Back from Vacaville. Taking the train after 6 a.m. is a giant pain. Because the bulk of the San Jose commuters take the 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. trains, Amtrak’s 7 a.m. train ends in Oakland and one has to take a bus to San Jose thereafter. And thanks to traffic, I missed my Santa Cruz connection, which means I also missed my Scotts Valley connection, which means I couldn’t get back to the campus before 2 p.m.
But I got here and finally registered for my class (which meets tonight). I’m $800 poorer, but ready to go.
So I may as well mention the bachelor party hijinks.
The photo is of Chad (holding the foil sword and shield) and his best man, Tim, in downtown Berkeley. Tim is responsible for the silly armor and the funny hats. All six of us had to wear the funny hats: In ’N Out Burger paper caps, which was where Kelli worked when Chad first met her. (It had the interesting side effect of tourists saying, “In ’N Out! Where’s the In ’N Out?” They wanted burgers. We had to explain that we were from out of town.)
Chad was required to hassle passersby—asking the married men for marriage advice, and at other times randomly shouting out, “I’m a love slave for life!” It didn’t get much reaction; we were in Berkeley, after all. Stranger things have happened in that city’s history.
Oh, and we had Indian food. And we wore our In ’N Out Burger hats into the restaurant; kinda inappropriate, but fortunately it wasn’t a vegetarian restaurant. I may as well give the place a plug. Next time you’re in Berkeley, go to Pasand Madras Indian Cuisine. (There’s another one in Santa Clara, but I don’t know if that one’s exactly the same. Chefs always vary.) I recommend the lamb curry.
Meanwhile, our sister Kerry (who is serving as maid of honor) was taking Chad’s fiancée Kelli on her bachelorette party in San Francisco, where apparently they were being similarly odd.
Twelve days to go…