Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10413

So I am in San Diego, CA for a convention that is being put on by a company which makes software I use at work. I have been put up in a hotel on the bay which very nice. Out my window are two US Navy aircraft carriers, I have never seen one in person before, let alone two.

When we checked in I noticed a lot of scruffy characters around the lobby, all wearing some sort of credentials. People were sporting long hair, tank tops, tattoos, monster mullets, etc etc. I assumed that these were not my fellow conventioneers, but you never know. I mentioned to my boss that it must be a roadie convention. That was the only group I would place the various people I saw into.

I went up to the conceirge desk in the lobby and asked the girl behind the counter what conventions were in town. She glanced around to make sure nobody was in earshot and said "umm, Narcotics Anonymous." Ah ha, it WAS a roadie convention.

So my boss and I went out into the Gaslamp district, smoked handrolled cigars, ate steaks, and drank at several different bars. NA people were all around this very drunken area, all wearing their credentials still. That seemed odd. Then we returned to the hotel. Turns out the NA folks were having a dance in one of the ballrooms of the hotel. There had to be hundreds of people walking around. Most wearing clothes that indicated they hadn't completely kicked whatever their nemesis was. Bellies hanging out, a guy in a robe with dragons all over it, a striped suit with short pants, that kind of thing.

We drunkenly stumbed around through this crowd for awhile, it was like fear and loathing in San Diego. Very surreal. There was even a trasvestite that looked pretty convincing until you got about 6 feet away. But thankfully we were not THAT drunk.

Anyways, isn't most of kicking drugs getting away from those sorts of people? (Not tranvestites, people who who are also addicts.)

I think the NA folks are departing today, which is a shame. Now I have to get drunk and stumble around people who are here for software training and that doesn't sound too exciting.

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Registered: Sep 2001
Location: ........
Posts: 14954

Keith Richards once said about NA.....

"If you lost a leg, would you want to spent the rest of your life in a room talking about with other people who had lost a leg?"

....read somewhere today as it goes.......

"The only things that will survive a nuclear war are cockroaches and Keith Richards."

.......and, as it goes, I spent years upsetting the likes of you in 5 star hotels covered in road grime.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: In a Blue, Blue State
Posts: 12544

While you are in S.D., go across the bridge to Coronado and hit the bars running along Orange Street. There's a lot of action there, and Coronado is where the richer folk live, so you won't be partying with the low-life scum.

And the Zoo is a must. It was one of the most fascinating places I've ever been to (DO NOT stand behind a rhinocerous with its ass towards you. Watch a while and you will find out why). And the Museum of Flight ain't half bad either. There was one other museum which I don't remember the name of that had some indian mummies in it. Most of the museums are located in and around the Zoo area.

And just for a laugh, go price some of the houses for sale around the town. You'd never believe what a crackerbox would sell for.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10413

I had a laugh at real estate prices when I was in San Francisco recently. You'd have to be loaded to live in my house if it was in SF.

The good news is that the NA covention is their 'worldwide' one, is sharing the convention center with ours (seems as if it might be larger even), and seems to be running full steam. The addicts/recovered addicts lend a certain flavor to the area which I am glad is still going to be around.

I am kind of at the mercy of my boss if I want to go somewhere thats not nearby, he rented a car. Also, his girlfriend has flown into town now, so who knows. Luckily there are a lot of things I can walk to.

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