December 6, 2002

           I contacted my West Coast people. Everything is plodding along, much like when I was there. The West is different, it is still growing, with growing pains. Startup costs are higher for simple things, and the easy opportunities are gone. Florida is different. It is “a community of foreign-owned shops clinging on by their fingernails”. I still don't know what Anglos do for a living in Miami. I haven't been enough of them to formulate a theory.
           We are packing up shop at the 687 Continuum. Tom is running the show now. Did I mention the Hindu waitress at the coffee shop? Her boyfriend is taken up with some gold-digger over getting his green card, and she caught them. She said, “I'm a firm believer in interracial sex, as long as the man is white.” Anyway, she is a very tempting and well-educated little lady, around 22.

           Don't forget the gripe. Today, I rag on people who need people. I despise unwelcome co-dependencies, and it's not like these types ever to ask permission. They should all be stranded on a desert island together until they've had their fill of each other. I’ve got some real horror stories about such people, but that's a different topic.

           [Author's note: the area north of Seattle, Washington is still my base of operations. It is likely to remain so for as long as it acts as a choke point to anyone trying to reach me. I like it that way.

           The Continuum was a large 40 story high-rise condo at the extreme south tip of Miami Beach, Florida. Here is a picture of it in 2020. Most of the buildings over 35 stories in the last few years have been projects I worked at. Above my workstation, I put Al Capone's clip, “I tried to get into a legitimate business several times, but they won't stand for it”.
           The quote about foreign-owned shops is from the Miami Herald. Tom refers to Tom Alvarado, an extremely capable project manager who eventually quit to become a real estate agent. I should explain something about that comment concerning interracial sex. What she was referring to is the double standard present in America, and she was commenting on the consequences. A white man who has had numerous nonwhite sex partners is more marriageable than the other way around. She's got a point.

           [Author's note 2022: digital photos were so rare in 2002 around here that I got you this generic photo of what's-her-name and what's-his-face.]