Good People...

(San Diego, CA) So I'm sort of a fan of music, in case you can't tell, and a band that I've been a fan of for some years now is called Audio Adrenaline.  They have a way of capturing ideas and principles that I respect and rolling them into some catchy tunes.  One in particular that I really like, is called 'Good People' -the lyrics are as follows:

I grew up impressed by the people I knew
In the buckle of the Bible belt
Hopped in the van with the band
Now I’ve been just about everywhere else
Met a soldier from seattle and a lawyer from the east
A texas oil baron and a roman catholic priest

Every day I choose
To walk in their shoes
’cause pretty are the feet of those
Who bring the good news

Good people
Good, good people
Everywhere, everywhere it’s God’s people

Been on the road been far from home
But I found me a friend or two
Time has taught me well and I can tell you
The good things people do
They really care and I’ve been there
Seen it with my eyes
You can tell that they’re God’s people
By the goodness in their lives 

Anyway- I bring that song up because tonight I was talking with... well, I'll call her 'L' for now...  and she reminded me of how I seem to always meet the most interesting, or shall we say, unique people.  Last night, after my run, I walked down to the Jacuzzi here in this hotel I'm staying at, and met one guy who is here for the same reason I am, (work stuff) as well as an interesting guy from Marin County/Wine Country, CA.  He was an EMT who was telling us that he was going to be working the races this summer at Infineon Raceway... he was pretty excited because he was going to get free 'all-access' to the pits, a chance to meet drivers, and maybe even see 'a huge crash', which I thought was kind of morbid considering his profession, but I guess even lifesavers appreciate a good wreck every now and then... anyway- once he found out my profession, he had a hundred questions for me... everything from fuel calculations to going to the bathroom in the cockpit.  He was a pretty inquisitive guy from the start- I had been in the water for all of 14 seconds when he asked me where I was from... Another interesting thing about him was that he had a transplanted heart.  He had about a 10" scar running the length of his chest, from just below his adams apple to his sternum.  We didn't get into the details, but he seemed like a really young guy to have a new heart... although, I guess younger people are better candidates for major surgery like that anyway.

So tonight, after going on a small mission to find some of the finest Mexican food in San Diego, I headed to the mall and bought a new shirt and some flip-flops... as my current 'nice' pair, aren't so nice anymore.  In Hawaii, most people have different flip-flops for different occasions, and yes, there is such a thing as 'nice' flip-flops... so anyway- I came back to the hotel and well, since I woke up in the middle of the night last night... (hmmm... kind of like tonight) I decided that tonight I would walk down to the hotel bar and have a glass of wine or two to help me get to sleep a little easier.  So I did.  Well, the first thing I notice when I walk into the bar/lounge area, is there is a guy sitting there with a remote controlled helicopter on the chair next to him.

Now, keep in mind, I'm staying at a fairly nice resort here in beautiful (not so sunny this week) San Diego- it's called the Kona Kai (I chose it specifically for it's Hawaiian style), but sitting at the bar, our backs are to a marina with dozens of super-yachts, and literally hundreds of sailboats and smaller yachts- this isn't exactly your corner bar... well, of course, being that there was a seat open next to this guy, it was the logical choice for me to sit at (the other side of his helicopters' seat of course), so I sat down and said hello.  Well, being that it was kind of like the 800 lb gorilla at the bar, I couldn't help but bring myself to ask about his chopper.  So, he started explaining it to me... turns out the guy is pretty interesting- I mean, who wouldn't be that would carry a remote control helo into a marina lounge.  He was Polish, spoke decent english with an accent, and turns out he's the chief engineer on the second-largest super-yacht on the water behind us.  Me, being the inquisitive one, immediately established all the important stats on the yacht as it related to his job... two V-12 cummins diesels mated to two 900 kWatt Caterpillar Marine Generators... his yacht can make 14 knots, but generally cruises at 12, and has an unrefueled range of 5,000 miles.  The flag is the Cayman Islands, and the owner is a British Big Shot... who... "Hasn't done anything in 20 years, but drink wine and travel the world.."  He couldn't tell me who owned it, or what industry he was in for that matter.  Anyway- we established that this yacht fully fueled could hold 30,000 gallons, or roughly (by my calculations) 210,000 lbs of fossil fuel.  That's about 10 full loads of an EA-6B... wow.  Anyway- so this gentleman has been stuck here in San Diego for 2 months, after they ran into some exhaust problems on the yacht down around Panama this last spring.  So the yacht has been here for repairs, and in fact is finished, and so the crew waits, for their master to return and continue sailing the world.  And my Polish mechanic friend drinks beers and flies his remote control helicopter.  

Oh- I forgot to mention that- while we were talking and he was finishing what I observed to be his second beer, the barkeep asked us if we'd like another- he politely declined saying 'I must fly helicopter- not too much beer' in the best polish accent... I don't think you can have a more interesting last night in San Diego.

Tomorrow, Hawaii beckons.  Tonight, sleep does not.