Two days ago was Black Friday. It is consumer madness, retail hell. I was at Office Depot as of 4 a.m.; doors opened at 6 a.m. I did this last year at Staples in Sioux City, and what never ceases to amuse me is the first people in the door. Running. To shop. People all over the world are lined up outside places for bread, for water, for medicine. It's like that here in the United States, only people need that $350 laptop and it's a nationwide epidemic rather than a local problem.

Sure, there are plenty of things that are ridiculously cheap, but exactly how many of those things is a retail going to sell at a loss on the biggest shopping day of the year? In the fine print of the ads, you would read things like "store has a minimum of 10" laptops, cameras, flatscreen TVs, etc. Replace "minimum" with "maximum" and that's a little closer to the truth.
Also notice the can of chewing tobacco in the gentleman's back pocket.

For Thanksgiving, Yuka & I went to some friends' house and had an excellent vegetarian Thanksgiving, complete with some homemade 2002 and 2003 homemade pinot gris, grown south of Eugene, aged in Serbian oak barrels. Some of the best wine I've ever tasted.

I heard back from a school in Kunming, China. Southwest Forestry College is interested in hiring me and will soon be conducting a phone interview. More to follow.

From what I've researched, bringing a double bass on an airplane is quite a hassle. I don't want to put it in cargo (hell no!) so I'm going to bring it aboard. I even bought a seat for it, one way from Omaha to Portland, via Denver.

My dad was going to ship the bass to me via FedEx Freight, but that's a lot to worry about. A lot of things can happen between Iowa and Oregon. Just read my earlier posts on this weblog. A lot of things did happen between Iowa and here.

I am flying to Iowa for the holidays, so I had the idea of bringing the bass back with me. At least it would always be by my side.

So I tried calling United to request an extra seat. I ended up getting a call center in India, thanks to Globalization & Outsourcing-R-Us.

Call Center Rep: You want an extra seat for a double bass?

Ryan: Yes, it's like a cello, only much larger.

CCR: Let me put you on hold while I research this. (Five minutes later.) Sir? Is that instrument like a guitar? You should put that in cargo. ...Oh? You want to buy a ticket for it?

And around and around we went. I ended up calling back the next day and getting an American call center with a customer service rep whose expertise in this matter is only due to the fact that she's "been doing this for too long," which is precisely the kind of person you want to talk to on the phone when dealing with these matters. By the end of it, we got everything set.

Now I've got a ticket for Mr. Instrument (first name Double Bass). He'll be traveling with me on 7 Jan. I can't wait to hear the jokes from the other passengers: "Hey, I don't think that's going to fit in the overhead!" "Can I have his peanuts?" Etc.

RDRR

I'll be in Sioux City on December 21. Apparently many people from outside of Sioux City are making it a sort of homecoming. So I guess I'll go too. So to all the non-Sioux Cityans who are in that town and then quickly leaving thereafter: See you there, Tavia, Sarah, Nima, Mr. Green, Mariko, Yoko, Kana, Nami, Wataru(?), Himi(?), maybe even Haithem. To all the other Sioux Cityans who will be there, sometimes it seems like for all eternity: See you there, Wingert, Darijia, Ilisja.

And then there's Washington (Iowa that is), the great city who is planning to tear down the nation's first county tax-supported hospital in favor of progress, and Washington County, who is opening the Washington County Casino Resort in Riverside, the future birthplace of Captain Kirk.

Also I'll be seeing my old college roommate (thereby a future political appointee) Walker who is apparently not that far from Kentucky. Hey, all you need is cornmeal, water, sugar, salt, yeast, and malt!

I ride the bus a lot. I've got a bus pass, and public transportation is really good, plus there are great bike paths (and I've got a bike), so I don't drive a whole lot. Anyway, coming home from work, I met a guy on the bus named Daniel.

Daniel: I hitchhiked here from Indiana. Hitchhiking's not like what it was in the 80s. You gotta be crazy to do it now.
Ryan: How long did it take you to get here?
D: Two weeks. I got stuck in Harlem, Illinois for a day. No one would pick me up because there's a mental institution there. I almost got arrested.
R: Why did you come to Eugene?
D: I thought this would be a nice place, since I'm an artist, a drummer, and a peace activist. I tell you what. I was living at the mission just to get off the street. Now I'm living in a quad at West University. The guy tried to get me to bribe him just to shampoo the carpets. I couldn't even walk barefoot there! I went down to Rainbow [drum circle and free potluck held each Sunday before the full moon] yesterday--they had was organic food. I realized that I haven't eaten real food all my life; I've been eating chemicals. They said next time if I come down early, I can hand out ribbons.
I'm thinking about getting into goldsmithing or silversmithing.

I'll be back in Iowa from 20 December to 8 January.