Until We Meet Again (The Castles of Fire Mix) in The Stuff That's Not Interesting But Is The Most Interesting Stuff I'll Write

For some reason, I’m still a big believer in fate and that the right people and things will come to me… but not just come to me, but return to me.

The trip to San Diego was a product of that archaic belief system. The last time I saw Katie was when I ran into her on the street during the mid-COVID days. Before that, it had been last summer when I drunkenly stumbled into the bar she worked at. It was very serendipitous that she randomly called me up and invited me out, which then lead to the invitation to go to San Diego with her.

I had spent almost a year trying to think of a good situation that would take me to San Diego to visit Stevie without being a burden. I met Stevie the summer before my final year at Cal Poly in the weird little local bar I hung out at 45 minutes East of Los Angeles. He was about to begin his final year at Texas A&M and was on a roadtrip with his best friend. We hung out, hit it off, and spent the next two years flirting through text messages. I randomly ran into him during one of my visits to Venice Beach, which if you’ve ever been there is pretty amazing. But we spent the next four years flirting heavily and trying to conjure up reasons to see each other.

Well, I finally got that. Stevie is unhappy with his job in Navy, tired of the work and just kind of unhappy. He’s even the first person I’ve met who regrets purchasing a home (it cost over a million dollars, California property values at their finest). He’s talking about selling everything off and moving to Bali. He asked me in a round-about way if I wanted to go with him.... I’m thinking about it.

I also happened to run into one of my old neighbors from Paris while I was in San Diego. I hadn’t seen her in eight years since Caite’s funeral at a small town in the Sierra Nevada mountains outside of Lake Tahoe. Krysta was supposed to get married, but COVID stopped her wedding dead in its tracks. So there we were, drinking in a cubicle in a gay bar in San Diego. It was great to catch up, to laugh and to have the shorthand of a friendship. That was kind of the theme of everyone I hung out with in San Diego.

People in Northern California are just EXHAUSTING.

The trip home was nice and filled with fun. Katie and I remarked about how easy we were to travel together, a quality that sometimes gets overlooked, and we agreed that we should do it again sometime.

I didn’t really have to get into a groove because I worked during my whole trip (that was part of the point, to see how well I could cope with working in new spaces and whether or not my students would accept it), and I did great but I was kind of regretting the amount of money I spent. It also didn’t help that I actually lost my card in San Diego, didn’t realize it until a week later and $1000 had gone missing from my account.

Suddenly I was on the lookout for another way to make quick cash. As soon as the borders open, I want to get out of America and straight to Thailand.

I went out to lament the drainage of my bank account and ran into an old co-worker of mine from when I was the manager at the Halloween store. She was there with her friends who were all laughing and having a good time. Suddenly, this guy pulls me aside and says, “Oh my God, it’s you! How are you? I still remember that time we got wasted together and we started making out and then you sucked my dick.... wow, that was so crazy. You know, I told my girlfriend about it, and she thought it was so cool that I was open to that kind of stuff…” His ramblings went on and I kind of got an earful of both the positives and negatives in an experience that I apparently initiated.

Sometimes the people that come back to you aren’t always to make you feel better, sometimes they come back because you need to reckon with your past behavior.

I got really nervous when three of his big bro friends showed up, he told them who I was, and in unison they said, “Oh, this is the guy that you fucked around with?” YIKES

It ended up fine, but I was definitely aware that there are some behavioral patterns that I definitely need to alter. When I went back inside, suddenly there was my old boss from the Halloween store. After a few minutes in conversation, I had found my other job. Just part time, but just enough to get me what I need. It’s perfect.

The next day I went to get my waxing, facial, haircut deal. As I was telling them about my plans, my barber told me that his brother is actually dating someone from Thailand who is a member of the royal family, said brother even stopped by the shop and showed me some pictures. Apparently they met years ago when they were both attending UC Davis but he had to go home and serve the crown by teaching in the Royal University. He said to let him know when I’m going and they can probably find me a job when I get there. How totally random.

Every thing comes in time, you just have to be ready and keep your eyes open otherwise the opportunities will be missed.