll. Here she is with a lego board.

Did I mention this was a fun place to work?

And then Amy showed me the giant chess set. 

Somehow I don't think too ham people have used this set. 

Quinntastic was trying to move one of the pawns and that ol' boy that was frozen with rust. Each of the pieces is set on wheels but, if you leave your toys outside well, the weather will get them.

And on the other side of the walkway was this...a modernistic "Tree House". 

Yeah, they've got a small park-like area with a modular playhouse set in the middle of it and a lot of comfortable, and colorful, chairs.

My two girls!

Understandably, I was hesitant to go up into the modular Tree House. Hahaha, I'd already hurt myself  so I felt there was no need to tempt the fates again.

Nice bike, eh? They've got them stuck all over the campus. Just come out, find one and hop on.

It's a playground!!

Looking small.

Then we went into the FB Store. 

T-shirts, magnets, pins, hats and all kinds of other stuff.

Plus this snow-globe.

I almost bought this one. Haha, I could be a 'Hacker". 

OK, there's no way I could be a "Hacker".

OK, let's go to the Ice Cream Shoppe!!

Oh!! My!! Gosh!!

It's all free!!

Yogurt, ice cream, whatever!!

And I got some Salted Peanut Caramel with mint chips.

It wuz good!!

It put a smile on both our faces!!

Then Quinnerva showed me some of her graffiti. 

What a fun place to work!!

Amy particularly liked the sideways gravity room.

They set this up just for picture-taking. 

Looks like the girls are just lying on the grass and watch the clouds float by, right!?!

Hahaha, fooled you!!

Turn the pictures sideways and you can see that she's just standing and leaning against a grass-covered wall.

A beautiful day to be a FBer.

Oh, and they have a massage parlor there, too.

Course, like the doctor and the dentist, you have to pay for this but, Hey!! It's there, right!!

I just smiled and shook my head. 

They've got a tram service to run you to and from your car.

But, parking is at a premium there. Course if you get there anytime before 0900 you've got your pick of spots. It's a great place to work but, they're not a bunch of morning people there, evidently.

Even the paint schemes of the buildings are whimsical.

OK, let's skip ahead and this is my second visit to FB. This time I went for something a bit more ordinary...a Polish Sausage and Onion Rings.

Fun and tasty!!

Amy got a grilled chicken with cheese.

I was so hungry, I forgot to get a picture before I ate my dawg.

A view of the open lunch area. Nice day, eh!?!

I was working my magic and got this picture with Quinn and Maximillion.

Then I thought why not move the chair and make the picture a little better.

Haha, missed one.

Believe me, I was seriously thinking of coming out of retirement just to get a job at FB. Hahaha, shut up. I know I couldn't get a tech job there. I was think security or, even, food. 

I'm thinking about it.

Also believe me when I say if I lived near Menlo Park, I'd be joining Amy for lunch often. Oh, and breakfast. Mmmmmmm, all you can eat bacon. Definitely for breakfast, too.

It's good. I got to spend some great time with a couple of my Grandkids and Amy and Kristi plus I got to putz around California.

Life is good.

          Hooah!!