From: Dixie Davis To: johnny at charm.net Date: Oct 11, 2006 12:23 AM Subject: cars and drugs and Mexican seafood Counting my ex-boyfriend's pickup which has been sitting in my backyard while he's been in the big house for DWI, and the '84 Rabbit that I bought from the druggies for $100 (non-running), and my VW Jetta that's been ill since March (oh, and I discovered that I had left a bag of potatoes, and some onions in it back in March---do I need to tell you what happens to a bag of potatoes and some onions left in a car in the Texas sun over the summer?), between my mom and me we own 6 vehicles---an '81 VW pickup, an '84 Rabbit, an '89 GMC pickup, a '92 Olds, a '91 Jetta, and my '94 Toyota pickup. Right now, one---count it, ONE---actually runs. Something bad happened in my pickup last week, so my friend took me down to the ranch to pick up Mom's (previously my brother in law's) GMC pickup. I was headed to Jourdanton when it died on a curve, and a very nice but slightly maniacal Hispanic man stopped and towed us to his friend's shop with his pickup. Toyota wants $565 for the part to fix my pickup (this is parts only---I'm getting a friend to supply the labor) but after spending a day and a half hunting down the part, I'm getting a new after-market part for $100. The nice but maniacal man's cohorts charged $300 to fix Mom's truck, a fair price considering what all is involved. Anyway, after taking my friends and houseguests to apply for a truck driving job, and taking my Mom to her doctor's appointment, I was on the southside of San Antonio, where most of the junkyards are, chasing down this nebulous $565/$200/$100 part for my truck (I could get it from Toyota for $565, I could get it today for $200, or I could get it next week for $100. I chose next week for $100.) After finding the next-week-for-$100 place and placing the order for the part, hungry and unable to get Mom on the cell phone, I drove down New Laredo Highway, looking for a place to eat. There was a place called Caballito del Mar (Seahorse) that serves Mexican seafood. The parking lot out front was full of cars--a good sign, I thought. I parked and went inside. It was the kind of place that has signs in English, and where if you insist the waitresses will speak to you in halting English, but where the language of the place is definitely Spanish. When I was told I was too late for the $3.99 daily special, I splurged and ordered a $7 large shrimp and octopus appetizer and the $5.99 fish taco plate. After ordering, I noticed a man pass by my table and exit. Unremarkable, except that I noticed he was a gringo---we were the only two gringos in the place. I decided to go out to the car to get some things to work on while waiting for my order. While I was outside, a man came out of the restaurant and, pointing to the gringo who was by this time a ways down the street, asked if he was with me--a fair question, I thought, given that we were the only gringos anywhere in sight. I said no, and asked what was the matter---had he walked out on a check? No, the man said, he had been doing drugs. How did he know? I queried. Well, the gringo had been in the bathroom a long time, and when he finally came out, the (Hispanic) man had entered and found a bunch of blood all over the place. Yep, sounds like someone shooting up to me. The food was good---too much for me to eat, so I took most of the shrimp and octopus cocktail to Mom, who quite enjoyed it. It was still a bit of a weird experience, no matter how nice the restaurant was, to know that in the men's room was a bunch of blood that needed cleaning up because some junkie had used these people's restroom to shoot up in. Mom's helping me pay for my cars. With any luck and $1400, we should get 4 or 5 of the 6 vehicles back to working order in the coming weeks. I will welcome getting my car back (after I clean out the remnants of a bag of potatoes and some onions) because it gets 36-38 mpg (diesel.) Dixie