Entertaining friday night

San Diego is filled with tourists and there are a few small business conferences, making us busy. I prefer business travelers to tourists, but if there are enough vacationers, we can make money.

Breakup

I had my second breakup in the car, and that's a little sad, but it's also amusing. I picked up a flag at the Marriott -- solo female, 35 or so and attractive, with luggage, going to the airport. En route she got a call on the cell, and said to me: "This will be my asshole boyfriend, and the speakerphone is the only thing working on this phone, so you're going to hear this. Sorry." I told her "no problem, I'm used to that kind of stuff."

The guy on the speaker (and she) was calm, but they were both upset. He was trying to talk her into coming back to the Marriott, and she was rather politely refusing. She eventually hung up, then gave me the full story.

She lives in Arizona, and he in Northern California, so the relationship is tough to manage under any circumstances. She is self-employed and an "alpha woman", and he's laid back. Well, when they decided to meet for the weekend in San Diego, they were on the phone together choosing a hotel, and she had wanted a place in Pacific Beach or Mission Beach, with an ocean view. He wanted the best, and quickest, deal. They had argued, but she gave in and they ended up at the Marriott.

She claims their room had a "view of a retaining wall and some pipes", and they argued about it. We have several Marriotts in San Diego, and I don't believe any room would have a view like that... The conversation below is very close, but probably not exact.

Her: I told him he was weak.

Me: Oooooh.

Her: I know there are two things women should never say to men; 'you're weak' and 'you have a small dick'.

Me: Yeah, those two go right to the soul of a man.

Her: I did cross a line calling him weak. But he's weak!

Me: So is there any salvaging the relationship?

Her: Maybe. I told him we should get the room we want instead of settling for the quick buy, and he said I was 'too high maintenance,' and should 'just go with the flow.' I am high maintenance and that's because I know what I want and I always work hard to get it. If he can't handle that, then he should get a weaker woman.

I couldn't stop laughing. She laughed, and asked what's wrong with that? Nothing, I told her, but maybe she needed a man who had the same outlook, or was willing to play second fiddle. When we got to the airport she apologized for venting. I told her not to worry about it. "That's what I'm here for. Oh, and the driving, too."

Sobriety checkpoint

I dropped in Imperial Beach, and took Palm Avenue (the main street down there) back to I-5, and was caught in a checkpoint. There were at least 15 sheriff's deputies standing around, and I made some conversation with them as I inched towards the IB cops at the makeshift stop sign.

"You know this is a violation of my fourth amendment rights, right?" I said. "Yeah," one of them said, "we've heard that before."

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

I was unreasonably searched due to a complete lack of probable cause. I don't care for that.

Beer on the boulevard

I picked up a flag near a bar in a nice neighborhood along a boulevard. The median was wide with green grass and pine trees. The two guys were drunk and in a good mood. They wanted to go to the liquor store and asked me to hurry. On the way they asked me to slow down, about two blocks up from where they got in.

Them: The bastard is still there (pointing to a police car sitting on a sidestreet watching the boulevard).

Me: So. You're not driving.

Them: We were trying to walk to the liquor store with two fresh bottles of Bud, and they'll cite is for drinking in public. We wandered over to the big pine tree (boughs were touching the ground) and casually stuffed the bottles under the branches and left them. Waste of beer.

I brought them to the store, then dropped them off at a residential address. The meter was $8.40. They gave me $11 and said, "There's your tip, plus you can go get those beers."